Ladies’  Lamp

THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET

AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH

Psalm 119:105

DEAR  LADIES

God has plainly told His people to “Love not the world,” and if anyone loves the world, “the love of the Father is not in him.”  I John 2:15, 16   God has established a solid line of demarcation between the world and His people. ”Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” James 4:4   But there is a perverse spirit of compromise and amalgamation with the world among professing Christians today. “The whole world lieth in wickedness,” under the power and dominion of Satan, the author of sin, who has purposed and endeavored to ruin the works of God in the world.  The Christian is under the power and dominion of Christ who has undertaken the Holy War against Satan and will conquer, dissolve, and destroy all his works.  Christians should never compromise their whole-hearted love for God.  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”   

              Our hearts are narrow and cannot love both God and the world.  The world is to be crucified because it usurps the affection that should be for God alone.  The world instigates and inflames our lusts and pride, our appetites for sin.  “Be not conformed to this world.”  Romans 12:2  We may not indulge ourselves in the godless customs and fashions of our times.   We are to deny ungodliness and mortify worldly lusts.  (Titus 2:12)  Do not conform to the world’s template, its prevailing manners and styles that contradict God’s law and principles.  The world’s principle is to glorify self; and God’s principle for Christians is to crucify self.  Christians are governed by the laws of the Bible and our lives are to be conformed to the template of Christ.  Compromise with the world’s corrupt and depraved culture extinguishes the light of Christian influence.   The world’s system and lifestyle in all areas fall woefully short

of God’s holy standard.  We are called to be holy in all manner of living because God is holy.  “Be holy; for I am holy.”  I Peter 1:16 

                                                                                                                                       Carol Swanson

“YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.  A CITY THAT IS SET ON THE HILL CANNOT BE HID.” Matt. 5:14, 16

Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains this verse that emphasizes, “Ye (and ye alone) are the light of the world,” as an astounding declaration, because Christ is referring to each ordinary Christian.  It has profound implications concerning the Christian life, making us realize our glorious, solemn privileges and responsibilities.

The meaning of light is not knowledge, as the world’s knowledge has exponentially increased, but without the biblical wisdom to properly use it.  In fact, it was the era of increased knowledge  that initiated the attack on the Bible and its authoritative declaration of God’s truth to man.  The factors of knowledge that benefit the soul of man and his relationships are absent, and the world continues in gross darkness.

How are ordinary Christians the light of the world?  Christ also said, “I am the light of the world,” meaning He and He alone is the Source who gives us this vital light.
We are transmitters of His light.  The world’s people are spiritually blind,  loving darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.  The only light the world will ever see is in the lives of Christians and the gospel message we give them.

THE LIGHT  OF  CHRISTIAN FAMILIES 

American’s largest family recently published a book, 20 and Counting, by J.B. and M. Duggar, a  delightful account of their family life.  They are one of those cities on the hill, shining the light of Christ with a biblical worldview to a vast audience around them.  They started early in their marriage to humbly submit to Scripture in every area of their family life. 

BIBLICAL  WORK  ETHIC

              The marital foundation of Christians should be firmly grounded in obedience to Scripture, with both parents operating in tandem.  Father is the spiritual and practical head of the home, responsible to teach God’s Word to his family, best accomplished in daily family worship.  Mother is the homemaker who sets the tone by her attitude and organization.  For a smoothly functioning home that’s clean and neat, organization is essential, which means parents must organize themselves first. 

Haphazard lifestyles are hard on children.  It is wise plan a weekly schedule and make the effort to keep it.  Allow some flexibility for the unexpected, but always return to the schedule.  You’ll redeem the time and get much more done, in relative peace.  Children function best and are happiest when they know what is expected of them.   Growing up with assigned jobs and responsibilities is necessary preparation for adulthood.  Teach the rules of the home to each child and set realistic rules for each age group.  Be sure they understand the consequences of broken rules, to be consistently applied. Unwavering and loving consistency develops strong character.

The parents in this family of 18 children are home schooling, with a Christian education to teach a biblical worldview.  They teach both boys and girls to cook, change tires on the cars, and to care for themselves and siblings in a buddy system.  In a family of 20, (with 40 loads of laundry a week, 20 mouths to feed three times a day, cleaning a 7-bathroom house (which they built themselves), and large transportation vehicles to maintain,)  there are plenty of opportunities for children who are organized to learn to work.  It is important that children learn a biblical work ethic.

MAKING  DISCIPLES  OF  OUR  CHILDREN 

              Children need to be taught to reverentially fear God.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Prov. 9:10  They must know the moral law of God to understand sin and God’s holy standard of righteousness. Too many people have made professions who were never broken by the law.  Sin is deadly serious and will ruin all who do not mortify it.  When they are convicted of their sin, they will appreciate and love the Lord Jesus Christ for His substitutionary atonement and imputed righteousness.  Humble sorrow for sin in repentance, and faith in Christ alone, in a true conversion, should be the earnest prayer of Christian parents for each child.  They are saved by God’s work of grace and not our persuasion.  

A theologically and doctrinally sound church should be an integral part of their lives.  Teach them to make sacrifices to find this church, support it and love the brethren.  Prepare them to stand against the opposition and persecution they’ll face from the world. Christians are commanded to love their enemies and pray for them.  Love for enemies must be without compromise of the truth. 

              They should be thoroughly taught all the doctrines of the gospel, and memorize a catechism with proof texts, that they might not be ignorant of any gospel truth.  If their faith is soundly built on a clear understanding of the doctrines of Creation, Redemption, and a holy life of obedience, they will be prepared to discern truth from error when they leave the home.   Recently, the young son of our friends was questioned by the elders for membership.  The pastor asked him if he knew what it means to mortify his sin?  The child gave a very lucid answer that many adults couldn’t give!  He was taught and discipled  by his spiritually earnest parents.

TEACHING  CHARACTER

Besides home schooling with a variety of courses that fit their family, the mother of these 18 children instructs them in biblical character, using Gothard’s materials.  Both parents have worked at patiently correcting their children without anger.  Parents need to pray daily for God’s grace and power to humbly mortify the first flutterings of their evil emotions and anger.  Parents are God’s models for the biblical character they hope to instill

in their children.  The goal is to raise cheerfully obedient children by consistent and patient correction.  Discipling our children in the doctrines and practices of Scripture is a major responsibility of Christian parents.

SCRIPTURAL LIFESTYLE

The world’s influence in our nation has effectively broken up the 21st century family, with moms in the workforce, absentee or unemployed dads, and children segregated in education, more influenced by peers than parents.  Our nation is reaping a whirlwind from its rejection of God and scriptural principles.  

One of the decisions the  Duggar family made in their early days concerned debt.  They determined to be obedient to God’s instructions to “Owe no man  anything, but to love one another,”    because “the borrower is servant to the lender.” Prov. 22:7   Debt is an oppressive albatross around the necks of many families, and a curse on our nation. After that decision, they never borrowed for anything, including car or house. They lived within God’s provision,  debt-free.

              Christians reflect the light and glory of Christ through Scriptural principles of humility, modesty  and wholesomeness. We can’t served Christ and satisfy our lusts!  The world’s distorted, bizarre fashions that fill our stores today  clearly reflect the world’s seductive and sensual lusts. Christians should modestly cover body and bodice.  Pray for God’s wisdom to instill a strong principle of modesty and humility in our daughters; that they will have the character and wholesome appearance of a Sarah, not a Jezebel!

              May God enable all Christians to eschew the world and live in uncompromising conformity to the holy standards of Scripture; and thereby be powerful lights, shining as cities on the hill.

“LET  YOUR  LIGHT  SO  SHINE !”

Ladies’  Lamp

THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET

AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH

Psalm  119:105

DEAR  LADIES

      In the 14^th century John Wycliffe, “The Morning Star of the Reformation,” translated the Scripture into English, while suffering great opposition and persecution.  He was followed by William Tyndale, highly educated and exceptionally gifted in the original languages.  Tyndale’s translation was  a lasting work of which 90% was used in the King James Authorized Version.  William Tyndale was martyred for translating  and  distributing the Bible in English.   Persecution and blood-shed was the price paid that we might have the  preserved Word of God (KJAV),  available today in any bookstore.  However, the attitude now toward Scripture is a tragic contrast to those days when the Bible was treasured, revered, and worth one’s life to possess!   Now, even professing Christians disdain the true Scripture.

      A survey was taken recently across this nation, asking if people believed the following:

• 1. The Bible is without error.
  2. God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator who rules His universe.
  3. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life.
  4. Moral truth is absolute, regardless of circumstances.
  5. Good works cannot earn our way to heaven.
  6. Satan is a real being.

Of those who said they were “born-again Christians,”  81% did not believe the statements.  There is obviously widespread ignorance of what constitutes scriptural Christianity, if they think they are “born again.”  Of the young adults interviewed, over 99% did not believe the statements, which shows how effective government-financed, godless humanistic education has been in producing a generation of atheists. 

      If 81% of evangelical “born-again” Christians in America do not embrace the most elementary and essential Bible doctrines of Christianity, their man-centered house is built on sand, not the rock of God-centered scriptural faith.
Evangelical churches appear to be edging close to apostasy.                                    

• • • • • • •               Carol Swanson

INFALLIBLE, INERRANT SCRIPTURE

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” II Tim. 3:16  Scripture is the infallible, inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God, the incorruptible seed by which we are born again. (I Pet. 1:23)  “We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:  but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”        (II Pet. 1:19-21)

      The apostle Peter is here proving the truth and reality of the gospel, as the Old Testament is the sure word of prophecy, fulfilled by the wonderful providence of God.  How firm and sure our faith should be as we have the most exact and minute accomplishment in scripture.  Scripture is the sure Word by which we must be molded and fashioned, the doctrine into which we must be cast.  The Word is the lamp to our feet to dispel the darkness in the way we should go.  It reveals our error and ignorance. When the light of scripture is beamed into the blind mind,     the  Holy   Spirit  brings the

spiritual day to dawn and the Day-star arises in that soul.  Those who are thus enlightened can never   know enough of God’s Word!  All scripture, all prophecy is of divine origin. No scripture or prophecy is of private interpretation, which is a person’s own opinion, from his own mind.  All scripture is the revelation of the MIND OF GOD.  This is the difference between prophets of the Lord and false prophets.  The prophets of the Lord do not speak nor do anything of their own mind. (Num. 16:28)  Moses said, “I have not done any of the works (nor delivered any statutes or ordinances) of my own mind.”  To the contrary, false prophets “speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of the Lord.” (Jer. 23:16)   All Scripture is the mind of God, though it is not of private interpretation, opinion, nor inclination.  The revelation of the mind and will of God must be searched to understand GOD’S MEANING.  This is done by comparing Scripture with Scripture; prayerfully searching out everything God says on a subject to discern His mind and will.  God does not contradict Himself; therefore, Scripture must interpret Scripture.   Holy men of God   were   employed   by God     to  

make   up   the   canon    of Scripture.  These men were moved by the Holy Spirit to deliver the mind and will of God.  The Holy Spirit is the supreme agent and holy men the instrument. The apostle Peter exalts Scripture as the infallible, inspired
Word of God without error, to be our rule of faith and practice.

SCRIPTURE DEFINES TRUTH

      The departure of 81% of professing believers interviewed, from biblical Christianity is understandably related to the use of unreliable translations of the Bible.  For 400 years the King James Authorized Version, translated from the providentially preserved Masoretic Hebrew and Received Greek texts, has been the most accurate and reliable translation into English.  New versions, in whole or in part, have been translated from the Alexandrian texts with thousands of changes and deletions from the providentially preserved texts.    The New International Version (NIV) is especially altered and unreliable because it is a paraphrase of the translators’ interpretation/opinion. God warns that we “diminish not a word” of His revealed truth, “that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth.”

      Another reason for the demise of professing Christianity is the effect of Darwin’s philosophy of evolution that has transformed the thinking of whole nations around the world.  Darwin’s theory of “origins-by-accident” has given natural man an alternative to belief in God and being accountable to Him.  Many evangelical pastors and leaders have capitulated to the dogma of evolutionary scientists.  Over 12,000 clergy recently signed a pro-Darwin and pro-evolution statement.  The Genesis record of creation has been reinterpreted to allow for the billions of years demanded by evolutionists. But all Scripture is the sure Word of God, confirming that Genesis is literally true.  True Christianity embraces a recent literal creation of all things by God in six twenty-four hour days, several thousand years ago.

       Another reason for defection from scriptural Christianity is the gross ignorance of the Bible’s vital theology and doctrine. Doctrine divides is the excuse, and yes, it does!  It separates truth from error.  The marshmallow gospel of many ministries, without clearly exposited doctrinal teaching, is building on sand. Shallow 15-minute vignettes do little to humble sinners to repentance, saving faith, and true conversion.  The theology of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrines of man’s sin and Christ’s blood atonement are absolutely essential!

      1) GOD  The God who revealed Himself in Scripture is very different from the god many professing Christians worship.  The true God is not made in man’s image. The Triune God is the unchangeable, eternal, infinite, all-wise, omniscient, almighty, sovereign God, who created all things by the word of His power, and works all things according to the counsel of His  own righteous will, for His own glory.

      2) SIN  Sin is the abominable thing that God hates; and that blinds all humanity to the truth.    God defines sin as the transgression of the law; and gave the Ten Commandments to clarify absolute morality by revealing His holy character, will, and law.           (I John 3:4) 

“The slightest outward or inward departure from absolute mathematical parallelism with God’s revealed will (law) and character constitutes a sin, and at once makes us guilty in God’s sight.”  J.C. Ryle      “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries…From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness…The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”   Man is born with utter spiritual deadness, no knowledge of God, no love nor fear of God, by nature.  This is a condition from which none of us can extricate ourselves.  We are entirely dependent upon God’s free and sovereign grace for salvation from sin.  No sinner’s effort could possibly be acceptable because “sin is the violation of an infinite obligation that merits infinite punishment.”  Only the infinite Person and Work of the sinless Lord Jesus Christ could meet this obligation and be acceptable to God.

      3) CHRIST The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, the eternal Word, is the image of the invisible God, by whom and for whom all things were created.  Christ is the God/Man who must have the preeminence in all things, in every believer’s life. Col. 1:15-18  The sinless Christ lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to God’s law, as the sinner’s Substitute.  His righteousness is accredited to all who, by grace, repent of sin and believe in Him.  Christ’s sacrificial death and shed blood, in the sinner’s place, atoned for all the sins of all His people, and propitiated the wrath of God against them.  By His resurrection, Christ verified that God’s justice was fully satisfied; and by faith alone, sinners are justified before God through Christ.  “For (God) hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  II Corin. 5:21

      In II Peter 3, Peter warns we should be very wary and watchful.  Matthew Henry expounds this, “Many who have the true scriptures do not understand God’s actual meaning.  Many who understand the meaning are not established in the belief of the truth.  All these may easily fall into error.  Few attain to the knowledge and acknowledgment of true Christianity; and fewer find and keep the way of practical godliness, which is the narrow way and the only way that leads to life.  There must be a great deal of self-denial and submitting of ourselves to the authority of Christ before we can heartily receive all the doctrinal truths of the gospel.”         

      Let us pray earnestly for God’s mercy on the Church in America and around the world, that God’s Holy Scripture will be cherished; and the scriptural Gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace, exalting the Triune God and the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, will resound from every pulpit on every Lord’s Day!

“BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HEAR

THE WORD OF GOD, AND KEEP IT”!

Luke 11:28

Ladies’  Lamp

THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET

AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH

Psalm  119:105

MARCH/APRIL  2009             ISSUE  81

DEAR  LADIES

      The Lord Jesus Christ, who embodies all the perfections of unconditional love, is the greatest example of this love the world will ever see.   A reflection of His love is seen in many of His servants.  These lesser lights, from the apostles down to present-day saints, have one thing in common: love for God and man.  Many suffered unimaginable difficulties in persecutions, life-and-death tragedies;  but each one persevered in love by God’s grace.  This is no ordinary love we will focus on.

      In Matthew 24:12, Christ said in the last days “the love of many shall wax cold.” Love is the principle of all life in the Church.  When this fails there is decay and evil.  “The fountain of abounding iniquity is love turned cold and passions hot,” observed a pastor of former years. The self-denying sacrificial love commanded in Scripture cramps the post-Christian lifestyle of the 21^st century.    But God commands that we love God, (His doctrine, His law, and His gospel), love His people and our neighbor.  Loving others with the biblical love God commands is impossible apart from the grace and enabling power of the God of love.                                  Carol Swanson 

“LOVE  ONE  ANOTHER  AS  I  HAVE  LOVED  YOU”

        “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye love one another.  By this will all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”  John 13:34-35     C.H. Spurgeon called this the 11^th commandment because the Lord says it is a “new commandment.”  When the lawyer summarized the Ten Commandments in Luke 10:27, saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,”  Christ approved his summary.  Love for God and neighbor was commanded in the Old Testament.  Now the Lord has given a new commandment, that we love one another.  This goes well beyond loving our neighbor as ourselves.  The new commandment is that Christians love one another as Christ has loved us.  I must love my fellow Christians as Christ, who died for me, has loved me.  Love for one’s neighbor is loving regardless of the character of the one who is loved.  But love for fellow Christians is a “love of affinity,”  or the close relationship of a family.  This involves a higher degree of self-sacrifice than the Old Testament law. 

        Brotherly love is the result of grace springing from our new nature.  The grace in a believer sees the grace in other believers and must love them for Christ’s sake.  We should desire and work for our highest mutual benefits as believers.  The best testimony to the world is Christian affection between the people of God.  This is a far more weighty argument with the unsaved than apologetics.  A muslim convert to Christianity from the middle east, said it was the amazing love among Christians that contrasted so poignantly with his own religion, and convinced him to study God’s Word. This is a bond beyond man’s natural ability. 

        Brotherly love is also the evidence that we have been truly converted.  “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.”  I John 3:14    It is the immediate fruit of the Spirit which delights God.  Brotherly love continues because “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 5:5    This is the love of Christ in us that begets a kindred love for one another.   Christ loved those who could do Him no service and deserved nothing at His hands.  We will love because the “love of Christ constraineth us.”  We can love fallen humanity because Christ teaches us to despise no one and despair of none.  By prayer, through the Holy Spirit, we will be more Christ-like and love as He has loved us, giving ourselves to the work and service of love.

        God is love; His nature is love.  God is essentially  love.  Love is of God and flows from God.  This new concept of love in the New Testament was not understood by either Jews or Gentiles because it is not a natural love; but a whole new concept God gave to the world through Jesus Christ.  The world’s idea of love is terribly debased and carnal, portrayed by the entertainment industry.

        If we are truly born again and converted, we will love the orthodox truth of Scripture; we will defend the truth; we will love the God of that truth.  But the ultimate test, where the rubber meets the road, is our love for the brethren, all whom God loves, in or out of our immediate circles.  It is difficult to love sinners whose immaturity of behavior and attitudes rub us wrong.  It is much easier to be offended and carry a grudge than to freely forgive.  In short, it is utterly impossible to live according to I Corinthians 13 without God’s divine nature of love operating by grace within us.  “If I am not conscious of this life within me, and I am not manifesting this life somehow or other, however feebly, then I am not a Christian.”  Martyn Lloyd-Jones    The divine nature of God is love which will manifest itself in those who are born again.

THE CHARACTER OF GODLY LOVE

              “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”        I John 3:18

True love is a grace originating in the God of all grace, and implanted in the heart by the  Spirit.  God’s Spirit regenerates us, making us new creatures in Christ and enabling us to bear the fruits of the Spirit.  Therefore, we can love one another in obedience to Christ’s commandment, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”  John 15:2 

        Godly love mortifies sins of bitterness, wrath, anger, envy, revenge, quarreling.  Through godly love we put off or mortify sinful and ugly attitudes, and put on love “which is the bond of perfectness.”  Love frees the heart from selfishness and gives us a longing to benefit others.  We desire that others may be blessed with all spiritual blessings, especially eternal salvation, that their souls may prosper. 

        Love is the fulfilling of the Law.  “He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”  Rom. 13:8  Love for God is fulfilled in obedience to the First Table of the Law, commandments 1-4.  Love for our neighbor is fulfilled in obedience to the Second Table of the Law, commandments 6-10.  Every precept of these commandments is extremely beneficial to all humanity.  Where these commandments are broken, there is abject misery and breakdown of society.  Where these commandments are conscientiously obeyed there is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.

        Love has great regard for honor due to parents and obedience to authority.  Love abhors all cruelty and taking of life in murder/abortion.  Love mortifies all lusts, hates obscenity,  will not violate chastity,   having regard for the body of a Christian as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Love will not steal from or injure another; but labors in order to give generously to the needy.  Love for our neighbor requires justice in all our dealings.  Love abhors lying and slander. Love is contented with God’s provision and will not covet.  Love makes us sympathetic toward the afflicted and those suffering, bearing one another’s burdens.  Love enables us to pray for the distressed.   Love gives us great delight in the fellowship of believers.

        Love covers a multitude of sins (I Peter 4:8) and makes us able to forgive because Christ has forgiven us.  Christ said we   are   to   forgive

70 X 7, in other words, without limitation.  If a person can’t forgive, his own sins haven’t been forgiven and he knows nothing of this love.  He needs repentance and faith.  By love we bear with one another patiently, knowing none of us is perfect; but we all have our faults and failures.  Love does not take offense.  Offenses and provocations can be stacked high, but grace enables us not to take them to heart, responding in anger.   Love is not easily provoked, (I Corin. 13:5).  A good test of love is not only when our emotions are moved with compassion, but when they are offended and we’re able to cover the offense and forgive.  We want to be forgiven of our offenses toward others; how much more should we in meekness forgive and love all whom Christ loves.  Love banishes jealousy and censure. 

        “See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”  I Peter 1:22   This is love for the brethren with a high degree of affection.  Matthew Henry says it is the Spirit who furnishes the graces, such as faith, hope, the fear of God, and the love of Christ, to purify our hearts.  Before we can love the brethren unfeinedly, we must purify our souls of the sins and partialities of our nature.  Without God’s grace we cannot love God or the brethren.  The love commanded can only come from a pure heart.

        It is cause for great rejoicing and praising God when we see this love of the brethren in practice.  Churches that are taking God’s Word seriously have many opportunities for sacrificial love.  We’ve seen an elderly couple, with no family, cared for in great detail by members of a congregation, in place of a loving family.  Several large families have lost a parent to death, and the churches have embraced them with on-going care and provision.  When members are stricken with serious illnesses or afflictions, the leadership and congregations reach out with help, comfort, and prayers. 
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”    I John 3:18 

Ladies’  Lamp

THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET

AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH

www.ladieslamp.com

JAN/FEB,  2009              ISSUE  80

DEAR  LADIES

      “Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you and not one thing hath failed thereof.”  Joshua 23:14    We affirm Joshua’s testimony of God’s faithfulness as truly a blessing in our own lives throughout 2008!   May we all look forward to His promised faithfulness in 2009, serving Him with love and obedience wherever He may lead.

      This new year our attention is focused on our nation and its new leadership.  As Christians we will give due respect to our leaders for the offices God has appointed, and pray for them.  In many cases they need to be truly converted to Christ, if we are to have leadership according to God’s wisdom, for

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” ! Ps. 33:12

                                                             Carol Swanson

A  TALE  OF  TWO  COUSINS

      The contrast between leaders who bow before God as Lord and those for whom Man is preeminent is illustrated in this Tale of Two Cousins.   These cousins were born into a family of the Dutch Reformed faith.  One was converted as a youth, feared and loved God, reverenced His Word, and lived by faith and obedience, depending upon God.  The other rejected his family’s faith and embraced the humanism taught in the educational system.  Each became president and led this nation, according to his faith.

“As (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  Prov. 23:7

      Theodore Roosevelt was the first of the cousins to be president, at the turn of the 20^th century.  He

was nurtured in the fear and wisdom of God.  He was a president who worked in his office with his open Bible and a concordance, searching Scripture for God’s instructions, finding direction for his official decisions.   He believed God’s principles and commandments were meant to be applied to every sphere of life:  family, church, government, education, society.   God blessed this nation above all other nations when its leaders honored God and kept His Law.

      Franklin D. Roosevelt was the later president, who embraced man-centered humanistic socialism in opposition to God-centered Law and biblical principles.  FDR promoted Government as the savior to provide for man’s needs.  Both men were leaders with charisma, astute minds, and powerful influence.  But it was the knowledge and wisdom of God that gave TR the ability to give biblical leadership.  It is only the fear of God and His wisdom that forms righteous,  God-honoring     leader-

ship.  History records multitudes of ungodly leaders and their miserable disasters.

      We desire wise and godly leadership as TR gave it; but the anti/unbiblical attitudes and practices of our people deserve His judgment.  However, let us pray earnestly for our leaders, believing “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as rivers of water:  He turneth it withersoever He will.”  Prov. 21:1     Let us also pray for our people and a great reformation, turning us back to the true Scripture and the true doctrines and practice of that Scripture.

FEAR  OF  GOD  IS  THE BEGINNING…

      The fear of God is not very popular today among professing Christians; yet God says it is the beginning   of a life of wisdom.  Before any progress in the Christian life, or even before conversion, there must be the fear of God.   The unsaved need to know God’s holy character, how their sin has offended this great and holy God.  Man’s pride and rebellion must be humbled and we must bow in humility before the infinitely holy God.  The fear of God is fundamental.

      “Wisdom is the principal thing…the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:  and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”  A book written by A.W. Tozer, entitled The Knowledge of the Holy, brings out this truth.  He exalts the attributes of God, which humble the pride of man.   By nature we are filled with pride, and foolishness is bound up in our hearts.   We are turned from God to our own way.  We have no law but lust, and no rule but our will.  By our own self-delusion, we are the servants of corruption. (II Peter 2:19)  God says we are ignorant, licentious, wanton, desiring only to be the fountain of our own happiness and maker of our own sufficiency.

      After conversion, by God’s grace, we have only one dread –- to offend our Heavenly Father.  Our singular desire is to please God and delight in Him.  This is the “fear of the Lord,”  which the Holy Spirit begins and brings to maturity in the lives of the truly converted.  “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence…The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life.”  Prov. 14:26, 27

Because of this spiritually healthy fear of God, the Christian examines his thoughts, motives, speech and actions under the microscope of God’s Word (wisdom), to please and honor Him.   “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:  for our God is a consuming fire.”  Heb. 12:28-29

WISDOM’S REWARD

      The Bible plainly says the fear of God is the beginning of both wisdom and knowledge.  It also declares the wisdom of this world to be vanity and foolishness.   God’s wisdom is sound because it defines the truth in all areas.  It gives us discretion in our behavior, keeping and preserving us from evil.

      The fear of God is the whole duty of man.  “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God, and keep his commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man.”   Eccl. 12:13   By grace and the Spirit we bend humbly and carefully in affectionate reverence to God’s Law, “putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.”  The rule of God’s Law, carefully applied and improved in practice, furnishes the key for understanding the whole Word of God.   Charles Bridges in his classic commentary on Proverbs, exhorts us to patient searching of Scripture which “forms the habit of living in the element of Scripture, and filling us with this divine treasury!”

      The only happiness worth seeking is found in fearing God and living according to His wisdom.  God’s wisdom will answer all circumstances and survive the continual changes of our earthly lives.  Wisdom involves strictness without bondage because we are working from a principle of gratitude and delight in God.  The self-denial of taking up the cross and mortifying our sins is the indispensable requisite to being Christ’s disciples.   To the truly converted, these disciplines of godliness are more joyous than the “pleasures of sin.”    The way of wisdom abounds in spiritual pleasures that are solid, abiding, and satisfying.  “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom…Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”  Prov. 3:13, 17

      Nothing can make wisdom’s ways palatable to the carnal, unconverted mind because the unsaved cannot please God and God’s ways cannot please them.

SPIRITUAL  DARKNESS  INCREASING

      God’s wisdom is needed in every detail for our behavior in daily life, our emotional affections, and our doctrinal beliefs.  In short, we need to be truly converted to Christ; and the true Scripture must saturate our thinking and living.  The world of the unregenerate has its distinct opinions in direct opposition to Scripture.  When the world’s people are in power, there is always disdain for biblical truth and practice, often accompanied by persecution.

      Spiritual darkness has spread over Europe and most Western nations because of the rejection of Scripture.  When Charles Darwin published his views on evolution in the mid-1800’s, the scientific world was gripped by its influence.  Before that, only empirical science was considered true science.  This opened the door for philosophical science  and moved the scientific field into the realm of religion.  The evolutionary explanation of origins replaced Scripture and God.  The evolutionary philosophy of origins has permeated the sciences to the exclusion of any other model and ostracizing all who attempt it.  Zealous worshippers of false gods do not tolerate any competition or opposition!

      When Darwin’s philosophy was so widely accepted, the churches in Europe hurried to catch up and make Christianity relevant.  They removed Genesis from its literal and foundational truth, destroyed Scriptural Christianity, and spawned a hybrid religion.*  They questioned Scripture itself and turned to spurious manuscripts, which led to the production of an armada of English translation “Bibles,” of which not one is faithful to the original.  This leaven spread to the New World and the spiritual darkness has increased in our nation and culture.  False heathen religions are multiplying and pagan practices are enjoying increasing acceptance.  Many churches are trying to be relevant by incorporating the world’s profane methods; but the darkness is increasing!  Expositional preaching and teaching God’s truth from the only Scripture He has preserved is the singular method which God has blessed throughout history.  

RIGHTEOUSNESS  (ALONE)

EXALTETH  A  NATION;  BUT  SIN  IS  A  REPROACH  TO  ANY  PEOPLE.”

PROVERBS  14:34

*  Dr. Douglas Kelly has an excellent DVD on this subject, entitled, What the Genesis Text Really Says about Creation, produced by Answers in Genesis.

Ladies’ Lamp
THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET
AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH
Psalm 119:105
www.ladieslamp.com
MAY/JUNE, 2008 ISSUE 76
DEAR LADIES
What is the first thing you do when trouble strikes? Do you worry about the logistics of dealing with it? Do you fret about how you’ll stretch the finances? Do you fear the sleepless nights with pain and misery? We all, as fallen creatures, are tempted to look first within ourselves. But that’s a ridiculous and dreadful mistake! We have no resources at all in ourselves. The Bible is very clear on this point. Every child of God must look immediately and entirely to God, praying in faith, trusting Him for all the details. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.” We look to God for all needful help to elevate us above surrounding circumstances. Trust in God is our salvation in all the vicissitudes of life.
Carol Swanson
TRUST IN GOD
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God in whom I will trust.” Psalm 18:2
Trust in God is the marrow of the Christian life. Some Christians think they start the Christian life by faith in Christ, and then struggle on their own. But faith marks the beginning, middle, and end of our Christian life. If we lack simple, childlike trust and faith in God, we lose all rest in God. Despite appearances, when troubles are beyond counting and all things seem against us, it is great faith and trust

to be able to say, “I will not be afraid,” and face our difficulties with grace. We need to pray that God will increase our faith — unreserved faith to trust God in all circumstances. Remember what looks bad now is not bound to end badly. Scripture has many examples of dark appearances and bright endings. (Jacob meeting Esau on his way back to Canaan.) Believers show their faith by trusting when things are going poorly. Above all our usual experiences, this is an opportunity to glorify God.
“I will fear no evil for thou art with me.” Psalm 23:4
Whatever the uncertainty of the unknown, “Thou art with me,”
God is in it and that’s enough! There is no chance in our unknown future because God has made all the arrangements.
“I will call upon God and the Lord shall save me.” Psalm 60:16
Unreserved trust brings us gladly to prayer and sincere calling on God in faith, which has powerful results. For all spiritual sowing there must be spiritual reaping. Daily time spent in study of Scripture and earnest prayer, consistent attendance at church services and observance of the Lord’s Day sabbath are means God uses to increase our faith and trust. (However, we do not trust in the means, but only in God Himself.) If we are convinced of the power of prayer, we will pray with conviction that an answer in the Lord’s way and time will surely come, producing good spiritual results.
The sole object of trust is God. Real trusting faith and love is
fixed on God Himself, irrespective of time, circumstances, difficulties. There is no other explanation for Martin Luther’s fearlessness in the face of formidable enemies, salivating for his life. However lawless or wicked man is, God is supreme ruler in very truth! Bitter attacks of enemies coming in like a flood will be met by almighty power, stronger than their malice or evil passions. God is able to put His hook in their nose and bridle in their lips. We must trust God in His character of Ruler and be at peace saying, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands…which have set themselves against me.”

TRUSTING IN THE FIREY FURNACE
In 1812 Adoniram and Ann Judson were the first Americans of the greatest army of missionaries ever sent out from any nation in history. They endured extreme difficulties through faith and trust in God as Sovereign Lord over salvation and providence.
After her conversion at 16, Ann studied her Bible as often as she ate her meals. She avidly read theological books and spent time in prayer. Ann was gifted with articulation of the truth, accompanied by a bouyant and cheerful spirit. Adoniram, upon graduation from seminary, immediately applied for foreign
mission service in India. They were married just before departure.
God called them to service in Burma, now known as Myanmar. The work was slow, with six years of labor before they saw their first convert. Adoniram labored to learn the language and learned to write it without dictionaries. He wrote the first English-Burmese dictionary and translated the entire Scripture which is still in use. Ann wrote a catechism for her women and children students. They made a significant impact on the lives of the Burmese and the church is still functioning today.
Ann’s first baby was stillborn and she barely survived. Their next child, a boy, delighted them for almost 8 months, when he succumbed to an illness. It was a sore trial, but they did not allow it to interfere with their love for the Lord or the work of the gospel.
Adoniram’s preaching was going well as one by one 18 people were converted and baptized. Ann had been afflicted with a liver disease and was finally sent back to the States at that time. Doctors in America miraculously did not kill her! They bled her to “cleanse the blood,” gave her mercury pills for salivation, and applied blister-plaster. She survived the treatment and began recovering, by the grace of God and His blessing on good food and rest. Not fully recovered, she sailed back to Adoniram after they were separated for two difficult years.
Because he was white, Adoniram was imprisoned in a filthy, infested prison during the British-Burma War. Ann built a bamboo hut outside the prison so she could prepare his meals and importune the officials for his release. During this time, Ann gave birth to their third child, a girl. Before imprisonment, they had adopted two little Burmese orphan girls for whom she was caring.
Smallpox was spreading and the two adopted girls and Ann’s 3 ½ month-old baby became ill. (Judsons had been inoculated before they left.) All survived by Ann’s loving care, although she was very weak.
After 19 months as government prisoners and 6 months in this miserable prison routine, the British won the war and rescued the Judsons. The British officers were appalled at the Auschwich-appearance of all the Judsons. They had suffered terribly from diseases and starvation.
Ann and the baby survived the immediate future and enjoyed family life again with Adoniram. However, their health was so undermined that their survival was terminal. The grief for Adoniram, still weak from prison, was deep. He trusted God and immersed himself in the work of the gospel for Burma, which he continued until he died at 62.
How did these missionaries endure such extreme privations, “contradictions of sinners,” multiple diseases, and, for Adoniram, the deaths of 2 wives and 6 children? By the Word and the Spirit. God’s Word with its precepts and promises is our constant guide and comfort. God’s Spirit is our Enabler and Comforter.
The Judsons were not super saints, with some innate ability to endure with grace. They were ordinary Christians like us, with the same Bible and the same God! They
persevered in serving the Lord by faith and uncompromising trust in God who is sovereign over all things and makes all things work together for our good and His glory.

Ann Judson’s life is a great
encouragement for all mothers today. Most of us will probably never suffer what she did; but we can trust God for grace to give ourselves with the same self-denial and dedication to God’s glory, serving Him in our homes and our generation.

For an in-depth biography of Ann Judson see My Heart in His Hands by Sharon James, published by Evangelical Press.

Ladies’ Lamp

THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET
AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH
Psalm 119:105
www.ladieslamp.com
MARCH/APRIL, 2008 ISSUE 75

DEAR LADIES
The New Birth begins a life of holiness, the only solid principle of joy and happiness. The new heart is the inward fountain sending forth wholesome water; the good tree bearing good fruit; the softened and humbled heart bowing to the will of God. Without the new heart of the New Birth, the ways and fashions of the world rule with a mighty power!

The New Birth also begins warfare with the enemies of salvation and the battle of two natures. It is not a burden to the true Christian to take on the yoke of discipline, which is the key to victory in the war between his old and new natures. Scripture exhorts us to declare war on our sins and mortify them.

Years ago my brother and I agreed to meet our younger brother to give him a ride home. He was late meeting us and I was short-tempered about it. I opened the door of the car for him to climb into the back seat, gave him a sizeable piece of my mind, and slammed the door for emphasis. However, I forgot my sandaled foot was still in the door! When the trauma of broken toes subsided, I was humbled enough to realize some “poetic justice” in that. Here was a classic case of anger that needed to be mortified and the lesson was poignant! Carol Swanson

MORTIFICATION OF SIN
“BUT IF YE THROUGH THE SPIRIT DO MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, YE SHALL LIVE.” Romans 8:13b
Mortification means “to kill”. It is a holy disposition in the regenerate person, received by virtue of Christ’s death. At the New Birth the believer was delivered from he condemnation of God’s law. He was freed from the reigning power of sin. But “the flesh” or old nature, the fountain of filthiness, remains unchanged to the end of life. The old nature never ceases to oppose God and holiness. “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.” Galatians 5:17 This is the conflict Paul describes in Romans 7 and 8. Until death, the believer will fight the indwelling sin of his old nature, which opposes his new nature of inherent grace. Self-idolatry energizes the old nature, which is an “idol factory.” We can spend twenty times the hours on sports, hobbies, pleasures, unnecessary shopping, etc., than we give to Bible study and prayer.

WHAT MORTIFICATION IS NOT
Mortification of sin is the result of the New Birth and not the cause of it. The legalist’s error is at this point. He fights sin because it disturbs his peace, troubles his conscience and brings judgment on him. He is not fighting sin because it is an offense against God, sullies the perfections of God, dishonors God, and defiles his own soul. He does not truly hate sin, but opposes it just enough to put it down, not to root it out. “Mortification by self-strength, through self-invented ways, ending in self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religions in the world.” (John Owen) Mortification is done “through the Spirit.” This makes Christianity different from all other religions which depend on morality and legalism.

HUMILIATION
Mortification is the result of deep humiliation. Without humiliation, there is but a temporary cessation from sin. Humiliation and hatred for our sin motivate us to persevere in prayer until we mortify it. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh (old nature) with the affections (passions) and lusts.” Galatians 5:24 Anger, bitterness, grudges, pride, arrogance, envy, jealousy, covetousness are among the passions that must be crucified. The Spirit does not do the mortifying. He moves us to pray against our sin and pray for power to overcome it. We then “through the Spirit” do the mortifying. It is not “let go and let God”; it is not self-effort. Ours is the duty and the success and glory is God’s.

We are to mortify both the root and branches of corruption. Slay and put to death evil desires and actions, “through the Spirit.” “In mortification of sin we crucify the flesh and take away our corrupt nature’s power to rule. The death of our sins through mortification is evidence that we are ‘alive unto God through Christ.’ God never deals this way with anyone else — only those in Christ.” (John Flavel) When the Holy Spirit gives us power to kill sin in the heart, He gives grace to live and act in obedience to God. Mortification or death of sin comes in tandem with the life of grace. Deep humiliation of heart makes the Christian like a warrior who will either kill or be killed.

“We will either be killing our sin, or our sin will be killing us!” John Owen

DISCIPLINE THE BODY
Paul says in I Corin. 9:27, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.” Jesus tells us how this is done in Luke 21:34, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting (gluttonous indulgence), and drunkenness.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones warns us, “The sin of our old nature is always trying to turn our natural instincts into evil desires. It turns them into ‘inordinate affections,’ exaggerating them, making us indulge ourselves. This sinful principle works against God’s will for discipline and self-control. There is an intimate connection between the body, mind and spirit.”

Paul exhorts us to strike at the root and whole body of sin. In Ephesians 4, he tells us to mortify the old nature, which is corrupt, and be renewed in the Spirit. Live according to the new nature which “after God is created in righteousness and true holiness…and grieve not the Holy Spirit” by our sin. In Colossians Paul tells us to mortify the sins of our old nature: fornication, sexual sins and provocations, inordinate appetites, covetousness. Cease all anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, profanity, filthy vulgarities. Live our lives filled with mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing, forgiving one another. Our provision is in Christ, by the blood of His cross, to mortify our lusts. By active faith in Christ we mortify our sins, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not conquer in our own strength; but do it all through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil 4:3)

When the world, our old nature, and Satan are encouraging us to sin, we can remember Joseph in Genesis 39. Here is proper motivation to restrain and bridle our lust for sin and abstain from it. Joseph had opportunity, importunity, secrecy, and advantage; yet by God’s power he mortified it all, that he might not “do this great wickedness and sin against God!”

Ladies’ Lamp
THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET
AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH
Psalm 119:105
www.ladieslamp.com
JAN/FEB, 2008 ISSUE 74

DEAR LADIES
A very blessed 2008 to each of you! Thank you so much for your cards, letters, and emails telling of the Lord’s blessing through Ladies’ Lamp. I pray He will use us all to make His glory known throughout 2008!  Snowflakes floating to earth on cold winter nights present an amazing variety of snow crystals which point to God as Creator. These beautiful snow crystals of three-dimensional geometrical symmetry exemplify the order and design of the universe. The intricately detailed organization of the physical universe cannot be explained by the random chaos of evolution. This order and design in snowflakes is eloquent evidence for the existence of God. A magnificent accumulation of these snow crystals in a pristine sculpture on the landscape is a delightful declaration of the glory of God, the Creator. As awesome as this creative beauty is, there is something even more glorious -– God’s New Creation in the New Birth!
Carol Swanson

“BORN OF THE SPIRIT”
In Matthew 19 Christ’s disciples asked Him a quintessential question, “Who then can be saved? ” He answered, “With men this is impossible.” Man’s fall into the bondage, guilt, and power of sin, places him under just condemnation to eternal hell. These are totally insurmountable obstacles, rendering him helpless. God’s omniscient wisdom and God’s omnipotence alone are sufficient, which Christ affirmed as He continued, “With God all things are possible.” Regeneration or the New Birth is far more than “making a decision” and, as in our physical birth, we contribute nothing. It is the supernatural operation of God upon man’s spirit, an eternal marvel. The New Birth is the dividing line between heaven and hell.

Man’s fallen sinful nature is deceptively wicked, a corrupt tree that cannot bring forth good fruit; a carnal mind that is at enmity against God, unwilling and unable to submit to the law of God. (Rom. 8:7) “Now the works of the flesh (fallen nature) are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (sexually unrestrained), Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations (contentions), wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings…they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21  The “born-again” claim made by many today, whose lives have not changed, is not the regeneration of God. The Biblical New Birth is the operation of the Holy Spirit, breathing spiritual life into the soul, with the “new heart of flesh.” The Triune God is the efficient cause of regeneration. God the Father, of His own sovereign will and pleasure, regenerates through the Word of truth. God the Son is the Resurrection and the Life, the Author of spiritual life, whose voice the spiritually dead in sin hear and live. Christ is formed in them, His image stamped upon them. God the Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration, making them alive and new creations in Christ Jesus.

Why would God do all this for sinners, described in Galatians 5, who hate Him and His authority? “God is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us.” “Of His own will begat He us”…of His sovereign will and pleasure.” It is the free grace, love, and mercy of God that applies the New Birth to sinners who deserve nothing better than hell.  The resurrection of Christ is the virtual cause of regeneration. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten (regenerated) us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” I Peter 1:3  The instrument of regeneration is the Word of God. “Being born again…by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” I Peter 1:23  Through the preaching of Scripture sinners are directed to repent and believe on Christ. The Holy Spirit attends the Word with power and makes it effective unto salvation. The Spirit, using the two-edged Sword of Scripture humbles proud hearts to repentance of sin and glad submission to Christ. How exceedingly vital is the expository preaching of the exact Word of Scripture, in systematic doctrine, applied to the conscience!

EVIDENCES OF THE NEW BIRTH
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” I John 3:9 This does not mean “sinless perfection”, as the same Apostle in I John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” The regenerated person is converted from living for self and sin to loving and obeying God.
After the New Birth the Christian sees the fullness, completeness, and all-sufficiency in Christ of everything necessary for salvation. He trusts entirely and only in Christ, His blood, righteousness, intercession, and mediation for full and free salvation. He is justified through faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone.

The New Birth gives a new view of sin, and the Ten Commandments appear in an entirely new light. The newly born Christian loves and worships a new God. In his natural, unsaved condition he was a god unto himself, in self-righteousness and self-gratification. Taking God’s name in vain, Sabbath-breaking, fornication, lying, covetousness are not trifling matters any more. Breaking the commandments is offensive to the new Christian because he loves what God loves and hates what God hates. The Christian knows every sin against God or man is an abominable offense against God. He hates sin and desires to mortify it, root and branch.  Holiness, which is practical and progressive sanctification, is a vital evidence of the New Birth. “Follow…holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” Heb. 12:14 A life of obedience, spiritual mindedness with affections set on things above, meekness, and a great delight in all the means of grace (daily Bible study, prayer, attendance at Lord’s Day services, and studies) are all evidences of the New Birth.

GLORY OF THE NEW BIRTH
A moving illustration of God’s grace in bestowing the New Birth is the following story:
Daniel, a former Islamic political leader in Iran, had memorized the Quran by the age of nine. As a member of Hezbollah he trained Muslims in military exercises to hate and kill Jews and Christians, especially Americans. America represents Christianity to them because many missionaries are sent around the world from there. The Quran incites them to hate “infidels,” anyone who disagrees.
Daniel married a woman he met in the military and they had three daughters. Eventually, he was arrested and sentenced to death. Muslims are as liable as anyone else to the cruelty and torture of the system. By God’s grace he survived the torture and escaped to Turkey.  Before he left Iran he had seen a New Testament at a friend’s house and learned it was a gift from Iranian Christians who had escaped to Turkey. His curiosity was aroused and he eventually attended their gathering in Turkey.  Being accustomed to harsh treatment from his fellow Muslims, he was astounded at the loving attitudes of the Christians, to him and to each other. This was not what he’d been taught about Christians!  It was a long process of observing the genuine Christ-likeness of these people and studying the reason for it. The Christians began teaching him from Creation in Genesis to the Gospel of Christ. As he was studying Scripture and hearing it preached weekly, God regenerated him with a new heart and he was wonderfully converted.  He managed to get his wife and daughters to Turkey and was eager to tell them what God in Christ had done for him. Needless to say, his wife was not impressed! She was shocked, and life for them became difficult. But his consistent Christianity, lived before her, broke down the barriers. God regenerated all four of his loved ones and brought them to repentance of sin and saving faith in Christ.  Daniel and his family are now living in America. He is a bold witness of the grace of God, even though his life is threatened. But God is sovereign and no efforts of terrorists can thwart God’s plan for His people.  Daniel is so thankful that the true God is a Personal God, proved by His entering into human flesh, living and dying in the place of His people. The personal love of God is in distinct contrast to all the gods of false religions, he declares. These gods must be placated by works and no one knows until after death if he has worked enough! The true God reaches down to man, gives him a new heart, gives him all he needs to accomplish God’s purposes for him, and assures him his place in Christ throughout eternity, by His free and sovereign grace.  He sees the representation of this New Birth in two photos of his loved ones. In Iran, before Christ came into their lives, they were sadly sober, without joy. The later photo shows the love and joy of Christ radiating from each of them. Praise God for His grace and mercy that brings sinners out of spiritual death and darkness into His everlasting light by the New Birth!

Ladies’  Lamp

THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET

AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH

Psalm  119:105

www.ladieslamp.com

 

NOV/DEC,  2007                                       ISSUE  73

DEAR  LADIES

We recently had a discussion on a Lord’s Day afternoon about the questionable and bizarre methods professing Christians are using to attract the world’s attention, and men in particular.  A case in point was the pastor of a church in the northwest who is called the “Cursing Pastor.”   He appeals to the male population by flaunting God’s law.   

The leaders in the Emerging Church movement teach no doctrine, give no offense, and make no demands.  They are strong on emotional appeal and New Age experiences that fit into the postmodern culture.  This burgeoning movement  does not accept the clarity and authority of Scripture.  Many have fallen prey because, as Pastor John MacArthur laments, Biblical ignorance among professing Christians is probably deeper and more widespread than it’s ever been since the Protestant Reformation.  The absence of expository teaching of Scripture has filled the churches with unconverted people.

Satan is not only instigating New Age occultic practices into the Church, but also giving worldly, carnal methods a broad appeal.   At the center of all his attacks is Scripture.  If he can get professing Christians to disregard Scripture in their beliefs and practices,  he’s won the battle for their souls.

        Carol Swanson

“THE  WEAPONS  OF  OUR  WARFARE  ARE  NOT  CARNAL,  BUT  MIGHTY  

THROUGH  GOD  TO  THE  PULLING  DOWN  OF  STRONGHOLDS’   II  CORIN.  10:4

This verse is saying the methods we use to fight the spiritual warfare must not be carnal.  Spiritual warfare is not fought with worldly weapons.  We do not depend on our eloquence, talent, learning, wealth, beauty or any external means used by the world.  There is no spiritual power in these things.  Our strength is in God alone.  Our conquests are only in the power of the truth applied to the conscience by the Holy Spirit.  

Obstacles that oppose the truth are strongly fortified.  The sins of the heart are fortified by long indulgence.  The idolatry of the world is strongly fortified by prejudice and long establishment.  The whole world is fortified against Biblical Christianity; and since the Fall the nations have given 100% to strengthen these strongholds.   We labor against strongly fortified heresies and sin.  They can only be battered down and laid in ruins by spiritual weapons, empowered by God.  “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God…”  

The enemies of God are deluded by false systems of philosophy and reasonings that exalt the pride of man and oppose the knowledge of God.  Only God can deliver them by  “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”  (10:5)  Christ is the Captain of this warfare.  In His name the battle is waged and by His power the victory is won.  All the power of reason and judgment are to come under the laws of Christ; all the plans of life controlled by Christ; all the emotions and feelings of the heart controlled by the all-conquering Redeemer.  The weapons of this warfare cannot be carnal to subdue all things to Christ.  It is the power of God alone, through the Sword of the Spirit, by prayer and supplication.  (Barnes’ Notes)

God has ordained two weapons that are as essential to the Christian  as oxygen and breathing: SCRIPTURE  AND  PRAYER.  Two great warriors gone before us were champions in the use and defense of these indispensable weapons.  

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a medical doctor and the minister of Westminster Chapel in London during the 20^th Century.  We have a legacy of his ministry in sermons and books.  He had an  exceptionally  fruitful    ministry establishing many people in the doctrines of Scripture and the godly Christian life through expository preaching.  He mourned modern evangelistic methods  when contrasted with the great movements of God’s Spirit in historical evangelism and early missionary efforts.  He saw the evangelism of this age as superficial and barren.  The “boisterousness” of caterwauling rock music and use of gimmicks would have horrified our fathers in the faith!  Dr. Lloyd-Jones believed the main reason for this is the Church’s attitude toward Scripture.

God’s preserved Scripture in the Received Text*, King James Version in English, is His weapon. Scripture alone is “sharper than any two-edged sword,” cutting through the pride of man, revealing sin as infinitely outrageous to the  Holy  God.   The   gospel   of    Holy

Scripture alone is the “power of God unto salvation.”

 *The Received Text is the only Divinely preserved Scripture.  Inferior texts are especially defective on the Deity of Christ.  Compared with God’s preserved Received Text, they are inaccurate with critical changes and sections missing.  This corruption of the truth in the proliferation of versions in English has produced a powerless Christianity.  “The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.  Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.”  Ps. 12:6   “Every word of God is pure…add thou not unto His words.”  Prov. 32:5,6

The wholesale departure from the Authorized King James Version to more popular but inaccurate versions, is evidence that we’re in a famine such as Amos mentioned.  “Behold the days come saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land…of hearing the words of the Lord.”  Amos 8:11 

The Divinely preserved Bible is our only authority.  Dr. Jones’ ministry was blessed and used by God because he preached the doctrines of the Word of God and applied the truth to the conscience.  He never indulged in superficial carnal gimmicks which appeal to the sinful nature of man.

Another great warrior whom God used mightily in the battle for souls was George Whitefield.  In the 18^th century the culture of England was godless, callously crude, and brutal.  The churches were powerless and true conversions few.  Whole communities had no gospel witness and lived like pagans.  They were so debauched they packed picnic lunches to eat as they were “entertained”  by public hangings! Into this desolate spiritual scene, God sent George Whitefield  to   minister as an evangelist both in England and America, just before the American Revolutionary  War.               

Whitefield was a gifted and bold preacher who used only Scripture “to engage attention.” Often he was attacked, beaten, ridiculed and harassed with rotten eggs and even dead animals thrown at him.  He did not revise his program to pacify the “temporary insanity” of his listeners. He persevered with Scripture alone because he served the Sovereign God, using God’s ordained weapons. 

George Whitefield lived a disciplined life of prayer and study. These hours of study/prayer were the source of God’s power in his ministry,  and many were converted to Christ in England, Scotland, Ireland, and America. He preached 18,000 sermons in his life.  (Probably the most difficult day was when he preached the funeral of his only child, and was asked to preach  two more sermons.)

God used his proclamation of Scripture to convert many thousands in one of the greatest in-gatherings the world has ever known.    “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 4:6

This humble servant understood Satan’s strongholds could never be cast down using the world’s attractions.  Sinners’ wilful hearts would never be broken and brought into obedience to Christ by carnal methods –- and certainly not methods that break God’s commandments!  The effective weapons in the warfare of the Kingdom of God are THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT AND INTERCESSORY PRAYER.  George Whitefield gave himself  to  unceasing assault.  Prayer was the essence of his Christian life. 

The singularly fruitful ministries of 19^th century pastors, C.H. Spurgeon and Alexander Brown, were amply supported by congregational prayer meetings throughout the week. If fervent prayer is not a vigorous function in a church, it will resort to superficial means. Today we see the fruits of unbiblical methods in the churches.  People are woefully ignorant of the doctrines of Scripture, and especially the vitally important doctrines of grace. Their emotions are so energized by the exhilaration of carnal methods,  they are now turning to New Age mysticism!   

This is the battle raging all around us with Satan fighting as a “roaring lion…seeking whom he may devour.”  Lukewarm Christians are powerless to stand against this.  Christians, who daily study the true Word of God with alacrity, daily pray “with all prayer and supplication,” and daily walk in humble faith and obedience with the Lord, will stand firm. Faithful to the true Scriptures, they are the lighthouses in this dark world.  Whatever Satan fires at them, they will “stand in the power of (God’s) might.”  God’s preserved Word will not be shaken.  God honors His ordained weapons of Scripture and prayer. 

 

This is a sorry substitute for the Biblical Christianity Hudson Taylor preached in China at the turn of the 20^th century.  He set 

 

a notable example of great respect for God’s law.  Even though he was an extremely busy missionary who spearheaded the move of the gospel across China, he carefully kept the Lord’s Day holy.    He refused to travel on the Lord’s Day, breaking the 4^th commandment, and using services of those who ignored God’s law. The whole day belonged to God.   God had the preeminence in Taylor’s life and in his ministry.

            Bruce Hunt, an Orthodox Presbyterian missionary to Manchuria/Korea in the last century, was imprisoned several times by the Japanese because he believed God must have the preeminence.  Those countries were occupied and ruled by Japan’s military forces. Missionary Hunt stayed on the field with his wife and five children rather than leave believers to suffer alone.  Christians were persecuted and imprisoned because they wouldn’t bow in worship to the Japanese emperor.  Many mothers, fathers, pastors and even children were imprisoned for refusing to worship the emperor.  Mr. Hunt and other missionaries were imprisoned with them for teaching them God’s law, that no one but the God of the Bible must be worshipped.    When his Japanese interrogator asked him if he believed it necessary for the Japanese emperor to believe in Christ, he replied, “…there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”   The interrogator asked if the emperor (worshipped as the Japanese god) would be lost if he did not believe in Jesus?   Mr. Hunt answered he believed the emperor was a mere man who must believe in Jesus, the Son of God, or he would suffer eternal punishment.

 an awakening in Japan.    To this day it remains a hardened people.

             God must have the preeminence in our lives, our message, and our methods.  Neither of these missionaries stooped to the outlandish tools employed today in evangelism.  It never occurred to them to use the world’s attractions to preach the gospel.   We’ve had a generation of “Christian entertainment,” using the world’s caterwauling rock music and drama, to get out the gospel.  What is the result?  Evangelical churches are now full of people whose emotions have been so energized that they are turning to New Age mysticism!   Missionaries Taylor and Hunt were men of much prayer. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”   It is not carnal methods, but consistent, fervent prayers of His righteous people  that God hears and honors.   

             In 1907 the missionaries and believers of northern Korea very earnestly poured out their hearts before God, searching their hearts and praying for six months, often with broken hearts and bitter tears.  The Spirit came as a flood and Korea had a great awakening.   Because   God is preeminent we cannot use carnal methods and expect spiritual results.   Expository preaching of God’s exact Word applied to the conscience and saturated in the continual fervent prayers of God’s people are the weapons God uses to pull down strongholds…

THAT   HE  MIGHT  HAVE  THE  PREEMINENCE.

 

 

Ladies’   Lamp
THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET
AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH
Psalm  119:105
www.ladieslamp.com
SEPT/OCT,  2007                                                   ISSUE  72

DEAR  LADIES
Thank you for your encouraging responses to the last Ladies’ Lamp relating to New Age mysticism infiltrating the evangelical churches.  One lady said she could verify it all, as she had studied books with New Age influence in an evangelical church.  She also attended a conference led by a New Age “guru” where she saw the dark and immoral side of the movement.  We must zealously promote the true Authorized Scripture and all its doctrinal truth with much prayer in this warfare against the enemy of souls!
Carol Swanson

THAT  GOD  MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE
Scripture teaches that God’s primary design in creation and redemption is His own glory.  Systems of theology,  based on the idea that God’s main objective is the happiness of man, do not understand the Bible’s teaching about God or man.  These errors spring from the notion that God’s redemptive process focuses on blessing man.  Evangelism that focuses on man’s happiness is delusive, with a defective view of God and salvation.  Unquestionably, God loves sinners, bestowing many blessings and mercies on His people.  But the supreme end of all His works is not man’s happiness.  It is to demonstrate God’s glorious attributes, especially love, power, and  justice.  Col. 1:16, 18  “…all things were created by Him and for Him…that in all things He might have the preeminence.”
Isa. 43:7  “…everyone that is called by my name:  for I have created him for my glory.”

When we understand the preeminence of God, we realize the enormity of our sin against God.  By nature man has a very deficient and flaccid view of sin which has spawned false doctrines through the centuries.  The Bible shows sin to be “an infinitely outrageous offense against the holy God.” (John Piper)  Man’s fall into sin was not a bit of a scratch on his personality, requiring the psychological bandages offered today.  Man’s fall into sin was total, affecting every area of his being.  The depravity and corruption of sin, as God defines it, is thorough.  We were born with sinful natures fully equipped to commit ANY sin.  It’s only by God-ordained restraints of home, church, society, and conversion that we do not indulge to our full capacity!  (As these restraints are removed we see the depths of this depravity.)
The major problem of the fallen nature is self-will –- being my own god.  I am preeminent, not God!  The sinner is pervertedly dedicated to his own self-interest.  He cannot see the glory of God and the beauty of Christ because his mind is fallen into spiritual darkness.  Regeneration is the New Birth wherein the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the lost soul to see the glory of God.  He sees God as holy and worthy of worship and supreme honor.  The sinner is convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit.  He sees his sin as an outrageous offense against God, and turns in humble repentance from his sin and self-will.

CONVERSION
Conversion is the result of the New Birth.  Conversion represents the resurrection from spiritual death to eternal life by God’s grace.  Through the power of grace we become active, turning from sin by repentance to Christ by faith.  Through conversion God corrects our depravity.  Regeneration and conversion are God’s work of showing His glory to the soul of a sinner and moving him to dedicate himself to God’s glory.  Faith is not just believing the facts of the gospel.  Saving faith is seeing “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” and relishing God’s glory.   To be a Christian, God’s work of regeneration and conversion is absolutely necessary.
Children growing up in  Christian homes, memorizing Scripture and learning well the doctrines of the gospel, can repeat the facts and do what is expected of them.  But if they are not converted, there is no spiritual life, though they go through the motions.  Mere decency of external behavior, with freedom from gross sins, is no evidence of conversion. Those same things are found in people with proud spirits who are self-righteous.  The heart is not changed. All children need MUCH PRAYER that they be truly converted by the work of God’s Spirit.  What are the evidences of conversion in a child?  He has a simple, devout and tender state of heart.  He is affected by the truth of God as Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and Christ as Savior, who shed His blood and laid down His life for us on the cross.  He will sin as all Christians do; but when he understands his fault he will show a tenderness of conscience and genuine sorrow, and be fearful of repeating that sin.  He will take pleasure in prayer as a duty and privilege, pleased to draw near to God.  He will be glad to read his Bible and pray on his own every day.  He will be obedient to parents and those in authority, and kind to his siblings.  He will have a lively interest in the conversion of sinners and the advancement of God’s Kingdom around the world.  He will not understand  “all the counsel of God.”  He will grow in knowledge, at a child’s rate.  There is a peculiar sweetness in early buddings of grace.  (From Archibald Alexander, professor for 40 years at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1812.)
If there is no experience of conversion in repentance toward God and faith in Christ, there will be no power to live the Christian life in love and obedience.   As one pastor said, “Many professed Christians who have Christ’s name in their mouths have no true love to Him in their hearts.  They will not have Him to rule over them, though they have very towering hopes of being saved by Him.  And none love Him in truth who do not love His law and keep His commandments.”  If we are truly converted,  we love God.  The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 14:23-24, if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.  Love for God and keeping His commandments are inseparable in Scripture.

For a true conversion there must be God’s supernatural work of grace to turn the lost sinner to see the glory  of God and dedicate his life to magnify God.  The unconverted sinner cannot live the Christian life because his impotence is moral, not physical.  From his natural birth he has a mind to think, a heart to love, and a will to choose.  But he is dead spiritually with an understanding darkened by spiritual blindness.  His heart is entirely in love with sinful pleasures and selfish pursuits.  He will not submit to God.  His rejection of God is voluntary and deliberate.  He naturally hates God’s law and the gospel.  It is entirely God’s work of grace in the sinner’s heart that turns him in conversion to humble repentance of sin, submission to God, and faith in Christ.  (Portions derived from True Religion Delineated by Joseph Bellamy, a leader with Jonathan Edwards in the Great Awakening of the 18th century.)

“THEREFORE IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST,
HE IS A NEW CREATURE:
OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY;
BEHOLD ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW.”
II Corin. 5:17

THY  WORD  IS  A  LAMP  UNTO  MY  FEET
AND  A  LIGHT  UNTO  MY  PATH
Psalm  119:105

MAY/JUNE,  2007                          www.ladieslamp.com                        ISSUE  70
DEAR  LADIES
This issue is especially for parents raising children.  It was suggested recently that I address the responsibilities of parents. Hopefully, there will be something profitable for everyone as many of the Biblical principles apply to all of us, whatever our ages.                                                      Carol  Swanson

RAISING  CHILDREN  IN  THE  “NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  OF  THE  LORD”
Christian parents’ principle prayer and aim should be that their children “walk in the truth”…”worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being faithful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Col. 1:10   By God’s grace and parents’ diligent use of means, prayer and training in Scripture, we hope to see our children walking in the truth.   The Book of Proverbs proclaims the wisdom of God as the absolute principle of our very life.  We must receive the instruction of God as a complete rule of wisdom with its sound principles and practical applications.   By this wisdom we learn to discriminate between truth and error, guard against false teachers and their false doctrines, and convince the gainsayers.   Through persevering instruction in Scripture, according to Deut. 6, parents teach their children God’s wisdom with its “sound practical energy of Scriptural truth.”
“THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM AND
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY IS UNDERSTANDING”  Prov. 9:10
This is where we begin, teaching our children that the fear of God in its practical exercise is “the whole duty of man.”  Eccl. 12:13   The fear of God is “affectionate reverence as we humbly and carefully bend to God’s law.” Knowledge of the holy God is where wisdom and understanding begin. From infancy children need to be taught as much as they can understand about the character of God and learn proper reverence for God.   The “circus atmosphere and sacrilege” that attends professing Christianity today is missing the whole point of reverence for God. We do not worship God with our primeval emotions!  God is worshipped “in spirit (from the heart) and in truth” (according to Scripture), through the work of the Holy Spirit making our worship acceptable.
From infancy children need a daily Family Bible Time, when they are taught the Scripture with its vast amount of true wisdom.  They learn that loving God with all the heart excludes all other rivals.  God is our Creator/Redeemer and must be first in our affections, permeating our daily lives.  Children learn this as the family gathers every day to sing hymns that honor God, read His Word, memorize Bible verses, and pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done in each child’s heart.  As soon as they can read they should be taught to read their (KJV) Bibles every day in private devotions.
“KEEP  MY  COMMANDMENTS  AND  LIVE;
AND   MY  LAW  AS  THE  APPLE  OF  THINE   EYE”    Prov. 7:2
The Ten Commandments are the summary of God’s will for our behavior.  Through the commandments God convicts of sin because no one can keep them as God requires.  Children should memorize these commandments.  They need to understand God’s view, that sin is an infinite offense; and the consequences of breaking His commandments are serious.  There must be some measure of conviction of sin, followed by repentance and embracing Christ as Savior and Lord.  The Godly parent’s main concern is his child’s conversion.  Parents inculcate “line upon line” that the child may learn heavenly wisdom, whatever the cost or pain to the parent.  The child is perishing unless he is converted, taught, and led in wisdom’s way.   Pray for each child that the Holy Spirit will do a work of saving grace and each heart will be filled with love for Christ, obedience to Him, and love for God’s Word — as the apple of his/her eye.
Children need to be raised to hate sin as God hates it.  Sin is self-delusive, self-destructive, and young people need warnings to “flee youthful lusts.”  “Snares for the young furnish a fearful picture of the temptations to which our children are exposed.  This should awaken earnest cries for their deep and solid conversion to God, that wisdom may indeed enter in their hearts, that they may know the Gospel in the conviction of their conscience, in their affections, and in the entire renewal of their hearts before God.”   PROVERBS   Commentary by Charles Bridges
A high regard and affectionate reverence for God is inherent in the first four commandments.   They teach that God is not to be represented in material form. When using Bible Story books with children, look for books that add nothing to the Bible’s account and do not use pictures of Christ.  He is the second Person of the Godhead of which the second commandment forbids a physical representation.  God left no description of Christ’s physical appearance, and any attempt is a fabrication.
Keeping the Lord’s Day holy is disregarded because of false teaching and the appeal of recreation. However, in countries where Christians are suffering persecution, they risk their lives to meet together on the Lord’s Day.  In the 1800’s several newlywed couples made their toilsome way across the Oregon Trail to the Whitman Mission.  Of all the hardships they endured — (women riding sidesaddle for 1900 miles; sleeping in tents on bedding soaked by floods; eating poor, insufficient diets and suffering digestive consequences; and one lady contracting TB of the spine from the hardships) — there was only one thing each of them heartily regretted. Their non-Christian overseers and guides travelled seven days a week and the missionaries could not rest on the Lord’s Day to worship God and study His Word.  No difficulty eclipsed this spiritual loss! Rev. A.B. Smith commented, “I doubt it is possible for any to live too long without (observing the Lord’s Day) and not have their religious character grow into deformity.”   Breaking God’s commandments has consequences and “deformity” is an apt description.  How important it is to keep the Lord’s Day holy for the good of our souls!  Children need to be taught this from Scripture and example, as the family regularly attends the most God-centered Scriptural church.
“If thou turn…from doing thy pleasure on my holy day
and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord…
and shalt honor Him…not finding thine own pleasure…
I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee.”  Isaiah 58:13-14

TRAINING  AND  DISCIPLINE
Training the behavior of children requires discipline, not foolish indulgence.  This is the truest evidence of love for our children. They need diligent nurturing in the Word of God, and application in daily life through consistent  training in Biblical doctrine and practice.  Memorizing Scripture verses and passages is extremely important:  “Thy word have I hid in my heart THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE.”  Ps. 119:11 They need to grow up with a memory full of God’s wisdom which, when applied by His Spirit, will protect them from all manner of evil. The earliest memory verse for many toddlers is “Children, obey your parents.” Eph. 6:1  Honoring parents with respect and giving prompt, cheerful obedience does not appeal to the sinful nature. It is learned through consistent and loving correction from infancy.  Yes! Spanking is a Biblical form of correction that clarifies the misery of sin and the wisdom of obedience.
The second table of the Ten Commandments is our guide for Biblical behavior.  Children need training in Godly attitudes of love and consideration for family and neighbors.  Correct the sins of disobedience, lying, temper tantrums, strife; and teach them to ask forgiveness for offenses. Teach “moderation in all things.” Train for lifetime habits of eating healthy foods in moderation, and exercising. Teach moderation in accumulating possessions. The quantity and sophistication of toys and entertainment is mind-boggling! Beware of promoting covetousness and greed.   Teach Biblical modesty in dress.  The gypsy/tribal fashions featured today with necklines disappearing into waistlines, and figure-hugging tops expose far beyond modesty.  Christian girls and women should be covered in clothing that is modest in the eyes of a holy God!
Young people should be fortified by the system of truth taught in Scripture and organized in the Westminster/Baptist Catechisms, which they commit to memory.    The world they will be dealing with is awash in heresies, errors, and false worldviews.  They need a thorough understanding of God’s truth to sharply discern the world’s deceit and delusions.
Several generations of our nation’s children have been taught almost entirely by unregenerate people, using materials composed by those who hated God’s wisdom and gave no reference to Him.  Students have been indoctrinated in a Godless worldview and now our nation is reaping the paganism it has sown, with  increasing evidence of the whirlwind of God’s judgment.  The Triune God is our Creator, the Source and Center of all knowledge.   “Education that emphasizes the majesty of the wisdom displayed in God and His Works should be a much-loved treasure and daily guide for the young.  God’s teaching is sound wisdom full of light and substance, transfiguring divine truth with heavenly glory.”  PROVERBS  by Charles Bridges
“THOU SHALT TEACH THEM (GOD’S WORDS) DILIGENTLY UNTO THY CHILDREN,
AND THOU SHALT TALK OF THEM
WHEN THOU SITTEST…
WHEN THOU WALKEST…
WHEN THOU RISEST UP…
THEY (GOD’S WORDS) SHALL BE AS FRONTLETS BETWEEN THINE EYES…
(WRITTEN) UPON THE POSTS…AND GATES.”  Deut. 6:7-9

FIVE  MAJOR  WORLDVIEWS

CHRISTIANITY:  Based on the Bible; Trinitarian Theology; Faith/Reason            /CreationScience;
Moral Absolutes;  Man is Fallen;  Biblical Social Structure of                  Family/Church/State;  Law based on Bible with Justice, Freedom, Order;
Historical Life/Death/Resurrection of God the Son;  Biblical View of History

ISLAM:       Based on Quiran;  Unitarian;  Moral Absolutes;  Man is not Fallen;               Polygamy/Mosque/State;  Shari’a Law;  Global Islam;  Interventionism;
Jihad View of History

MARXISM:      Based on writings of Marx, et al;   Materialistic;  Man-made Morality;
Evolutionary;  Behavioral Psychology;  No-class Society;  Man-made Law;
Statist Controlled;  Materialistic View of History

HUMANISM:     Based on Humanist Manifesto;  Non-absolute Relative Morality;                   Evolutionary;  Relative Law;  Non-fallen Self-realization;  Eclectic                   Family;  Political Liberalism;  Evolutionary View of History

NEW  AGE:      Based on Ancient and Modern Writings of Mystics;                       Pantheism/Panentheism;   Non-materialistic;  Non-absolute Relative              Morality (Karma);  Evolutionary;  Man is not Fallen;                       Higher-consciousness (of spiritism);   Non-traditional Home/Church/State; Self-law; Godhood of Man

RESOURCES
Carine Mackenzie    79 Children’s Books:    www.swrb.com/links/children.htm

Character Building Instructional Christian Books for Children:  www.graceandtruthbooks.com

Creation:  www.AnswersInGenesis.org ; www.icr.org  (Institute for Creation Research)

Catherine Voss’ Bible Story Book

Dr. Ramsbottom’s Parables of Christ

(I do not recommend the silly, man-centered materials flooding the “Christian”  market today.  When our children were small and the content in the materials was so poor, we constructed our own.)