Biltmore Baptist Church Jacksonville Fl.

06/25/2026

06/25/2026

Remain Unshaken
… In order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Hebrews 12:27
We have many things in our possession at the present moment that can be shaken, and it is not good for a Christian to rely upon them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet we have certain "things that cannot be shaken," and I invite you this evening to think of them—that if the things that can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken and that will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation.

You are standing at the foot of Christ's cross, trusting alone in the merit of His precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Even if by loss you are brought to poverty and stripped bare, you can still say, "He is still my Father. In my Father's house are many rooms; therefore I will not be troubled." You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and man loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature—nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may dwindle and wander from the field, but it does not matter to the man who can sing, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose.

Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not like little children cast down by what happens to us in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel's land, our hope is fixed in heaven, and therefore, calm as the summer's ocean, we will see the wreck of everything earthborn and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

06/24/2026

Evening, June 24th, 2026
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.”— Daniel 3:16, 18

The narrative of the manly courage and marvellous deliverance of the three holy children, or rather champions, is well calculated to excite in the minds of believers firmness and steadfastness in upholding the truth in the teeth of tyranny and in the very jaws of death.
Let young Christians especially learn from their example, both in matters of faith in religion, and matters of uprightness in business, never to sacrifice their consciences. Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal.
Be not guided by the will-o’-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star of divine authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight.
Do God the honour to trust him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle. See whether he will be your debtor! See if he doth not even in this life prove his word that “Godliness, with contentment, is great gain,” and that they who “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, shall have all these things added unto them.”
Should it happen that, in the providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly prosperity, he will discharge his promise in the gold of spiritual joy.
Remember that a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of that which he possesseth. To wear a guileless spirit, to have a heart void of offence, to have the favour and smile of God, is greater riches than the mines of Ophir could yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win.
“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and inward contention therewith.” An ounce of heart’s-ease is worth a ton of gold.

06/24/2026

The Foundation of Our Faith
But God's firm foundation stands.

2 Timothy 2:19
The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them."1 The great fact on which genuine faith relies is that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,"2 and that "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God";3 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree";4 "Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."5 In one word, the great pillar of the Christian's hope is substitution.

The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty, Christ being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, Christ offering up a true and proper expiatory and substitutionary sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave Him, who are known to God by name and are recognized in their own hearts by their trusting in Jesus—this is the cardinal fact of the Gospel. If this foundation were removed, what could we do? But it stands firm as the throne of God. We know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be stirred and moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversation.

In these days a direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the Atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth, will proclaim it confidently and unceasingly and in defiance of them. We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor distort it in any shape or fashion. It shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering in the place of men. We cannot, dare not give it up, for it is our life, and despite every controversy we affirm that "God's firm foundation stands."

06/23/2026

Tabletalk Devotions with R.C. Sproul
Duration: 365 days
Regeneration Is a Mystery
John 3:4–8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v. 😎.

We have seen that regeneration is absolutely necessary if a person is to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3). No one is born a child of God. A change of heart effected by the Holy Spirit must first take place. In fact, the label “born-again Christian” is redundant, for it is impossible to be a Christian unless one is born again.

Despite the fact that regeneration is required for spiritual life, it must be admitted that the experience of the new birth can be difficult to put into words. There is a great deal of mystery concerning the working of the Spirit in our lives. We know that He works, but we cannot always explain how He works. In fact, the actual process of regeneration takes place within and is not visible to our physical eyes. This is one of the realities Jesus points out in John 3.

In today’s passage, Jesus continues His discussion with Nicodemus, a Pharisee who sits on the Sanhedrin, the religious governing body of Israel in the first century. While Nicodemus shows interest in Jesus, he is not yet a disciple of Christ as shown in his failure to grasp what Jesus is talking about — being born from above, not a second physical birth (v. 4). Our Lord goes on to clarify His point, talking about the need of the Spirit’s work in regeneration (v. 5).

In His instruction Jesus points out the mysterious nature of the Holy Spirit by likening Him to the blowing of the wind (v. 😎. Interestingly, the word for spirit in the original Hebrew, ruach, is also the word we translate into English as “wind.” The Greek term pneuma functions in the same way. Knowing that the Spirit’s work is invisible, like the wind, it makes perfect sense that the biblical authors would use the same term for both “wind” and “spirit.”

We all know that we can feel the wind and see its effects as it bends tree branches and so on. Nevertheless, we cannot actually see the wind itself. Similarly, we do not see the Holy Spirit Himself, but His work is evident in the fruit that He produces in the lives of all true believers (Gal. 5:22–23). We can know that we are born again if we find the evidence of the Spirit’s work in our hearts — a desire for the things of God and a life of repentance.

CORAM DEO: LIVING BEFORE THE FACE OF GOD

None of us will desire the things of God perfectly before we are glorified. None of us will love the Lord as much as he should this side of heaven. Still, as Dr. R.C. Sproul has often said, the presence of such things at all in our hearts is proof of regeneration. No unregenerate person will have a desire for these things; at best he will be indifferent. What evidence can you find of the Spirit’s work in your heart today?

06/23/2026

Immediately
And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Mark 1:18
When they heard the call of Jesus, Simon and Andrew obeyed at once without hesitation. If we did likewise and punctually with resolute zeal put into practice what we hear immediately, then our attendance at the means of grace and our reading of good books could not fail to enrich us spiritually. He will not lose his loaf who has taken care to eat it immediately; neither can he be deprived of the benefit of the doctrine who has already acted upon it. Most readers and hearers become moved to decide to take action; but sadly, the proposal is a blossom that has not flowered, and as a result no fruit comes from it; they wait, they waver, and then they forget, until, like the ponds on frosty nights, when the sun shines by day, they are only thawed in time to be frozen again.

That fatal tomorrow is blood-red with the murder of good resolutions; it is the slaughterhouse of the innocents. We are very concerned that our little book of "Evening Readings" should not be fruitless, and therefore we pray that readers may not be readers only, but doers of the Word. The practice of truth is the fruit of profitable reading.

Should the reader be impressed with any duty while perusing these pages, let him be quick to fulfill it before the holy glow has departed from his soul, and let him leave his nets and all that he has rather than be found rebellious to the Master's call. Do not give place to the devil by delay! Act while opportunity and desire are working in happy partnership. Do not be caught in your own nets, but break the meshes of worldliness, and go where glory calls you. Happy is the writer who will meet with readers resolved to carry out his teachings: His harvest will be a hundredfold, and his Master will have great honor. We can only pray that this might be our reward from these brief meditations and hurried hints. Grant it, O Lord, to Your servant!