THE “SUMMER IS ENDED”

Jeremiah 8:20-22 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Matthew Henry:

As salvation only can be found in the Lord, so the present moment should be seized.

Is there no medicine proper for a sick and dying kingdom?

Is there no skilful, faithful hand to apply the medicine?

Yes, God is able to help and to heal them.

If sinners die of their wounds, their blood is upon their own heads.

The blood of Christ is balm in Gilead, his Spirit is the Physician there, all-sufficient; so that the people may be healed, but will not.

Thus men die unpardoned and unchanged, for they will not come to Christ to be saved.

LEADING THE LIFE OF A STRANGER…

Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Ellicott:

In return for his consenting to lead the life of a stranger, he was to be the means of procuring religious privileges, not only for his own descendants, but also “for all families of the earth”

Matthew Henry:

Abram was tried whether he loved God better than all, and whether he could willingly leave all to go with God.

His kindred and his father’s house were a constant temptation to him, he could not continue among them without danger of being infected by them.

The command God gave to Abram, is much the same with the gospel call, for natural affection must give way to Divine grace. Sin, and all the occasions of it, must be forsaken; particularly bad company.

Come out from among them…

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

THAT FORSAKING OF ALL THINGS

Ruth 1:16-17 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

MacLaren:

Ruth’s passionate burst of tenderness is immortal. It has put into fitting words for all generations the deepest thoughts of loving hearts, and comes to us over all the centuries between, as warm and living as when it welled up from that gentle, heroic soul.

We hear in Ruth’s words also that forsaking of all things which is an essential of all true religion.

… her faith, it was genuine and robust enough to bear the strain of casting Chemosh and the gods of Moab behind her, and setting herself with full purpose of heart to seek the Lord.

Abandoning them was digging an impassable gulf between herself and all her past, with its friendships, loves, and habits.

She is one of the first, and not the least noble, of the long series of those who ‘suffer the loss of all things, and count them but dung, that they may win’ God for their dearest treasure.

RUN

Today I saw someone wearing a T-shirt with this on it…

“RUN – Hebrews 12:1”

God’s Word always blesses and encourages!

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

IS DISPENSATIONALISM INDISPENSABLE? – A “Must Read” Article For The Born Again Christian

Is Dispensationalism Indispensable?

Excerpts…

“IT COMES DOWN TO THIS… Either all the Christian scholars prior to 1830 have been wrong about the central teachings of the New Testament or else the dispensationalists are wrong.

“Like many American evangelicals, I was once a dispensationalist without knowing it. I was unacquainted with the label. My teachers did not inform me that they were teaching me to interpret the Bible through a mental grid that had been constructed less than 150 years earlier. I had no inclination to investigate the relative merits of my system against those of any other— simply because I didn’t know there was anything to investigate. I had the impression that ours was the only way sensible people had ever viewed Scripture. In other words, I was not educated, but indoctrinated.”

(Found article at Apostasy Watch.)

Is Dispensationalism Indispensable?