Better to rot in prison!
(J.R. Miller, “Practical Lessons from the Story ofΒ Joseph“)
“How can I do this great wickedness–and sin against God!” Genesis 39:9
“After hearing his wife’s story, Potiphar was furious! He took Joseph and threw him into the prison!” Genesis 39:19-20
Sometimes it costs very dearly to be true to God. Joseph lay now in a dungeon. But hisΒ lossΒ through doing right, was nothing in comparison with what he would have lost–had he done the wickedness to which he was tempted. His prison gloom, deep as it was–was as noonday, compared with what would have been theΒ darkness of his soulΒ under the blight of evil, and the bitterness of remorse. TheΒ chainsΒ that hung upon him in his dungeon, were but likeΒ feathers–in comparison with theΒ heavy chainsΒ which would have bound hisΒ soul, had he yielded to the temptation. Though in a prison, his feet hurt by the fetters–he was a free man because hisΒ conscienceΒ was free and hisΒ heartΒ was pure!Β
NoΒ fear of consequencesΒ should ever drive us to do a wrong thing.Β
It is better to suffer any loss, any cost, any sacrifice–than be eaten up by remorse!Β
Better be hurled down from a high place for doing right–than win worldly honor by doing wrong.Β
Better lose our right hand–than lose our purity of soul.Β
Better to rot in prison–than to sin against God!
It was the prayer of a young queen, which she wrote with a diamond point on her castle window,Β “Keep meΒ pure–make othersΒ great.”Β That is the lesson of Joseph’s victory over temptation: dishonor, loss, dungeon, death–anything before sin!
Better to rot in prison!
The Christian is not a good man
The Christian is not a good man
(Martyn Lloyd Jones)
The Christian is not a good man.Β
He is a vile wretch who has been save by the grace of God!
“You see, at just the right time, when we were stillΒ powerless, Christ died for theΒ ungodly.” Romans 5:6Β
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were stillΒ sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8Β
“When we wereΒ God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son” Romans 5:10Β
“Christ Jesus came into the world to saveΒ sinners–of whom I am theΒ worst!” 1 Timothy 1:15Β
A beloved child–watched over, cared for, supplied and defended!
A beloved child–watched over, cared for, supplied and defended!
(Charles Spurgeon)
“The Lord takes pleasure in His people!” Psalm 149:4Β
How comprehensive is the love of Jesus! There is no part of His people’s interests that He does not consider; and there is nothing that concerns their welfare, which is not important to Him. Not merely does He think of you, believer, as anΒ immortalΒ being–but as aΒ mortalΒ being, also. Do not deny it or doubt it: “The veryΒ hairsΒ of your head are all numbered.” “TheΒ stepsΒ of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in His way.” Believer, rest assured that the heart of Jesus cares about your common affairs.
The breadth of His tender love is such that you may resort to Him in all matters; for as a father pities his children, so does He pity you. Oh, what a heart is His–which comprehends all the diverse and innumerable concerns of all His redeemed people!
Do you think that you can measure the love of Christ? Think of what His love has brought you–justification, adoption, sanctification and eternal life! The riches of His goodness are unsearchable–you shall never be able toΒ countΒ them out or evenΒ conceiveΒ of them all. Oh, the breadth of the love of Christ! You are no desolate wanderer, butΒ a beloved child–watched over, cared for, supplied and defendedΒ by your Lord!
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book!” Psalm 56:8Β
They are all gone!
They are all gone!Β
(Charles Spurgeon)
“If you, O Lord, should keep a record of our sins–Lord, who could stand before You?” Psalm 130:3Β
“I–yes, I alone–will blot out your sins for My own sake, and will never remember them again!” Isaiah 43:25Β
“You will tread our sins underfoot, and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea!” Micah 7:19Β
All our transgressions are swept away at once, carried off as by a flood! They are so completely removed from us–that no guilty trace of them remains!Β They are all gone!Β
Oh, believers, think of this, for it is no little thing.Β
Sins against a holy God,Β
sins against His loving Son,Β
sins against the Gospel–as well as against the Law,Β
sins against man–as well as against God,Β
sins of the body–as well as sins of the mind,Β
sins as numerous as the sands on the seashore, and as great as the sea itself
–all, all are removed from us–as far as the east is from the west!
All this evil was rolled into one great mass and laid upon Jesus!Β Having borne it all, He has made an end of it forever. When the Lord forgave us, He forgave us the whole debt. He did not take the bill and say, “I strike outΒ thisΒ item, andΒ thatΒ item”–but the pen went through it all:Β Paid in full!Β
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth–so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him.
Β As far as the east is from the west–so far has He removed our transgressions from us!” Psalm 103:11-12
“My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
Β My sin, not in part but the whole,
Β Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Β Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
Β Β Horatio Spafford
Oh! look before you, and see where it leads!
Oh! look before you, and see where it leads!
(Samuel Davies, “Saints Saved with Difficulty; and the Certain Perdition of the Wicked”)
“Enter through theΒ narrowΒ gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ButΒ smallΒ is the gate andΒ narrowΒ the road that leads to life, and only aΒ fewΒ find it!” Matthew 7:13-14
This, my friends, and this alone–is the way of salvation. Is this the way in whichΒ youΒ are walking? Or is it the smooth, easy downward road to destruction? You may slide along that without exertion or difficulty, like a dead fish floating with the stream; butΒ oh! look before you, and see where it leads!Β
Most people . . .
Β form some easy system of religion,
Β from their own vain imaginations,
Β suited to their depraved taste,
Β indulgent to their sloth and carnality,Β
Β and favorable to their lusts–
and this they call ‘Christianity’!Β
But this is not the religion of the Bible! This is not theΒ way to lifeΒ laid out by God in His Word–but it isΒ the smooth downward road to destruction!
One of the best tests of growth in grace
One of the best tests of growth in grace
(Charles Spurgeon)
“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18
“Grow in grace”–not inΒ oneΒ grace only, but inΒ allΒ the Christian graces.Β
Grow in the starting place of grace,Β faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have before. Let faith increase in fullness, constancy and simplicity.Β
Grow also inΒ love. Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every thought, word and deed.Β
Grow likewise inΒ humility. Seek to lie very low, and know more of your own nothingness.
As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward–having nearer approaches to God inΒ prayerΒ and more intimateΒ fellowship with Jesus.Β
To know Him is “life eternal”–and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. Whoever has sipped this wine will thirst for more; for although Christ satisfies–yet it is such a satisfaction that the appetite is not only satisfied, but invigorated.
If you know the love of Jesus–then will you pant after deeper draughts of His love.Β
If you do not desire to know Him better–then you do not love Him at all, for love always cries,Β “Nearer, nearer!”Β
Seek to know more of Him . . .
Β in His divine and human natures,
Β in His sin-atoning work,
Β in His excruciating death for you,
Β in His present glorious intercession,
Β and in His future royal coming in glory!Β
Remain by the cross, and search the mystery of His wounds!
An increase of love for Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of His love for us–isΒ one of the best tests of growth in grace.
Not one grain too much!
Not one grain too much!
(Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887)
“Endure suffering as discipline;Β God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” Hebrews 12:7Β
Affliction comes to us all:Β
Β not to make us sad–but sober;Β
Β Β not to make us sorry–but to make us wise;Β
Β Β not to impoverish us–but to enrich us!
We are always in theΒ furnace–or on theΒ anvil.
By trials, God isΒ shapingΒ us for nobler things.
Troubles are often theΒ toolsΒ by which God fashions us for better things!
No physician everΒ weighedΒ out medicine to his patients with half so much care and exactness, as God weighs out every trial to His children.Β Not one grain too much, does He ever permit to be put in the scale!Β
The troubles and worries of life may be as stumbling blocks in our way–or we may make them stepping-stones to a nobler character and to Heaven.Β
“Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:10-11Β
Its tones fall like soothing music on the quivering heart!
Its tones fall like soothing music on the quivering heart!
(J.R. Miller)
“His disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it–and went and told Jesus.” Matthew 14:12
When one dies in our home, and our hearts are breaking–we should go and tell Jesus. It will do us good to tell Him.
We may not care to tell our trouble to anyΒ humanΒ friend. Some sorrows are too sacred to be unveiled to any eyes.Β
But we need never shrink from telling Jesus. He can understand our grief, for He knows all human pain; not alone as God–but as man, for He experienced all sorrow. He will treat our sorrow, too, with most delicate gentleness.
The very words which others speak to comfort us–often fall with crude impact upon our bruised heart and give fresh pain. The gentlest touch of a human hand, often hurts where it is meant to help. But theΒ voiceΒ of Jesus is so gentle thatΒ its tones fall like soothing music on the quivering heart, and theΒ handΒ of Jesus is so skillful that its touch gives healing.
We need never fear to tell Jesus of our sorrow. He is the truest Comforter, and the wisest Healer of hurt hearts.
Worse than Hell!
Worse than Hell!Β
(Thomas Watson, “Religion Our True Interest”)
Sin is the only evil thing–it is the evil of evils!
Sin is the poison which the old serpent spat into our virgin nature!Β
In sin there is both pollution and enmity. Sin is compared to a “thick cloud” (Isaiah 44:22), which not only hides the light of God’s face–but brings down showers of His wrath!Β
Sin isΒ worseΒ than all evils. There is more evil in aΒ dropΒ of sin–than in aΒ seaΒ of affliction!
Sin is theΒ causeΒ of all evil. Out of this viperous womb of sin, come “evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.”
Sin is the quintessence of evil.Β
Sin puts a sting into death (1 Corinthians 15:56).Β
Sin isΒ worse than Hell!Β Hell is a burden only to the sinner–but sin is a burden to God! Amos 2:13
A New Year’s Resolution
A New Year’s Resolution
(Matthew Henry)
“My times are in Your hand!”Β Psalm 31:15Β
Firmly believing that my times are in God’s hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God’s divine providence. Whether God appoints for me . . . .
Β health or sickness,
Β peace or trouble,
Β comforts or crosses,
Β life or death–
may His holy will be done!
All my time, strength, and service, I devote to the honor of the Lord Jesus–and even my common actions. It is my earnest expectation, hope, and desire, my constant aim and endeavor–that Jesus Christ may be magnified in me.
In everything I have to do–my entire dependence is upon Jesus Christ for strength. And whatever I do in word or deed, I desire to do all in His name, to make Him my Alpha and Omega. IΒ haveΒ all from Him–and I wouldΒ useΒ all for Him.
If this should prove a year ofΒ affliction, aΒ sorrowfulΒ year to me–I will fetch all my supports and comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself upon Him, His everlasting consolations, and the good hope I have in Him through grace.
And if it should be myΒ dyingΒ year–thenΒ my times are in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And with a humble reliance upon His mediation, I would venture into the eternal world looking for the blessed hope. Dying as well as living–Jesus Christ will, I trust, be gain and advantage to me.
Oh, that the grace of God may be sufficient for me, to keep me always a humble sense of my own unworthiness, weakness, folly, and infirmity–together with a humble dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for both righteousness and strength.
Β Β ~Β ~Β ~Β ~
“Remember that your life is short, your duties are many, your assistance is great, and your reward is sure. Therefore faint not, persevere in ways of holiness–and Heaven shall make amends for all!”Β Thomas Brooks
We shall not adjust our Bible to the age!!
βWe shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by Godβs grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible.β
Β
The devil’s chessboard!
The devil’s chessboard!
(Charles Spurgeon, “Flowers from a Puritan’s Garden” 1883)Β
“So that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes!” 2 Corinthians 2:11Β
“Be watchful;Β the world isΒ the devil’s chessboard!Β You can hardly move backward or forward, but he is ready to attack you with some temptation!”
Those who play at the game ofΒ chessΒ know that great caution is needed. Your opponent is working toward a design of which you know nothing; and while you imagine that you are doing exceedingly well, he is entrapping you!
The game of life, as against Satan, is one in which . . .
Β his maneuvers and artifice,Β
Β his long practice and stratagems,
Β his superior skill and deceptiveness,
Β and his unscrupulous schemes–
give him an immense advantage over our poor self-conceited folly!
Lord, help us! You know our adversary; be pleased to deliver us out of his hand.
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes!” Ephesians 6:11
We find that they are empty bubbles!
We find that they are empty bubbles!
“Do not love theΒ worldΒ or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world!” 1 John 2:15-16Β
The possession of the whole world and all that it contains, will never make a person happy. ItsΒ pleasuresΒ are false and deceptive! ItsΒ riches,Β rank, andΒ honors, have no power to satisfy the heart! So long as we haveΒ notΒ got them–they glitter, sparkle, and seem desirable. The moment we have them–we find that they are empty bubbles, and cannot make us feel content!Β
And, worst of all, when we possess this world’s good things to the utmost bound of our desire–we cannot keep them!Β Deathcomes in and separates us from all our property forever! Naked we came upon earth, and naked we go forth–and of all our possessions, we can carryΒ nothingΒ with us.Β
Such is the world, which occupies the whole attention of thousands!Β
Such is the world, for the sake of which millions are every year destroying their souls!
“This world isΒ fading away, along with everything that people crave!” 1 John 2:17
The malady–the misery–the shame of our whole race!
The malady–the misery–the shame of our whole race!Β
(Henry Law, “The Sin Offering“)
“He must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering for theΒ sinΒ he has committed.”Β Leviticus 4:3
SIN!Β
The sound is brief–but it presents a dark abyss of thought.Β
No mind can trace its birth–no eye can see its death.Β
Before the worlds it scaled the heavens, and dragged angels down.Β
In life’s first dawn it entered Eden and slew innocence.Β
It ends not with the end of time.Β
It ever rolls on in its ever-deepening course.
Reader, think much of sin!
It is earth’s death-blow.Β
It marred the beauty of a beauteous world, and stripped it of its lovely robe.Β
It caused the soil to harden, and the leaves to wither and decay.Β
It turned fertility into weeds, and armed the brier with its bristling thorns.Β
It made the clouds to blacken, and the storm to rage.Β
It raised the tempest’s roar, and plumed the lightning with its forked wings.Β
It placed its foot upon a perfect workmanship, and left it a disordered wreck!
Reader, think much of sin!
It is man’s ruin.Β
Its most tremendous blight fell on our inner life.Β
It drove the soul from peaceful fellowship with God.Β
It changed the loving child into a hardened rebel.Β
It robbed theΒ mindΒ of light.Β
It renderedΒ reasonΒ a bewildered maze.Β
It made theΒ heartΒ . . .
Β a nest of unclean birds;Β
Β a spring of impure streams;Β
Β a whirlpool of tumultuous passions;Β
Β a hot-bed of ungodly lusts;Β
Β a den of God-defying schemes!Β
It isΒ the malady–the misery–the shame of our whole race!Β
It is the spring of every tear!Β
EachΒ sighΒ which rends the bosom;
eachΒ frownΒ which ploughs the brow;
eachΒ painΒ which racks the limbs–are cradled in its arms.Β
It is the mother of that mighty monster–death!
It digs each grave in every grave-yard.Β
Each widow and each orphan tastes its gall.Β
It fills each hospital with the sick.Β
It strews the battlefield with the slain.Β
It is the core in every grief.
It is the worm which gnaws the root of peace.
Reader, think much of sin!
Its terrible destructions do not die in the grave.Β
There is a region where its full-blown torments reign.Β
It built the prison-house of Hell.Β
It kindled quenchless flames.
It forged the chains which bind lost sinners to their burning beds.Β
It sharpened the undying sting of an upbraiding conscience.Β
It arms the jailer–Satan, with his scourge.Β
It bars the hopeless in that outer darkness, where . . .
Β weeping ever weeps,
Β and wailing ever wails,
Β and teeth forever gnash,
Β and all is woe, which knows neither respite nor end.
Reader, think much of sin!
It works this bitter and eternal anguish, because God’s curse attends it.Β
It raised a rebel-hand against His will.Β
It dared to violate His holy law.Β
It strove to lay His honor in the dust.
It trampled on the statute-book of heaven.Β
Therefore God’s anger fiercely burns against it.Β
Hence every misery follows in its succession.Β
He must be wretched, who has God against him!
Reader,Β here is a picture in which all horrors meet!Β
Regard it with an earnest eye.Β
No fiction colors it.Β
No power can over-paint the terrible reality.
No artist’s skill can represent a flame.Β
The dreadful truth exceeds description.Β
The lost writhe out eternity in fully learning the deserts of sin!
Reader, receive the soul-reviving voice: Though sin is death, the sinner need not die.Β
There is a fortress of escape.Β
There is a remedy to heal these wounds.Β
What though your sins are as countless as the sands? They all may disappear.Β
What though the dye of each sin is double crimson? Each may be washed away.Β
The filth may all be cleansed.Β
The debts may be wiped out.Β
The soul may meet Jehovah’s eye without one stain.Β
There is a way, by which the vilest may stand pure.
God’s love decreed a plan.Β
He willed a ransom, and His Son achieved it.Β
Let us draw nearer to the amazing sight!
Each sin must bear its merited load of woe.Β
Each curse must be endured.Β
Each violation of the holy law must drink the dregs of condemnation.Β
Jesus comes forth to help!Β
The guiltless One takes the guilty place.Β
The God-man represents His chosen flock.Β
He stands as their complete sin-offering.Β
He pays in anguish and in blood, their every due.Β
Their wrath is endured.Β
Their penalties are paid.Β
Their sufferings are suffered.Β
Their agonies are agonized.Β
The saving work requires infinity of woe. Infinity of woe is borne by Him.Β
His Deity enables–His manhood qualifies.Β
Thus their sin is fully punished–thus the redeemed are fully saved!
Do we have any evidence that we really intend to go there?
Do we have any evidence that we really intend to go there?
(John Owen)
We all profess that we are bound for Heaven, immortality and glory. ButΒ do we have any evidence that we really intend to go there–if all our thoughts are consumed about the trifles of this world, which we must leave behind us–and have only occasional thoughts of things above?
“If then you were raised with Christ–seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above–not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears–then you also will appear with Him in glory!” Colossians 3:1-4
Imitate the pearl oyster!
Imitate the pearl oyster!
(Charles Spurgeon, “Love’s Labors”)
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13
I wish, brothers and sisters, that we could allΒ imitate the pearl oyster. A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. The oyster cannot reject the evil–but it ‘covers’ it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl!
Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians–so that pearls of patience, gentleness, and forgiveness might be bred within us, by that which otherwise would have harmed us!
“Above all, love each other deeply, becauseΒ love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8Β
The choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian!
The choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian!
Thomas Manton: “What is the reason that there is so much preaching, and so little practice? For lack of meditation. The end of study is information–and the end of meditation is practice, or kindling of the affections. The end of study is to hoard up truth. The end of meditation to lay it forth in holy conduct. To hear sermons and not to meditate upon them, is unfruitful. We may hear and hear, but it is like putting a thing into a bag with holes!”
Thomas Brooks: “It is not the bee’s touching of the flower which gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower which draws out the sweet. Just so, it is not he whoΒ readsΒ most, but he whoΒ meditatesΒ most–who will prove to beΒ the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian!”Β
William Bridge: “Meditation will keep your hearts and souls from sinful thoughts. When the vessel is full, you can put in no more. If the heart is full of sinful thoughts–then there is no room for holy and heavenly thoughts. If the heart is full of holy and heavenly thoughts by meditation–then there is no room for evil and sinful thoughts.”Β
William Plumer: “Without meditation grace never thrives, prayer is languid, praise is dull, and religious duties are unprofitable. It is easier to hear a year of sermons–than to spend an hour in close, devout, profitable thoughts on divine things.”
George Muller: “It often astonishes me that I did not see the importance of meditation upon Scripture earlier in my Christian life. We mustΒ considerΒ what we read,Β ponderΒ over it, andΒ applyΒ it to our hearts. The most important thing I do, is to read the Word of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might is comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved and instructed.”
Thomas Watson: “The reason we come away so cold from reading the Word, is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation. Without meditation, the truths which we know will never affect our hearts. As a hammer drives a nail to the head, so mediation drives a truth to the heart. Read before you meditate.Β Reading furnishes with matter–it is the oil which feeds the lamp of meditation. Be sure your mediations are founded upon Scripture. Reading without meditation is barren and unfruitful; meditation without reading is dangerous.”
Charles Spurgeon: “Some people like to read so many chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather let my soul soak in half a dozen verses all day, than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up into your very soul, till it saturates your heart! Set your heart upon God’s Word! Let your whole nature be plunged into it as a cloth into a dye!”
William Bridge:Β
“By meditation, yourΒ knowledgeΒ is raised.Β
By meditation, yourΒ memoryΒ is strengthened.Β
By meditation, yourΒ heartsΒ are warmed.Β
By meditation, you will be freed from sinful thoughts.Β
By meditation, yourΒ heartsΒ will be tuned to every duty.Β
By meditation, you will grow in grace.Β
By meditation, you will fill up all the chinks and crevices of your lives, and know how to spend your spare time profitably.Β
By meditation, you will draw good out of evil.Β
By meditation, you will converse with God, and enjoy God.”
Philip Henry: “It is easier to walk six miles to hear a sermon, than to spend one quarter of an hour in meditating upon it when I come home.”
Arthur Pink: “Meditation upon the Word of God is one of the most important of all the means of grace and growth in spirituality, yes there can be no true progress in vital and practical godliness without it. Meditation on Divine things is not optional but obligatory, for it is something which God has commanded us to attend unto.”
Β Β “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;Β meditateΒ on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8Β
Β Β “But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His Law heΒ meditatesΒ day and night.” Psalm 1:2Β
Β Β “IΒ meditateΒ on Your precepts, and consider Your ways.” Psalm 119:15Β
Β Β “Oh, how I love your law! IΒ meditateΒ on it all day long.” Psalm 119:97Β
Β Β “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I mayΒ meditateΒ on Your promises.” Psalm 119:148
Would any do this but a madman?
Would any do this but a madman?
(David Clarkson, “Hypocritical Religion” 1622-1686)
“Not everyone whoΒ saysΒ to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he whoΒ doesΒ the will of My Father in Heaven. Many willΒ sayΒ to Me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” Matthew 7:21-23
Many professors cannot judge of the face of their soul–whether the features of Heaven or Hell are on it. They dislike looking in the mirror of the Word–lest the visage of their soul, truly represented, should trouble them.Β
SatanΒ blinds one eye,Β self-loveΒ closes the other, and the deceitfulness ofΒ sinΒ seals both!Β It is no wonder that they imagine themselves on the way to Heaven, when they are on the high road to Hell.Β
When the blind leads the blind, you know what the outcome will be! It is no wonder that they think they shall be safe ashore in Heaven and their feet near the very banks of happiness–at that very moment they are falling into the bottomless pit!
Most professors simplyΒ assumeΒ that they shall go to Heaven–when, alas, they have no ground for such an assumption, but what Satan suggests, or their own deceitful hearts prompt them. And thusΒ they hang the whole weight of eternity upon a cobweb!Β Thus, they pin the everlasting concerns of their souls upon aΒ shadow, as though it would hang there safe enough, where it can have no hold at all.Β
Would any do this but a madman?Β What! Trust without verifying, in a matter of eternal consequence to body and soul?
Many promise themselves Heaven–when nothing but Hell is reserved for them!
Faithfulness in littles
Faithfulness inΒ littles
(John Colwell, “Little Foxes; The Little Sins That Mar the Christian Character” 1882)
“Catch the foxes–theΒ little foxesΒ that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes!” Song of Songs 2:15Β
The little things of life are most important. Those who affect to despise the importance of littleΒ things, are in danger of becoming littleΒ people. Certainly no great man will ever do so. He will the rather prove his greatness by a hearty recognition of the truth of the wise saying,Β “He who despises little things, shall fall little by little.”
TheΒ Great TeacherΒ drew some of His most beautiful and important lessons from little things–such as little flowers, little birds, little dew-drops, little children. He insisted onΒ faithfulness inΒ littles.
My friend, life is great because it isΒ the aggregation of littles.
As the coral reefs which rear themselves high above the crawling sea beneath, are all made up of minute skeletons of microscopic animalcules; so life, mighty and solemn as having eternal consequences; life that hangs over theΒ sea of eternity–is made up of these minute incidents, of these trifling duties, of these small tasks. Only those who are faithful in the least are, or can be, faithful in the whole.
Little things make either . . .
Β the joy–or the sorrow,Β
Β the success–or the ruin,Β
Β the safety–or the danger,Β
Β the grandeur–or the smallness
–of human life.Β
Illustrations of this principle abound:
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ neglectsΒ lead to great ruin.Β
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ precautionsΒ lead to great safety.Β
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ wastingsΒ make great losses.Β
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ savingsΒ make great gains.Β
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ troublesΒ make us miserable.Β
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ virtuesΒ make us godly.Β
Β Β Β Β LittleΒ vicesΒ make us wicked.
Therefore, says inspired Wisdom, “Catch the foxes–theΒ little foxesΒ that spoil the vines,” which is equivalent to saying, “I know you will keep out the more hateful and destructive full-grown foxes, by stopping up all the large holes in the vineyard fence. Your danger lies in overlooking theΒ smaller gapsΒ by which theΒ little foxesΒ may enter, and thus spoil your vines by robbing them of the tender grapes.”Β
How forcibly may this advice be urged upon Christian people! They will be almost certain to secure their character against the intrusion of shameful vices, destructive sins, and great scandals. But are they always so careful to stop the smaller breaches inΒ the fence of their Christian characterΒ against the little foxes, lesser sins, smaller vices, and trifling moral blemishes which, nevertheless, spoil the loveliness and nobility of their lives? Judging from observation and experience, I fear not.
In this book, we will point out some “little foxes” that do much damage in the Christian vineyard, and invite our readers to hunt them down!
True excellency!
True excellency!
(Jonathan Edwards)
Worldly men imagine that there is true excellency and true happiness in those things which they are pursuing. They think that if they could but obtain them, that they would be happy. But when they obtain them, and cannot find happiness–then they look for happiness in something else, and are still upon the futile pursuit.
There is a transcendent glory, and an ineffable sweetness in Christ.
Jesus Christ hasΒ true excellency, and so great an excellency, that when you come to truly see Him, you look no further, but your mind rests there.
You see that you had been pursuingΒ shadows, but now you have found theΒ substance.
You realize that you had been seeking happiness in theΒ stream, but now you have found theΒ ocean.
The excellency of Christ is an object adequate to the natural cravings of the soul, and is sufficient to fill its capacity.
Christ has an infinite excellency, such as the mind desires, in which it can find no bounds.
The more the mind contemplates Him, the more excellent does He appear.
Each new discovery of Christ makes His beauty appear more ravishing, and the mind can see no end to His excellency. There is room enough for the mind to go deeper and deeper, and never come to the bottom.
Christ’s excellency is always fresh and new, and will as much delight us after we have beheld Him a thousand, or ten thousand years–as when we have seen Him the first moment.
The soul is exceedingly ravished when it first looks on the beauty of Christ. It is never weary of Him.
“His mouth is most sweet, Yes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!” Song of Songs 5:16Β
“Put the beauty of ten thousand worlds of paradises, like the Garden of Eden in one; put all trees, all flowers, all fragrances, all colors, all tastes, all joys, all loveliness, all sweetness in one. O what a lovely and excellent thing would that be! And yet it would be less compared to our dearest well-beloved Christ–than one drop of rain compared to the whole seas, rivers, and lakes of ten thousand earths.”Β Samuel Rutherford
When He strikes us–as well as when He strokes us!
When He strikes us–as well as when He strokes us!Β
(Abraham Wright, 1611-1690)
“You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He disciplines everyone He accepts as a son.” Hebrews 12:5-6Β
We may feel God’s hand as aΒ FatherΒ upon us,Β when He strikes us–as well as when He strokes us!Β
What fools are we, then, to frown upon our afflictions! These, however difficult, areΒ our best friends.Β
They are not indeed for ourΒ pleasure–they are for ourΒ profit. I am . . .
Β mended by my sickness,
Β enriched by my poverty, and
Β strengthened by my weakness!
“God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:10-11
That Man of sorrows, is the Savior of the world!
That Man of sorrows, is the Savior of the world!
(Gardiner Spring)
O! Who was it that suffered?Β What did He suffer?Β For whom did He suffer?Β
Think of Him–the Father’s fellow, and the church’s Beloved.Β
Think of the Garden and the Cross, and see how they demonstrate on the one hand, the enormity of our guilt; and on the other, the force of His almighty love.Β
Think of the debased and abject character of those for whom He died–depraved men, and the enemies of God!Β
That Man of sorrows, is the Savior of the world!Β
That naked, bleeding victim–is the mighty Conqueror of death and Hell!Β
O what triumphs of love and of holiness were there, when . . .
Β the earth trembled;
Β and the sun grew dark;
Β and the veil of the temple was rent in twain;
Β and the rocks broke asunder;
Β and the graves gave up their dead;
Β and Hell itself was moved with terror;
Β and the Great Redeemer exclaimed, “It is finished!”Β
Christ is precious to all who believe!
AbrahamΒ “rejoiced to see Christ’s day, and he saw it and was glad.”
MosesΒ esteemed Him more precious than all the treasures of Egypt.
DavidΒ esteemed Him “fairer than the children of men.”
TheΒ ChurchΒ in her divine songs speaks of Him . . .Β
Β as the “rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys;”Β
Β as “the chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely One;”
Β and as the One whom “her soul loves.”
TheΒ wise menΒ of the East adored Him.
SimeonΒ took Him up in his arms, and said, “Now Lord, let you your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation!”
And to holy men wherever found, Jesus is precious!Β
“The upright love You!”Β
“Whom having not seen, you love.”Β
“To you who believe, He is precious!”
In all your duties and trials–He will be precious.
When the world loses its charms–He will become more glorious and lovely than ever.Β
When death invades–He will become its mighty conqueror.
When you sleep beneath the clods of the valley–He will be the resurrection and the life.Β
When the books shall be opened, and small and great shall stand before God, and the precious Savior shall come in the clouds, and you shall go to be forever with the Lord–He shall be doubly precious, and more and more precious through interminable ages!
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:12Β
Building The Muscle Of Faith!
For the past 6 months I’ve started training in the gym! I know it was a surprise for me too. lol. πΒ
It came about when our friends Ben & Rosie had their latest son Leoin August 2017. Β and while Sarah & i were visiting Rosie in hospital, Rosie mentioned that her son Vini(16 already) was going to the local Gym but needed some encouragement?!
Sarah quickly said βSteve knows loads about training at the gym and it would be great for Steve to get training againβ. I said βErm, i havnβt trained for over 20 yearsβ¦..And i could see back then. Iβve tried Gyms since, but they are simply not accessible for meβ. My avoidance tactic didnβt work, lol.Β
A huge, huge huge Thank you to Viniβ¦. πΒ
I was excited about the prospect of training again as my blindness kills my mobility and i lose hope of exercise etc. But after meeting Vini at the Gym, i realised that there were quite a few machines i could do, i canβt see the dumbbell sizes(or even the dumbbells for that matter) but it doesnβt matter much as Vini sorts all of that out. But unfortunately i still have to lift them on my own!
Β It is really, really hard work. Every time I train I leave the gym completely exhausted and feeling very sore the next few days. Nothing beats when you begin to feel good after a workout and to see improvements every time you go. Being able to lift heavier, for longer and knowing your body is beginning to adjust and change according to your routine.Β
The Christian Walk With God Is a little Like Training At The Gym…
The beginner gym goer is like the newly saved christian who has to build up their relationship with Jesus and become more familiar with the word of God slowly and consistently.
Iron Sharpens Iron…
The beginner needs to be discipled and encouraged along their journey, and not keep looking to the mature ones and comparing themselves to them. You are now born again, like a new born babe. The fruit tree starts out as a seed so pride has to be beaten down like a baddie in a film that doesnβt want to die! Yes by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.
After the gym our bodies create muscle that wasnβt their before, it uses the energy and protein that our body stores and consumes through the food we eat. Like a muscle our faith can turn into something that it wasnβt before. If we feed it with the word of God, with prayer and fellowship with other christians we can have a stronger faith day by day.
Muscle fibres are being torn and broken down in the gym so they need repaired this causes pain for a few days after.
Sometimes growing in our faith and relationship with Jesus can be sore and uncomfortable as we will have to go through situations and rise up to challenges that seem difficult emotionally and physically but every time after this our faith will seem stronger than it was before if we keep being led by the Holy Spirit and not our fleshly desires.
So next time youβre at the gym, exercising, preparing healthy food or out for a walk etc, make sure to remember to schedule in your daily βtrainingβ time with God and get building that βmuscleβ of faith.
π Prayer 4 2dayβ¦..
Lord, I ask that you would bring me the wisdom, motivation, and ability to properly exercise my body. Stir me up to train all for the glory of God!
In Jesus name, Amen!
A spiritual playpen where the crying babies must be appeased!
A spiritual playpen where the crying babies must be appeased!
(Joseph Bianchi)
In the twenty-first century, we are obsessed with self-satisfaction and getting our desires met. Hence, any teaching that invades our lifestyle and tells us we must alter or discard out old habits, is usually consigned to the junk pile. In so thinking and doing, the church has been transformed into a spiritual playpen where the crying babies must be appeased with what makes them feel good.
The Evangelical world is abuzz with terms like “purpose driven church” or “seeker friendly church”. What these terms really amount to is one thing: compromise.
The goal of churches should not be to see how much like the world they can be, so as to make worldly people feel comfortable. Rather, the churches should be so unlike the world, so alien to the world, that the disillusioned unbeliever will be drawn to them.
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.
For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?
Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?
What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?
For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Religious entertainment!
Religious entertainment!
A great company of evangelical churches have already gone over into the area of religious entertainment, so that many churches are tramping on the doorstep of the theater!
The tragic results of this spirit are all about us:
shallow lives,
hollow religious philosophies,
the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings,
the glorification of men,
trust in religious externalities,
quasi-religious fellowships,
salesmanship methods,
the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit.
These and such as these, are the symptoms of an evil disease–a deep and serious malady of the soul.
Religious entertainment has so corrupted the Church, that millions don’t know that it’s a heresy. Millions of evangelicals throughout the world have devoted themselves to religious entertainment. They don’t know that it’s as much heresy, as the “counting of beads” or the “splashing of holy water” or something else. To expose this, of course, raises a storm of angry protest among the people.
Isn’t there a difference between worship and entertainment?
The church that can’t worship, must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship, must provide the entertainment. That is why we have the great evangelical heresy here today–the heresy of religious entertainment!
The God of contemporary Christianity!
The God of contemporary Christianity!
“These things you have done, and I kept silent. You thought that I was altogether like you! But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face!” Psalm 50:21
The God of contemporary Christianity is only slightly superior to the pagan gods of ancient Greece and Rome–if indeed He is not actually inferior to them, in that He is weak and helpless–while they at least had some imagined power.
Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry; for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is–in itself a monstrous sin–and substitutes for the true God, one made after its own likeness. Always this god will conform to the image of the one who created it–and will be base or pure, cruel or kind, according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges.
The essence of idolatry, is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow–they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God–and acts as if they were true.
If we insist upon trying to imagine Him–we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts. And an idol of the mind, is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand!
Before a Christian Church goes into a decline, there must first be a corrupting of her Scriptural thoughts of God. She simply gives a wrong answer to the question, “What is God like?”–and goes downhill from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed–her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is–and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind!
The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God, until it is once more worthy of Him–and of her!
Christlike
Countless little blemishes and flaws
(J.R. Miller, “Things That Endure”)
“Little things make perfection.” In nothing is this more true, than in character and conduct. There are many people who in great matters of principle, and in the cardinal virtues β are without fault; yet the luster of whose life is dimmed, by their countless little blemishes and flaws.
One man who is upright and steadfast, with the firmness of a rock β is hard to live with at home, because of his irritability or his despotic disposition.
Another is full of great benevolent and philanthropic schemes, doing good in many ways β yet those who know him most intimately, discover in him an almost utter lack of the sweet graces and amenities, which are the true adornment of a Christlike life.
It is in the little things, that most of our failures are made. Little faults thoroughly penetrate our characters.
Little sins ruin many a life.
There is a species of little white ants in Africa, which work desolation wherever they go. One may leave his chair at night and go to bed. In the morning the chair is there, apparently in good condition β but let him sit down on it, and it falls with him, in a heap on the floor! During the night, the white ants have eaten the inside out of the legs, seat and frame. Houses are in like manner destroyed. The timbers are bored through and through β until one day the building tumbles to the ground!
Just so, there are human lives which seem strong and right to men’s eyes β but countless infinitesimal faults and sins, eat away their substance, until they fall at last in hopeless ruin!
There is no doubt that the largest part of the pain and heartache endured in the world, is caused by multitudinous little failures in lovingness β by little, needless hurts and unkindnesses β rather than by life’s great and conspicuous sorrows.
It is not enough, therefore, that we seek to be true, honest and just, in all our life. We should learn all the lessons of love, so that in every disposition and temper and word, in every shade of expression β we shall be Christlike.
Immanuel’s Land!
Immanuel’s Land!
What can be more delightful for the weary pilgrim who is hastening to his heavenly mansion, than to meditate on the unspeakable wonders of his future home beyond the skies? There is much of Immanuel’s Land to engage our hearts in sacred contemplation, even while we sojourn and toil in this world as strangers and pilgrims.
Heaven is the most cheering and attractive occupation to which we may set our hearts. Yet I wonder why many of us fail to avail ourselves of the enjoyment and spiritual strength afforded in such a holy pursuit.
Could it be that the allurements of the world keep us from recognizing how near we are to the unseen, supernatural, and eternal state? Instead of dwelling on the glorious world to come β do we focus on the mere momentary pleasures of time? We do well to examine ourselves, with judgment day honesty, that we may check the affections of our heart.
It is the influence of the future heavenly realities exercised in our hearts and lives, which gives vitality and beauty to our religion. It reveals genuine piety, as our aim is in contrast to the passing pleasures of this fleeting earth. It affords light along the path of life’s dark trials, and points to the realms of bliss, where there shall be no more tears, and sorrow is banished forevermore!
The glorious rest that remains for our earth wearied souls;
the sweet consolation of the redeemed in glory;
the unending fellowship of that precious society of saints;
the incalculable riches laid up in store for us to receive on that glorious day
β are all facets of Immanuel’s Land, that we might set an adoring eye towards the one object of our affections, Christ Jesus our Lord!
Let us, therefore, ‘set our affections on things above’ and fix our hearts steadfastly upon the heavenly joys and glory of Immanuel’s Land!
Worship Services!
βWe have made our worship services more secular than sacred, more common than uncommon, more profane than holy.β
R.C. Sproul, How Then Shall We Worship?: Biblical Principles to Guide Us Today
The only effectual reformer of the world!
The only effectual reformer of the world!
(Samuel Davies, “Serious Reflections on WAR” 1757)
“When He comesβHe will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment!” John 16:8
The Holy Spirit is the only effectual reformer of the world! If He is absentβ
legislators may make laws against crime;
philosophers may reason against vice;
ministers may preach against sin;
conscience may remonstrate against evil;
the divine law may prescribe, and threaten hell;
the gospel may invite and allure to heaven;
but all will be in vain!
The strongest arguments, the most melting entreaties, the most alarming denunciations from God and man, enforced with the highest authority, or the most compassionate tearsβall will have no effectβall will not effectually reclaim one sinner, nor gain one sincere convert to righteousness!
Paul, Apollos, and Peter, with all their apostolic abilities, can do nothing, without the Holy Spirit.
Paul may plant the seedβand Apollos may water it; but God alone can make it grow! “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anythingβbut only God, who makes things grow!” 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7.
Never will peace and harmony be established in this jangling worldβuntil this Divine Agent takes the work in hand.
It is He aloneβwho can melt down the obstinate hearts of men into love and peace!
It is He aloneβwho can soften their rugged and savage tempers, and transform them into mutual benevolence!
It is He aloneβwho can quench those lusts that set the world on fire, and implant the opposite virtues and graces. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are mentioned by Paul, as the fruit of the Spirit, because the Spirit alone is the author of them. And if these dispositions were predominant in the worldβwhat a serene, calm, peaceful region would it be, undisturbed with the hurricanes of human passions!
Oh, how much do we need the influence of the blessed Spirit . . .
to break the heart of stone,
to enlighten the dark mind, and
to comfort the desponding soul!
Sin
βI have come to the conclusion that none of us in our generation feels as guilty about sin as we should or as our forefathers did.β
Luther’s puppy?
Luther’s puppy?
When Luther’s puppy happened to be at the table, he looked forΒ a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth andΒ motionless eyes. Luther said, “Oh, if I could only pray the wayΒ this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated onΒ the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope.”
Tears Of Repentance
Tears Of Repentance
(Charles Spurgeon)
“As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them!” Luke 7:38
O that our eyes were as ready with tears of repentance as were hers! O that our hearts were as full of love as hers and our hands as ready to serve the forgiving Lord!
If she has exceeded some of us in the heinousness of her sin–yet she has exceeded all of us in the fervency of her affection!
Serving with ulterior motives…
Serving with ulterior motives…
by F. B. Meyer
How many of us, who are engaged in the Lord’s holy service,Β are secretly cherishing some proud aspiration of excelling otherΒ men, of making a name for ourselves, of securing money orΒ fame!
We will use the pulpit as a pedestal for the adulation of theΒ world, and the cross for a post on which to hang garlands toΒ our own glory.
How often do we preach sermons, or make addresses,Β and attend meetings, with no other thought than to secureΒ the recognition and praise of those to whom we ‘minister’.
All of this must be laid aside. We must have no selfish,Β prideful ulterior motives to serve Christ.
Hold your hand in this fire!
Hold your hand in this fire!
(Ralph Venning, “The Plague of Plagues!” 1669)
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account!” Hebrews 4:13
Take heed of what men call secret sins. There are only too many who continue in wickedness, because as they think, no one knows how wicked they are. They are drunkards–but it is in the night. They are immoral–but it is in the dark. Their mystery of iniquity trades in the works of darkness and in the dark. Indeed, if men could sin and no eye see them–then they might sin securely; but this is a falsehood as well as a mistake.
Once a young maiden was tempted to be unchaste. The person who solicited her, promised to do great things for her if she would yield.
“I will,” he said, “do anything for you!”
“Will you?” she said, “then hold your hand in this fire!”
“Oh, that is unreasonable!” he answered.
“But,” she replied, “it is much more unreasonable that I should burn forever in Hell for your sake! Who would venture his soul to eternal torment–to gratify his own or another’s pleasure and lust?”
We cannot escape God’s sight–any more than we can escape His judgment. He sees us, though like Adam and Eve we cover ourselves with fig-leaves. And He will one day call to us, as He did to them, “Sinner–where are you?”
You cannot flee from His presence. You may more easily hide from yourselves–than from God.
I hope you will say, for I am sure you will see cause to do so, “How shall I do this wickedness–and sin against God!”
“Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?” Jeremiah 23:24
Worse Than Devilish!
Worse than devilish!
(Ralph Venning, “The Plague of Plagues!” 1669)
“Fools mock at sin!” Proverbs 14:9Β
Those who mock at sin, are worse than fools and madmen!
Tell them, as Lot told his sons-in-law of the danger and judgments which hang over their head–and, as with Lot, you seem to them as one who jokes. Genesis 19:14. They laugh at it, as if God were not in earnest when He threatens sinners–and as if those who preach against sin were deranged.Β
“To do evil, is like sport to a fool!” Proverbs 10:23.
There are some who sport themselves on their way to Hell–as if sin were but a recreation! What fools are they–who laugh at their own folly and destruction! It is a devilish nature in us, to mock at the calamity of others–but to laugh at our own calamity, seems to be worse than devilish!
There are many, too many, who mourn under affliction–yet laugh over their sins! They sigh and weep when they feel any burden on their body–but make merry at that which destroys their soul! Can anything be more mad than this–to laugh, mock and make sport at that which eternally wrongs and damns their own souls!
The wicked laugh over their sin now. But if they do not repent–then they will weep forever in Hell over it!
We are all living monuments of God’s goodness and patience!
We are all living monuments of God’s goodness and patience!
(Ralph Venning, “The Plague of Plagues!” 1669)
“The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease–for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning! Great is Your faithfulness!” Lamentations 3:22-23
If sin is so exceedingly sinful–so contrary to, and displeasing to God–then surely . . .
His patience is exceedingly great,
His goodness is exceedingly rich, and
His long-suffering is exceedingly marvelous
–even such as to cause astonishment!
We are all living monuments of God’s goodness and patience! It is of the Lord’s mercies that all of us are not altogether and utterly consumed–and that in eternal Hell!
Such is . . .
the power of His patience,
the infiniteness of His mercy and compassion,
and the riches of His unsearchable grace!
Consider the multitude of sinners in the world. If it were only one or two sinners–then they might be winked at and passed by. But all the world lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19). There is none righteous–no, not one! If there had been only ten righteous ones–then God would have spared Sodom, although ten thousand sinners might be there. Yet there is not a single man to be found who does not sin. All have sinned–and that continually. What grace, then–what patience is this!
Consider the multitude of sins committed by every sinner. Every sinner commits innumerable sins! If all men had sinned only once–it would have mitigated the matter. Sin, however, has grown up with men. Not a single good thought is to be found in their hearts! (Genesis 6:5) Sin grows up faster than men do–they are old in sin, when still young in years. They are adding iniquity to iniquity, and drawing sin on with cords and ropes, committing it with both hands greedily, as if they could not sin enough! They dare God Himself to judge them. They drink down iniquity like water, as if it was their element and nourishment and pleasure also. Yet, behold, how miraculously patient is God!
God sees sin–He is sensible of it and angered about it–for it grieves and vexes Him. God is able to avenge Himself whenever He pleases–yet He forbears with sinners. Be astonished at it!
It is a wonder that men are spared so long–especially if we consider how quickly God cast the angels that sinned down to Hell!
O the wonder of sovereign grace!
Dead Fish Go With The Flow!
Dead Fish Go With The Flow!
Adapted From Calvin Schlabach
βBE DIFFERENT! Donβt go with the flow!β we are urged. βDonβt follow the crowd! Even a dead fish can float downstream.β It does not take any effort or work on the part of a fish to go with the flow and drift downstEven a dead fish can float. Only a living and healthy fish can swim against the current and travel upstream. In the same way, any weak Christian can live like the world; it takes a vital, healthy faith to enable someone to stand on their convictions, firm against the tide of opinion and the example of unbelievers.
Perhaps we can carry the analogy a bit further. With the polluted condition of many of our modern streams and rivers, it is not only dead fish that float downstream. Trash, industrial waste, and pollutants of one kind or another floats downstream. A fish that travels in that direction finds itself swimming in increasingly fouled and filthy waters. The purest, cleanest waters are found farther upstream nearer the source, where people rarely go. What kind of water would you rather swim in? What kind of life would you rather have? Pure waters are reached only by swimming against the current!
Obviously, we do not want to be one of those wimpy, weak-willed, dead-fish Christians; yet it is so easy to go with the flow and follow the crowd. If we carelessly live like everyone else, we will find ourselves surrounded by the pollution of sin. Is there any way out of this mess? What does it take for us to be able to swim against the current and move farther upstream? I suggest that we need to concentrate on five main points.
Convictions
We will have to know what we believe and then hold to it strongly, for, as it has often been said, those who stand for nothing will fall for anything. We are given the teachings of the apostles and prophets so that we may βno longer be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrineβ (Ephesians 4:14). We must read our Bibles, accept the principles we find there as our standard of conduct, and then stand firmly on scriptural convictions! How rare it is to see that today! Most of us are so caught up in feelings and tradition, we do not allow truth to shine through.
Courage
The unbelievers will not make it to heaven: βBut for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burnsΒ with fire and brimstone, which is the second deathβ (Revelation 21:8). When they see that Godβs way will require them to leave the false security of doing what all the rest of the world is doing and strike out on their own, their hearts will fail them. Rather than standing against the crowd with the courage of convictions (Romans 8:31), they take the easy way out, turning back to the world, to sin and condemnation. Joshua said, βBe strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord you God is with you wherever you goβ (1:9).
Strength
We must have power and might to stand firmly against the flood of evil that would swiftly sweep us downstream to our destruction. Paul said, βBe on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strongβ (1 Corinthians 16:13). We could not successfully withstand temptation and sin that threatens our spiritual well-being by ourselves. Therefore, we are called to βbe strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His mightβ (Ephesians 6:10). Fortified with power that comes only from God (Ephesians 3:16), we can say with Paul, βI can do all things through Him who strengthens meβ (Philippians 4:13).
Endurance
For most of us, the Christian race is not a brief sprint to the finish line, but rather it is a long, grueling marathon. Listen to the words of the Hebrew writer, βYou have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised … βMy righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in himββ (10:36, 38). It is so sad to see those who have started on the Christian way later give up, forfeiting the race. They did not have the the long-distance endurance to run the race through to the end. Therefore, βlet us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesusβ (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Heavenly Goals
The reason we want to travel upstream is because we are seeking something better and higher than the careless world around us. We are not trying to be different from the world just for the sake of being different. We are different because we are pursuing different goals. We have to keep these goals continually before us. Paul said, βKeep seeking the things above, where Christ is … Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earthβ (Colossians 3:1-2). Raise your sights! Donβt follow the foolish crowd!
Be Of Good Courage
Psalm 31:24 New King James Version (NKJV)
Be of good courage,Β And He shall strengthen your heart,Β All you who hope in the Lord.
You Have Kept Me Alive
Psalm 30:3-4 New King James Version (NKJV)
O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;Β You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.Β Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,Β And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
Seeing that we deserve nothing–we should be content with, and thankful for anything!
Seeing that we deserve nothing–we should be content with, and thankful for anything!
(Ralph Venning, “The Plague of Plagues!” 1669)
It has been every man’s lot to come into and go out of this world naked–to show that he has no right to anything, but lives on the alms of God’s charity and grace. All that we have or hold between our birth and death–is the mere gift of God.
God might choose whether He would allow us anything or not; and when He has given–He may take back again, and none of us has cause to say anything but what Job said:
“Naked I came into the world–and naked I shall return. The Lord has given–and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” Job 1:21
All that we have, our food and clothing and belongings–are only lent to us. Therefore, seeing that we deserve nothing–we should be content with, and thankful for anything.
“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” 1 Timothy 6:7-8
The Christian Message
βThe Christian message is not an inclusive message that embraces all religions; itβs not a message that there are many paths to the same place. The Christian message is summed up in the brave words of Peter before the Sanhedrin: βJesus is βthe stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.β Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be savedβ (Acts 4:11β12).β
Michael Youssef, Jesus, Jihad and Peace: What Bible Prophecy Says About World Events Today
Weekly Photo Challenge: Heritage
This weeks βPhoto Challengeβ left me with so many options i didnβt know where to start!Β
The photo above is one of Sarah & iβs favourites and is on our side-board. I thoughtβ¦..βHeritageβ – It has the church building which was built way before our time. βHeritageβ – The guitar iβm playing(and not worthy of holding, never mind owning) was built by a fantastic Luthier. βHeritageβ – And more important than all of this is the Holy Covenant of Marriage that glues Sarah and i together in the power of His promises!Β
I could go on & onβ¦..But iβll stop here and go and check out your posts on the challenge! πΒ
Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings!
Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings!
(J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900)
“Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings!” Hebrews 13:9
Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous.
There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error–and their ‘earnestness’ makes many think they must be right.
There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge–and many imagine that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides.
There is a general tendency to free thought in these latter days–many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties.
There is a wide-spread desire to appear tolerant and liberal-minded–many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong.
There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers–they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense.
There is a morbid craving in the public mind for the more sensational and showy–men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.
There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly and earnestly–and a determination to forget that Satan is often “transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 2:14
There is a wide-spread ‘gullibility’ among professing Christians–every heretic who tells his story plausibly, is sure to be believed. Anyone who questions him, is called a bigot and a narrow-minded man.
All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing man to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, “Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings!”
An ignorant laity will always be the bane of a Church! A Bible-reading laity may save a Church from ruin.
Let us read the Bible regularly, daily, and with fervent prayer, and become familiar with its contents.
Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing–which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.
Let our rule of faith, our touchstone of all teaching–be the written Word of God!
“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word–it is because there is no light in them!” Isaiah 8:20
The Truth
Therefore, faithful Christian, seek the truth, listen to the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, tell the truth, learn the truth, defend the truth even to death.
Jan Hus
An arm that can never be broken!
An arm that can never be broken!
(J. R. Miller, “A Life of Character”)
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms!” Deuteronomy 33:27
The picture suggested, is that of a little child, lying in the strong arms of a father who is able to withstand all storms and dangers.
At the two extremes of life, childhood and old age–this promise comes with special assurance.
“He shall gather the lambs in His arms, and carry them in His bosom” (Isaiah 40:11), is a word for the children.
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He; I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you!” (Isaiah 46:4), brings its blessed comfort to the aged.
The thought of God’s embracing arms is very suggestive. What does an arm represent? What is the thought suggested by the arm of God enfolded around His child?
One suggestion, is protection. As a father puts his arm about his child when it is in danger–so God protects His children. Life is full of peril. There are temptations on every hand! Enemies lurk in every shadow–enemies strong and swift! Yet we are assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. “Underneath are the everlasting arms!”
Another thought, is affection. The father’s arm drawn around a child–is a token of love. The child is held in the father’s bosom, near his heart. The shepherd carries the lambs in his bosom. John lay on Jesus’ bosom. The mother holds the child in her bosom, because she loves it. This picture of God embracing His children in His arms–tells of His love for them–His love is tender, close, intimate.
Another thought suggested by an arm, is strength. The arm is a symbol of strength. His arm is omnipotence. “In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:4). His is an arm that can never be broken! Out of this clasp–we can never be taken. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish–ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand!” (John 10:28)
Another suggestion is endurance. The arms of God are “everlasting.” Human arms grow weary even in love’s embrace; they cannot forever press the child to the bosom. Soon they lie folded in death.
A husband stood by the coffin of his beloved wife after only one short year of wedded happiness. The clasp of that love was very sweet–but how brief a time it lasted, and how desolate was the life that had lost the precious companionship!
A little baby two weeks old–was left motherless. The mother clasped the child to her bosom and drew her feeble arms about it in one loving embrace; the little one will never more have a mother’s arm around it.
So pathetic is human life with–its broken affections, its little moments of love, its embraces that are torn away in one hour. But these arms of God–are everlasting arms! They shall never unclasp!
There is another important suggestion in the word “underneath.” Not only do the arms of God embrace His child–but they are underneath–always underneath! That means that we can never sink–for these arms will ever be beneath us!
Sometimes we say the waters of trouble are very deep–like great floods they roll over us. But still and forever, underneath the deepest floods–are these everlasting arms! We cannot sink below them–or out of their clasp!
And when death comes, and every earthly thing is gone from beneath us, and we sink away into what seems darkness–out of all human love, out of warmth and gladness and life–into the gloom and strange mystery of death–still it will only be–into the everlasting arms!
This view of God’s divine care is full of inspiration and comfort. We are not saving ourselves. A strong One, the mighty God–holds us in His omnipotent clasp! We are not tossed like a leaf on life’s wild sea–driven at the mercy of wind and wave. We are in divine keeping. Our security does not depend upon our own feeble, wavering faith–but upon the omnipotence, the love, and the faithfulness of the unchanging, the eternal God!
No power in the universe can snatch us out of His hands! Neither death nor life, nor things present, nor things to come–can separate us from His everlasting arms!
Sunbeams
“Ah, how would natural men soar to heaven – upon the pinions of their own merit! The sunbeams of Divine justice will soon melt such weak and wax wings!”
William Secker

January 13, 2019 






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