Christian Wisdom from Don Fortner,
Part 1 Salvation is always set before us in the Bible as being
God's doing and God's work alone. Damnation is always set before
us in the Bible as being man's fault and man's work alone. Justice
is God's righteousness giving us what we deserve—hell. Mercy is God's kindness withholding
from us what we deserve. Hell. Grace is God's goodness
giving us what we do not deserve. Heaven. God alone is the absolute
sovereign of the universe, determining all things, ruling all things,
and disposing all things as he will. Either you will be a servant
under the dominion of King Jesus, voluntarily giving up all that
you are and have to his claims, or you will go to hell. God Almighty
is a King that demands obedience, immediate, unhesitating, unqualified
obedience. There is no place in this vast
universe from the throne of God in the highest glory to the lowest
pit of hell. where Jesus Christ our Lord does
not rule in total, absolute sovereignty. The Bible is the window through
which we see Jesus. Humility is living in the conscious
awareness of who I am, a sinner saved by grace, and whose I am,
God's. Sorrow would never afflict us
if sin did not first infect us. What a person is in his prayer
closet, alone before the all-seeing God, that he is and no more. The natural man cannot be taught
spiritual things. He can be taught religion, doctrine,
and strict morality, but not the things of God. To learn the
things of God, he must be born again. Providence is but the
unfolding of God's eternal purpose. It is God bringing to pass in
time what He purposed to do in eternity. It is God ruling and
disposing of all things in the world for the salvation of His
elect people. If we examine our best works,
we shall find enough of sin mixed up with them, as might sink us
to endless woe. Religion without Christ is the
most damning thing in the world. There's no difference between
what comes to pass in time and what was purposed by God in eternity. No man is ever more like Christ
in behavior than in the exercise of forgiveness. Nothing exceeds the obstinate
stupidity of the unregenerate heart. Any man who gives himself faithfully
to the preaching of the gospel has very little time for anything
else