Now you can go directly to ligonier.org and order the resources.....(I have been a supporter of Ligonier Ministries for at least 35 years if not longer)....or you can navigate the website or the web for individual teachings....but one easy way that I recommend to you is simply to Google....The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul Part One....Litterbox studio....and begin to listen....and to watch this Pittsburgher. (I decided to add it below) The YouTube is almost two hours. I'm not sure how many episodes of The Holiness of God that entails. I'm going to start listening to it again today....for I need it!
We need to get this straight right at the beginning....and if we travel for a decade or two without having come to grips with this....then we need to go back there immediately....even before supper....and we need it again and again throughout our pilgrimage! Let me segue....as usual....
I have been reading in depth Psalm 107 for a few days....maybe a week....studying and meditating on one Psalm for a week! Five times in this Psalm....the first Psalm in Book Five of the Psalms....the author writes...."Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good"....verses 1, 8, 15, 21,31....with slight modification.....and the Psalm ends with...."Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD."
So in verse 23 we read...."Those who go down to the sea in ships..." I remembered an old Hollywood movie of that title....vaguely....I may have watched it sixty years ago. Well the exact title from the 1949 movie starring Lionel Barrymore and Richard Widmark and Dean Stockwell is....Down To The Sea In Ships. A movie with a Bible verse as a title. That's not exactly uncommon but it piqued my interest, so I found it on the computer....and my wife and I watched it last evening....and it is absolutely wonderful....so I recommend it to you.
I hope this hasn't changed but I fear that it has. Basic training was an absolutely essentially time in the army....or any of the other services. The drill sergeant had eight or twelve weeks with these men. There was no time for coddling! There were no safe spaces. There was no room for error. There was no whining....at least none that the drill sergeant could hear. I look around at the church....and there has been no basic training today! Everyone seems to think that this is a great small group that we all have joined. So to reiterate....you need to go back to basic if you have not understood who God is....and the abyss between He and man....and the awesome majesty and unspeakable glory and unimaginable mercy that has been bestowed upon the truly redeemed believer. If that redeemed believer is wasting his time on himself....and his passions are not centered upon the One who lifted him up out of hell....then there is a big problem! Statistics tell us that about 64% of Green Beret trainees drop out....and seven or eight of SEAL trainees drop out. These are not flabby draftees that drop out or do not make it....but fit individuals. God's Word speaks of this in a different way.....the narrow way....in which a few go through....and the broad way....in which the many deceive themselves.
Note: There is an audio glitch at the beginning that only lasts for a minute or two....have patience.
