SACRED SUNDAYS - A FAVORITE HYMN

This is one of my favorite hymns. In the video at the bottom, he sings the most often used stanzas, but be sure to read all of them. Read slowly and think about what is being said. I especially love that last one!

HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;

In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;

At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,

As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove

My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;

And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,

Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Listen to the music here. A blurb from that site:

This hymn was sung at the fun­er­als of Amer­i­can pres­i­dents The­o­dore Roo­se­velt and Wood­row Wil­son. In ad­di­tion:

[It] was the fa­vo­rite of De­bo­rah Jack­­son [sic; her name was ac­tu­al­ly Ra­chel] Pre­si­dent An­drew Jack­son’s be­loved wife [he was Pre­si­dent-elect at the time], and on his death-bed the war­ri­or and states­man called for it. It was the fa­vo­rite of Gen. Ro­bert E. Lee, and was sung at his fun­er­al. The Amer­i­can love and fa­mil­iar pre­fer­ence for the re­mark­a­ble hymn was ne­ver more strik­ing­ly il­lus­trat­ed than when on Christ­mas Eve, 1898, a whole corps of the Unit­ed States Ar­my North­ern and South­ern, en­camped on the Que­ma­dos hills, near Ha­va­na [Cu­ba], took up the sa­cred tune and words.

WHY WE DON'T CELEBRATE "EASTER"

This is a pretty good article explaining the pagan origins of this holiday. My favorite part is the scripture at the beginning. Many will say, "But we are not celebrating that. We are worshiping God and these things no longer symbolize what they did then." God has not given us that option of worshiping Him as we see fit. He has not only told us not to worship other gods, but also, not to worship Him the WAY the heathen worship their gods. We cannot in good conscience participate in something so vile and evil in God's sight. I am thankful we have found a church that does not celebrate pagan festivals.

Easter Article Here

"Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." Deuteronomy 5:32

"Enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God." Deuteronomy 12:30-31

"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Deuteronomy 12:32

"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen... For the customs of the people are vain." Jeremiah 10:2-3

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" Matthew 28:20

"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye." Mark 7:7-13

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" II Corinthians 6:17

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4

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"ANYTHINGARIANS"

"We have men who in the morning hear a Calvinistic preacher, and say, "Oh, it is delightful;" in the evening they hear an Arminian, and they say, "Oh, it is just as good; and no doubt they are both true, though one contradicts the other!" The glorious charity of the present day is such, that it believes lies to be as good as truth; and lies and truth have met together and kissed each other; and he that telleth truth is called a bigot, and truth has ceased to be honourable in the world! Ah! beloved, we know better than to profess such unlimited, but false charity; the truth is, we know how to "hold fast the form of sounds words," which has been given to us, because in this way we grow. Changeable people cannot grow much. If you have a tree in your garden plant it in one place to-day, and tomorrow place it somehwere else, how much bigger will it be in six months? It will be dead very likely; or if it does not die, it will not be very much grown; it will be marvellously stunted. So it is with some of you: you plant yourselves there; then you are persuaded that you are not quite right, and you go and plant yourself somewhere else. Why, there are men who are anythingarians; who go dodging about from one denomination to another, and cannot tell what they are; our opinion is, of these people, that they believe nothing, and are good for nothing, and anybody may have them that likes; we do not consider men to be worth much, unless they have settle principles, and "hold fast the form of sound words." 

—C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

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SATAN'S HERD OF SWINE

Satan's herd of swine!

(William Secker, "The Consistent Christian")

"You shall not follow a multitude--to do evil."
     Exodus 23:2

The generality of people--are like dead fish, 
which float down the stream, wherever it runs.

The 'voice of the people'--is often the voice 
of the devil.

Satan's herd of swine--is larger than Christ's 
flock of sheep! Let them be ever so mighty--we
are not to fear them. Let them be ever so many
--we are not to follow them.

If we will not have the people of the world to be
our leaders--we shall be sure to have them as our 
troublers. If they cannot seduce us into their evil 
ways--they will oppose us in our holy ways. If they 
cannot scorch us with their fire--they will try to 
blacken us with their smoke. They will speak evil 
of us--because we do not run into the same excess 
of evil with them. Because we refuse to play the 
fool with them--they will say that we are mad.

"Though the people of Israel are as numerous 
as the sand on the seashore--only the remnant 
will be saved." Romans 9:27. The whole piece 
belongs to the Devil--but God cuts off a remnant 
for Himself! 

The trees of righteousness are thinly 
planted--in the world's orchard.

There are many wicked sinners
--to one godly man!

Pebbles lie abundant in the streets
--but pearls are rare to find.

Sinners are certainly the greatest company
--but they are also the worst company.

Remember, the multitude of people, are like the
droves of cattle--which go to the slaughter!

Those who follow after others in sinning--will 
be sure to follow them in suffering! Alas, the 
largeness of the multitude, will not extinguish 
the fierceness of the flame! The great number 
of those immortal faggots--will but  intensify 
the fury of the eternal fire!

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