The “god” of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The “god” who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form “gods” out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a “god” out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. A “god” whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt.
A.W. Pink

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BBD 01.23.06 Falling Short

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#1 · January 22, 2006, 2:00 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional

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01.23.06

Falling Short

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is
guilty of all. - James 2:10.

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is
sin. - James 4:17.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:7-9.

The headline from London today is that "Rescuers fall short in saving errant
whale." I watched yesterday on the news, as efforts were underway to rescue
the bottlenose whale that had gotten lost and swam up the Thames River. The
whale was large being 18 feet long with a weight of about four tons although
that may not be so large for a whale. The whale may have gotten off course
because of being ill. Attempts were made to turn the whale around but they
all failed. Finally, it was decided to put the whale on a barge to take it
back to the sea. Sadly, the stress on the whale's internal organs caused it
to die before making it back into the water. Silvia Mazzola who watched as
the rescue was attempted said, "Yesterday, it was a carnival mood, but today
it was a bit sad. It felt like a funeral on the river."

The effort of the rescuers to save the whale and the ultimate failure is a
picture of humanity's efforts to save themselves spiritually. Sadly, it
cannot be done although many have tried. Man thinks if I can keep the Law
perfectly then I will be safe. If I can avoid all sin, I will be saved. If I
can do more good things than bad things then I will be saved. James points
out how impossible this is by saying, "For whoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." He also says, ".to him
who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."

I have had it explained to me that it is like an archer shooting arrows at a
target. Each arrow falls a little short. The arrows almost make it but
almost does not a bullseye make. Unless the target is hit, it is a failure
and the arrows have fallen short. The rescue attempts of the whale all fell
short. It was a good try, many good tries, but the whale still died. It is
the same spiritually for us. We may make many good tries, our arrows may
come close to hitting the mark but they still fall short. Tell one little
white lie. Fail to do one good thing that we know we should have done. It
just takes one little tiny sin to fall short.

Of course, some people try to deceive themselves and say, "Oh, I am perfect
and I have never, ever committed any kind of sin." What does the Bible have
to say about that person? "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us." If we could have saved ourselves,
there would have been no need for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. If
there had been any other way Jesus would not have come down from the glories
of Heaven to suffer and die for us. Jesus is the only way (John 14:6). He is
the only One who has ever lived a perfect life, tempted at all points yet
without sin (Hebrews 4:15) so that He could be the perfect sacrifice. As
Peter tells us, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but
made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)."

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