DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
O God, we stand, therefore, now in your immediate presence, and our very heart speaks to you, and we rejoice that you who searches the heart, know what our heart would say; and if these lips should fail to speak out the heart’s utterances, you will interpret what is written in every bosom; and if no lip this morning should express the desire of some of your saints, because their groanings are such that they cannot utter them themselves, and, therefore, cannot expect anyone else to do it, yet you will read every heart; for every heart is open before you as a book, and you read the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.” (Psalm 7:10)
Oh, how good to have a true and upright heart. Crooked sinners, with all their craftiness, are foiled by the upright in heart. God defends the right. Filth will not long abide on the pure white garments of the saints, but shall be brushed off by divine providence, to the vexation of the men by whose base hands it was thrown upon the godly.
When God shall try our cause, our sun has risen, and the sun of the wicked is set forever. Truth, like oil, is ever above, no power of our enemies can drown it; we shall refute their slanders in the day when the trumpet wakes the dead, and we shall shine in honor when lying lips are put to silence. O believer, fear not all that your foes can do or say against you, for the tree which God plants no winds can hurt.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Understanding the Roman Catholic Church
Yesterday was Reformation Day, the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg — an event that sparked the Protestant Reformation.
Today, more than 500 years later, the Reformation is not finished. It’s just as important now that we seek to understand and engage our Roman Catholic neighbors. A great resource for starting (or continuing) your study on this important issue is 40 Questions about Roman Catholicism by Gregg Allison.
I received a review copy of this book, and I’m incredibly thankful for the thorough, biblical, honest, and fair approach to Roman Catholic theology and practice that the book takes.
Many Protestants have an unfair, simplistic view of Roman Catholic theology, based on a few erroneous doctrines. This book takes a big-picture approach to understanding what Catholics believe and makes them different from Protestants. The question-and-answer format makes the book easy to read and accessible to reference.
Reading 40 Questions about Roman Catholicism will fill you with love for God’s Word and God’s gospel, rejecting any counterfeits, like Roman Catholicism. This book will equip you to better understand Roman Catholic theology and more faithfully engage your Catholic neighbor in evangelism.