Is the Past Really Past 12-31-04

Is the Past Really Past? 12-31-04

Philippians 3:13-14 forgetting what is behind

Is our past really past, or are we still living in it?

We all have an image of ourselves. Whose image do we really bear?

Ephesians 1:4-8 accepted in the beloved

Sun, Earth and the moon in an eclipse, and the Father only sees us through Christ

From Spurgeon…No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as he cries to each of us, …What a thought of our sin not being able to pollute the Blood of Christ!!! Spurgeon took for his text…John 7:37-38

From Chambers…Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ.

Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.

You think that you have it bad…from the Bible Encyclopedia

How Each Apostle Died

All of the apostles were insulted by the enemies of their Master. They were called to seal their doctrines with their blood and nobly did they bear the trial.

Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.

Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.

Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece.

John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos.

Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward.

James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem,

James, the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club.

Bartholomew was flayed alive.

Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died.

Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.

Jude was shot to death with arrows.

Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded.

Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica.

Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.

Such was the fate of the apostles, according to traditional statements.