Morning Reading ~ C. H. Spurgeon

“I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.” Ecclesiastes 10:7

Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. When our Lord was upon earth, although he is the Prince of the kings of the earth, yet he walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants: what wonder is it if his followers, who are princes of the blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons? The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while Mordecai sits in the gate; David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave while Jezebel is boasting in the palace; yet who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels? and who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.

Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk in the dust. Grace must reign as a prince, and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order, and he therefore sets our powers and faculties in due rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties which link us with the great King; let us not disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection. We were not new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.

Morning Reading ~ C. H. Spurgeon

“And will manifest myself to him.” John 14:21

The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of himself to his people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, there are many of the children of God who could testify the truth of it from their own experience. They have had manifestations of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a peculiar manner, such as no mere reading or hearing could afford. In the biographies of eminent saints, you will find many instances recorded in which Jesus has been pleased, in a very special manner to speak to their souls, and to unfold the wonders of his person; yea, so have their souls been steeped in happiness that they have thought themselves to be in heaven, whereas they were not there, though they were well nigh on the threshold of it—for when Jesus manifests himself to his people, it is heaven on earth; it is paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun. Especial manifestations of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer’s heart. One effect will be humility. If a man says, “I have had such-and-such spiritual communications, I am a great man,” he has never had any communion with Jesus at all; for “God hath respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” He does not need to come near them to know them, and will never give them any visits of love. Another effect will be happiness; for in God’s presence there are pleasures for evermore. Holiness will be sure to follow. A man who has no holiness has never had this manifestation. Some men profess a great deal; but we must not believe any one unless we see that his deeds answer to what he says. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” He will not bestow his favours upon the wicked: for while he will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he respect an evil doer. Thus there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus—humility, happiness, and holiness. May God give them to thee, Christian!

Morning Reading ~ C. H. Spurgeon

“I am with you alway.” Matthew 28:20

It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life. O my soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart upon him who abides forever faithful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on his person, all thy hope in his merit, all thy trust in his efficacious blood, all thy joy in his presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction. Remember that all the flowers in the world’s garden fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. Death’s black extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle is gone! The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all thou hast; then wed thine heart to him who will never leave thee; trust thyself with him who will go with thee through the black and surging current of death’s stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with him in heavenly places forever. Go, sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with him who never can be taken from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave him, even “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” “Lo, I am with you alway,” is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.

Morning Reading ~ C. H. Spurgeon

“But now is Christ risen from the dead.” 1 Corinthians 15:20

The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that “Christ is risen from the dead;” for, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are yet in your sins.” The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” It would not be unreasonable to doubt his deity if he had not risen. Moreover, Christ’s sovereignty depends upon his resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Again, our justification, that choice blessing of the covenant, is linked with Christ’s triumphant victory over death and the grave; for “He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Nay, more, our very regeneration is connected with his resurrection, for we are “Begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here, for, “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” If Christ be not risen, then shall we not rise; but if he be risen then they who are asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall surely behold their God. Thus, the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer’s blessings, from his regeneration onwards to his eternal glory, and binds them together. How important then will this glorious fact be in his estimation, and how will he rejoice that beyond a doubt it is established, that “now is Christ risen from the dead”!

“The promise is fulfill'd,
Redemption’s work is done,
Justice with mercy’s reconciled,
For God has raised his Son.”

Morning Reading ~ C. H. Spurgeon

“Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all.” Matthew 12:15

What a mass of hideous sickness must have thrust itself under the eye of Jesus! Yet we read not that he was disgusted, but patiently waited on every case. What a singular variety of evils must have met at his feet! What sickening ulcers and putrefying sores! Yet he was ready for every new shape of the monster evil, and was victor over it in every form. Let the arrow fly from what quarter it might, he quenched its fiery power. The heat of fever, or the cold of dropsy; the lethargy of palsy, or the rage of madness; the filth of leprosy, or the darkness of ophthalmia—all knew the power of his word, and fled at his command. In every corner of the field he was triumphant over evil, and received the homage of delivered captives. He came, he saw, he conquered everywhere. It is even so this morning. Whatever my own case may be, the beloved Physician can heal me; and whatever may be the state of others whom I may remember at this moment in prayer, I may have hope in Jesus that he will be able to heal them of their sins. My child, my friend, my dearest one, I can have hope for each, for all, when I remember the healing power of my Lord; and on my own account, however severe my struggle with sins and infirmities, I may yet be of good cheer. He who on earth walked the hospitals, still dispenses his grace, and works wonders among the sons of men: let me go to him at once in right earnest.

Let me praise him, this morning, as I remember how he wrought his spiritual cures, which bring him most renown. It was by taking upon himself our sicknesses. “By his stripes we are healed.” The Church on earth is full of souls healed by our beloved Physician; and the inhabitants of heaven itself confess that “He healed them all.” Come, then, my soul, publish abroad the virtue of his grace, and let it be “to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off.”

Open Letter to the South African President: Mr. Jacob Zuma

Dear Mr President,

This letter, I believe, is written to you at a time when this country is crying for proper governance. Before and ever since you have taken the presidential reigns of this lovely country South Africa, the press has had a field day with your presidential and private lifestyles -- the facts are that you have made the headlines for mostly the wrong reasons. And more recently an article appeared in the Sunday Times newspaper titled: 'It is time to talk about our moral code' (February 21, 2010). This will also be addressed in this letter.

Mr President, it appears from the press and from many other well documented articles that fraud, crime and corruption are leprous illnesses that permeates the ruling party and government in general. What is saddening is that the citizens of South Africa go largely unprotected by the corrupt and insufficient governance that makes up the disorder of the day and they are the majority who are victims of the separatist elite's non-performance and ever escalating sins of crime, fraud, greed, lawlessness and other evils that are polluting our society.

Mr President, it is time for the masses to hear the Truth and that will also include you, sir, and every civil servant of this nation.

While your party members want to protect your private life from the scrutiny of the public, what their shortsightedness and lack of understanding fails to comprehend is that when you chose to be a parliamentarian you became public domain. Mr President, you are accountable to those citizens who voted you into office and you are also accountable to those citizens who chose not to give you their democratic vote. You, sir, are therefore to rule impartially for all the peoples of South Africa and not only for the interests of your ANC comrades.

Mr President, recently stories of your 'private sex life' made public headlines, and you have acknowledged the facts that have become known. What is of great concern is the lack of morals that you are showing to a wide audience which includes our young generation -- and also the international community who have also questioned your moral ethics. It is a fact that your rule is immoral and ungodly.

Mr President, you have acted immorally and without regard for the message that you are communicating to our children and as a public figure you should be the one who is to show respect of persons, morality and maturity in leading our nation. Your actions are in violation against Almighty God's commands -- and even if you or any other person does not want to believe in the One True God, you are still accountable to Him by your behaviour.

Mr President, there has been campaigns that have been instigated by government where parliamentarians have encouraged persons to 'be-wise-and-condomise' and then tell the people to abstain from sex to prevent HIV/AIDS -- what is the true message you are sending out? Not only have you not heeded these 'suggestions' you are also making South Africa a nation of fornicators (those who have sex outside the bounds of marriage). Mr President, by your actions you are a fornicator. This can set a dangerous trend where: If the president does it why should those following him not do like wise?

The Word of God (The Holy Bible) is clear when it says:

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).

From the Scripture references you will note that they are all in the singular -- a man, his father, his mother, his wife, they [man and wife] shall become one flesh. From this you can see one man and one wife makes one marriage and you become one flesh. Mr President, to say your having many wives is your custom goes against what God says and it is a flagrant sin against Him as you are defying the Almighty's rule of marriage. Mr President, The Bible says that man has invalidated the Word of God for the sake of your traditions (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:8). By your traditions you make the Word of God of no effect.

By taking more than one wife, Mr President, you are committing adultery and thereby you are breaking the Seventh Commandment: You shall not commit adultery. Sir, you are also making your 'wives' adulteresses and by their willingness to enter into polygamous marriages, they, too, are committing adultery. Polygamy and being a polygamist are illegal acts. Mr President, playing your Zulu-custom card does not condone your sin and immoral acts. You might want to hold to your custom and 'even expect others to tolerate and respect it', but it is sin before an infinitely Holy and Righteous God. 1 John 3:4 reads --

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

Jesus also said

--"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. (John 8:34)

Mr President, it is at this very time that you, and every other person reading this letter, should consider how you will stand before Almighty God on the Day of Judgment, for there is a day that is approaching --

"... because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:31, my emphasis)

Each and every person will have to give an accounting of themselves on this Great and Fearful Day. People do not know when they will die -- death comes upon people very suddenly and often by surprise and God's Word warns you --

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)

how will you kneel before God? At this point you should examine your lifestyle against God's Holy Standard, The Ten Commandments, and see where you are headed -- Heaven? Or Hell?

How many lies have you told in your lifetime? If you have told a lie you are a liar in the sight of God. You don't need to tell ten lies then a bell goes off or even ascribe a colour to your lie -- a lie is a lie in God's Wisdom. Have you ever stolen anything? This includes fraud, if you have you are a thief in the sight of God. We have already dealt with the committing of adultery, but listen what Jesus said --

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ..." (Matthew 5:27,28)

We have already dealt with this crime against God and He sees even the intentions of peoples' hearts and their minds. This also includes the debauched acts of homosexual sex and marriages. South Africa became the fifth country in the world, and the first in Africa, to allow legal marriages between same-sex couples. This law which was promulgated by the ANC is a heinous stench before the LORD --

You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22).

Have you ever committed murder? God's Word says that if you are angry and hate anyone you have committed murder in the heart. Jesus said --

"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. ..." (Matthew 5:21,22)

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15)

Mr President, murder also includes abortion which your ANC party, under the ex-president Mr Mandela, promulgated the abortion law on February 1, 1997 and since then over 900,000 South African babies have been brutally murdered officially, legally and with tax payers' money.

Have you ever blasphemed God? Or made reference to Him or His Son Jesus by not showing Him the rightful reverence He deserves? It is evident from an article that appeared in Africa News that you have openly blasphemed God by making reference that God agrees with the ANC's policies, quote:

He said church leaders must persuade believers to vote for the ANC. “When priests pray for poverty to end and for development, then it means God agrees with the ANC because the ANC stands for those things,” Zuma said.

“When you preach in your churches, just explain to the congregation – in a paragraph – about the ANC. People who love God must not play with their votes, they must vote for the ANC,” said Zuma.

He added: "We in the ANC know God. When the ANC was born, it was baptized. We have respect, we are beautiful, and we conduct ourselves in a good way."

Mr President, it is clear that you have mocked almighty God by making fun and jokes about Him and His children. If you, or the ANC, know God you will keep His commandments --

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

God says He will hold everyone guilty for using His Name in vain. [SA: "ANC to rule till Jesus comes"]

Mr President, on the Day of Judgment when the Supreme Judge of the Universe, Almighty God holds Court; and He judges you according to His infinitely Holy Standard and Righteousness and finds that you, and all sinners, have transgressed His Law and you are found to be a liar, a thief, an adulterer and a fornicator, a murderer and a blasphemer, to mention a few charges, will you be innocent or guilty? The Bible says that all who sin against God will be guilty and not enter into the Kingdom of God.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous; nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9,10)

The Word of God is clear and concise for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). If God gives you the justice you rightfully deserve, you will be found guilty and God will send you to Hell for eternity -- it is His place that He has set aside for eternal damnation for the lawless to be punished by His Divine Wrath.

Knowing that you will be condemned into Hell for all eternity should be horrifying you at this point. If you are not trembling and fearful then you have not seen your sin as being exceedingly sinful before an infinitely, Holy, Righteous, Good, Sovereign and Just God.

There will be no entering into appeals against His judgment. There will be no Constitutional Court or Court of Appeal. God's JUDGMENT is final and binding for eternity. Receiving a guilty verdict means receiving Hell for eternity. Don't make light of Hell; it's a very real place of torment. Jesus spoke more about Hell than about Heaven. Heading for damnation in the fiery pit of Hell should concern you. It should make you extremely fearful. This is really bad news.

However, there is Good News and this is the only way man can escape Hell's eternal torment. About 2000 years ago God sent His Son Jesus Christ to this world on a mission. What took place was God choosing to reveal Himself in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. The Deity of Christ is revealed in The Holy Scriptures, God's Word -- The Bible --

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. ... He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 11-14)

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

Jesus, the God-man was conceived by the Holy Spirit and He was born to a virgin named Mary --

And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:28-35, the angel sent by God to His maidservant Mary was the angel Gabriel)

He came into the world as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Jesus entered into His earthly ministry and this is an account by the apostle Peter --

Opening his mouth, Peter said:
"I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all) -- you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." (Acts 10:34-43)

Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life." (Acts 11:17,18)

Mr President, with reference to your Sunday Times interview, I quote:

"He [Zuma] appeared shocked and surprised by the outrage that followed the scandal, telling the Sunday Times: "There are Muslims, Christians, Jews, Pedis and so on ... How do we live together with an understanding that we understand each other?

"Values may not exactly be the same, but how do we bring harmony to this?"

Mr President, the problem is not about 'understanding each other', because it is not about us and our diverse religions, values and communities. The answer is: It is ALL ABOUT GOD AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!! It doesn't matter what you believe in. What matters is what you believe in is it true? If the God of Creation is not centre in everyone's lives their evil and wicked ways will persist. The God of the Holy Bible has given us the First Commandment that He is to be the Only God and we all are to worship Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and the Second Commandment reads that we are to have no idols (gods) before Him. If man is trying to resolve anything and he has broken the first two commandments then anything else man tries to accomplish will come to naught. Worshiping other gods (including addressing songomas and praying to ancestors) is idolatry and eternal punishment in Hell awaits all idolaters. There is a real spiritual war being waged between the Kingdom of Light (God) and the kingdom of darkness (satan). Satan uses religion to keep people in the darkness blinded to the Truth -- he does not want to go to Hell only with his demons.

Man relies on religion to try appease God for their evil and wicked lives. God says in His Word, speaking through His prophet Isaiah --

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us whither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind take us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

The prophet Isaiah employed our righteous deeds by using the imagery of menstrual cloths used during a woman's period to picture uncleanness (cf. Leviticus 15:19-24). Man tries to get right with God by his works, but they are a stench before Almighty God. So it is through God's mercy by Him granting us grace (unmerited favour) that we can be saved. For we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone by trusting in Jesus Christ alone that a man can have his sins forgiven and be reconciled back to God.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, including the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Jesus said --

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)

Jesus said He is the Way and so any other way man tries to get saved by is a false way. Jesus said He is the Truth -- therefore any other 'truth' is a lie, because there can only be one Truth. And Jesus said He is the Life -- you cannot receive life through any other.

God's Promise and Warning
Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the LORD and in his palace. Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place."For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. "As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.' "But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. "As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?' "And they will say, 'Because they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'" (2 Chronicles 7:11-22, my emphasis)

A Plea to the Unsaved

There are some of you standing in these aisles and sitting in these pews, who I feel in my soul will never have another invitation, and if this be rejected today, I feel a solemn motion in my soul -- I think it is of the Holy Ghost -- that you will never hear another faithful sermon, but you shall go down to Hell impenitent, unsaved, except you trust in Jesus now. I speak not as a man, but I speak as God's ambassador to your souls, and I command you, in God's name, trust Jesus, trust now. At your peril reject the voice that speaks from Heaven, for "he that believeth not shall be damned." How shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation. When it comes right home to you, when it thrusts itself in your way, oh, if you will neglect it how can you escape? With tears I would invite you, and, if I could, would compel you to come in. Why will you not? Oh souls, if you will be damned, if you make up your mind that no mercy shall ever woo you, and no warnings shall ever move you, then, sirs, what chains of vengeance must you feel that slight these bonds of love. You have deserved the deepest Hell, for you slight the joys above. God save you. He will save you, if you trust in Jesus. God help you to trust Him even now for Jesus' sake. Amen. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

And with my Brother in Christ who has gone to our Lord Jesus in glory, I speak not as a man, but I speak as God's ambassador to your souls --

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

"... that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36)

Mr President, as an ambassador of God, I call you and the citizens of South Africa to REPENT (turn from and forsake) of your evil and wicked sin and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is your only hope.

An unworthy sinner, saved by grace
Gary Crous
___________________
All Scripture References are from the NASB (Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation)

Copied by e-mail to the following:
The President (ANC)
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
Democratic Alliance (DA)
Freedom Front Plus (FFPlus)
Frontline Fellowship
Independent Democrats
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
Minority Front
Sunday Times Newspaper
Sunday Tribune Newspaper
The Witness Newspaper

If Sinners be Damned ...

If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for. ~ Charles Spurgeon

Personal Salvation

Dear brethren, you ought to know, you can know, you can know now, whether you are saved, or not. At any rate, if I did not know myself to be saved, I would give no sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, till I had found the Savior. If a shadow of a doubt about my being washed in the blood of Christ were on my soul, I would get to my knees, and not rise from them until I did really know that Christ had saved me. If you are in doubt, and yet are content about your condition, I fear that you know nothing at all about the matter, for the true child of God, if he is in doubt about his salvation, is uneasy till that doubt is gone. He cannot rest till he knows that he is saved; and, after all, that is not a very difficult thing to know, for we are told, over and over again, in this blessed Book, that he that believes in Christ is not condemned, but has everlasting life. If you have believed in Him, you are not condemned, you have His own word for it. He who trusts to Jesus only, builds on a sure foundation; so, if you are trusting in Him, you may have the full assurance that you have passed from death unto life, and shall never come into condemnation. Do not, brother, go limping along all your life when you might run in the way of God's commandments. A good old minister, of my acquaintance, when people used to say to him that they hoped, and hoped, and never got any further than that, was in the habit of replying, "You are always hoping, and hopping; I hope you will learn to run one of these days - to run without weariness in the ways of God." ~ C. H. Spurgeon

Indifference

Let us save by all means under Heaven; let us prevent men going down to Hell. We are not half as earnest as we ought to be. Do you not remember the young man, who, when he was dying, said to his brother, "My brother, how could you have been so indifferent to my soul as you have been?" He answered, "I have not been indifferent to your soul, for I have frequently spoken to you about it." "Oh, yes!" he said, "you spoke; but somehow, I think, if you remembered that I was going down to Hell, you would have been more earnest with me; you would have wept over me, and, as my brother, you would not have allowed me to be lost." Let no one say this of you. ~ C. H. Spurgeon

Free Will -- A Slave

And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. ~ John 5:40

Open-Air Preaching

You that preach Christ in the streets, go on preaching Him. I saw a man preaching the other day with no creature but one dog to listen to him, and I really thought that he might as well have gone home. But I met with a story yesterday, which I know to be true, and it showed me that I was making a mistake. There was a woman who for years had been in such dreadful despair that she would not even hear the gospel. She came to be very ill, and she said to one that called upon her, "You sent a man to preach under my window three months ago, and I got a blessing." "No," the friend said, "I never sent anybody to preach under your window." "Oh," she said, "I think you did, for he came and preached, and my maid said that there was nobody listening to him. I did not want to hear him; and as he made so much noise, my maid shut the window, and I lay down in bed; but the man shouted so that I was obliged to hear him; and I thank God I did, for I heard the gospel, and I found Christ. Did you not send him?" "No," said the good man, "I did not." "Well," she said, "then God did. There was nobody in the street listening to him; but I heard the gospel, and I got out of my despair, and I found the Savior, and I am prepared to die." Fire away brethren! You do not know where your shot will strike, but "there's a billet for every bullet." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

The Necessity of Preaching

Suppose that we do not preach the gospel and warn the wicked man, so that he turns not from his iniquity. What then? Hear this voice: "He shall perish, but his blood will I require at thine hand." What will my Lord say to me if I am unfaithful to you? "Where is the blood of those people who gathered at Newington Butts? Where is the blood of that crowd that came together to hear you speak, and you did not preach the gospel to them?" Oh, it were better for me that I had never been born than that I should not preach the gospel! "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel" of Christ, for men perish where there is not the Word of God! ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

The Instruction of Children

We testify that Christ is able to change man's nature, and then good fruits will come as a matter of course. But I am afraid that in many Sunday-schools the children are taught a different doctrine, somewhat after this fashion: "Now, dear children, be very good, and obey your parents, and love Jesus, and you will be saved." That is not the gospel, and it is not true. Often do I hear it said, "Love Jesus, dear children." That is not the gospel. It is, "Trust Him" - "Believe." Not love, but faith is the saving grace, and that love of Jesus of a sentimental kind, which does not spring out of faith in Him, is a spurious emotion, a counterfeit of love, not at all the love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit. The root of the matter is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved;" and that is the gospel for a child of two years of age, and the gospel for a man of a hundred. There is only one gospel for all that are born on the face of the earth - "Believe in Jesus." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

By All Means Save Some

There is a door to each man's heart, and we have to find it, and enter it with the right key, which is to be found somewhere or other in the word of God. All men are not to be reached in the same way, or by the same arguments, and as we are by all means to save some, we must be wise to win souls, wise with wisdom from above. We desire to see them conquered for Christ, but no warrior uses always the same strategy, there is for one open assault, another a siege, for a third an ambush, for a fourth a long campaign. On the sea there are great rams which run down the enemy, torpedoes under water, gunboats, and steam frigates; one ship is broken up by a single blow, another needs a broadside, a third must have a shot between wind and water, a fourth must be driven on shore, even thus must we adapt ourselves, and use the sacred force entrusted to us with grave consideration and solemn judgment, looking ever to the Lord for guidance and for power. All the real power is in the Lord's hands, and we must put ourselves fully at the disposal of the divine Worker, that He may work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure; so shall we by all means save some. ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

"I will make you fishers of men" ~ Jesus

To try to win a soul to Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavor to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with bird-line, or to lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it, and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men; those your Master has given you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine enough to hold the little ones. Spread those nets and no others, and you need not fear the fulfillment of His Word, "I will make you fishers of men." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

While watching the first video posted here, I couldn't help thinking how these professing "Christians" berated our brothers in Christ Pastor Brett Coronado (my team leader from Ambassadors' Academy June 2008) and Mark Mackey and shouted down the preaching of the gospel. During the video clip you will hear a woman tell Brett "he must learn to preach" when in fact he was preaching the gospel and nothing else and relying implicitly upon the old, old gospel -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ.



Two Scriptures jump out of the Bible -- Matthew 5:14-16 and 1 John 2:6 -- what conflicting message were those professing "Christians" sending out to the unbelievers who were standing in line? The unbelievers listened and were not hypocrites. The Word also says ~

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love for the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently. ~ 1 Peter 1:22

It leaves the obvious to be noted -- the hecklers were not loving towards the preachers of the gospel.

So under what teaching are they sitting? Seeing they brought an accusation against brother Brett that "he must learn to preach", we will allow the Word of God to speak for itself against the accusers ~

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. ~ 2 Timothy 4:3,4

Here is the second video...

Never Weep Over Sinners

And you, too, who are moral enough in your conversation and regular in your attendance on the outward forms of religion, you who never weep over sinners, you who never pray for them, you who never speak to them, you who leave all that to your minister, and think you have nothing to do with it, the voice of your brother's blood crieth from the ground to Heaven. ~ Charles H. Spurgeon