Happy New Year! Thank you for reading Uncommon Faith this past year. God has taught me much through the writing of these blog posts and I’m hopeful you have enjoyed what I’ve had to say. I’m grateful for this small platform to have an opportunity to share what God is doing in my life and what I hope He will do in the lives of others through the thoughts He has given me.
With that being said, I wanted to share something I desire to accomplish for the upcoming year. Every day I wake up with new topics that I wish to discuss. They always seem so rich and real in my life and I don’t have enough time to write about them all. I’m grateful that God refocuses my mind to the things I believe He wants me to discuss. Sometimes those are topical; sometimes they are a brief series or occasionally just random musings.
Next week I’m going to begin a series on the book called A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine. Consistent readers of this blog will notice I speak of Alleine and this book often. My church family will know I speak of Alleine and this book often. Why? Because I believe it’s one of the most significant writings next to the Bible that exists today. If you are ever going to read any Puritan writings I would recommend this along with John Bunyon’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Quoting from A Sure Guide to Heaven:
Countless editions of this book have been issued since it first saw the light in 1671. Dr. Calamy wrote concerning it in 1702: ‘Multitudes will have cause for ever to be thankful for it. No book in the English tongues (the Bible only excepted) can equal it for the number that hath been dispersed; there have been twenty thousand sold under the title of the “Call”, or “Alarm”, and fifty thousand of the same under the title of the “Sure Guide to Heaven”, thirty thousand of which were sold at one impression.’
Practically I want to write about this little book because many people will never pick it up despite urgings to do so, also I’ve personally seen two people come to saving faith this past year in response to Alleine’s writing. I don’t say his writing saved them, but God used his words along with His Word to show these two their sin and the need for a remedy through Jesus Christ. There are countless professions of just this same thing happening all over the world through this powerful book.
My desire is to post once a week about A Sure Guide to Heaven and then a more traditional post my other day. For those newer to my blog, I typically post on Tuesday and Friday. I can’t stress enough how beneficial this book can be to those in the church that are truly redeemed and those that are falsely converted. Because of sin’s deceitfulness how can you test your faith? What are the signs of true conversion and false conversion? Alleine explores all these topics in such a wonderfully, powerful way. The writing is a little difficult to read but is certainly worth the effort.
In an age of uncertainty when institutions regarded as “churches” preach a man focused theology there needs to be a call to look at the doctrines of regeneration and “true” biblical conversion. These “churches” are in a wretched state and nothing short of God’s grace can save them and those that attend. Without an understanding of the difficulty of salvation more will be lead to hell on that wide road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13). This flies in the face of the “easy to believe” methods of today. I may be speaking to you today if your testimony includes any of the following.
“I accepted Christ…”
“I prayed the sinner’s prayer…”
“I walked the aisle and prayed at an altar call…”
“I made a decision and asked Jesus into my heart…”
Friends these are NOT biblical conversions, nowhere is this modeled in scripture.
I encourage you to read along with me as we explore what it really means to be “saved”. You can find A Sure Guide to Heaven available online for free if you follow this link
I would encourage you to print it out as I believe you will want to take lots of notes. It is also available from many online book retailers for about $7.00 per copy. You might want to have several copies on hand to give out to friends and those professing Christ.
As Paul calls us to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) and this is a wonderful place to start. Nothing of value comes easy and I believe if you invest some time into something that is this important God will bless your efforts.
Perverse sinner, will you begin where you should end? Is not the word before you? What saith it? ‘Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.’ ‘If you mortify the deeds of the body you shall live.’ ‘Believe and be saved’ (Acts 3:19: Romans 8:13; Acts 16:31). What can be plainer? Page 30 A Sure Guide to Heaven
Kevin
Uncommon Faith 