Pray for believers in China

Earlier this week Michael Horton posted a brief blog regarding conditions of some of the believers in China, I've copied it below. I'm posting this in order to spread the request and opportunity to pray for our brothers and sisters in China.


Our readers may recall the overview I gave of my opportunity to teach a course in an underground seminary in China.  The school continues to attract growing numbers of aspiring pastors, teachers, and missionaries from all across China.  Our brother overseeing the seminary there has asked for prayer: for his health, but also for immediate concerns facing the churches (and seminaries) with the upcoming power-transfer in the nation’s leadership.  I told him that we would post this concern and I hope that you are able to take a moment to remember our brothers and sisters at this time.  I’ve removed any names that would identify the location:

As I am rehabbing my feet I have received an emergency news from China.  The entire district…is on high alert because of the transfer of power in China.  The Chinese model is “peace at all costs” during the transition of power to show that everything is calm and well, and this “peace” is created by a very strong-armed approach by the government, especially the police force that monitors all kinds of illegal activities.  Unfortunately, orthodox underground seminary is an illegal activity in China and the Church of…has received news that the police will have “major plans” to sweep through the area.  The Church, in emergency actions, has moved all of their training programs to remote locations, and that includes my seminary.  We have been moved to a very rural area where all you see is pretty much farmlands around us (but ironically with High Speed Bullet Train running right through the middle of it), and we are told we will stay here until the transition of power is done (which is towards the end of October.)  A couple of churches has already been swept by the police but praise the Lord the training programs have already moved and they have found nothing.

Also to be very safe we’ve decided to ask the non-Asian teachers to move their courses later, as there was a course that is going to be taught by a non-Asian, but was informed that the course will be move till later.  Another problem this has created is living and studying condition.  While we are able to move our student body over to a new church, but we are unable to move the library.  Also, the students are asked to sleep on the floor for the next two months.  One can imagine the tough physical strain this puts on the students, as well as the lack of resources for students to enhance their studies.  Please continue to pray for the safety of the school for the next two months, and that the students are able to adjust physically to a tough environment.



Yesterday Michael Horton posted this update.

UPDATE (9/28/12): I received this email from my contact in China.

Do continue to pray for the Seminary.  I was just informed that our new location was “searched and investigated” by the police.  Luckily, we did our homework and they didn’t find anything.  But I was told the police still think “something was fishy” about the place when they left, and who knows when the next surprise attack would come.  Needless to say, the students are all very shaken up and wonders if the school should shut down for awhile.  Church leaders and I will brainstorm on this, but in the mean time, please urgently pray for this new development.

Then, our original place was surrounded by police squad cars and when the church members there demand an official answer on why they had to search the Church in such a grand scale, the police told them that they are investigating “a murder”, yes, a murder, I kid you not.  And due to the seriousness of the investigation they had to surround the church and do a thorough investigation.  Again, thanks that we left so they didn’t find anything.

I am leaving soon for China, I am at peace, but I wanted all of us to pray for the students there as they are young and most of them haven’t personally experience persecutions like the Christians before them, and are pretty shaken up.

Please continue to pray for our friends who live and minister under the threat of persecution and death.

a Quote

So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust.   Ps 81:12

It were better to be given up to lions than to our hearts' lusts.    C.H. Spurgeon

Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken

The Church of Christ

by John Newton and Franz Josef Haydn

We sang this magnificent hymn yesterday, I thought I'd share it with you this evening.

Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God;

He whose word cannot be broken Formed thee for His own abode:

On the Rock of Ages founded, What can shake thy sure repose?

With salvation's walls surrounded, Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.

See, the streams of living waters, Springing from eternal love, 

Well supply thy sons and daughters, And all fear of want remove:

Who can faint, while such a river Ever flows their thirst t' assuage?

Grace which, like the Lord, the giver, Never fails from age to age.

Round each habitation hov'ring, See the cloud and fire appear

For a glory and a cov'ring, Showing that the Lord is near:

Thus deriving from their banner Light by night and shade by day,

Safe they feed upon the manna Which he gives them when they pray.

Savior, if of Zion's city I, through grace, a member am,

Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in thy Name:

Fading is the worldling's pleasure, All his boasted pomp and show;

Solid joys and lasting treasure None but Zion's children know. Amen.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.                Heb 12:22-29

A Re-Post

Anne Ross Cousin, inspired by Samuel Rutherford's letters, wrote a poem which later was compiled into this great hymn. While there are many great hymns that I love and warmly embrace, I believe this hymn may top them all. It seems, that no hymn warms my heart like this one. Through the years it has been sung sparingly, I must admit it's sound is a bit melancholy, but do not allow that to keep you from enjoying it. Its words and message are one of the sweetest I've ever read or sung. For the truth and sweetness of it, it is one of my favorites. I hope you will enjoy it.



The Sands of Time are Sinking

The Sands of Time are Sinking

The sands of time are sinking, The dawn of heaven breaks;
The summer morn I've sighed for- The fair sweet morn awakes;
Dark, dark hath been the midnight, But day-spring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth In Immanuel's land.

O Christ, He is the fountain, The deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I've tasted More deep I'll drink above;
There to an ocean fulness His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth In Immanuel's land.

O I am my Beloved's, And my Beloved's mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner into His "house of wine".
I stand upon His merit- I know no other stand,
Not e'en where glory dwelleth In Immanuel's land.

The Bride eyes not her garment But her dear bridegrooms face;
I will not gaze at glory But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth But on His pierced hand:
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land.

Scriptures and a few thoughts

A few scriptures that are working me over recently, and, I am thankful for the exercise!




O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.                    Psalm 43:3






 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.    Lev 1:4


The willing sinner, in a demonstration of faith, putting or leaning,  his hand on the animal's head from his flock(a male without blemish) and effectively transferring his sin and guilt to the animal that will shortly shed his blood in death. Doing all of this "before the Lord"! In light of that, Isaiah wrote "and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all".






It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.   Luke 1:3-4


Oh, did I instruct them the way I was suppose to instruct them? I don't know, I don't know.

Question 2 of The Heidelberg Catechism

Question 2. How many things are necessary for you to know, that you, enjoying this comfort, may live and die happily?

Answer: Three; (a) the first, how great my sins and miseries are; (b) the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; (c) the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance. (d)

Scripture support

(a) Matt.11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt.11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matt.11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 1 Cor.6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Tit.3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Tit.3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Tit.3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Tit.3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; Tit.3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (b) John 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. (c) John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 10:43 To him (Jesus) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (d) Eph.5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: Eph.5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Eph.5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Eph.5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 1 Pet.2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: 1 Pet.2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Rom.6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Rom.6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Rom.6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Rom.6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Question 1 of The Heidelberg Catechism

I thought I'd share a few of these over the next several days. This catechism was originally written in 1563 in the language of German.


The scripture supports follow each Q&A.

The Heidelberg Catechism

 

Question 1. What is your only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yes, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. (j)

(a) Rom.14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Rom.14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. (b) 1 Cor.6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (c) 1 Cor.3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. Tit.2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (d) 1 Pet.1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 1 Pet.1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (e) Heb.2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (f) John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 2 Thess.3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 1 Pet.1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (g) Matt.10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matt.10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt.10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish. (h) Rom.8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (i) 2 Cor.1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Cor.1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 2 Cor.1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor.5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Eph.1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Eph.1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Rom.8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (j) Rom.8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Testimony to the Lamb - White Horse Inn Blog

It has been said that this brother has been sentenced to death by the Iranian government but I've not heard anything about his condition in recent weeks. I thought I'd share this letter he wrote to his congregation.

In thinking of him I thought about Stephen in Acts 7, as he was stoned to death he SAW the glory of God and Jesus STANDING. Oh the love of Jesus for His people; He shed His blood for us and as one was suffering and dying for His name's sake and the gospel's He stood from His throne and watched.

I'd like to think if Pastor Yucef Nadarkhani is put to death perhaps he too will be able to look and see the glory of God and Jesus rising to stand and watch. May the Lord give him grace to bear up.


"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."    Rev 12:11


Testimony to the Lamb - White Horse Inn Blog

Are you rich toward God?

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?


And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 


But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.                                    Luke 12:16-21





I fear some of us, maybe even many of us, will pass by this passage rather quickly, thinking, it's not for me because I'm not "rich". But I would caution you; don't miss the point. I believe the Lord Jesus is making the point, that we are not to get caught up in life, in our ambitions, our desires and the things of this world and forget we are souls. We are souls and we are accountable to our Creator.


I am not ignoring the thoughts here on riches. I'm attempting to emphasize the warning that whether we are pursuing riches, bigger barns, larger homes, better jobs or whatever else our hearts desire that we are foolish to ignore God and our souls. We are foolish to go on in life as if there is no God or as if there is no judgment to come. 


May He give us ears to hear in order that we may be found with those who are "rich toward God". True riches are found only in total surrender and submission to the One that God sent into the world, his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.



For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
                                                  Mark 8:35-37

Does anyone know what time it is?

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly(decently), as in the day; not in rioting (revelling) and drunkenness, not in chambering (sexual immorality) and wantonness (lustful acts), not in strife (quarreling) and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.   Rom 13:11-14