OBEDIENCE

Jesus has spoken; His is the Word, ours the obedience. ---- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

....from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3:15-17).

Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever (Psalm 86:11-12).

A hymn to read, sing, play, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Teach Me, O Lord, Thy Holy Way.(William T. Matson, 1856).

STUDY

We being what we are and all things else being what they are, the most important and profitable study anyone of us can engage in is without question the study of theology. - A. W. Tozer

Do your best to present yourself unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15).

A hymn to read, sing, play, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Fill Thou My life, O Lord My God(Horatius Bonar, 1866)

NECESSITY

Let this be a firm principle: No other word is to be held as the Word of God, and given place as such in the Church, than what is contained first in the Law and the Prophets, then in the writings of the apostles; and the only authorized way of teaching in the Church is by the prescription and standards of His Word. ---- John Calvin

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit... (I Corinthians 1:21; 2:13).

Man shall not live alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

...from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3:15-16).

I charge you in the presence of God and in Christ Jesus...preach the word (II Timothy 4:1).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart (From Psalm 119). -- (E. O. Sellers, 1908). 

CAUSE

God's cause is never in danger; what He has begun in the soul or in the world He will complete unto the end.--- B. B. Warfield.

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day (II Timothy 1:12).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to in inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:3-4).

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son....in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).  

Q. What are the decrees of God? A. The decrees of God are, His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass (Westminster Shorter Catechism 7).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Amazing Grace (John Newton, 1779).

SUFFERING

We are called servants, to show how we must obey. We are called soldiers to show how we should suffer. --- Henry Smith. .

Be dressed, ready for service, and keep your lamps burning..." (Luke 12:35-38).

 Endure hardship with us, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus (II Timothy 2:3).

Hymns to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Take My Life, and Let It Be (Frances R. Havergal, 1874).

Am I a Soldier of the Cross (Isaac Watts, 1724)

ANTAGONISM

The late Gordon H. Clark (Butler University)  points to "the flippancy and venom directed against biblical Christianity by the writers of college textbooks and the almost complete absence of specifically Christian teaching in the universities. Small groups and individuals, he says "fight manfully against our present evil world, but there seems to be no trend away from socialism in politics, ecumenicalism in the Church, and antagonism to the Word of God everywhere."

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God --- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them (II Timothy 3:1-5).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray(Johann B. Freystein, 1697).  

Music by PCA Recording Artist Lori Sealy 

http://www.lorisealy.com/

GROUNDS

If there be ground for you to trust in your own righteousness, then, all that Christ did to purchase salvation, and all that God did to prepare the way for it is in vain. ---- Jonathan Edwards

 

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (II Timothy 1:1, 9).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson, 1758).

Creeds

Good morning!

Creeds. A good creed is a gate to the city that has foundations; a misleading creed may be a road to destruction, or if both misleading and alluring it may become what Shakespeare calls a primrose path to the eternal bonfire. ---- Joseph Cook. 

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine (Titus 1:7). 

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith  in Christ Jesus (II Timothy 3:14-15).

A hymn to be read, sung, or hummed to the glory of God: FOREVER SETTLED IN THE HEAVENS. 

Union with Christ

Good morning!

The more a soul is conformed to Christ, the more confident it will be of its interest in [union with] Christ. -- Thomas Brooks.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God (Psalm 42:11).

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me (II Timothy 1:12).

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is . And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure (I John 3:1-3).

A hymn to be read aloud and/or sung aloud, and offered in worship to God: IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL and/or BLESSED ASSURANCE .

Kindness

Good morning!

 

The milk of human kindness never curdles. -- Anonymous.

 

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone... (II Timothy 2:24).

 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you(Ephesians 4:32).

 

A hymn to be read or sung aloud and offered to God in worship: THE BEATITUDES (8 stanzas).

Teaching

Good morning!

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. --- unknown

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (II Corinthians 12:9).

The things you have heard me say....entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others (II Timothy 2:2).  

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A hymn to read or sing aloud, and to offer to God in worship: LORD, SPEAK TO ME THAT I MAY SPEAK.