Owen lists some dangerous symptoms that accompany our sin.

Hardened, habitual, deep-rooted state. The sinful habit has lain in the heart for a long period of time and become familiar with it, it is no longer startling or shocking. Owen brings in the element of assurance and how this symptom will blur the line between whether it is an unmortified sin or the unregenerate dominion of sin.

Petitions in the heart to allow sin. Owen delves further and describes how this may be done: we may search our hearts for signs of good as an excuse to sin.

Applying grace and mercy to unmortified sin. We sanction sin as if it's alright because grace will cover it. The classic argument of "letting grace abound".

Sin is frequently victorious. Owen again goes further and says that victory is not only constituted as the completed, acted-out sin (James 1:14-15), but even the willingness to act out the sin when the outward expression of the desire is not possible.

We fight against sin only with the fear of punishment. Paul's main argument against sinning was not fear of hell and repercussions, but that we are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). We should not fight sin on legal accounts and motives, or else what assurance will you have? Gospel principles, not legal motives.

Judiciary hardening in our sin. God leaves His sheep under the temptation of certain sins. This is definitely a way that God deals with unregenerate men, but how do we know if we are regenerate or not when under this condition? Examine the time previous to the onslaught of this sin and try to discern signs of grace.

God has dealt against it, but it remains. God may convict the man of his sin, he repents, but slides back into the sin.

First particular direction for mortification is therefore examining your sin and seeing if it bears any of the above symptoms. Owen is quick to remind his readers that if these symptoms are present, it does not mean we are Christians, but may in fact mean we are unregenerate.

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Completing our study of the fourth spring feast, we find that every person can see Jesus in the Feast of Pentecost by observing His promises about the coming Holy Spirit:

1. His promise to depart and return to the Father (John 16:7). The coming of the Holy Spirit was contingent upon Jesus completing His work of redemption and returning to His Father.  See also John 7:39; Acts 2:32-3.  A.J. Gordon writes, "The Spirit of God is the successor of the Son of God in His official ministry on earth. Until Christ's earthly work for His church had been finished, the Spirit's work in this world could not properly begin. The office of the Holy Spirit is to communicate Christ to us - Christ in His entireness" (The Ministry of the Spirit, p. 28).
2. His promise to send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is said to be a gift from the Father (John 14:16, 26) sent by the Son (John 15:26: 16:7). Roy B. Zuck, in A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, comments: "Whatever else is meant by the difficult statement that the Spirit ‘goes out from the Father' (John 15:26), it implies that the Spirit shares the same essential nature as the Father. In fact, John was indicating here the parallelism between the mission of the Son, sent from God (3:17, 34; 5:36-38; 6:29, 57; 7:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25; 20:21), and the mission of the Son's replacement, the Holy Spirit, who would be ‘another Paraclete' to the disciples and who would enable them to carry on Jesus' mission after He returned to the Father."
3. His promise of the Spirit's ministry to unbelievers (John 16:8-11). Without the Spirit's work to convince unbelievers of the sin of unbelief, the righteousness of Christ, and the judgment that will fall upon them if they persist in their rejection of Jesus, no one could be saved. In fact, the Spirit already was at work on the morning of Pentecost, pricking the hearts of the Jewish unbelievers listening to Peter (Acts 2:37).
4. His promise of the Spirit's ministry to believers, specifically:
   • To regenerate us, or make us spiritually alive (John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5).
   • To indwell us, or take up permanent residence in our human spirit (John 14:17; 1 Cor. 3:16).
   • To baptize us, initiating our relationship to Him and establishing our connection with Christ and other believers (Acts 1:5; 1 Cor. 12:13).
   • To seal us, a guarantee that God will take us fully into His presence one day (Eph. 1:13-14).
   • To teach us, or give us divine assistance (John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:12-13; 1 John 2:27).
   • To empower (fill) us for witnessing (Acts 1:8).
   • To empower (fill) us for service (Act. 6:5; Eph. 5:18). As Paul S. Karleen writes in The Handbook to Bible Study: With a Guide to the Scofield Study System, "Filling is the result of a consistent walk with God, and depends on a genuine and mature relationship with the Holy Spirit, Simply asking to be filled will not bring it."
   • To equip us with spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Eph. 4:11; 1 Peter 4:11).

5.   His promise to identify His Body (the church) by the Spirit (John 14:16-18; Rom. 8:9-11).

Read more about Jesus in the feasts of Israel

Cigarettes stimulates metabolism according to smoking cessation therapist, 250 calories in the body get burned when you consumed a pack of cigarette a day. When you quit, the body metabolism slows down resulting for those calories to slowly burn and giving you extra weight. Some people gain 2 pounds once they quit for 2 weeks and with this occurrence they tend to resume smoking to prevent weight gain so quitting will then be unsuccessful. Sticking to the decision of quitting will not be that much of a burden because eventually the metabolism will normalize. Typically, smokers only gain 5-7 pounds throughout the process of quitting. And when you think about the advantages of having a healthy and smoke free living, you will feel great inside and out and not minding those gained extra pounds.

You vital organs like the lungs, heart and arteries will be free of the toxins and will start to regenerate new cells after being intoxicated with nicotine.

Gradually after quitting you will notice changes in your physical appearance. Your skin is free from stress and will appeal to be fairer and smoother, those yellow stains on your fingers and fingernails will disappear, you won’t have bad breath anymore, and your teeth will be free from stains and you will have healthier gums too. These are the good fallback of quitting. To lessen the cravings and weight gain, do drinks lots of water ideally 8oz glasses a day to keep you hydrated and to flush out toxins. Substitute healthy food with cigarette but not use junk foods because it won’t help you in becoming healthy. Don’t go for sugar rich and unhealthy foods. Do also have exercises so to keep you busy and increase metabolism. Join group therapy this will help you be encourage on the continuous quitting agenda, use also nicotine replacements. You have to have a focused mind to be able to fight challenging moments that will tempt you to go back to smoking.

There Will Be No Mortification Unless a Man Be a Believer
Mortification is the work of believers (Rom. 3:18, Col. 3:1-5). "There is no death of sin without the death of Christ (p. 79)." Paul speaks of those who seek mortification, but fail to become righteous. Why? Because they seek mortification through the law, not through faith (Rom. 9:31-32). All believers must mortify sin as a duty, but something must be done first before mortification can happen. Unless we are in Christ we cannot please God (Rom. 8:9). Thus the only way to please God is through the union with Christ achieved by the Holy Spirit (v. 11), when we are dead to the flesh and live in the Spirit. It is the duty of the regenerate to mortify sin and the duty of the unregenerate to be converted. That is why when the Jews were convicted of their sins and asked Peter what they must do, Peter told them to repent and put their faith in Christ, not mortify such and such sin (Acts 2:37-38).

Owen presents a common scenario of how men mistakenly try to mortify sin. God, through is word and law, convicts a man of his sins. Instead of turning to the gospel as the solution, he seeks to mortify his sins. This is an example of self-love, for such a man is only trying to be freed from his trouble. Thus the mortification of their sins eludes their grasp. We should not seek to satisfy our consciences through our own means. The duty to mortify sin is indeed a good one to fulfill, but I cannot be done without going to the great Physician. Sometimes, such men even try to mortify sin in secret as a way to prove to themselves their sincerity, yet they are hardened by a kind of self-righteousness. So what happens is the man finds that he cannot mortify the sin (either he cannot overcome a specific sin or new sins keep appearing to take the place of other sins) and so gives up, deciding to simply embrace sin for he cannot defeat it.

"Be sure to get an interest in Christ-if you intend to mortify any sin without it, it will never be done. (p. 83)"

Objection
What should unregenerate men do then when convicted of their sin? Should they simply not try to mortify them and embrace it? Will not the whole world be set into a state of confusion and sinful behavior run rampant?

Answers
No! The fact that unregenerate men seek to mortify sin is a sign of God's kindness and goodness. God chooses to restrain men from fulfilling the full depravity of their nature. The word is to be preached and sin rebuked and restrained, although this is not the end effect that is aimed for. Though the conviction and restraining of sin is the work of the Spirit and the word, it is not good in and of itself. "You set yourself against a particular sin and do not consider that you are nothing but sin (p. 84)."

To plead with men about their sin, to try to get them to understand their unregenerate state, is a good thing. But we must not allow that to lead the gospel and not to self-mortification. Let our preaching be a call to believe, not a call to mortify sin. If not, faith becomes agreement with a certain doctrine in the church, and mortification simply means abstinence from particular sins and a lifestyle. Our directions must never only change lifestyles, but change hearts.

On Regenerate Church Membership and Church Member Restoration

WHEREAS, The ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle, with Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message describing the church as a “local congregation of baptized believers”; and

 

WHEREAS, A New Testament church is composed only of those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, the local church’s only Lord, by grace through faith (John 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9), which church practices believers’ only baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:16-20), and the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26:26-30); and

 

WHEREAS, Local associations, state conventions, and the Southern Baptist Convention compile statistics reported by the churches to make decisions for the future; and

 

WHEREAS, the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention annual Church Profiles indicate that there are 16,266,920 members in Southern Baptist churches; and

 

WHEREAS, Those same profiles indicate that only 6,148,868 of those members attend a primary worship service of their church in a typical week; and

 

WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish us to exercise church discipline as we seek to restore any professed brother or sister in Christ who has strayed from the truth and is in sin (Matthew 18:15-35; Galatians 6:1); and now, therefore, be it

 

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any failure to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18); and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior’s teachings on church discipline, even if such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in those churches, and be it finally

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to implement a plan to minister to, counsel, and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture (Matthew 18:15-35; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).

Thoughts?

"There are so many people, especially in my own denomination (Southern Baptist). . . because of the pathetic theology and pathetic preaching . . . the people on our church membership rolls—are as lost as they can be. Because we have forgotten that salvation does not come by praying and asking Jesus to come into your heart; salvation does not come by going through four spiritual laws and saying a prayer at the end; salvation does not come by all these silly little mechanisms we’ve developed (that are unbiblical). It comes as a supernatural work of God through which God regenerates, makes the heart alive (Born Again), He gives the man repentance, He gives the man faith, the man repents, man then believes and is saved. And it is a supernatural work of God that manifests as much if not more of the power of God than when God stood on the first day and said, 'Let there be light'.”

Comment by Paul Washer and agreed to by me.

&

>>Stem cells are unspecialized cells that are capable of self renewal. It has also the ability to become specialized cells such as heart, lung, kidney cells etc. by introduction to specific organ or place in the body. But the effectivity depends on what type of stem cells will be used is it embryonic or adult. Though at any rate the body who will accept the stemcells may experience rejection of the introduced cells in the body.

What is your opinion on using embryonic stem cells in research/medical treatment?

>>>If you have to choose which works best. it is definitely the embryonic stem cells compared to the adult stem cells eventhough there are moral issues on the use of e-stemcells.

The only place where you can get an e-stemcell is from the blastocyst stage of a fertilized egg and sperm cell and in order to attain it the life of the fertilized egg should be terminated Thus the moral issue of "murder" of an innocent being is involved now.

[though they say e-stemcells can be obtained from the umbilical cord of a newly born baby - this statement is absolutely false because the stemcells from he umbilical cord is already differentiated to a certain individual which is the new born baby thus it is already a cndiered an adult stem cell] Embryonic stem cell resrearch is good.. no... GREAT but if you have to consider morals im not for it but if you think for practicality for future the future human race then It ok.. For me i think im gonna pass researching about e-stemcells

What is your opinion on using adult stem cells in research/medical treatment?

>>>Im totally on for the use of adult stem cells, no moral issues to solve involved, though u can have problems manipulating it because theres a minimum chance rate of cell division than the e-stemcells, difficulty in isolation and they are few compared to e-stemcells.

What is your opinion on using in-vitro multiplied stem cells in medical treatment?

>>>In vitro stemcells are ok as long as its from an adult stem cell.

Should stem cell research be federaly funded?
>>> yes it should be funded so that scientists, doctors and the like can further study the use of stem cells because stem cells would really help individuals who are ill. If they coulld perfect this innovation then people may live longer than a hundred years old while lets say when you reach 90 you'll say to yourself Wow! im still young and you wont be needing to retire yet..

Another old medical article detailing advances in studies on mice. From the site:

The researchers' goal is not to create a therapy that would kill neurons in order to activate the birth of new ones. Rather, they hope experiments like this one, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online, will lead to new ways to grow neurons. Researchers could eventually identify key molecules involved with neuron birth and translate them into drugs, said Jeffrey Macklis, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who led the study.

"(The neurons) developed into mature neurons that not only took up proper locations within the brain, but reconnected to the spinal cord," Macklis said.

The newborn neurons took the place of many damaged neurons in the mice. The work could be a model for neuron replacement in spinal cord injury or diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's. And such a therapy would avoid any immune or other complications that might result from stem-cell transplantation.

Also, in judgment, you'll be able to stress that you had faith whereas others didn't. How is that not meritorious on your part, especially when others didn't have either the intelligence or the enlightened sense that you did when you made the right choice to put your faith in Christ?

A Love Story

This is the story of one girl & two boys.

The girl dearly loved one boy. The boy also. They planned their life together. But between them came the social wall. The boy could not take the decision. The girl waited. He finally told the girl that he could not honor her love. The girl was shattered. The boy was shaken, but could not commit. She cried her heart out, but she waited. When there was no hope, she waited. The girl left the place, came to her home, tears in her heart. When she had none to turn to, she cried & prayed to God.

But what the girl could do? She has to marry someone. Family pressure increased. No promise from the boy, no assurance, only the mutual feelings lingered, perhaps unspoken, unheard, but alive.

Enter the second boy. An arranged match. Why the girl chose him among others, unclear. This boy was a loner in heart games. Naïve. Shy. From the first, he opened his heart like a long closed metal chest, opening with a clank. Nothing was hidden from view. Suddenly the world seemed too colorful, too rosy to him. He never thought the feeling of belonging to someone special can be so fulfilling. All of a sudden, the long lost sweet romantic self woke up in him. He consciously tried to change his wild lifestyle. He prepared himself for her to come into his life, oblivious to any sign of the storm that is brewing in the distant sky.

The girl was hesitant, but went along. She never committed mentally, but without any option, gave in and tried to walk along. But the mental barrier was there. The boy had sensed the presence of the barrier, but didn’t understand why it was there. He thought he was impatient. She also told him that. He learnt to be patient.

Time went by. His attachment to her grew deeper & deeper. He said that he could literally take his heart out if she wanted. She said that she would see that in time.

Marriage was coming nearer. The girl thought, thought and thought. And cried. She never told him about the first boy. Was it for the fear of rejection from this second boy also? Or for the eternal hope that she was carrying in her heart? It will never be known.

Marriage bells ringing now in the doorsteps. Preparations complete, on both sides. She grudgingly accepted, hiding her feelings from everyone but her heart. Even now she prayed to God, cried & waited.

The second boy was living in dreams. His life was coming to a fulfillment he cherished from his imaginative, dreamy childhood. He was ecstatic. He planned so much for the new life. He sacrificed dreams that were once very dear to his heart. Only for the life of togetherness, for the bliss.

Did we forget the first boy? No, obviously not! Not the girl. Not their common friends, who have seen them together, happy as butterflies in the spring. For the first time he was feeling the pangs of impending loss, the loss which could be very dear and unrecoverable. His behavior was erratic, friends feared for him. His family gave the nod finally.

Marriage is now less than seven days away. The first boy summed up his courage and arrived on the stage. Was the timing deliberate? Was it forced? Perhaps yes, perhaps not. Never could it be known. The first boy met the girl to say something dearest to her at the last hour. The girl was overjoyed, happy as a reborn. What she wanted all her life God has gifted her. God has heard the cries she always had deep within her heart. She believed and had faith that “true love comes back”. She was proved right!

But at this stage, what her options were? No one from her family would listen to her. Who is the last person to save her and her love? Why, the second boy? Didn’t he promise that he would give her his heart if she wished? But is she doing the right thing? Who knows, but in her heart she knew that she might not make him happy if married. Perhaps this realization came too late, perhaps too early. Perhaps it was true, perhaps not. Who knows the answer?

So, now is the time to tell everything to the second boy. The causes of her hesitation, the barrier that he easily felt, the emotional disconnect that he might have perceived, her first love and the returning of her first love, all, everything. She begged him to leave her, for all the good or bad she had done, uttered, written, spoken, unspoken. She said everything between her and him was forced and possibly untrue, that she had taken her chances and acted accordingly. Perhaps true, perhaps not. Who knows?

Even now, dear reader, waiting for what happened next? The story has reached the climax, no? Yes, it was really a climax. To put in a single line the condition of the second boy, his soul was fatally wounded. The pain of the shock numbed him. His faith in human beings was shaken for life. He was adamant to let his love desert him. He could not fathom the fact that the girl he dearly loved loves someone else. But he could not tolerate the girl’s cries. The voice that gave him company in lonely nights, in heavy workdays, in the wee hours of the night, in the morning, in the evening, in the mountains, in the city, in the rains, in the summer, in Sundays, in Mondays, in the train, in the hotel, among friends, within family, however fake that might have been, however forced that might have been, how much acting that might have been, but it was the voice he can never bear to hear it cry, to beg, to plead, even for all the right reasons, for all the wrong demands, for all the wrong acts. Is this what love is like? He does not know. It is for you, dear reader, to decide.

The second boy let the girl go to the boy of her choice. Laughable. He never had this girl, so how can he “let her go”? No answers.

He thought what he did was the right thing to do in such a situation. But he was not happy. There was enormous swelling of emotion in him which rapidly transformed into a wildfire of anger of unknown proportions. He felt that it is not right to let others, who let him trap and suffer in such a manner without any of his fault, remain happy. He promised to himself that he will see the end of it.

In all this earthquake in his mind, there came an angel in the disguise of a friend, who supported him, cared for his well-being & health and tried to heal the deepest of the wounds. She reasoned, coaxed, and pleaded him not to destroy his core, which he was hell-bent to exterminate for he thought goodness has no value in this earth anymore. He wanted to be the baddest of the bad, worst of the lot and take revenge.

But he was not happy. He reached deep in his heart to find out what is the cause of all this unrest. Why is he not happy even when he is revengeful and taken the first step? He found that these thoughts are actually killing whatever little bit of older heart remained in him, not regenerating. These thoughts do not suit him. But why is he so angry? It is because of his hurt ego & pride, which let him believe that if he ever loves a girl dearly, she will never turn away or betray him for another boy. He believes that love can not be forced. This is why the cry of the girl, whom he loved so dearly, for another boy was so bitter, so painful, so hurting to him. Perhaps she felt worse than him in doing all these, perhaps not. No one has any answer. She cried when none supported her decision. She cried because she thought what she was doing was beyond forgiveness, not right. Perhaps she was true, perhaps she was acting, but he could not bear her cry. It pained him so much to hear her cry. He gave his support to her decision, steadied her and asked her to move forward. He did what his heart told him to do.

What makes a man happy? To love and forgive the ones he loves, loved and would love. The second boy has learnt a lesson of a lifetime. Everybody else is right, there are more to life than this one setback. After all, we have only one life to live, play, sing, explore, expand. The second boy is now at the lowest point in his life. He can only rise from there.

He earnestly prays to God that the boy & girl live happily ever after, otherwise his sacrifice would not be worth a bit. Not an iota of what have happened till now should jeopardize their lives from now on. They showed what true love is all about. The second boy was very much jealous of the first boy, for he is luckier to have a girl like her in his life. But this jealousy would end. The second boy would move on in his life. He really thinks that someday he would find a soul mate who would want him for what he is worth of or unworthy of.

He truly has forgiven her at this point of time for what right or wrong she has done in her immaturity, in her indecisiveness, in her selfishness, in the situation she was in, for love, for the one boy she wanted in her life. The pain will linger for sometime more, but he wants somebody to heal that slowly, surely by understanding him, caring for him, nurturing him.

This story is a tribute to love, to the wonderful girl and to the angel. And to all who supported the three main protagonists throughout. Let the story unfold beautifully in the years to come, when the last protagonist is also happily settled in life.

Cheers to all who have the patience to read this far and maybe, are part of this journey.

Amen.

------- The Second Boy.

In a city in India.

31.01.2008

5:00 pm.

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