 land-mark, n. a fixed object used to mark out or identify an owner's property. In the spiritual realm, the old landmarks are those doctrines that help us to know and apprehend our vast inheritance in Christ. |
|
|
SOME REMOVE THE LANDMARKS; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. --Job 24:2 ...ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls....." Jeremiah 6:16 | |
Click for feedback →
FEEDBACK
A SHORT, BUT IMPORTANT, INTRODUCTION
The true Christian life is not a restriction, it is abundant, rich, free, and sublime. Yet many professed Christians languish like fish out of water. They realize that they have no power and no annointing but they don't know what to do about it. An enemy hath obscured the old landmarks that show us our vast spiritual inheritance and how to enjoy it. Knowing Christ is more than being able to recite your church's "statement of faith". The kingdom of God is not in word, but in POWER (1 Cor 4:20, I Thes 1:5) This is not just apostolic talk--the Holy Ghost will empower YOU if you'll study and obey the word. There is POWER in a righteous, self-denying life that seeks only to glorify God and His Christ.
The purpose of this website is to resurrect the OLD landmarks for the remembrance and practice of God's people. Let us understand and embrace Bible words and doctrines such as sanctification (your affections and desires purified) and consecration (you and your goods being set apart for sacred uses)...Come then, and let us journey BACK in time to the OLD landmarks that our fathers have set for our learning and understanding. The featured divines will instruct, rebuke, challenge and inspire those moving on to perfection (ref. Heb 6:1).
If you are unsaved, or a novice, I recommend that you study the King James Bible (NOT the "New" King James) and visit the other website www.jesus-is-lord.co.za. Old Landmarks will feature authors of various theological persuasions--I don't agree with them on every point (then again, who do I agree with on every point?). Use the word to judge what you read. Old time Calvinists have a wonderful emphasis on holiness and the sovereignty of God--but that does not mean that you become a Calvinist. Be a Christian, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and let the King James Bible be your only creed.
When we (1) SUBMIT to the divine precepts (found in the word) and (2) REJECT the flesh/devil/world in all their guises--then the Holy Ghost will enlighten the eyes of our understanding more than ever. We will no longer languish, we will THRIVE in the knowledge of the holy. Isaiah 58:11-12 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the OLD waste places: THOU SHALT RAISE UP THE FOUNDATIONS of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
These are not just some poetic words, this is reality. Leave the world 100% (including hellivision, etc.), lay hold on Christ and you will step into a whole new realm. Therefore,
"Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward...ARISE, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."Follow the landmarks--there is something wonderful awaiting you on the other side of your obedience to the faith.
Recommendation: Print out a few chapters of information here that appeals to you, grab a pen (for making notes and underlining good points), and read it on the deck, in the tub, in the family room, anywhere. Take along a cup of coffee or your favorite drink, if you like. When you first start reading the olde divines, their writing may seem sophisticated compared to the simple five minute newsbites many are accustomed to--but you'll get used to it before long. In fact, you'll come to enjoy the rich, meaningful, pregnant word usage and deep expositions of the word. Read, consider, pray, meditate, and bask in knowledge of the holy--put it into practice, exercise yourself in it. As you read, sometimes you'll agree with the author, sometimes you'll disagree, sometimes you'll receive a word of revelation, sometimes a word of confirmation. After you've been enlightened, share what you've learned with others--have a home Bible study or fellowship dinner. You may even want to write a short meditation on what you've learned. May the good Lord enlighten the eyes of your understanding as you follow on to know Him. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Prayer & Unction
Let this information stimulate and inspire you to go further in prayer. Seek the honour, power, and annointing that cometh from God alone. Prayer is your special time to go down on your knees to commune with your Father. In prayer, you render thanksgiving, praise and worship unto God for His excellent greatness (you can start by reading a praise Psalm to inspire you). Prayer is a whole other realm of Christian experience where you receive grace, divine instruction, revelation, illumination, etc. from God's throne. Prayer is not to be rote and dried up. Jesus would sometimes pray to the Father all night long. Men ought always to pray and not to faint. It availeth MUCH. Tarry with it until your breakthrough comes.
- Power Through Prayer (POWERFUL classic on prayer. Addressed to pastors
but relevant for all. E.M. Bounds.)
- The Possibilities of Prayer (More good stuff by E.M. Bounds.)
- Purpose in Prayer (More good stuff by E.M. Bounds.)
- How to Pray (Many eye opening points. R.A. Torrey.)
- The Necessity of Prayer (E.M. Bounds.)
- UNCTION: Unction (That divine power and annointing that is missing in most lives and preaching. Excerpted from Power Through Prayer. EM Bounds)
Preaching that kills (Unannointed, death preaching is often orthodox, but it lacks unction, divine power. Chapter 3 of Power Through Prayer. EM Bounds) - The Soul of Prayer (Contemplative food for those who've walked the terrace. P. T. Forsyth)
- Puritan Prayers
Mortification
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit
do MORTIFY the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Rom 8:13). Dost thou even know the plagues of thine own heart (ref I Kin 8:38)? The vain thoughts that lodge within thee (ref Jer 4:14)? Wilt thou be cleansed from secret faults (ref. Ps 19:12)? Will you FIGHT against presumptuous sins and be innocent from the great transgression (ref. Ps 19:13)? Wilt thou indeed mortify thy deeds and thy members which are upon the earth (ref Col 3:5)?
- The Mortification of Sin in Believers (THIS IS DEEP. If chapter 1 seems tough to read, don't let it discourage you--the rest of it is easy to read, revelatory and empowering. The chapter on the excellenct majesty of God kept me waking up one night. Fight, stab, punch, kick, and starve your lusts until they lie dead at your feet. John Owens)
- Governing the Tongue (If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body (Jam 3:2) Some good points by Bro. Charles Finney.)
- The Reformed Pastor (this is NOT just for pastors. an exhortation to make sure you are saved and have intimately tasted of the word which you attempt to publish.)
- A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (by William Law)
- Fasting (an often neglected spiritual discipline.)
- Characteristics of the Self-life (Christian reader, wouldst thou know the evil intruders you've been nursing in your soul for years? Would you have them cast out and replaced with the power of the Holy Ghost?)
- How to Change Your Heart (how to (1) stop preferring your own interests and (2) start preferring God's glory in ALL things--this is the higher life defined. Finney.)
- What's Behind the Wall? (what do you do in the darkness of your imagination? it holds you back.)
The Way of Understanding
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. Proverbs 9:6, 21:16
- The Divine Inspiration of the Bible (a beautiful apologetic. a worthy read. Arthur W. Pink)
- Consecration (Why do so few Christians know the sweet, continual influences of the Holy Ghost? We haven't fully renounced the world and self. We've got too much static interference--sin. "[W]hosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). Consecration is the act of setting apart to the service of God. We should each seek personal consecration--the unconditional surrendering of ourselves and all we own to God's service. There is a work for each of us. Finney.)
- Power From On High (after we get saved, we need to be endued and enabled by the Holy Ghost to be true & powerful witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ ref. Acts 1:8, etc. One missionary that stayed in the field said something like this--that he wished he had spent 40 years spiritually preparing for the field and seven years working in the field instead of the other way around. When Peter preached with the Holy Ghost, 3,000 were saved in ONE day. It is the annointing that breaks the yoke. Finney testifies that the Holy Ghost will give you a vast increase of divine illumination--I know this is true. I didn't know what to call all of this when it happened to me, but now that it has happened, I can understand what these people are saying. Keep petitioning heaven until you receive the gift so you can be a true witness.)
- A Single and an Evil Eye (If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be FULL of light. Finney)
- Stewardship (Every one of us will give account of our stewardship. Finney.)
- The Seer (Aspects of the prophetic office. Lars Widerberg.)
- Picture of a Prophet (The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men...The missing person in our ranks is the prophet. Leonard Ravenhill.)
- Sanctification
Revival
O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in
the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember
mercy. Habakkuk 3:2
- Revivals of Religion (learn what revival is and how to get it in your own life. Finney.)
- Letters on Revival or Revival Fire
Pursuing God
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is
prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter
and former rain unto the earth (Hosea 6:3). Follow the Lord by obeying His word--wait for the early and latter rain.
- The Pursuit of God (by A.W. Tozer)
- The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (Treatise on the "higher life" free from the dominion of sin and set apart for God. Hannah Whitall Smith.)
- Till He Come (Sweet communion meditations. Spurgeon.)
Biographies
Psalms
37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his
way.
- The Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd with Notes and Reflections (a look into a sober life. Jonathan Edwards)
- Christian biographies (Loads of biographies and links)
- Missionary biographies
Sorrows
Ecclesiastes 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge
increaseth sorrow. The nearer we draw to God the further we get from the world--and many sitting in the church pews. Holy people are not received by carnal minds. We get gnashed on--it's just part of the process as God uses us to convict men of their unlawful deeds. These things are grievous. God tells us to eat the roll of knowledge. In our mouth, the revelation is as sweet as honey but it makes our belly bitter as we see things for what they are. The Lord says to the gospel worker to keep exercising their gifts in spite of the apostasy. The way of the cross includes suffering (ref Phi 3:10)
- Lectures to professing Christians:
Part I Part II
Part III
(church people need to give up their hypocrisy, get saved, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Finney.)
- War On the Saints (The Lord brought this book to my attention to describe phenomena I have witnessed first hand in CHURCH PEOPLE. Deep. If it doesn't bear witness with you now, keep doing gospel work and try reading it in the future. Written in 1912 by Jessie Penn-Lewis)
- Christian affinity (Ever been in a church or a "Christian" group where your zeal was despised? How can we make one Christian mad and another glad? It's about temperature. Charles Finney explains. Read the entire treatise, this message climbs up to a powerful apex at the end.)
- Traditions of the Elders (Traditions of men have OBSCURED the gospel for centuries.)
- Holding the line (parents and grandparents are falling away from the faith they once believed and the children pick up the torchlight of truth to carry it on)
- Woe is me! ("[I]t is of little use for you to cry 'Woe is me.' Jesus did not
pray that you should be taken out of the world, and what He did not pray for you need not desire." A second note not to be too curious about things that are above your human understanding. Spurgeon.)
- History of the Papacy (fascinating and revelatory look at the beginnings of the beast and its evolution.)
- Antinomianism (the scourge of a carnal "church"): http://www.firesofrevival.com/otis3.htm
Our Fellowship
Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
- How to be a Christian Family
- Hymns and spiritual songs (words and music to encourage, strengthen, and inspire.)
- Touching Incidents
and
Remarkable
Answers to Prayer (selected incidents of God's faithfulness to encourage God's children. Published in 1893.)
A Sojourner's Meditations
- Scripture Meditations: Psalms 1 (Let this Psalm arouse our affections to holiness and godliness--and let it be a warning to the wicked.)
- Definitions of Useful and Important Doctrinal Words for Christians
Links
This will take you to material on other sites that may edify.
- Fires of Revival (includes Finney and others)
- John Owen Works online (aka, "the prince of divines")
- Reformed Books and Commentaries
- The Revival Library (contains histories of major revivals)
- Commentaries on revivals
- The Spurgeon Archive (Charles Spurgeon, aka, "the prince of preachers")
- Eternal Life Ministries (featuring great preachers and teachers of the past and present.)
- Books, Articles and Sermons (awesome resources listed by topic. Here they are listed by author.)
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library (olde things--careful they have some papist stuff)
- What Saith the Scripture (they have some great authors/books on this EXACT url, but I don't know about the rest of the site offerings...)
- Biblical-Theology: The Nature of Sin (all sin is REBELLION against God. This page has numerous works on this issue.)
Please help this website:
And the LORD answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain
upon tables,
that he may RUN that readeth it.
Habakkuk 2:2
HOME - Jesus-is-Lord.co.za