Pastor's Sermon Notes - April 12, 2009

The Empty Tomb is not Empty!
John 3:16

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

Introduction:

Perhaps you, like myself, have in the past spoken of the disciples coming to the empty tomb. I would suggest that this may not be quite accurate, and that we might want to rethink the use of the word “empty” to describe the tomb after Christ was raised from the dead. Actually there are only four usages of the English word “empty” in the New Testament. Each of these is found in the Gospels, and none of them have reference to the tomb. Perhaps a visit to the tomb would be in order to get to the bottom of this, so that when we speak of the tomb in the future we do so with confidence that our testimony accords with the Scriptural accounts, and the reality of the situation we find there.

We are brought there with the disciples by the Scriptures, taken as it were by the hand and brought to the open mouth of the grave of the Savior. We have come to a tomb. The stone that once sealed it has been rolled away. We can see into the tomb. But it is not enough to just stand there and peer within, we must enter the tomb. At first glance it appears to be empty. That is not quite accurate! Oh, it might have been empty three days before, and filled with death since then, but what about now?

Three women, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, saw something, or rather, someone, in the tomb - Mark 16 – [5] And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. [6] And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. [7] But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

Peter and John saw something in the tomb – John 20 - [5] And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. [6] Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, [7] And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. [8] Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

Mary Magdalene saw someone in the tomb – John 20 - [11] But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, [12] And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. [13] And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

However, as we stand within the tomb we are unable to shake the impression that it is not empty at all. And, it is not just the presence of angels, or of the empty grave clothes that impress us. Someone is here. Something fills this tomb. The tomb is not only not empty, on the contrary, the tomb is full!

What is it that seems to fill this tomb? Is there something for us to learn here, a message for us to understand, something for us to take away when we must leave the tomb? We are afraid to speak, even to whisper within the tomb, and if we did we feel that it would merely echo with the apparent emptiness. But the tomb seems to be speaking to us, and it does not seem to be speaking to us of its emptiness.

Is what we are to learn here about “emptiness”, is the message of the tomb an empty message, is “emptiness” what we are to take with us from the tomb, or is it something else? Is there a fullness here, a fullness that should fill us? Is the tomb full with meaning, and with more than meaning? Should we think of, can we speak of “the fullness of the empty tomb”? Isn’t “the fullness of the empty tomb” a reality, a very personal reality, rich with meaning that resonates within our very being? Do we really understand that Christianity is not about an empty tomb? Does that seem to be too radical a statement to you? To some Christianity may be an empty religion, and they never get beyond the emptiness of the tomb. I say to you that the testimony of the tomb is not a testimony of emptiness but of fullness!

We need, we really do need to consider the fullness of the tomb. We need to give serious consideration to what this tomb is filled with.


I. The Empty Tomb is full of God

The silence within the tomb is very loud. The silence here shouts out the reality that God is here, not just that He has been here, but that He is here. He is here not just as He is everywhere as the omnipresent and immanent God, but here He is in a very special sense, speaking to us out of the very “emptiness” of this tomb. He is here revealing Himself to us, speaking to us of His sovereign presence, of His overcoming power, of His overwhelming purpose.

Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul that speaks of the fulness that should confront us in the tomb where He demonstrated the greatest display of His power the world and human history has ever seen!

Romans 15:29 - And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Ephesians 1:23 - Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Ephesians 3:19 - And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Ephesians 4:13 - Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Cololossians 1:19 - For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Colossians 2:9 - For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Do you sense His presence? Do you hear what He is saying to you in the “emptiness” of this tomb? Do you sense the fullness of God in the emptiness of the tomb?


II. The Empty Tomb is full of Love

What is it about this tomb that makes its apparent emptiness such an issue! What is this tomb all about?

What kind of love is this that brings us to a tomb? What manner of love calls us to a seemingly empty tomb? What is it about this tomb that makes it seem to us so full, so filled with love?

How is it that God can “give”? How can it be that God can “give” sacrificially? Will we ever plumb the depths of what it means for God to “give”?

Here, even as in the manger, here, as at the foot of the Cross, here, as gazing into glory, we should feel and experience and be filled with His sacrificial giving love as nowhere else. We should never forget what we find filling this tomb!

III. The Empty Tomb is full of Life

The death that was here is gone. This tomb was a battlefield, and Death, the enemy, has fled the battlefield that the tomb was as an utterly defeated foe. Death has been defeated by the irresistible power of the sovereign Lord, by His unconquerable Love, and by His unquenchable Life.

Only the power of God could empty this tomb of death, and that is precisely what is left as the “emptiness” of the tomb. No power on earth could empty the tomb of death, but the power of the Lord of heaven and earth could! And no power in heaven or on earth can now empty that tomb of what fills it, of the God who is there, the God who loves, and the life He alone gives!

The life that fills this tomb which was once filled with death is a particular kind of life. It is everlasting life, a life that death can no longer conquer. Death is a defeated foe. The tomb has been emptied of death, and filled with the reality of everlasting life due to the victory of God and the sacrifice of His love.

The tomb has been emptied of death leaving Life in its stead. This tomb is full, full of life! It speaks, it shouts, it echoes of life, resurrection life, everlasting life!


Conclusion:

You might be wondering, “Preacher, that is all well and good, but what text of the Bible tells us this? Is this just your own thinking, shouldn’t you be expounding Scripture, or where do you get this from? This seems like a topical message without a text! That is not like what we have come to expect from you. What is this about?” Well, okay, those are reasonable questions. We are not done with the tomb just yet. Don’t just walk away!

As we leave the tomb that we once thought was empty, and we turn to look back in reflection, we see inscribed above the tomb words, and not just any words. Do you see them? What words do you see inscribed, emblazoned across the entrance to the tomb? We see these words, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”, and this verse seems mysteriously appropriate to describe the fullness of the tomb.

Let us speak no more of an empty tomb! Let us speak of a tomb that is filled - filled with God and His power, filled with God and His love, filled with God and His life!

“This morning I stumbled across the first few pages of Alexander Strauch’s Leading with Love. He begins this book by telling a story from the life of Dwight L. Moody. He tells of a time that the evangelist Henry Moorhouse was asked to preach at Moody’s church every night for a week. To everyone’s surprise, Moorhouse preached seven consecutive sermons on John 3:16, preaching on God’s love from Genesis to Revelation. Moody’s son recorded the impact of this preaching in the life of his father:

For six nights he had preached on this one text. The seventh night came and he went into the pulpit. Every eye was upon him. He said, “Beloved friends, I have been hunting all day for a new text, but I cannot find anything so good as the old one; so we will go back to the third chapter of John and the sixteenth verse,” and he preached the seventh chapter from those wonderful words, “God so loved the world.” I remember the end of that sermon:

“My friends,” he said, “for a whole week I have been trying to tell you how much God loves you, but I cannot do it with this poor stammering tongue. If I could borrow Jacob’s ladder and climb up into heaven and ask Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, to tell me how much love the Father has for the world, all he could say would be: ‘God so loveth the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’”

Unable to hold back the tears as Moorhouse preached on the love of God in sending His only Son to die for sinners, Moody confessed:

I never knew up to that time that God loved us so much. This heart of mine began to thaw out; I could not keep back the tears. It was like news from a far country: I just drank it in. So did the crowded congregation. I tell you there is one thing that draws above everything else in the world, and that is love.”

Source: Tim Challies at
http://www.challies.com/archives/articles/quotes/like-news-from-a-far-country.php [accessed 8 APR 2009]

The only “empty tomb” is the tomb of the unbeliever who if filled with death, with an empty heart, and empty soul, and an eternity empty of hope! If you know God, and have experienced His power and love, if you have inherited eternal life by faith in Christ, you know this tomb is not empty, and that you have been filled with precisely that which fills this tomb! Go rejoicing in the message of the “Full Tomb” rather than the empty tomb!

Missionary Sunday - May 3, 2009

Wayside Gospel Chapel will be conducting a special Missionary Sunday worship service on May 3, 2009 with Pastor Noah Quarshie. The service will begin at 10:30 a.m. Noah has ministered at Wayside several times in the past, and we are excited about having him with us once again! Don't miss this opportunity to be ministered to by Pastor Quarshie, and to learn what the Lord is doing in Ghana!

Pastor Noah Quarshie is a national missionary in Ghana, West Africa, where he is the president of Shalom Indigenous Ministries which consists of the Baptist Institute of Professional Studies (BIPS), and the BIPS Secondary Technical School, and is the pastor of Baptist Bible Church. He is the author of A Bird's Eye View of the Bible (Clarks Green, PA: Outreach-Ministries, 1983), 214 pp., and has also published several booklets on a variety of Biblical, theological and educational topics.


Noah was born in Ghana in 1946, attended elementary and high school there, was saved in 1969 through the ministry of Back to the Bible Broadcast, and baptized in 1970 at the Christiansburg Baptist Church. He served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher from 1971 to 1974. In 1974 Noah married his wife Adelaide. They have two children, Deborah and Enoch.

The Quarshie Family

Noah came to the USA in 1974, studying at Shelton College, Cape Canaveral, FL, where he earned a B.A. degree in 1978, and Baptist Bible Theological Seminary (now "Baptist Bible Seminary"), Clarks Summit, PA, earning a M.Div. degree in 1982. He returned to Ghana in 1983 as a missionary under Grace Baptist Mission, West Clifford, PA. The work in Ghana involves leadership training, church planting, pastoral ministry, youth ministry, education, medical ministry, farming, relief work, and the Gospel radio ministry, "Alive FM". Noah’s educational ministries include the Baptist Institute of Professional Studies (begun in 1992), and the BIPS Secondary Technical school (begun in 1999).

Link to web site for Grace Baptist Mission - Ghana
http://www.gracebaptistmissionghana.org/quarshies.html
[accessed 2 APR 2009]

Seventh Annual Wayside Weekend Bible Conference

Wayside Gospel Chapel is hosting its Seventh Annual Weekend Bible Conference Saturday, May 30, 2009 and Sunday, May 31, 2009. Two sessions are scheduled for Saturday evening beginning at 5:00 p.m. with a Fellowship Dinner between sessions. The closing session of the Conference will be the Sunday morning worship service beginning at 10:30 a.m.

David B. Morris will once again be expounding the Scriptures at Wayside. David is no stranger to Wayside Gospel Chapel as this is his sixth visit as our featured Bible Conference preacher.

Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery (left) with Pastor David Morris (right)

David studied Classics and Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, following his conversion in 1973. After nearly twenty years of pastoral ministry, he entered an itinerant ministry of evangelism and conference speaking. He and Terri, his wife of 27 years, have six children. David has ministered in the past at the John Bunyan Conference in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania. He will be speaking twice this year at the 2009 John Bunyan Conference in Lewisburg, PA. He delivered the Convocation Address at the 11th International Baptist Conference in 2004 held at the historic Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada, hosted by the Toronto Baptist Seminary, the Jarvis Street Baptist Church, and The Jonathan Edwards Centre for Reformed Spirituality. Some of his sermons are available on SermonAudio.com at David Morris.

Pastor David Morris (left) with Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery (right)

Don't miss this opportunity to gather at Wayside as we are ministered to by this gifted preacher and teacher of God's Word!

Pastor's Sermon Notes - March 22, 2009

Christ Our Passover
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
[6] Your glorying is not good.
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
[7] Purge out therefore the old leaven,
that ye may be a new lump,
as ye are unleavened.
For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
[8] Therefore let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Introduction:
Review: The issue is the purity of the Church, and Church discipline when wickedness is detected within the Church

Bible Study Pointer: Pay attention to the New Testament’s usage of the Old Testament! Learn the Old Testament to understand the New Testament!

Key features of this passage: leaven, Passover, the spiritual significance of leaven

Outline:

Don’t Glory Until the Old Leaven is Purged Out –
What’s up with all this about leaven? (5:6-7c)

Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for Us –
How is Christ our Passover? (5:7d)

Keep the Feast with Unleavened Bread –
How are we to keep the leaven out of the feast? (5:8)

Difficulties:
Sequence of events: purging of corruption, sealing with blood protecting from Angel of Death, the Destroyer, celebration of the Feast

Treading underfoot the blood of the Covenant, Hebrews 10:26-31 

I. Don’t Glory Until the Old Leaven is Purged Out – What’s up with all this about leaven? (5:6-7c)

Your glorying is not good.
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump,
as ye are unleavened.

1. The Problem - Your glorying is not good (5:6)

1 Cor. 3:21 - Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1 Cor. 5:2 - And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

James 4:16 - But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Romans 6:16 - Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

The problem is that glorying is inappropriate while leaven is present in any amount.

2. The Principle - a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (5:7a)

Leaven as corruption

1 Cor. 15:33 - Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Hosea 7:4 - They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

The effect of even a little corruption is total

Galatians 5:9 - A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

The Parable of the Leaven

Matthew 13:33 - Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Luke 13:20-21 - And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

3. The Solution - Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened (5:7b)

The Original Passover

Exodus 12:1-14, 21-30

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Exodus 12:15 - Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. [3-20, 1-30]

Exodus 12:19 - Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.

Exodus 12:21-23 - Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. [22] And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. [23] For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Exodus 13:7 - Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. [3-10]

Deut. 16:3 - Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

The Leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Herod

Matthew 16:6 - Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. [5-12]

Matthew 16:11-12 - How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? [12] Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mark 8:15 - And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. [14-21]

Luke 12:1 - In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

The Jewish Traditions for Purging Leaven

Helpful sources on Jewish traditions concerning the Passover, leaven, and preparation for the Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com
[accessed 21 MAR 2009]

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com
[accessed 21 MAR 2009]

http://www.chabad.org
[accessed 21 MAR 2009] 

II. Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for Us –
How is Christ our Passover? (5:7d)

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Sounding a sweet note in the middle of a grievous confrontation!

The Original Passover

Exodus 12:1-14, 21-30

Christ Our Passover

Isaiah 53:7 - He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

John 19:14 - And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

1 Peter 1:19 - But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Sequence of events: purging of corruption, sealing with blood protecting from Angel of Death, the Destroyer, celebration of the Feast – This has to do with future judgment – the present is the time for preparation – purging out the leaven, and remaining under the protection of the blood of the Covenant – the Passover, the judgment and destruction of the world (Egypt), and unbelievers (Egyptians) is yet future – the Feast will be kept as the Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Consider the significance of treading underfoot the blood of the Covenant in Hebrews –

[26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, [27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. [28] He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: [29] Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. [31] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(Hebrews 10:26-31) 

III. Keep the Feast with Unleavened Bread –
How are we to keep the leaven out of the feast? (5:8)

Therefore let us keep the feast,not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Jewish traditions concerning the keeping of the Feast

The “old” leaven

The leaven of “malice and wickedness”

The Leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Herod

Matthew 16:6 - Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. [5-12]

Matthew 16:11-12 - How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? [12] Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mark 8:15 - And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. [14-21]

Luke 12:1 - In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

The unleavened bread of “sincerity and truth”

The lessons to be learned from the Jewish understanding

Conclusion:

How meticulous are we in purging out leaven?

How concerned are we concerning impurity in our lives and in the Church?

Get your spiritual “toothbrushes” out!

Purge out the old leaven! Keep the Feast in a way that honors and glorifies our Passover!

[Sermon preached by Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA on March 22, 2009.]

Sixth Annual Wayside Gospel Chapel Weekend Bible Conference

Wayside Gospel Chapel is hosting the

Sixth Annual Weekend Bible Conference

on Saturday, March 8th and Sunday, March 9th, 2008.

Pastor David Morris (left) with Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery (right)

Our speaker this year is David B. Morris. David is no stranger to Wayside Gospel Chapel as this is his fifth visit as the featured Bible Conference preacher. David studied Classics and Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, following his conversion in 1973. After nearly twenty years of pastoral ministry, he entered an itinerant ministry of evangelism and conference speaking. He and Terri, his wife of twenty-six years, have six children. David has ministered in the past at the John Bunyan Conference in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania. He also delivered the Convocation Address at the 11th International Baptist Conference in 2004 held at the historic Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada, hosted by the Toronto Baptist Seminary, the Jarvis Street Baptist Church, and The Jonathan Edwards Centre for Reformed Spirituality. Some of his sermons are available on SermonAudio.com at David Morris.

Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery (left) with Pastor David Morris (right)

The schedule for the three sessions of the 2008 Weekend Bible Conference is as follows:

Saturday, March 8th
5:00-6:00 p.m. - 1st meeting
6:00-8:00 p.m. - fellowship time and dinner
8:00-9:00 p.m. – 2nd meeting

Sunday, March 9th
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

For further information contact Pastor John T. Jeffery at (570) 342-5787 or via the e-mail link on this page.

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Pastor's note: Whether you have already made some "New Year's Resolutions, or not, these of Edwards are very hard to improve on. We would do well to make them our own!

*************************************************************

"Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God' s help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ' s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God' s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.
2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the aforementioned things.
3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. July 30.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder.
12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.
13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.
14. Resolved, never to do any thing out of revenge.
15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.
16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.
17. Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
18. Resolved, to live so, at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.
19. Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.
20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance, in eating and drinking.
21. Resolved, never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him. (Resolutions 1 through 21 written in one setting in New Haven in 1722)
22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.
23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God' s glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.
24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.
25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.
26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.
27. Resolved, never willfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.
28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.
30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.
31. Resolved, never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.
32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Proverbs 20:6,‹A faithful man who can find?Š may not be partly fulfilled in me.
33. Resolved, to do always, what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.
34. Resolved, in narrations never to speak any thing but the pure and simple verity.
35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.
36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.
37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,-and wherein I have denied myself;-also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.
38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord' s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.
39. Resolved, never to do any thing of which I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.
40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.
41. Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.
42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.
43. Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God' s; agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12, 1723.
44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. January 12, 1723.
45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.
46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.
47. Resolved, to endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5, 1723.
48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.
49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.
50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.
51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.
52. I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.
53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.
54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.
55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.
56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.
57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it, and let the event be just as providence orders it. I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty, and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.
58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.
59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.
60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.
61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.
62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty, and then according to Ephesians 6:6-8, to do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man:‹knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.Š June 25 and July 13, 1723.
63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. January 14 and July 13, 1723.
64. Resolved, when I find those ‹groanings which cannot be utteredŠ (Romans 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those‹breakings of soul for the longing it hath,Š of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness, of which I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton' s 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.
66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.
67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what am I the better for them, and what I might have got by them.
68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. August 11, 1723.
70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. August 17, 1723." [note 1]

*************************************************************

“During his preparation for the ministry, his residence in New York, and his subsequent residence in his father’s house, he formed a series of resolutions, to the number of seventy, intended obviously for himself alone, to regulate his own heart and life, but fitted also, from their christian simplicity and spiritual-mindedness, to be eminently useful to others. Of these the first thirty-four [note 2] were written before Dec. 18, 1722, the time in which his Diary, as it now exists, commences. The particular time and occasion of making many of the rest, will be found in that most interesting narrative, in which also are many other rules and resolutions, intended for the regulation of his own affections, of perhaps equal excellence. It should be remembered they were all written before he was twenty years of age. As he was wholly averse to all profession and ostentation; and as these resolutions themselves were plainly intended for no other eye than his own, except the eye that is omniscient; they may be justly considered as the basis of his conduct and character, the plan by which he governed the secret as well as the publick actions of his life. As such they will deeply interest the reader, not only as they unfold the inmost mind of their author, but as they also show, in a manner most striking and convincing to the conscience, what is the true foundation of great and distinguished excellence.

He was too well acquainted with human weakness and frailty, even where the intentions are most sincere, to enter on any resolutions rashly, or from a reliance on his own strength. He therefore in the outset looked to God for aid, who alone can afford success in the use of the best means, and in the intended accomplishment of the best purposes. This he places at the head of all his other important rules, that his whole dependence was on the grace of God, while he still proposes to recur to a frequent and serious perusal of them, in order that they might become the habitual directory of his life.” [note 3]

*************************************************************
Footnotes:

1. Sereno E. Dwight, “Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards, A. M.”, in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, rev. Edward Hickman, 2 vols. (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, n.d.; 1995 reprint of 1834 original), I:xx-xxii.

2. The first twenty-one were written at once; as were the next ten, at a subsequent sitting. The rest were written occasionally. They are all on two detached pieces of paper. [Note: this footnote was indicated by an asterisk in the original.]

3. Dwight, op. cit., I:xx.

Memory Verses For Each Week Of The Year

Top 52 Bible Verses for Memorization, List One
Compiled by Gary George

25 from the Old Testament: Gen. 3:15; Lev. 17:11; Josh. 24:15; 1 Sam.16:7; Job 19:25-27; Ps. 19:1; 40:2,3; 51:4; 139:23,24; Pr. 3:5,6; 14:12; Is. 1:18; 9:6; 26:3; 40:31; 45:22; 53:5; 55:8,9; 11; 59:2; 64:6; Jer. 13:23; 17:9; Ezek. 3:18; Dan. 4:35.

27 from the New Testament: Mt. 1:21; 10:28; 11:28-30; Mk. 8:36; Jn. 1:12; 1:29; 3:3; 3:16; 14:6; 15:13; Acts 4:12; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; 6:23; 8:28; 10:9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8,9; Ph. 1:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; 2 Tim. 3:16; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 1:20,21; 1 Jn. 1:9; Rev. 3:20.

Note: Every believer should know these verses by heart. Learning these at the rate of one per week will enable you to complete the list in a year! Two verses together are considered one. This is the first of two such lists Gary George has compiled. These lists of memory verses constitutes a challenge to every believer to spend more time in the Word daily laboring to read, study, mediate on and memorize not just these verses, but many others. You are encouraged to begin memorizing entire chapters and then books of the Bible. Your time engaged in this activity may be the best investment of your Christian life this side of glory!

*************************************************************

Gen. 3:15 - And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Lev. 17:11 - For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Josh. 24:15 - And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

1 Sam. 16:7 - But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Job 19:25-27 - For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Ps. 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Ps. 40:2-3 - He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

Ps. 51:4 - Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Ps. 139:23-24 - Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Pr. 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Pr. 14:12 - There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Is. 1:18 - Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Is. 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Is. 26:3 - Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Is. 40:31 - But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Is. 45:22 - Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Is. 53:5 - But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Is. 55:8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Is. 55:11 - So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Is. 59:2 - But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Is. 64:6 - But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Jer. 13:23 - Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Jer. 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Ezek. 3:18 - When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Dan. 4:35 - And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Mt. 1:21 - And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Mt. 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Mt. 11:28-30 - Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Mark 8:36 - For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

John 1:29 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 3:3 - Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

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.

Rom. 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom. 5:12 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Rom. 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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.

Rom. 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

2 Cor. 5:21 - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Eph. 2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Phil. 1:6 - Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

1 Tim. 2:5 - For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

2 Tim. 3:16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

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;

Heb. 9:22 - And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

1 Pet. 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

2 Pet. 1:20-21 - Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

1 Jn. 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Rev. 3:20 - Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.