Well the Academy Awards are on tonight.....as you surely are aware of.....but I'll give you an alternative that could be of eternal consequence....maybe for someone you know or a loved one.
England....London particularly....had two shining lights....two pillars of pulpit faithfulness....in the latter half of the 19th century....in the Baptist preacher Charles Hadden Spurgeon....and the Anglican preacher J. C. Ryle. Christianity in England was on the way down....and would eventually collapse....until another shining light and pillar appeared in London in 1939 in the person and ministry of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. America has had its share of wonderful preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ....but we come in a clear second to England.
So what I have to recommend to you is more of an audio book....the reading of a book written by J. C. Ryle....Old Paths....and the particular chapter can be Googled at....J. C. Ryle....Few Are Saved. Jeremiah was led to use that phrase....Old Paths....in chapter six....verse sixteen...
"Thus says the LORD....(are you listening intently?)....Stand ye in the ways and see, And ask for the Old Paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls." (There's a little more in this verse that we might want to meditate upon)...."But they said, 'We will not walk in it'."
Jeremiah continues in verse seventeen...."Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' The response was the same...."We will not listen."
I'll add the next three verses....."Therefore hear. O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people-The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words, And as for My Law, they have rejected it also.For what purpose to Me comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me."
We conservatives in America like to quote 2 Chronicles 7:14....beginning with...."If My people..." We hear it all the time....you probably know it by heart....the problem is that America is not God's people as we are constantly told. God is not looking for legislation without the heart.....nor does he take delight in sacrifices of praise if on His day we are more interested in the big game or the big event later in the day. These are difficult words....but look around....is not God's judgment everywhere....and have we not said....we will not walk in the Old Paths....and we will not listen?
