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Robert B. Selph is the Coordinator
for the Association of
Reformed Baptist Churches of America. Bob has served as pastor for churches
in Arizona and South Carolina for 21 years prior to coming to ARBCA seven years
ago. He has been married to Cathi for 33 years. They have three married children
who are serving the Lord with their spouses and four grandchildren. Bob and
Cathi live in Carlisle, Pennsylvania though they travel extensively to churches
and mission fields all over the world. Download Windows Media Player
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There are many definitions of what a Christian is. The Scripture has but one. It is crucial to have the one the Sovereign God has given in Holy Scripture. This message seeks to unfold and describe the transformation of a person’s heart which God the Holy Spirit effects in making one a Christian. As all men are found in a state spiritual death, bondage to sin, the world, and the devil, and guilty of violating the holy law of God, it is impossible that a person can in any way contribute to his own acceptance with God. Though all men are condemned and hopeless in their sinful condition, there is mercy with the Lord. God initiates a change in some people that is monumental. This change centers in the person and work of Jesus Christ, is dominated by the grace of God, and is radical in the effect the Holy Spirit produces. A Christian is one who becomes a child of God, a serious follower of Jesus Christ, and alive with and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
In this message from Matthew 25:1-13, the Lord Jesus Christ provides a poignant illustration of the urgency involved in preparing for the Lord’s second coming. All mankind will be at the final judgment, but every one of mankind will be in one of only two groups – either the saved or the lost. The difference between the one and the other is the presence or absence of the Spirit of God in the heart. This distinction is the only distinction between these two categories of man and also between their eternal destinies of heaven and hell. Every man, woman, boy, and girl must have personal dealings with God’s appointed Savior now before the moment when it will forever be too late.
This message examines the letter the Lord Jesus wrote to the church at Ephesus recorded for us in Revelation 2:1-7. They had many things as a church that Jesus could commend them for. But they had lost their in intensity and intimacy of nearness and heart love for the Son of God. They had fallen into a spiritual dullness though they were very keen on theological precision and contending for the faith. They were an active church in carrying out service to God in various areas, but they had failed to keep their own hearts with daily communion with Christ. The Holy Spirit was not upon them and their labors as He once was. They needed to recover that vital life of being in daily, personal communion with the Savior and Shepherd of their souls if anything else they did as a church was to be fruitful and pleasing to God. In Christ, there is love!
Robert B. Selph |
