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FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD-- WILLIAM CAREY

2012-02-10T22:07:00.004-05:00

‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…’John 3:16

How big is your God? Is He bound by the limitations of what you can see, hear, and think? Or do you have a God who can do anything at any time? Today, let’s consider a great man who believed in a great God—William Carey, the father of modern missions. Carey lived by the motto “Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.”

For centuries, worldwide missions had come to a virtual standstill. But William Carey, a cobbler who lived in England in the eighteenth century, explored God’s Word and became increasingly convinced that God was concerned about the whole world—“For God so loved the world.” This conviction began a burning in Carey’s heart. He envisioned millions of people perishing throughout the earth, people who needed to hear about Jesus Christ. Being a man of action, Carey convinced a group of ministers in 1792 to form the first foreign missionary society. But that was not enough. Carey himself felt led to the mission field, so he traveled to India. He mastered more than a dozen Indian languages then translated the entire Bible or portions thereof into those languages. Every day, he preached to the natives. The result? Not one single convert among the Indians for seven years. But Carey persevered, believing that God could and would do great things. Finally, in 1800, Kirshna Pal was the first convert of the modern missionary movement. Soon hundreds, thousands, and millions followed!

In the thirty-five years after Carey went to India, missionary societies sprang up all over Britain, Europe, and America. The result was an outpouring of missionary activity, labor, and zeal, the likes of which had not happened since the first century! All of this came about through the hard work of a humble cobbler who believed in God’s greatness and obeyed God’s call. When ordinary people with ordinary talents yield fully to God, He uses them to accomplish extraordinary things

What can you do for God today?

When I am gone, speak less of Dr. Carey and more of Dr. Carey’s Saviour.
WILLIAM CAREY

(From Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, FL)

TAKE IT SERIOUSLY----ARTHUR W. PINK

2012-02-03T18:27:00.001-05:00

Here are some wise words for us from Arthur Pink. Heeding these words will help us greatly. Let's do it! May God help us here!

Oh, my friends, we are playing at things. We have not begun to take religion seriously, any of us. We profess to believe in the coming of Christ, and we profess to believe that the one reason why Christ has not come back yet is because His Church, His Body, is not yet complete. We believe that when His body is complete.

He will come back. my friends, His "body" never, never, will be complete until the last of His elect people will be called out, and His elect people are called out under the preaching of the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, and if you are really anxious for Christ to come back soon, then you had better be more wide awake to your responsibility in connection with taking or sending the gospel to the heathen!

IGNORANT FORMAL CHRISTIANITY-J.C. RYLE

2012-01-25T10:45:00.001-05:00

I am convinced that one of our grave defects today, is a most serious diminishing of the good old custom of private reading of the Bible. Between the growth of Christian periodicals and books, I have a strong impression that Bibles are not read as much and as carefully as they were two hundred years ago. Neglect of the Bible, is like disease of the body–it shows itself in the face of a man’s conduct. It tells its own tale. It cannot be hidden.

I fear that many neglect the Bible–because of the enormous ignorance of true religion which everywhere prevails. There are thousands of professing Christians in this country, who know literally nothing about the Gospel. They could not give you the slightest account of its distinctive doctrines. They have no more idea of the true meaning of conversion, grace, faith, justification, and sanctification–than of so many words and names written in Arabic! And can I suppose that such people search the Scriptures? I cannot suppose it. I do not believe they do!

I fear that many neglect the Bible–because of the utter indifference with which they regard false doctrine–as if it did not signify much, and was all the same thing in the long run–whether one was a Roman Catholic, or a Socinian, or a Mormonite, or a Deist, or an Agnostic. And can I suppose that such people search the Scriptures? I cannot suppose it. I do not believe they do!

I fear that many neglect the Bible–because of the readiness with which they receive false teaching. They are led astray by the first false prophet they meet with, who “comes in sheep’s clothing,” and has a pleasant voice, a nice manner, and a gift of eloquent speech! They swallow all that he says without inquiry, and believe him as implicitly as papists believe the Pope! And can I suppose that such people search the Scriptures? I cannot suppose it. I do not believe they do!

I declare my firm conviction, that an idle neglect of the Bible is one cause of the ignorant formal Christianity which is so widely prevalent in these latter days!

Brethren! We are drifting, drifting, drifting–and what the end will be–no man can tell.

ASSURANCE---THOMAS WATSON

2012-01-17T13:24:00.002-05:00

We cannot come amiss to him that hath assurance---God is his.

Hath he lost a friend?---his Father lives.

Hath he lost an only child?---God hath given him His only Son.

Hath he scarcity of bread?---God hath given him the finest of the wheat, the bread of life.

Are his comforts, gone?---he hath a Comforter.

Doth he meet with storms?---he knows where to put in for harbor.

God is his Portion, and heaven is his haven.

--Thomas Watson. 1662.

PREACHING WITH SERIOUSNESS AND POWER---RICHARD BAXTER

2012-01-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

“Preachers cannot quicken the dead, but they can be used to arouse those at ease in Zion.”

How few ministers do preach with all their might! Alas, we speak so drowsily or gently, that sleepy sinners cannot hear. The blow falls so light that hard-hearted sinners cannot feel. The most of ministers will not so much as exert their voice, and stir up themselves to an earnest utterance. But if they do speak loud and earnestly, how few do answer it with weight and earnestness of matter! And yet without this, the voice does little good.

It would grieve one to the heart to hear what excellent doctrine some ministers have in hand, while yet they let it die in their hands for lack of close and lively application. In the name of God, brethren, labor to awaken your own hearts, before you go into the pulpit. A sleepy preacher will hardly awaken drowsy sinners. Though you give the holy things of God the highest praise in words, yet, if you do it coldly, you will seem by your manner to unsay what you said in the matter.

Though I move you not to constant loudness in your delivery (for that will make your fervency contemptible), yet see that you have a constant seriousness; and when the matter requires it, then lift up your voice, and spare not your spirits. Oh, speak not one cold or careless word about so great a business as heaven or hell.

I confess I must speak it by lamentable experience, that I publish to my flock the distempers of my own soul. When I let my heart go cold, my preaching is cold. And so I can oft observe also in the best of my hearers that when I have grown cold in preaching, they have grown cold too. Oh brethren, watch therefore over your own hearts: keep out lusts and passions, and worldly inclinations; keep up the life of faith, and love, and zeal; be much at home, and much with God. A minister should take special pains with his heart, before he is to go to the congregation; if it be cold, how is he likely to warm the hearts of his hearers? Therefore, go then specially to God for life!

******

“And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (I Corinthians 2:3-5). THE APOSTLE PAUL

“Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed to thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Timothy 4:15-16). THE APOSTLE PAUL

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). THE APOSTLE PAUL

(Thanks W.F. Bell for this Baxter excerpt written in 1656. He was a master of preaching in his time).

THE MISCHIEF OF SIN---THOMAS WATSON

2011-12-27T18:22:00.002-05:00

"Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.." 1 Timothy 1:13

Literally, "I was bemercied." Christians, why might not you have been in the number of those who persist in sinning? Because God has bemiracled you with mercy!

See what cause you have to admire the stupendous goodness of God, who has wrought a change in you —and checked you in your full career of sin!

Christians, you who are vessels of election—were by nature as wicked as others—but God had compassion on you and plucked you as brands out of the fire! He stopped you in your course of sinning—when you were marching to hell! He turned you back to Him by sincere repentance.
Oh, here is the banner of love displayed over you!

Behold sovereign grace! Let your hearts melt in love to God. Admire His royal bounty. Set the crown of all your praises, upon the head of free grace! "By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

(By Thomas Watson, (1620-1686). Excerpt from "The Mischief of Sin" at Grace Gems.) Read the entire article, and others at: http://www.gracegems.org/Watson/mischief_of_sin1.htm

FOR HIS OWN NAME'S SAKE--JOHN NEWTON

2011-12-13T10:33:00.001-05:00

“…If any persons have contributed a mite to their own salvation, it was more than we could do. If any were obedient and faithful to the first calls and impressions of his Spirit, it was not our case. If any were prepared to receive him beforehand, we know that we were in a state of alienation from him. We needed sovereign irresistible grace to save us, or we had been lost forever. If there are any who have a power of their own, we confess ourselves poorer than they are.

We cannot watch, unless he watches with us; we cannot strive unless he strives with us; we cannot stand one moment unless he holds us up; and we believe we must perish after all unless his faithfulness is engaged to keep us. But this we trust he will do; not for our righteousness, but for his own name’s sake, and because having loved us with an everlasting love, he has been pleased in loving kindness to draw us to himself, and to be found of us, when we sought him not. - John Newton
The Doctrines of Election and Final Perseverance – Excerpts from a letter by John Newton

SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND SIN: IRRECONCIBLE HOSTILITY

2011-12-02T12:58:00.004-05:00

BY A.W. TOZER

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. --Ephesians 6:12

In the early days, when Christianity exercised a dominant influence over American thinking, men and women conceived the world to be a battleground. Our fathers believed in sin and the devil and hell as constituting one force, and they believed in God and righteousness and heaven as the other. By their very nature, these forces were opposed to each other forever in deep, grave, irreconcilable hostility. Humans, our fathers held, had to choose sides-they could not be neutral. For them it must be life or death, heaven or hell, and if they chose to come out on God's side they could expect open war with God's enemies. The fight would be real and deadly and would last as long as life continued here below. People looked forward to heaven as a return from the wars, a laying down of the sword to enjoy in peace the home prepared for them....

How different today. The fact remains the same, but the interpretation has changed completely. People think of the world, not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight; we are here to frolic. We are not in a foreign land; we are at home. We are not getting ready to live, but we are already living, and the best we can do is rid ourselves of our inhibitions and our frustrations and live this life to the full. This World: Playground or Battleground? 4-5.

"Lord, we've lost too much by becoming friendly with the enemy. Help me to be willing to take a stand for righteousness, to choose clearly to be on Your side against the enemy, to pay any price--and then to look forward to laying down my sword later in heaven. Amen."

To be entirely safe from the devil's snares the man of God must be completely obedient to the Word of the Lord. The driver on the highway is safe, not when he reads the signs but when he obeys them. (That Incredible Christian, 51.)

Today's "Insight for Leaders" is taken by permission from the book, Tozer on Christian Leadership, published by WingSpread Publishers

THE DAY OF HIS COMING--CHARLES SPURGEON

2011-11-25T11:57:00.000-05:00

"But who may abide the day of his coming?" (Malachi 3:2)

His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for him, showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession, and few enough could abide the process.

But what will his second advent be? What sinner can endure to think of it? "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." When in his humiliation he did but say to the soldiers, "I am he," they fell backward; what will be the terror of his enemies when he shall more fully reveal himself as the "I am?" His death shook earth and darkened heaven, what shall be the dreadful splendour of that day in which as the living Saviour, he shall summon the quick and dead before him? O that the terrors of the Lord would persuade men to forsake their sins and kiss the Son lest he be angry! Though a lamb, he is yet the lion of the tribe of Judah, rending the prey in pieces; and though he breaks not the bruised reed, yet will he break his enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

None of his foes shall bear up before the tempest of his wrath, or hide themselves from the sweeping hail of his indignation; but his beloved blood washed people look for his appearing with joy, and hope to abide it without fear: to them he sits as a refiner even now, and when he has tried them they shall come forth as gold. Let us search ourselves this morning and make our calling and election sure, so that the coming of the Lord may cause no dark forebodings in our mind. O for grace to cast away all hypocrisy, and to be found of him sincere and without rebuke in the day of his appearing.

A MEASURING OF AFFLICTIONS--JOSEPH CARYL

2011-11-11T21:46:00.002-05:00

Satan usually keeps his greatest strength and most violent temptations unto the last. When he thinks we are at the weakest, then he commeth with the strongest assaults. If Satan had sent Job word of the death of his children first, all the rest would have been as nothing to him; he would not have regarded the loss of his cattle when he heard that all his Children were crushed to death by the fall of the house. As one great evil falling upon us, takes the heart off from having any sense and feeling of a lesser evil; that great evil which fell upon the Wife of Phineas, when she heard that the Ark of God was taken, afflicted her so extremely, that she could not at all rejoice in the birth of her son she had no sense of that. Here was therefore the cunning of Satan, lest Job should have lost the smart of the lesser afflictions, least they should have all been swallowed up in the greater, he brings them out in order, the least first, the greatest reserved for the last. We observe in war that when once the great ordinance are discharged, the soldiers are not afraid of the musket; so when a great battery is made by some thundering terrible judgement upon the soul, or upon the body or the estate of any man; the noise and fears of lesser evils are drowned and abated. Therefore Satan keeps his greatest shot to the last, that the small might be heard and felt, and that he last coming in greater strength might find the least strength to resist it.

To lose all our children is as grievous as to lose an only child; now that is made a cause of the highest sorrows, Zach 12:10. They shall mourn for him, as one that mourneth for his only son; that is, they shall mourn most bitterly. Now as the measure of mercies may be taken by the comforts which they produce, so we may take the measure of an affliction by the sorrow which it produceth, and that is the greatest affliction that causes the greatest sorrow. (Joseph Caryl 1602-1673)

WHERE SIN ABOUNDED--J.C. PHILPOT

2011-11-04T22:25:00.006-04:00

"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Romans 5:20

In order to know what grace is in its reign over sin, and in its superaboundings over the aboundings of iniquity, we must be led experimentally into the depths of the fall. We must be led by God himself into the secrets of our own heart; we must be brought down into distress of mind on account of our sin and the idolatry of our fallen nature. And when, do what we will, sin will still work,reign, and abound, and we are brought to soul poverty, helplessness, destitution, and misery, and cast ourselves down at the footstool of his mercy—then we begin to see and feel the reign of grace, in quickening our souls, in delivering us from the wrath to come, and in preserving us from the dominion of evil.

We begin to see then that grace superabounds over all the aboundings of sin in our evil hearts, and as it flows through the channel of the Saviour's sufferings, that it will never leave its favoured objects till it brings them into the enjoyment of eternal life! And if this does not melt and move the soul, and make a man praise and bless God, nothing will, nothing can! But until we have entered into the depths of our own iniquities, until we are led into the chambers of imagery, and brought to sigh, groan, grieve, and cry under the burden of guilt on the conscience and the workings of secret sin in the heart—it cannot be really known. And to learn it thus, is a very different thing from learning it from books, or ministers. To learn it in the depths of a troubled heart, by God's own teaching, is a very different thing from learning it from the words of a minister or even from the word of God itself. We can never know these things savingly and effectually, till God himself is pleased to apply them with his own blessed power, and communicate an unctuous savour of them to our hearts, that we may know the truth, and find to our soul's consolation, that the truth makes us free!

WHAT OF HUMILITY?-- CHARLES SPURGEON

2011-10-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

Sometimes we are inclined to think that a great portion of modern revivalism has been more a curse than a blessing, because it has led thousands to a kind of peace before they have known their misery; restoring the prodigal to the Father’s house, and never making him say, “Father, I have sinned.” The old-fashioned sense of sin is despised…The consequence is that men leap into religion and then leap out again. Unhumbled they came into the church, unhumbled they remain in it, and unhumbled they go forth from it.

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED REPENTANCE?--J.C. RYLE

2011-10-18T21:37:00.000-04:00

Have we ourselves repented? This, after all, is the question that concerns us most. It is well to know what the apostles taught. It is well to be familiar with the whole system of Christian doctrine. But it is far better to know repentance by experience and to feel it inwardly in our own hearts.

May we never rest until we know and feel that we have repented! There are no unrepentant people in the kingdom of heaven. All who enter in there have felt, mourned over, forsaken, and sought pardon for sin. This must be our experience, if we hope to be saved.

BE NOT DECEIVED---JOHN FLAVEL

2011-10-10T16:09:00.001-04:00

"Thou sometimes reflectest upon the state of thy soul, and enquirest, is Christ mine? may I depend upon it, that my condition is safe? Thy heart returns thee an answer of peace, it speaks as thou wouldst have it.

But remember, friend, and mark this line, Thy final sentence is not yet come from the mouth of thy Judge; and what if, after all thy self-flattering hopes and groundless confidence, a sentence should come from him quite cross to that of thine own heart? where art thou then? what a confounded person wilt thou be? Christless, speechless, and hopeless, all at once!”

OUR COMFORT----CHARLES WOODRUFF

2011-10-04T11:43:00.001-04:00

1) The initial comfort (the sin sick); " For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."(Romans 6:23).

2) The continual comfort (the Holy Ghost); "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."(John 14:16).

3) The final comfort (being in heaven); "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." (Luke 16:25)..

THE CREATOR IS ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN------ A.W. PINK

2011-09-29T16:08:00.002-04:00

The Creator is absolute Sovereign, executing His own will, performing His own pleasure, and considering naught but His own glory. And had He not a perfect right to do so? Since God is God, who dare challenge His prerogative? To murmur against Him is rank rebellion. To question His ways is to impugn His wisdom. To criticize Him is sin of the deepest dye. Have we forgotten who He is?

THE LORD'S POOR AND NEEDY---J.C.PHILPOT

2011-09-25T16:52:00.002-04:00

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Psalm 40:17

Are there not solemn seasons in your soul, when you think upon the Lord? When you lie awake, perhaps at midnight, thinking upon God, upon His truth, His love, His word, His dealings with your soul, and your desires, prayers, and breathings all flow forth to His sacred Majesty; is not this some evidence that you are thinking upon His name? And be assured that if you think upon Him, He has thought upon you.

Look at the giddy multitude. Do they think upon God? Is Jesus ever felt to be precious to their soul? Do they pant after Him as the hart after the water brooks? No; their language is, "There is no God." It is not their spoken language, but it is their inward language. But through mercy you can say that you think upon God; and thus there is some evidence, though you cannot rise up to the assurance of it, that He thinketh upon you. And if He thinks upon you, His thoughts are thoughts of good, thoughts of peace, and not of evil. Does He not read your heart? Does not His holy eye look into the very secret recesses of your soul? And if He thinks upon you, will He leave you, give you up, abandon you in the hour when you need Him most? No; He who thought upon you in eternity, will think on you in time, in every trial, every temptation, every sickness, and in the solemn hour when soul and body part. Through life and death He will still think on you, and will bring you at last to that Heavenly abode where these two things will be blessedly combined, the Lord's ever thinking upon His Zion, and His Zion ever thinking upon Him.

SOME MORSELS FOR YOU--CHARLES WOODRUFF

2011-09-17T16:54:00.000-04:00

John Newton’s autobiography introduced me to a new word: concatenation. It means a series of events (providentially) linked together. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). (Out of the Depths, Moody Press, Chicago, 1972 A.D. edition. The 2003 Kregel edition is revised and may not even have this word). Anyway, it is recommended reading in either edition.

God found John Newton in a strange place, as we have pointed out before. A slave trader and blasphemer saved by grace. As Arthur W. Pink said: “The high favorites of Heaven are sometimes to be located in queer and unexpected places. Joseph in prison, the descendants of Abraham laboring in the brick-kilns of Egypt, Daniel in the lions’ den, Jonah in the great fish’s belly, Paul clinging to a spar in the sea, forcibly illustrate this principle. Then let us not murmur because we do not now live in as fine a house as do some of the ungodly; our "mansions" are in Heaven!” The Life of David, Reiner Publications, Swengel, PA,1969 A.D. edition, page 79. (emphasis his).

David was a type of Christ in many ways including:
David was a prophet as well as a king; so was our Lord.
David was anointed about the 30th year of his life; so Christ, the son of David, was baptized and anointed at 30.
David in his wars had many poor men follow him such as were in debt; so Jesus Christ had many poor men who followed Him, and became His disciples, who were heavy laden under the burden of sin, called a debt.
Adapted from Preaching From Types and Metaphors by Benjamin Keach, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1972 A.D. edition. Benjamin Keach was a Baptist Preacher in London who lived from 1640- 1704.This work was originally called Tropologia.

“The devil directs his fiercest batteries against those doctrines in the word, and those graces in the heart, which most exalt God, debase man, and bring men to their lowest subjection to their creator. Such is the doctrine and grace of justifying faith.” Stephen Charnock (1628-1680), The Existence and Attributes of God, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI ,1971 A.D. edition, page 106. Read some of his works- free. Click on link: http://www.puritansermons.com/charnock/charindx.htm

I know I am often looking at the writings of theologians of long ago, but I think it is so necessary in this day of apostasy. If you go into the average Christian bookstore, you will find so little of these classic books of yesteryear. You find a few I know, among so much lightweight, shallow reading. The most popular books in these stores are novels. Then there are the endless trinkets. I ask the clerks sometimes “Why don’t you carry Pink’s books, Spurgeon’s books, J.C. Ryle’s books, Lloyd-Jones’ books, or even R.C. Sproul’s books?” The usual answer, “We can order them, but most people don’t buy them.” That is sad, because if you are going to read anything beside your Bible, it ought to be, at least some of these classics.

Whatever you read, we owe a great debt to Johann Gutenberg (1400-1468). He is credited with inventing movable type, and a printing press that made mass printing easier. His first project was printing a Latin Bible. He saw the significance of unlocking the Bible’s treasures for the common man. He said “Religious truth is captive in a small number of little manuscripts which guard the common treasures, instead of expanding them. Let us break the seal which binds these holy things; let us give wings to truth that it may fly with the Word, no longer prepared at vast expense, but multitudes everlastingly by a machine which never wearies, to every soul which enters life.” More on this fascinating man and his work at the British Library’s site: www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html

CHRIST'S MINISTRY--B.B. WARFIELD

2011-09-10T08:55:00.002-04:00

B.B. Warfield (1851-1921), was one of America's great theologians. He was solid in the midst of apostasy. He contributed articles against the downgrade in "The Fundamentals" which was an effort to stop the slide of Christianity. In our day, Warfield is recognized for his great contribution to the Christian faith. Here is a short reflection on our Lord Jesus Christ and His mighty work on earth.

When our Lord came down to earth, He drew Heaven with Him. The signs which accompanied His ministry were but the trailing clouds of glory which He brought from Heaven, which is His home. The number of the miracles which He wrought may easily be underrated. It has been said that, in effect, He banished disease and death from Palestine for the three years of His ministry. If this is exaggeration, it is pardonable exaggeration.

A.W. PINK ON EVANGELISM--IAIN MURRAY

2011-09-01T20:14:00.002-04:00

A.W. Pink wrote:

"Concerning the character and contents of the Gospel the utmost confusion prevails today. The Gospel is not an "offer" to be bandied around by evangelical peddlers. The Gospel is no mere invitation but a proclamation, a proclamation concerning Christ; true whether men believe it or not. No man is asked to believe that Christ died for him in particular. The Gospel, in brief, is this: Christ died for sinners, you are a sinner, believe in Christ, and you shall be saved. In the Gospel God simply announces the terms upon which men may be saved (namely, repentance and faith) and, indiscriminately, all are commanded to fulfill them." (1929 edition of the Sovereignty of God)

Pink was fighting an extreme in how some men "offer Christ." But he did not "throw out the baby with the bath water"! Here is one of his "invitations":

"Why not believe in him for yourself? Why not trust his precious blood for yourself, and why not tonight? Why not tonight, my friend? God is ready, God is ready to save you now if you believe on him. The blood has been shed, the sacrifice has been offered, the atonement has been made, the feast has been spread. The call goes out to you tonight. 'Come, for all things are now ready.'" (Studies in the Scriptures 1927)

He then writes:
"Particular redemption (Christ making atonement for the sins of his own people only) must not prevent his servants from preaching the gospel to every creature and announcing that there is a Savior for every sinner out of hell who appropriates him for his own." (Studies in the Scriptures March 1951)

"Unto the objection that to call upon the unregenerate to turn from the world and come to Christ is to inculcate creature-ability and to feed self righteousness, we ask, were Christ and his Spirit-taught apostles ignorant of this danger? Were men so mightily used of God as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and C.H. Spurgeon wrong, when , in promiscuously exhorting all their hearers to flee from the wrath to come, they followed the example of John the Baptist and the Son of God?"

(Quoted by Iain Murray in the Life of Arthur Pink; Banner of Truth, , p.232. On Preaching Human Responsibility.)

THE WORD, NECESSARY FOOD

2011-08-26T12:41:00.000-04:00

--CHARLES SPURGEON

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

If God so willed it we could live without bread, even as Jesus did for forty days; but we could not live without His Word. By that Word we were created, and by it alone can we be kept in being, for he sustaineth all things by the Word of His power. Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well as with it; and we must not tie Him down to one mode of operation. Let us not be too eager after the visible, but let us look to the invisible God. We have heard believers say that in deep poverty, when bread ran short, their appetites became short, too; and to others, when common supplies failed, the LORD has sent in unexpected help. But we must have the Word of the LORD. With this alone we can withstand the devil. Take this from us, and our enemy will have us in his power, for we shall soon faint. Our souls need food, and there is none for them outside of the Word of the LORD. All the books and all the preachers in the world cannot furnish us a single meal: it is only the Word from the mouth of God that can fill the mouth of a believer. LORD, evermore give us this bread. We prize it above royal dainties.

FRETFUL? WORRIED?--W. F. BELL

2011-08-15T21:38:00.000-04:00

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers....Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil" (Psalm 37:1,8). "But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days" (Daniel 12:13).

It amazes me how much "worry" we put ourselves through! It is a common thing for us to say, "I'm worried about the economy," or "I'm worried about my health," or "I'm worried about the future of our country." Even church people are guilty, talking about how insecure they feel, saying something like, "Things are so bad, it does not look like we can make it." Beloved, where is Christ-honoring "faith" in all of this? Is our "faith" so abstract that it has no stabilizing effects whatever upon us? If we feel this way, we better read again Psalm 37:3-7.

It was C. H. Spurgeon who made the bold (but true) statement: "There can be nothing in the Father's decree which should justly alarm His child. Though the abomination of desolation be set up, yet the true believer shall not be defiled; rather shall he be purified, and made white, and tried. Though the earth be burned up, no smell of fire shall come upon the chosen. Amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds, the Lord Jehovah will preserve His own."

Could you possibly read more faith-filled words than those? "Though the earth be burned up." It shall be. "Amid the crash of worlds." Indeed, there is coming such a crash. But note: "Jehovah will preserve His own." What more assurance do we need? Divine predestination and divine preservation provide God's humble people with great consolation. So, why do we fret and worry? It is our unbelief that makes us do so. There is no other reason. We reject God's Word for our own feelings. Then our fears conquer our faith, because we refuse to submit to God's sovereign Providences (this is when we prefer our "circumstances" to be better or different from what they are).

"Nevertheless, the foundation of God stands sure" (2 Timothy 2:19). What a great "nevertheless" that is! "Stands sure." Yes, "sure" for sure! We "rest" in God's love, and therefore know "great peace" (Psalm 119:165). Our peace is from the infinite grace of God, and such peace is therefore "as a river" (Isaiah 48:18). And someday our "lot" shall be in the heavenly Canaan, as was promised Daniel. And no economic crash, loss of health, or natural disaster can possibly deprive us of our sure inheritance.

Thus "by grace" we enjoy true, spiritual "rest" in Christ even now, free from all worry and fretting. "For the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted" (Isaiah 49:13). Beloved, because "Jehovah reigns," our sad unbelief is replaced with a joyous Hallelujah!

COMMUNION WITH CHRIST--SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

2011-08-07T19:24:00.000-04:00

I urge upon you communion with Christ; a growing communion. There are curtains to be drawn aside in Christ that we never saw, and newfoldings of love in Him. I despair that I shall ever win to the far end of that love, there are so many aspects to it.

Therefore dig deep, and sweat and labor and take pains for Him, and set by as much time in the day for Him as you can. We will be won in the labor.

MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU

2011-07-31T13:50:00.003-04:00

JOHN CALVIN

John Calvin on 2 Corinthians 12:9-- Grace: The term grace, here, does not mean here, as it does elsewhere, the favor of God, but by metonymy, the aid of the Holy Spirit, which comes to us from the unmerited favor of God; and it ought to be sufficient for the pious, inasmuch as it is a sure and invincible support against their ever giving way.

John Calvin on 2 Corinthians 12:10--For when I am weak, that is — “The more deficiency there is in me, so much the more liberally does the Lord, from his strength, supply me with whatever he sees to be needful for me.” For the fortitude of philosophers is nothing else than contumacy, or rather a mad enthusiasm, such as fanatics are accustomed to have. “If a man is desirous to be truly strong, let him not refuse to be at the same time weak Let him,” I say, “be weak in himself that he may be strong in the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:10.) Should any one object, that Paul speaks here, not of a failure of strength, but of poverty, and other afflictions, I answer, that all these things are exercises for discovering to us our own weakness; for if God had not exercised Paul with such trials, he would never have perceived so clearly his weakness. Hence, he has in view not merely poverty, and hardships of every kind, but also those effects that arise from them, as, for example, a feeling of our own weakness, self-distrust, and humility.

YOU ARE NEVER A LOSER WITH CHRIST

2011-07-26T15:59:00.001-04:00

J.C. RYLE

We may rest assured that no person shall ever be a real loser by following Christ. The believer may seem to suffer loss for a time, when they first begin the life of a decided Christian. They may be cast down by the afflictions that are brought upon them on account of their religion. But let them be rest assured that they will never find themselves a loser in the long run. Christ can raise up friends for us who shall more than compensate for those we lose. Christ can open hearts and homes to us, far more warm and hospitable than those that are closed against us. Above all, Christ can give us peace of conscience, inward joy, bright hopes, and happy feelings, which shall far outweigh every pleasant earthly thing that we have cast away for His sake. He has pledged His royal word that it shall be so. None ever found that word fail. Let us trust it, and not be afraid.

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, Carlisle, PA: {Banner of Truth}

NOTHING PUTS LIFE INTO MEN LIKE A DYING SAVIOUR

2011-07-09T22:46:00.002-04:00

BY CHARLES SPURGEON

NOTHING PUTS LIFE INTO MEN LIKE A DYING SAVIOUR

Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon dated November 2, 1884:
The best preaching is, “We preach Christ crucified.”

The best living is, “We are crucified with Christ.”

The best man is a crucified man.

The more we live beholding our Lord’s unutterable griefs, and understanding how he has fully put away our sin, the more holiness shall we produce.

The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard, where we can view heaven, and earth, and hell, all moved by his wondrous passion—the more noble will our lives become.

Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior.

Get close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds.

Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain.

Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried.

Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen.

Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object—let us live and die with him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful.

ANYONE FOR BIBLE STUDY?--W.F .BELL

2011-06-28T22:34:00.004-04:00

"What some people call 'Bible Study' is too often just a group of unprepared people exchanging their ignorance."

Warren Wiersbe

"What matters is what the Bible says, not our interpretations about what the Bible says."

W. F. Bell

"All is not wise that wise men say; nor all good that good men do; the best of men are but men at the best."

Augustus Toplady

"But we desire that the Scripture speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar." The King James Version Translators, 1611

"The Bible is, strictly speaking, not a book but a library."

Frederic W. Farrar

"The Bible is a window in this prison world, through which we may look into eternity."

Timothy Dwight

PRAYER POWER--HUDSON TAYLOR

2011-06-19T23:49:00.002-04:00

J. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) was a British missionary with a call to China. He spent 51 years and founded China Inland Mission (now OMF) leaving a great impact which laid a foundation which erected a Chinese church that has lasted through the harsh communist years. Christian historian Ruth Tucker gave this summation: "No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematised plan of evangelising a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor "

These are his words: "The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge,'Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not'"

NOTHING GOOD HAVE I DONE- B.B. WARFIELD

2011-06-12T21:32:00.000-04:00

Princeton theologian Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921) puts it aptly:

"There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be trust as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest."

GRACE FROM FIRST TO LAST

2011-06-04T16:23:00.002-04:00

CHARLES SPURGEON
(Another fine meditation from Mr. Spurgeon)

Many nowadays appear to leap into peace without any convictions of sin — they do not seem to have known what the guilt of sin means; but they scramble into peace before the burden of sin has been felt. It is not for me to judge, but I must confess I have my fears of those who have never felt the terrors of the Lord, and I look upon conviction of sin as a good groundwork for a well-instructed Christian.

I observe as a rule that when a man has been put in the prison of the law, and made to wear the heavy chains of conviction, and at last obtains his liberty through the precious blood, he is pretty sure to cry up the grace of God, and magnify divine mercy. He feels that in his case salvation must be of grace from first to last, and he naturally favors that system of theology which magnifies most the grace of God. Those who have not felt this, whose conversion has been of the more easy kind, produced rather by excitement than by depth of thought, seem to me to choose a flimsy divinity, in which man is more prominent, and God is less regarded.

I am sure of this one thing, that I personally desire to ascribe conversion in my own case entirely to the grace of God, and to give God the glory of it; and I dread that conversion which could in any degree deprive God of being in his everlasting decrees the cause of it, by his effectual Spirit the direct agent of it, by his continued working through the Holy Ghost the perfecter of it. Give God the praise, my brethren. You must do so, if you have thoroughly experienced what God’s anger means, and what the turning away of it means.

From a sermon entitled "A New Song For New Hearts," delivered May 1, 1870.

HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES-CHARLES SPURGEON

2011-05-25T23:44:00.002-04:00

All over England, in our cities, towns, villages, and hamlets, there are tens of thousands who never will hear the gospel while open-air preaching is neglected. I believe that God allows us to preach in churches and chapels, but I do not believe that we have any apostolical precedent for it, certainly none for confining our ministry to such places. I believe that we are allowed, if it promote order and edification, to set apart buildings for our worship; but there is no warrant for calling these places sanctuaries and houses of God, for all places are alike holy where holy men assemble.

It is altogether a mischievous thing that we should confine our preaching within walls. Our Lord, it is true, preached in the synagogues, but he often spake on the mountain’s side, or from a boat, or in the court of a house, or in the public thoroughfares. To him an audience was the only necessity. He was a fisher of souls of the true sort, and not of the modern order, who sit in their houses and expect the fish to come to them to be caught.... The minister who does his duty, goes out into the highways and hedges; he goes into all the world; he preaches whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, and delights to make hills and woods ring with the message of peace.

From a sermon entitled "The Model Home Mission And The Model Home Missionary," delivered April 14, 1870.

MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS

2011-05-25T23:40:00.000-04:00

BY CHARLES WOODRUFF

How could we fail to mention the mother of our Lord? The scripture says “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42b). She is to receive honor as no other woman, but she is NOT to be worshiped! As a matter of fact, she herself worshiped the savior. She knew she was greatly honored, and blessed, and said so in the Magnificat (See Luke 1:46-55), yet she knew she was a sinner herself, and needed this savior that she bore in her own womb (verse 47). She knew she was NOT co-redeemer of the human race ready to receive our prayers and intercede on our behalf with Christ. There is nothing of this lying Popery in the word of God! Mary was a humble woman, chosen of God for the greatest motherhood of all time. She was a godly woman that all women could model after in character. She is to be honored, remembered and taught about -- but not worshiped! If she was on earth today, she would be saddened by those misguided souls who pray to her and worship her. She would point to Jesus Christ and say “worship Him who is the true savior”. (See John 14:6). She loved Him as her son, sure, but loved Him more as her “Saviour which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Mary is truly the most honored mother in the Bible. The most honored mother of all time

WHEN YOU WERE MARCHING TO HELL!

2011-05-01T16:41:00.003-04:00

By THOMAS WATSON (1620-1686) Excerpt from The Mischief of Sin (at Grace Gems.)

"Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.." 1 Timothy 1:13

Literally, "I was bemercied." Christians, why might not you have been in the number of those who persist in sinning? Because God has bemiracled you with mercy!

See what cause you have to admire the stupendous goodness of God, who has wrought a change in you —and checked you in your full career of sin!

Christians, you who are vessels of election—were by nature as wicked as others—but God had compassion on you and plucked you as brands out of the fire! He stopped you in your course of sinning—when you were marching to hell! He turned you back to Him by sincere repentance.
Oh, here is the banner of love displayed over you!

Behold sovereign grace! Let your hearts melt in love to God. Admire His royal bounty. Set the crown of all your praises, upon the head of free grace! "By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10
Entire article at: http://www.gracegems.org/Watson/mischief_of_sin1.htm

DELIVERED, CRUCIFIED, RAISED, EXALTED

2011-04-25T09:08:00.002-04:00

BY W. F. BELL

In Acts 2:22-36 the central message of Christ is clearly outlined for us by Simon Peter. Four words are at the heart of this message: delivered, crucified, raised, exalted. Nothing greater could ever be proclaimed! The Lord of glory came to earth to do His Father's will (John 6:38), and after accomplishing it (John 17:4), "Jesus the Son of God" returned to heaven in triumph (Hebrews 1:3; 4:14). He was not frustrated in the least in what He came to do.

Peter says, "Hear these words," so let us do so with joy. "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you." A just and righteous approval of a wonderful life; a perfect life, for Jesus "knew no sin." "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." What? Yes, though without sin, "delivered" by divine purpose and predestination. Why? "Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." So, the cross was no accident; it was not just a human murder. There was purpose and reason behind it. Note carefully, Jehovah "delivered" His Son, but wicked men "crucified" Him.

But Peter goes on to say, "Whom God raised up." Don't pass that so quickly. Death upon the cross for Jesus was gory, and His burial was gloomy, but glory was to follow, for we read, "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." "Raised up!" What glorious words, filled with hope. Christ was not left in "hades" (the grave), and His body saw no "corruption." He arose! He arose the Victor! "It was not possible that He should be held" in Joseph's new tomb. Note, "not possible." David foretold of the Messiah's victory over death (Psalm 16:8-11). David himself "saw corruption" (Acts 13:36), but not the Christ of God!

Now we enter the heavenly throne-room. The Lord "ascended" to His Father's right hand, never to die again. "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted." "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him" (Philippians 2:9). Yes, "highly exalted." He reigns triumphant over all, now! "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:21). Note, not just "above," but "far above."

Peter concludes his message: "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Here is where sinners must bow! Though Christ was crucified, He is now forever exalted. We do not "make" Him "Lord," but we do humbly acknowledge that He already is "crowned with glory and honor" (Hebrews 2:9). Yes indeed, "crowned" already! So, poor sinners come in contrition, and gladly worship the exalted Christ! And with Charles Wesley, all of God's elect people gratefully sing,

Christ, the Lord, is risen today!...
Love's redeeming work is done!...
Lives again our glorious King!...
Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!...
Thee we greet, triumphant now!

JOHN BUNYAN, THE TINKER OF BEDFORD

2011-04-18T12:50:00.001-04:00

BY CHARLES WOODRUFF

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was born into a poor English family near Bedford in the parish of Elstow, Bedfordshire , England. After some formal schooling, he became a tinker by trade. We may call such a trade "a handyman" today. He repaired all sorts of things, mostly for poor people who couldn't afford new items. After serving in the Parliamentary Army, and living an ungodly life, Bunyan came under powerful conviction for his sins.He believed that God was speaking audibly to him. The voice had said: "Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven or have thy sins and go to hell?" There were several years of struggle, and seeking light from God. Like Paul, he saw himself as the "chief of sinners". When he was converted, he was baptized in St. Johns Church (a non-conformist church, which was baptist, immersing repentant sinners). Bunyan began to preach there in1655. This was in an era of turmoil in England. The state church (Church of England, i.e., Anglican) opposed all others, and especially the Puritans and Baptists, of which John Bunyan had, in the best sense, become both. He was a strict non-conformist, and had been immersed.

The next year (1656), he wrote his first of many books Some Gospel Truths. Ultimately, after the Restoration of the monarchy in England, Bunyan was jailed for preaching without a license. The monarchy had put the Anglicans back in power, and persecution against other churches increased.

John Bunyan wound up spending 12 years in the Bedford prison, with some short releases during that time. But, because he refused to conform to the statutes of the Anglicans he could not be licensed, therefore he remained imprisoned most of those 12 years. During that time in jail, he wrote his best known book Pilgrims Progress, an allegory of the Christian life. That book is still a good seller. In earlier times, it was the best selling book in the world, other than the Bible. In these apostate times, his books are still valuable, having been reprinted many times. Most are available online.
http://www.monergism.com/free_online_books.php    and in print as three large volumes. Many of his individual books are still in print as well. I recommend to you, after first reading Pilgrims Progress, read Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, which is Bunyan's autobiography. The try The Holy War. All of his work is in 17th century English (like the King James Version). If that troubles you too much, Pilgrims Progress and some of the others are available in modern English versions. Check Amazon, or Monergism.

Now a few short Bunyan quotes to further whet your appetite for this godly writer.

“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day” John Bunyan

"Temptations, when we first meet them, are like a lion that roared at Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them." John Bunyan

“You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed”   John Bunyan

“He that is down needs fear no fall, He that is low, no pride” John Bunyan

“If you have sinned, do not lie down without repentance; for the want of repentance after one has sinned makes the heart yet harder and harder” John Bunyan

“No child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness” John Bunyan

"One leak will sink a ship: and one sin will destroy a sinner." John Bunyan

"Words easy to be understood do often hit the mark; when high and learned ones do only pierce the air." John Bunyan

HIS BY PURCHASE- THOMAS BROOKS

2011-04-10T22:27:00.003-04:00

I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His. Once I was a slave but now I am a son; once I was dead but now I am alive; once I was darkness but now I am light in the Lord;...

once I was a child of wrath, an heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven; once I was Satan's bond-servant but now I am God's freeman; once I was under the spirit of bondage but now I am under the Spirit of adoption that seals up to me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person and the salvation of my soul.

WHY SALVATION MUST BE SUPERNATURAL

2011-03-29T22:11:00.002-04:00

BY STEPHEN CHARNOCK

Charnock was one of the great puritan preachers. He is known best in our time for his powerful Existence and Attributes of God, and Christ Our Passover. Recently Banner of Truth has reprinted all his books in one set, as they do so well. Money being tight just now, you can also find many of them online at Monergism.com until, and if we ever have money again. Here, read this great article by him.

The insufficiency of nature to such a work as conversion is, shows that men may not fall down and idolize their own wit and power. A change from acts of sin to moral duties may be done by a natural strength and the power of natural conscience: for the very same motives which led to sin, as education, interest, profit, may, upon a change of circumstances, guide men to an outward morality; but a change to the contrary grace is
supernatural.

Two things are certain in nature.
(1.) Natural inclinations never change, but by some superior virtue. A loadstone will not cease to draw iron, while that attractive quality remains in it. The wolf can never love the lamb, nor the lamb the wolf; nothing but must act suitably to its nature. Water cannot but moisten, fire cannot but burn. So likewise the corrupt nature of man being possessed with an invincible contrariety and enmity to God, will never suffer him to comply with God. And the inclinations of a sinner to sin being more strengthened by the frequency of sinful acts, have as great a power over him, and as natural to him, as any qualities are to natural agents: and being stronger than any sympathies in the world, cannot by a man’s own power, or the power of any other nature equal to it, be turned into a contrary channel.

(2.) Nothing can act beyond its own principle and nature. Nothing in the world can raise itself to a higher rank of being than that which nature has placed it in; a spark cannot make itself a star, though it mount a little up to heaven; nor a plant endue itself with sense, nor a beast adorn itself with reason; nor a man make himself an angel. Thorns cannot bring forth grapes, nor thistles produce figs because such fruits are above the nature of those plants. So neither can our corrupt nature bring forth grace, which is a fruit above it. Effectus non
excedit virtutem suae causae [the effect cannot exceed the power of its cause]: grace is more excellent than nature, therefore cannot be the fruit of nature. It is Christ’s conclusion, “How can you, being evil, speak good things?” Matt. 12:33, 34.

Not so much as the buds and blossoms of words, much less the fruit of actions. They can no more change their natures, than a viper can do away with his poison. Now though this I have said be true, yet there is nothing man does more affect in the world than a self-sufficiency, and an independence from any other power but his own. This attitude is as much riveted in his nature, as any other false principle whatsoever. For man does derive it from his first parents, as the prime legacy bequeathed to his nature: for it was the first thing uncovered in man at his fall; he would be as God, independent from him. Now God, to cross this principle, allows his elect, like Lazarus, to lie in the grave till they stink, that there may be no excuse to ascribe their resurrection to their own power. If a putrefied rotten carcass should be brought to life, it could never be thought that it inspired itself with that active principle. God lets men run on so far in sin, that they do unman themselves, that he may proclaim to all the world, that we are unable to do anything of ourselves towards our
recovery, without a superior principle. The evidence of which will appear if we consider,

1. Man’s subjection under sin. He is “sold under sin,” Rom. 7:14, and brought “into captivity to the law of sin,” ver. 23. “Law of sin:” that sin seems to have a legal authority over him; and man is not only a slave to one sin, but many, Tit. 3:3, “serving divers lusts.” Now when a man is sold under the power of a thousand lusts, every one of which has an absolute tyranny over him, and rules him as a sovereign by a law; when a man is thus bound by a thousand laws, a thousand cords and fetters, and carried whither his lords please, against the dictates of his own conscience and force of natural light; can any man imagine that his own power can rescue him from the strength of these masters that claim such a right to him, and keep such a force upon him, and have so often baffled his own strength, when he attempted to turn against them?

2. Man’s affection to them. He does not only serve them, but he serves them, and every one of them, with delight and pleasure; Tit. 3:3. They were all pleasures, as well as lusts; friends as well as lords. Will any man leave his sensual delights and such sins that please and flatter his flesh? Will a man ever endeavour to run away from those lords which he serves with affection? having as much delight in being bound a slave to these lusts, as the devil has in binding him. Therefore when you see a man cast away his pleasures, deprive himself of those comfortable things to which his soul was once knit, and walk in paths contrary to corrupt nature, you may search for the cause anywhere, rather than in nature itself. No piece of dirty, muddy clay can form itself into a neat and handsome vessel; no plain piece of timber can fit itself for the building, much less a crooked one. Nor a man that is born blind, give himself sight.

God deals with men in this case as he did with Abraham. He would not give Isaac while Sarah’s womb, in a natural probability, might have borne him; but when her womb was dead, and age had taken away all natural strength of conception, then God gives him; thatit might appear that he was not a child of nature, but a child of promise.
(From The Chief of Sinners Saved which I selected from Fire and Ice.)

VANCE HAVNER'S HUMOR

2011-03-17T22:02:00.002-04:00

(Some more good sayings of Vance Havner, compiled by W. F. Bell. This time humorous).

We looked recently at the man Vance Havner (1901-1986) and some of his powerful insights into the gospel and related truths. Here we look at a few things with humor in them. But remember, when Havner used humor it was not like worldly people do. For Havner, to speak with humor was to put across a spiritual message. You don't have to read him long before noticing the special gift he had for this. Christ is still central.

IMPROVING OLD ADAM
"We are trying to make the gospel acceptable to man as he is. The church becomes an Old Adam Improvement Society. The rich young ruler would be gladly received today, with no questions asked and no sacrifice required."

ABSENT OR PRESENT?
"Some church members tell us that they will be absent in body but present in spirit -- one has a spooky feeling of preaching to ghosts! Then there are those who are present in body but absent in spirit. I'm not sure which crowd I'd rather preach to."

WHOOPING, HOLLERING, MISGUIDED
"Rip Van Winkle slept through a revolution. When he fell asleep, George III was ruler of America. When he woke up, George Washington was President of the United States. Rip didn't know what had happened. He started whooping it up for the King and almost got into trouble. He was hollering for the wrong George! Not a few misguided souls are doing just that today."

IDEAL ENVIRONMENT?
"Ideal environment does not guarantee perfect performance. After all, Adam was in Paradise when he fell! The New Testament was not written on vacation; much of it was penned in jail. Paul was not resting at a pleasure resort when he wrote the Epistles. The Pilgrim's Progress was not put together in a villa on the French Riviera."

MYSTICS OR MISTAKES?
"Some of the old mystics were really mistakes. They tried to be more saintly by hiding in caves. Living in a hole never made anybody holier."

TOUGH HIDES, SOFT HEARTS
"A preacher should have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. His problem is how to toughen his hide without hardening his heart."

GOD'S HOOT OWL
"Better to be God's hoot owl than the devil's mocking bird."

DUMB DOGS
"The Bible speaks of false prophets as 'dumb dogs, they cannot bark' (Isaiah 56:10). That is one D. D. degree I don't want."

OLD BERT
"On the farm of my boyhood days, we had an old horse named Bert. I observed that Bert never seemed enthusiastic when we started out in the morning, for he knew that a hard day's work lay ahead. But, believe it or not, in the late afternoon, when by all odds Bert should have been tired, he climbed the old hill back to the barn with amazing alacrity. I have often reflected that if an old horse knows when he is headed home and joyfully treads his way at sundown, should not we pilgrims of earth, who seek a City (Hebrews 11:10,14), walk liveliest when we near the other side?"

"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Hebrews 13:12-14

"How sad shall be the days in store,
When voice and vision come no more."
Often quoted by Havner

VANCE HAVNER AND HIS WISDOM

2011-03-08T19:33:00.006-05:00

BY W.F. BELL

I have a large picture of Vance Havner hanging on the wall of my study. Evidently taken at his home, he is seated with an open Bible in his hand, with a slight grin. Havner (1901-1986) was like Peter and John, having much "boldness," and also like them, when it was said the religious leaders of their day "took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). An apt description of Havner! How we miss such preachers as this North Carolina prophet. As we note here some of Vance Havner's wisdom, the big question we must ask ourselves is, Does the world take knowledge of us that we too have "been with Jesus"? Combining his country upbringing with his "open Bible," Havner's true wisdom came from "Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (I Corinthians 1:24). May Christ fill our lives with His wisdom also.

SANCTIFIED COMMON SENSE
"The plainest man who is right with God will make decisions by sanctified common sense that PhD's will never arrive at."

RELIGIOUS SHOP-TALK
"When I listen to the shop-talk in religious gatherings, when I watch the scramble for top seats in the synagogue, when I behold the wire-pulling and politicking for posh pastorates, I cannot make the modern tune fit the Bible words."

CHRIST AND CHRISTIANS
"The issue is Christ. Not the Christ of modernism -- that is a false Christ. Not the Christ of party -- simply Jesus Christ Himself. To know Him and to make Him known, that is enough. The New Testament speaks of being called Christians -- there is our name."

AMAZED OR AMUSED?
"Once we stood amazed at worship in the presence of the Lord. Now a generation bred on entertainment wants to sit amused. What was once an experience has become a performance and the church must put on a show."

SPECTATORS, NOT PARTICIPANTS
"Americans are a generation of spectators. They sit, thousands strong, in a football stadium. Then they go to the movies and thrill to the sham of Hollywood. On Sunday some of them go to church, and once again they are spectators before whom the minister is expected to perform. Many of them have no more intention of doing anything about the sermon than they intend to act out the movies. They are spectators, not participants."

CORNBREAD AND MILK
"On the little farm where I grew up we kept a cow and mother milked the cow each late afternoon. The wood thrush was always at his best at that time and mother called him the milking-time bird. How sweet his vespers as I, a hungry little country boy, waited for my supper of cornbread and milk! A lot of water has run under the bridge since then. This young generation never heard of milking time; they know only about milk in cartons."

Precious memories, how they linger!
How they ever flood my soul!

TRUE GRACE--JONATHON EDWARDS

2011-02-28T17:39:00.003-05:00

(Jonathon Edwards is known for being perhaps the greatest theologian in American history. He was instrumental in the great Awakening in New England. He was a preacher famous for preaching "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God". This was a sermon that moved many, and which God was pleased to use to bring many to Himself. We likely will place it here soon. here is a smaller, but profound quote for you.)

Though true grace has various degrees, and there are some that are but babes in Christ, in whom the exercise of the inclination and will, towards divine and heavenly things, is comparatively weak; yet everyone that has the power of godliness in his heart, has his inclinations and heart exercised towards God
and divine things, with such strength and vigor that these holy exercises do prevail in him above all carnal or natural affections, and are effectual to overcome them: for every true disciple of Christ "loves him above father or mother, wife and children, brethren and sisters, houses and lands: yea, than his own life."

GOD'S PURPOSE--MATTHEW HENRY

2011-02-18T11:04:00.004-05:00

"God makes what use He pleases of men, of mighty men, of those that act with the greatest freedom; and, when they think to do as they please, He can overrule them and make them do as He pleases. Nay, in those very things wherein they are serving themselves, and look no further than that, God is serving His own purposes by them and making them to perform all His pleasure. Rich princes shall do what poor prophets have foretold"

TWO MEDITATIONS BY JOHN FLAVEL

2011-02-07T18:07:00.006-05:00

Puritan pastor John Flavel (1628-1691) was the son of a dissenting pastor Richard Flavel who died in 1665 of the plague while in prison. Like so many of the Puritans, John Flavel was a deep student of God's word. He pastored in Dartmouth, England and some of his writings concerning Christ are the sweetest in the vast Puritan legacy. Perhaps his best known works are Keeping the Heart, The Fountain of Life Opened, and The Mystery of Providence.

CHRIST, THE CHIEF OBJECT OF OUR LOVE

How worthy is Jesus Christ of all our love and delights? You see how infinitely the Father delighteth in him, how he ravishes the heart of God; and shall he not ravish our hearts? I present you a Christ this day, able to ravish any soul that will but view and consider him. O that you did but see this lovely Lord Jesus Christ! Then would you go home sick of love: surely he is a drawing Saviour, John 12: 32.

Why do ye lavish away your precious affections upon vanity: None but Christ is worthy of them: when you spend your precious affections upon other objects, what is it but to dig for dross with golden mattocks? The Lord direct our hearts into the love Of Christ. O that our hearts, loves and delights did meet the heart of God in this most blessed object! O let him that left God’s bosom for you, be embosomed by you, though yours be nothing to God’s; he that left God’s bosom for you, deserves yours.

CHRIST, ESSENCE OF ALL DELIGHTS

Christ is the very essence of all delights and pleasures, the very soul and substance of them. As all the rivers are gathered into the ocean, which is the meeting-place of all the waters in the world, so Christ is that ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet.

LESSONS FROM BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

2011-01-23T23:14:00.004-05:00

SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONS BY W.F. BELL

Many of us in the modern church often feel like the Jews who were carried captive to Babylon (Psalm 137). There, under the divine chastisement, they hung their once-tuned harps upon the willows in that desolate land. Their anti-Jehovah captors mocked them (adding to their misery), requesting of them a song of mirth. But, note their sad reply: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" It was impossible, since the once-favored nation was separated from their beloved Jerusalem. "Better to hang their harps on willows than profane them to the service of idols," said C. H. Spurgeon.

We too weep in the modern church and are in mourning as we remember our beloved Zion! How jealous we all should be for the honor and prosperity of Christ's church! We long, with those ancient Jews, for the restoration of songs of praise to the eternal Yahweh! We care nothing for fleshly praise and worldly applause in the "trendy" church of our day. And we too plead, as those ancient castaways, for God to truly arise in retribution, casting out our enemies. Anti-christs abound in our day, but not too many for our holy God to "cast out." But only real, heaven-sent revival will ever conquer our foes and brighten our days!

The world of the ungodly absolutely hates true religion (the gospel of Christ) -- and God's people must hate all false religion. There can be no compromise, and we must ever be praying, "Remember, O Lord." Our hearts may be heavy with the burlesque show in the modern church, but we must never stop crying out to God for Him to arise! When the prophets spoke to the nation, even in their darkest hours, the people were encouraged by the prospects of coming revival. In the very next Psalm, we are told that we must continue to be seekers and worshipers of our great God, no matter the difficulty of our circumstances: "I will praise Thee with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee. I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name" (Psalm 138:1-2). Those are strong, positive declarations, for in the Lord Jesus Christ alone do we have hope!

QUOTE FOR THE DAY
"We must rend our own clothes if we wear the garment of God." Vance Havner

IT IS CHRIST-- CHARLES SPURGEON

2011-01-14T23:35:00.004-05:00

Remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ (though that is the instrument)—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the Author and Finisher of thy faith. And if thou doest that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down. . .

There is one thing which all of us too much becloud in our preaching, though I believe we do it unintentionally--namely, the great truth that it is not prayer, it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not our feelings upon which we must rest, but upon Christ and on Christ alone!

We are apt to think that we are not in a right state, that we do not feel enough instead of remembering that our business is not with self, but Christ. Let me beseech thee, look only to Christ; never expect deliverance from self, from ministers, nor from any means of any kind apart from Christ; keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His agonies, His groans, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession be fresh upon thy mind. When thou wakest in the morning, look to Him; when thou liest down at night, look to Him.

CHRIST OUR ALTAR-MATTHEW HENRY

2011-01-07T20:26:00.002-05:00

I have used this one before over a year ago. I like it so well that I thought I would share it again, in case some missed it. Matthew Henry is always worth reading in my humble opinion.(cw)

This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass; nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by a divine power. Christ sanctified himself for his Church, as their altar, John 17:19; and by his mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people, who also have a right to eat of this altar, Hebrews 13:10; for they serve at it as spiritual priests. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for refuge when justice pursues them, and there they are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.

MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU

2010-12-30T23:17:00.005-05:00

JOHN CALVIN ON SECOND CORINTHIANS 12:9,10

GRACE: Chapter 12, verse 9--The term grace, here, does not mean here, as it does elsewhere, the favor of God, but by metonymy, the aid of the Holy Spirit, which comes to us from the unmerited favor of God; and it ought to be sufficient for the pious, inasmuch as it is a sure and invincible support against their ever giving way.

WEAK: Chapter 12, verse 10--For when I am weak, that is — “The more deficiency there is in me, so much the more liberally does the Lord, from his strength, supply me with whatever he sees to be needful for me.” For the fortitude of philosophers is nothing else than contumacy, or rather a mad enthusiasm, such as fanatics are accustomed to have. “If a man is desirous to be truly strong, let him not refuse to be at the same time weak Let him,” I say, “be weak in himself that he may be strong in the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:10.)

CLARITY: Should any one object, that Paul speaks here, not of a failure of strength, but of poverty, and other afflictions, I answer, that all these things are exercises for discovering to us our own weakness; for if God had not exercised Paul with such trials, he would never have perceived so clearly his weakness. Hence, he has in view not merely poverty, and hardships of every kind, but also those effects that arise from them, as, for example, a feeling of our own weakness, self-distrust, and humility. (From John Calvin (1509-1564) ; Commentary on 2nd Corinthians; Translated by Calvin Translation Society) emphasis mine, cw

OF THE KIRK (CHURCH)--BY JOHN KNOX

2010-12-21T19:01:00.011-05:00

Roman Catholic Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have said: “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe." Many attribute him, under God, for the Reformation in Scotland that changed that country from popery to protestant.

OF THE KIRK AND OF THE NOTES

WHEREBY IT MAY BE DISCERNED

As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so do we most constantly believe that from the beginning there has been, and now is, and to the end of the world shall be, one Kirk; that it is to say, one company and multitude of men, chosen of God, who rightly worship and embrace Him by true faith in Christ Jesus, Who is the only Head of the same Kirk, His body and spouse; which is catholic, that is, universal, because it contains the Elect of all ages, realms, nations, and tongues, be they of the Jews or be they of the Gentiles, who have communion and society with God the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ through Sanctification of His Holy Spirit. This Kirk is invisible, known only to God ... and comprehends the Elect that be departed, commonly called the Kirk Triumphant, and they that yet live and fight against Satan.

Because Satan from the beginning has labored to deck his pestilent synagogue with the title of the "Kirk of God" ... it is a thing most requisite that the true Kirk be discerned from the unclean synagogues, by clear and perfect Notes. The notes, signs, and assured tokens, we affirm, are neither Antiquity, Title usurped, Lineal descent, Place appointed, nor multitude of men approving an error. The Notes therefore of the true Kirk ... we avow to be: — first, the true Preaching of God's Word, in which God has revealed Himself unto us, as the writings of the Prophets and Apostles do declare. Secondly, the right administration of the Sacraments of Christ Jesus, which must be annexed unto the Word and promise of God, to seal and confirm the same in our hearts. Last, Ecclesiastical Discipline uprightly ministered, as God's Word prescribes, whereby vice is repressed, and virtue nourished. Wheresoever then these Notes are seen, and of any time continue (be the number never so few, about two or three), there, without all doubt, is the true Kirk of Christ; Who, according to His promise, is in the midst of them.

John Knox and colleagues, 1560

EXCERPTS FROM ARTICLES 16, 18. THE SCOTS CONFESSION

PURITAN QUOTES

2010-12-13T21:26:00.010-05:00

Many of these men were in the Westminster Assembly which developed the Westminster Confession of Faith; one of the clearest statements of doctrinal truth ever written. The later Baptist confessions such as the London Confessions, and the Philadelphia Confession was based on the Westminster Confession of Faith..

“None have engaged against the saints but have been ruined by the God of saints”--Thomas Brooks (1608-1680).

“We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. When man’s terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God”- William Gurnall (1617-1679).

“By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil: by the fear of man, they run themselves into evil”--John Flavel (1630-1691).

"There are three kinds of lies: a lie told, a lie taught, a lie acted out”--Joseph Caryl (1602-1673).

The Paradox of faith:

“A man cannot have faith without asking; neither can he ask it without faith”--Edward Marbury (about 1590-1658).

All from “A Puritan Golden Treasury”, edited by I.D.E. Thomas; Moody Press,Chicago, 1975; Banner of Truth edition published 1977.

REVIVAL IN OUR TIME- C.H. SPURGEON

2010-11-27T21:23:00.004-05:00

( I couldn't help it! Another worthy Spurgeon piece for you).

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

What God has done should encourage us to pray that he would repeat like signs and wonders among us. Oh, brothers, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would pray for revival! People whose faith is large enough and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here as in former generations. Dear friends, we do not know what God may do for us if we would but pray for a blessing.

The stories of revival should also correct any self-dependence which may have crept into our treacherous hearts. Perhaps we have begun to depend on our numbers and so forth. Now let the stories which our fathers have told us remind us that God saves; that it is not in us to do this, but God must do it all. Place no dependence on the instrument. We shall never get a revival here unless we believe that it is the Lord, and the Lord alone, that can do it.

God alone can know what may come of our prayers if he chooses to bless them. The Word of God may flow and run and rush and get to itself an amazing and boundless victory.

Wrestle in prayer. Meet together in your houses. Go to your private room. Be earnest. Be instant in season and out of season. Agonize for souls, and all that you have heard will be forgotten in what you will see! All that others have told you will be as nothing compared with what you will hear with your ears and behold with your eyes! "Blessed are all they that put their trust in him" (Psalm 2:12).

- from C. H. Spurgeon's Revival Year Sermons; Banner of Truth Trust, London, 1959

PULLING DOWN STRONGHOLDS- C.H.SPURGEON

2010-11-15T12:24:00.004-05:00

(Mr.Spurgeon said so many good things in his sermons (which are just about all available online, and in print editions). This is from his magazine Sword and Trowel. Please read and heed!)

PAUL TELLS US that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. He probably had in his mind's eye the corvus, which the Romans employed in destroying fortifications, and certainly it aptly sets forth the work of Christians when attacking the citadels of error. We must sharply grapple the false doctrine, driving the sharp hook of truth between its joints; we must clearly understand the error, and study the Word of God, so as to be able to controvert it. The great corvus of Scripture is a mighty puller down. Then unitedly with earnest tug of prayer and faithful testimony, we must throw down piece by piece the mischievous system of falsehood, be it never so great or high. Stone by stone the wall comes down, it is long and arduous work to destroy error; many hands and hearts must unite, and then with perseverance all must labor and wait. Tracts, sermons, lectures, speeches, prayers, all must be ropes with which to drag the bulwarks down. God's blessing rests on the faithful endeavors of those who overturn the castles of error, and though their work may not speedily succeed, the great result is sure. A Reformation is as much needed now as in Luther's day, and by God's grace we shall have it, if we trust in him and publish his truth. The cry is, "Overturn, overturn, overturn, till He shall come whose right it is."

Reader, are you doing service in the Lord's war, which he is now waging? You know the errors of Rome, are you doing anything to withstand them? You see the Popery and iniquity of the National Establishment, are you in your measure exposing it? Infidelity is still mighty, do you contend for God and for his Word? Sin still reigns over millions, do you seek their salvation? If not, why not? Are you yourself on the Lord's side? Oh may the grace of God lead you to trust in the great bloodshedding of Jesus, by which he has put away sin; and then may his love constrain you to aid in dragging down the ramparts of evil.
(from Sword and Trowel magazine; tract #24, published 1867).

Nothing Puts Life Into Men Like A Dying Saviour

2010-11-05T20:47:00.001-04:00

Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon dated November 2, 1884:

The best preaching is, “We preach Christ crucified.”

The best living is, “We are crucified with Christ.”

The best man is a crucified man.

The more we live beholding our Lord’s unutterable griefs, and understanding how he has fully put away our sin, the more holiness shall we produce.

The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard, where we can view heaven, and earth, and hell, all moved by his wondrous passion—the more noble will our lives become.

Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior.

Get close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds.

Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain.

Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried.

Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen.

Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object—let us live and die with him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful.

GOD'S PROPS

2010-10-30T12:25:00.003-04:00

(Let's look at another excellent thought from the Puritan, Richard Sibbes. A saint and a scholar).

As men cherish young plants at first, and fence them about to keep them from hurt, but when they are grown, they remove them, and then leave them to the wind and weather, so God besets His children first with props of inward comforts, but afterwards exposes them to storms and winds, because they are better able to bear it. Therefore let no man think himself the better because he is free from troubles. It is because God sees him not fit to bear greater.
—RICHARD SIBBES

UPS AND DOWNS OF FAITH

2010-10-16T18:28:00.004-04:00

RICHARD SIBBES--1577-1635

If believers decay in their first love, or in some other grace, yet another grace may grow and increase, such as humility, their brokenheartedness; they sometimes seem not to grow in the branches when they may grow at the root; upon a check grace breaks out more; as we say, after a hard winter there usually follows a glorious spring.

TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS EXPECTED

2010-10-03T22:46:00.005-04:00

Joseph Caryl

(Joseph Caryl, faithful Puritan preacher often had nuggets of wisdom, especially in his 12 volume commentary on Job).

The more outward blessings any one doth receive, the more he ought to serve God, and the more service God looks for at his hands Therefore we find still, that when God hath bestowed many outward blessings upon any, either persons or nations, he chargeth an acknowledgment upon them (Hosea 2:8) "She did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold which she bestowed upon Baal." You having received this, you ought to have served me with it. You see how God upbraideth David, 2 Samuel 12:7-8 "I annointed thee King of Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hands of Saul, and I gave thy master's house and thy master's wives unto thy bosom, and if this been too little, I would more over have given thee such and such things How is it then that thou hast despised the Commandments of the Lord, to do evil in his sight?" As if he should say, the more I bestowed upon thee the more obligations thou shouldest feel thyself under to obey me faithfully.

(Pp. 110, Volume 1 of his massive commentary on Job)

SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD

2010-09-26T18:31:00.004-04:00

(A Favorite of mine from J.C. Ryle)

The subject is one that demands the best attention of all who profess and call themselves Christians. In every age of the Church separation from the world has always been one of the grand evidences of a work of grace in the heart. He that has been really born of the Spirit, and made a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always endeavoured to “come out from the world,” and live a separate life. They who have only had the name of Christian without the reality, have always refused to ‘come out and be separate’ from the world.

The subject perhaps was never more important than it is, at the present day. There is a widely-spread desire to make things pleasant in religion—to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible, self-denial. On every side we hear professing Christians declaring loudly that we must not be “narrow and exclusive,” and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest saints of old thought bad for their souls. That we may go anywhere, and do anything, and spend our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any company, and plunge into anything, and all the while may be very good Christians—this, this is the maxim of thousands. In a day like this I think it good to raise a warning voice, and invite attention to the teaching of God’s Word. It is written in that Word, ‘Come out, and be separate.

From Practical Religion, page 184; James Clarke, Cambridge, 1977 (original 1878). By J.C Ryle 1816-1900

DO YOU KNOW CHRIST BY PERSONAL REVELATION?

2010-09-13T18:06:00.005-04:00

BY W.F. BELL

“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona:for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:15-17).

The most important question you could ever be asked is simply this: Do you in reality know the living Christ? The question is not, Are you religious? — Are you a church member? — Do you read the Bible? You may be very religious, yet not know Christ in the heart. You may be a loyal church member, a regular reader of God's Word, a person who “says” their prayers, or one who loves to study religious books and doctrine. But, these soul-searching questions still remain — Have you ever seen yourself a lost, vile sinner before a holy God? Have you ever been stripped of your self-righteousness and laid low in the dust of humility? Have you ever viewed by faith the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ, all because of a direct and personal revelation to you of God the Holy Ghost?

Sinner friend, I plead with you to not be deceived. Do not rest in your religious creeds, your attendance of religious worship, your so-called righteous acts. Rest only in Christ! Look only to him! Be not content with any religion if Christ is not the center and substance of it! Do not be deceived by man-made religion! Seek that which comes by divine revelation, as that which Simon Peter had in the opening Scripture. Simon was blessed to know who Christ was by a personal revelation to him of God the Father! This must also be true of us.

If Christ Jesus is not known to you by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, he is not known as the very wellspring of blessedness to the soul. If you only know Jesus by no more than the world knows, than the learned among men know, you have not the real blessing. If you only know the Lord of glory by what you have found out yourself, in reading or in talking to others, unaided by the Father's drawing power, you are not blessed with true salvation. If you know no more of Christ than what flesh and blood has revealed to you, you are nothing more than a Pharisee or Sadducee — religious, but lost without God — a separatist or a rationalist, but not a recipient of revelation and regeneration. May the eternal Jehovah reveal to you your true and undone condition before him!

Among the vast religious throngs of this earth there is to be found the true people of God. These chosen of the Father are also redeemed by the Son, and quickened by the Spirit. The elect of God know by deep acknowledgment of their sin that they are blind and ignorant by nature. The true children of God have been made humble; they confess their total dependence upon the grace and mercy of Christ, and place their entire confidence and faith in his meritorious righteousness and shed blood. In the Lord Jesus Christ alone do “We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Reader, what do you know of this once-crucified, yet now living Christ? Does his name bring gladness to your heart? Do you love the fragrance of his person? Is he more than just a religious leader to you? Beware of misty and cloudy views of King Jesus! Beware that you only have a head knowledge of him! Make sure that Christ is your Surety, your Substitute, your Sacrifice, your Savior. Beware of any religion which belittles him, or that does not exalt him as the only way to God.

Do you believe in Jesus by an inward discernment of him? Do you clearly see him as the Son of man and the Son of God? Is he definitely your Lord and Savior, your propitiation (satisfaction) before God? If you know him thus you have not learned this by the instruction of men. You have had a direct and personal revelation made to you and in you by the Father concerning who Jesus Christ really is (Gal 1:16).

It is only when the Lord himself deals with you, taking you in his powerful hand, that you are truly taught who Christ is. You may have heard about Jesus, but you only know him as “the Son of the living God” when illuminated and quickened by God the Spirit. Jesus came forth from God, and the power to know Christ comes forth from God also. If you have Christ, you have the new birth! If you have Christ, you have eternal life! If you have not Christ, you have nothing but dead, lifeless, counterfeit religion! Said our blessed Master: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). May divine power draw you this day, poor sinner! May you see Christ in all his beauty! May you come to worship and serve only him! Christ is to be seen, but in the light which he himself supplies. May that light shine unto you even now, and to our glorious God be all the glory!

(I know we featured this article once before on one of the blogs. But it says so much that I recently sent it to my email subscribers, and I wanted to place it here as well. You can subscribe to our email letters. Email your request to us at graceman@minister.com)
Published by Charles Woodruff

CONTENT, DISCONTENT---- W.F. BELL

2010-09-04T13:10:00.003-04:00

Proverbs 30:12-16; Jeremiah 31:14; Matthew 11:28

The current edition of Free Grace Broadcaster (Fall, 2010) is entirely devoted to the subject of "Contentment." It is filled with excellent, practical help on why we are often discontent, and why we must be content in Christ. This is an important, though much-neglected subject. Note how calmness, contentment, and a holy satisfaction are promised to God's children: "My people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:14). "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isaiah 54:13). "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, who has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work" (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). These are all positive declarations, with no conditions attached whatever!

But men are depraved in sin and deprived of grace by nature. We grovel in the muck and mire of this world, making us discontent with life and with God. Our hearts are dead and unfruitful, alienated from our Creator, and in rebellion against him. As C. H. Spurgeon has so wisely observed: "Very few of the sons of men are ever satisfied, let their lot be what it may; they have swallowed the horse-leech, and it continually cries, 'Give! give!' (Proverbs 30:15). Only sanctified souls are satisfied souls. God himself must both convert us and content us." No wonder Proverbs 30:16 goes on to tell us of the "four things" that are "never satisfied" -- "the grave, the barren womb, the earth, the fire." These four are "discontent" indeed.

And what of you and I? Do we not sorely need this lesson? Covetousness is rampant in America and across the world. Greed has so gripped us, idolatry has so ensnared us, and lusts have so conquered us, that we seem to be insensible of our true condition. Teach this to people, and they get angry with you immediately. None of us like to be told we are "pure in our own eyes, yet not washed from our filthiness," or that we have "lofty eyes" (Proverbs 30:12-13). This is why our land is filled with cursers, blasphemers, and grumblers. This is the cause of our political and social unrest. This is why so many marriages are on the meltdown, and why there are so many divorces today, even among those who have been married for many years.

There is absolutely no answer to all of this "discontentment with life" but the free grace of God! Only "the precious blood of Christ" can loose us and wash us from our sad "dissatisfaction." Hear the blessed counsel of our Savior: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). You need go to no other Counselor, for his counsel is always free, and always effectual. His is true rest, true joy, true peace, that "None but Zion's children know."

Best Safeguard Against False Teaching

2010-08-24T10:29:00.004-04:00

J.C. RYLE

What is the best safe-guard against false teaching? Beyond all doubt the regular study of the word of God, with prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was given to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm 119:105.) The man who reads it aright will never be allowed greatly to err. It is neglect of the Bible which makes so many a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear. They would have us believe that "they are not learned, and do not pretend to have decided opinions." The plain truth is that they are lazy and idle about reading the Bible, and do not like the trouble of thinking for themselves. Nothing supplies false prophets with followers so much as spiritual sloth under a cloak of humility.

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 68, 69.

A MANY SIDED WORK--ARTHUR W.PINK

2010-08-10T19:40:00.003-04:00

"The work unto which the servant of Christ is called is many-sided. Not only is he to preach the Gospel to the unsaved, to feed God's people with knowledge and understanding, and to take up the stumbling stone out of their way, but he is also charged to 'cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression'”

THE MARVELOUS WONDER OF YOUNG SPURGEON

2010-07-26T18:41:00.008-04:00

One of the prize books in my library is a little book written in 1857 by a British contemporary of Charles Spurgeon. It was published by Sheldon Blakeman and Co., New York (his authorized USA publisher). The observations of young Mr. Spurgeon (many of which are first hand), gives us a look at him soon after he began ministry which is in many ways unique. Here is a short excerpt from this old book.

We must confess, that for ourselves, the spectacle which is presented by Mr. Spurgeon's preaching to the poor of London, is more affecting than the hearing of the most pathetic strains of his eloquence. No wonder that it cheered the sad heart of John the Baptist, when in prison he was told that Christ was preaching glad tidings to the poor, and that it prepared him joyfully to lay down his neck for his fidelity to the souls of the rich.

See what crowds of artisans are turning away from the halls of the political meetings, of the infidel lectures, and the minor theaters, to gather about Mr. Spurgeon's pulpit. See the weary laborers of Bankside going to hear him. even on the nights of the week days. See twelve thousand of the working people of Bethnal Green, flocking around him in the open field at Hackney. Take a nearer view. Fix your eyes on individuals here and there. See the poor harlot, who was a few minutes ago passing the doors of the New Parkstreet chapel, determined to cast herself off Blackfriars Bridge. She thought she would step in and for the last time hear something that will prepare her to stand before her Maker. She is just in time to hear the text, "Seest thou this woman?" The preacher speaks of Mary Magdalen, her sins, her washing the Saviour's feet with her tears, and wiping them with the hair of her head. There stands the woman, melted with the thoughts of her own past life, as she hears it described, and more melted with the description of the pardoning love of Jesus. Thus is she saved from death, temporal and eternal.

Go and hear him, ye Thackerays, who satirize the lying, the lust, and the vanity of the English aristocracy, without offering any remedy therefor.—There is a man who is offering the remedy to the vices of some even of these.

Go and hear him, ye Dickenses, whose stories of the shame, the loneliness, the misery, and the patience of London's poor, have dissolved many a fine lady in tears, without opening her hand to imploring woe. There is a man of liberal and loving soul, who actually shakes hands with all this dirt and rags, searches for the hearts that are buried beneath it, and holds them up to the light of the cross, where they fledge their wings and soar to the glories of heaven.

Go and hear him, ye who are secretly glorying in the large donations ye have made for the benefit of the poor. There you will find a man who in body, soul, spirit, and grace, is God's own donation to the poor, preaching to them the good old gospel of his grace, in good old English words, and, by the aid of his good Spirit, leading them to the Good Shepherd, "God's unspeakable gift."

From Spurgeon, Life and Ministry; Sheldon, Blakeman and Company, New York,1857. Copied from the original book. I tried to preserve the original wording and punctuation. Only the spacing has been changed. A reprinted modern printing may be available from Amazon. It has been recently printed, and this new printing assigns the authorship to George L Stephenson, 1857 (Charles Woodruff, editor of this excerpt).

FIVE MOST EVIL BIBLE CHARACTERS

2010-07-12T10:37:00.008-04:00

BY CHARLES WOODRUFF

When thinking of more modern evil men, often the name Adolph Hitler, or Joseph Stalin comes to mind. Or possibly Sadam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden or Pol Pot. These are all evil men. Did you know that there are many evil men in the Bible? Also, quite a few evil women. All of us are born in sin. We all have the nature of Adam. Unless God intervenes by His sovereign power, we stay sinful, and lost. All men are sinners, but all are not necessarily as wicked as they could be. Some are more horribly wicked than others. I want to examine briefly those men and women who are the Bible’s five most wicked sinners. Perhaps another time will look at the Bible’s most godly characters. It is my list, and you may have a different one. I am not trying to be exhaustive in the manner of Dr. Herbert Lockyer in his excellent series of books such as All the Women of the Bible, etc… Let me know your vote on “five most evil”. I’d like to know your choices. Also, what is your choice for most righteous, other than Jesus Christ?

1) Judas Iscariot. He has to be at the top of my list. His betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ earned him that position, in my opinion. He was a conniving man, and a thief. He did not fool Jesus who gave His prophecy straight on who it was that would betray Him.(see Matthew 26:21). I know he was ordained, or chosen to this condemnation (Matthew 26:24; John 6:70; Jude 4). It was his destiny, yet he was guilty, and he was evil.

2) Pontius Pilate. He was an evil man for many reasons. Jesus told him who He was, and yet he refused to believe it, even though he said “I find no fault in this man (Luke 23:4; John 19:4,6). He washed his hands. He will try to wash them for eternity, but he cannot remove the stain of sin. Nothing can, but the blood of the very Man he had crucified. As the creed says, Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, the only human authority who could have released Him; he wanted to do so, but he was a coward.

3) Jezebel. The first woman on our list. She was an evil woman. She was a follower of false gods. She was a witch (2 Kings 9:22). Her reputation was so scary that Elijah trembled at her promise to kill him (1 Kings 19:2), the very prophet who had stood against the prophets of Baal, and not only had victory at Mount Carmel, but brought rain to parched Israel (1 Kings 18:38, 41).

4) Pharaoh. This particular Pharaoh was ruthless and a very proud man. He refused to let Israel go, in spite of the confrontations with the servants of Jehovah; Moses and Aaron (Exodus 5:1; Exodus 8:8). He would be defeated and rise back up to obstinately oppose Jehovah’s stated purpose again. Finally he lost everything, including his first born child (Exodus 11:5-7), and eventually even his own life (Exodus 14:28; 15:19).

5) Herod. This was Herod the Great, son of Antipater, an Idumean. He was a vicious, selfish ruler who feared giving up his power to the predicted King of Israel. He had all the male children under two years old killed. He was determined to kill Christ, but God’s purpose must be fulfilled. Until then no one could kill Jesus. All the Herod family was wicked, but this one was the worst. He had several of his ten wives killed. He wanted so badly to destroy Christ, yet it is recorded that this Herod died when Jesus was very young (Matthew 2:14-18).

WORDS FROM MARTIN LUTHER

2010-06-23T08:26:00.005-04:00

Three A.M. February 18, 1546
Martin Luther’s dying words:

“We are beggars, this is true. God is free, utterly free in His grace,and we are beggars, ‘pray-ers’. That is how we live. That is how we study, so that God gets the glory, and we get the grace.”

LUTHER'S GREAT HYMN
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD
This song has been called “the greatest hymn of the greatest man of the greatest period of German history” and the “Battle Hymn of the
Reformation.”

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Martin Luther (click link for more)
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/i/mightyfo.htm

By Charles Woodruff email: oursong2000@yahoo.com
Compiled June 29, 2006

REJOICE THE LORD IS KING--W.F.BELL

2010-06-14T22:15:00.003-04:00

SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONS

Psalm 2:6; 10:16; 45:1; 149:2; Luke 1:33; Acts 17:7

REJOICE, THE LORD IS KING!

Rejoice, the Lord is King;

Your God and King adore!

So began Charles Wesley's great hymn about our great King and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. What joy to sing this! What Christ-exalting theology is here proclaimed! "Rejoice, the Savior reigns!" Does He really? "His kingdom cannot fail; He rules o'er earth and heaven." Can we truthfully sing this, meaning it? According to Scripture, indeed we can! "Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion....This day have I begotten thee" (Psalm 2:6-7), fulfilled in Christ's victorious resurrection (Acts 13:33). But many say Christ is not now King. How blasphemous! What joyless unbelief to believe such. Even the psalmist knew better, saying, "My heart is inditing a good matter; I speak of the things which I have made touching [concerning] the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into thy lips; therefore God hath blessed thee forever" (Psalm 45:1-2). "The King." "Fairer." "Grace poured." "Blessed forever." What a subject, the Kingship and Kingdom of the holy Son of God!

"Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King" (Psalm 149:2). Yes, for we read, "The Lord is King forever and ever" (Psalm 10:16). Jesus plainly said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). If Christ has a kingdom, then He is King of it. Paul and his companions traveled the Roman world, not proclaiming Caesar to be king, but that "there is another King, one Jesus" (Acts 17:7). We, as Christ's ambassadors today, must do the same. Jesus is Lord and King, and without the present reign of Christ over all sinners, no one could bow to Him or truly call Him, "Lord." Listen to this dogmatic statement of the apostle Paul, "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (I Corinthians 8:6). Do we need any further proof?

But there is more: "And hath put all things under his feet" (Ephesians 1:22). When was this? Right after His crucifixion and burial. For then, Christ was "raised from the dead," and "set" at the Father's "own right hand in the heavens, FAR ABOVE all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:21). Human language and human words could not possibly be any plainer than this!

So, with Wesley we sing, "Rejoice in glorious hope, Jesus the Judge, shall come." Nothing thrills true believers more than to know Christ lives, Christ reigns, Christ will return, Christ will raise the dead, Christ will judge all men at last, and Christ will rule and reign forever (Luke 1:33). The Lord Jesus Christ is not just a "teacher," a "good example," a "prophet," etc., but HE IS UNIVERSAL KING. And indeed, because He is so, we continue our song,

He all His foes shall quell;

Shall all our sins destroy;

And every bosom swell

With pure seraphic joy!

EXTOLLING GOD WITH OUR MOUTH

2010-06-04T23:18:00.002-04:00

CHARLES SPURGEON

I have used this before a couple of years ago, but it is so good that I wanted to use it again. Please read it and ponder it.cw

Happy is he whose fingers are wedded to his harp. He who praises God for mercies shall never want a mercy for which to praise....Our thankfulness is not to be a dumb thing; it should be one of the daughters of music. Our tongue is our glory, and it ought to reveal the glory of God. What a blessed mouthful is God’s praise! How sweet, how purifying, how perfuming! If men’s mouths were always thus filled, there would be no repining against God, or slander of neighbours. If we continually rolled this dainty morsel under our tongue, the bitterness of daily affliction would be swallowed up in joy. God deserves blessing with the heart, and extolling with the mouth—good thoughts in the closet, and good words in the world.
—C. H. Spurgeon, Psalm 34:1, The Treasury of David

VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD

2010-05-21T13:54:00.007-04:00

One more good meditation
from Mr. J.C. Philpot-- 1802-1869

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4

If we are to be saved our faith must gain the day; we must have a faith that shall triumph over death and hell and gain a glorious conquest over every internal and external and infernal foe. This is just the state, then, in which the matter stands: we must either conquer or be conquered; we must either gain the day and be crowned with an immortal crown of glory, or else sink in the strife, defeated by sin and Satan. But none of God's people will be defeated in the fight; and yet they often seem, as it were, to escape defeat by the very skin of their teeth; yet faith will sooner or later gain the day, for Jesus is its finisher as well as its author. He will crown the faith of his own gift with eternal glory. He will never suffer his dear family to be overcome in the good fight of faith, for he will give strength to every weak arm and power to every feeble knee, and has engaged to bring them off more than conquerors. Thus as the Lord the Spirit is pleased to work in the soul by his living energy, he strengthens faith more and more to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God, to receive more continual supplies out of his fulness, to wrestle more earnestly with God for a spiritual blessing, to stand more firmly in the evil day against every assaulting foe, to fight more strenuously the good fight of faith, and never cry quarter until faith gains its glorious end, which is to see Jesus as he is in the realms of eternal day.

TRIBULATION IN THE WORLD

2010-05-02T15:03:00.004-04:00

ANOTHER GOOD WORD FROM J.C. PHILPOT

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Has not our path been one of tribulation, more or less, since the Lord was first pleased to turn our feet into the narrow way? But have we found, do we ever find, peace in Jesus? Do we desire to find peace there? Do we look for peace, do we expect to enjoy peace, from any other quarter? Dare we think, for a single moment, of peace in self, peace in the world, or peace in sin? Is our heart so fixed upon Jesus, our eyes so up unto him, the desires of our soul so after the manifestations of his mercy and love, that we are sure there is no peace worth the name except what is found in him? Our seasons of peace may not have been long—they may have been transient, very transient; yet sweet while they lasted, and sufficient to shew what true peace is, sufficient to give us longings after a clearer manifestation of it, and make us desire a fuller enjoyment of it. And yet the Lord winds it all up with the solemn and blessed declaration that though our appointed path is one of tribulation in the world, yet he has overcome it; sin shall not be our master, the world shall not be our conqueror, the things of time and sense shall not gain a victory over us. May He give us a sweet assurance that he will fight our battles, and bring us off more than conquerors.

(From Ears From Harvested Sheaves for May 3rd)

THE ELECTION HATH OBTAINED IT

2010-04-18T21:41:00.007-04:00

J.C. PHILPOT (1802-1869)

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." Romans 11:7

Those that are blinded by the god of this world, have no knowledge of what power and feeling and savour and dew are; they see not these things, they are blind to their reality, they are dead to their importance; but the living family of God, who are brought by his blessed Spirit into some apprehension of eternal realities, have eyes to see what power is, and hearts too, to desire to feel its manifestation. Nay, it is the very seeing what reality and power are which makes them desire to experience the savour of eternal things in their conscience; and because they do not feel them as they wish, it makes them often fear that they are blind altogether (Isaiah 59:10). But the very inquiry, the very anxious cry, the very groaning desire, the very fervent supplication to the Lord that he would not let them live and die without a testimony from himself, that he would lift up the light of his countenance and grant them the life of his favour—these very cries are a proof of life. Were you blind, you would not see these things; were you deaf, you would not spiritually hear these things; were you dead, you would not feel these things. And, therefore, that which you seem to take as an evidence against you, is, in reality, an evidence for you; and the very sensations of trepidation, anxious inquiry, godly fear, and the crying out before the Lord that he would search and try you and really make your heart right in his sight—these very things are the symptoms of life, the evidences of a work of grace upon the heart, and are the spiritual breathings of the quickened soul, the Lord himself having communicated these feelings unto it.

(from Ears from Harvested Sheaves for April 19th)

OUR AWESOME GOD--by W.F. BELL

2010-04-08T09:49:00.006-04:00

Psalm 104; 145:3; Colossians 1:14-16

The 104th Psalm is a commentary on the opening chapter of Genesis, and like many of the Psalms, renders much praise and adoration to the Creator of all things. But "the wicked" (verse 35) know nothing of this glorious Creator-God, so they talk of "mother nature" and "evolution." But to the Spirit-taught child of God, Psalm 104 is a delight to meditate upon, as the psalmist sings of the many voices of nature, and of God's "majesty" and providence.

We live in a day when words have changed meaning, and some words have become meaningless. "Awesome" is one such word, as this adjective is now used in everyday conversation to describe the most trivial of things. But "awesome" (causing awe) is a word which should be used as a description of the great Creator alone. "O Lord my God, Thou art very great." That means the true God is awesome beyond words. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3). Let us always "magnify the Lord" with true heart praise and with great reverence. "Bless the Lord, O my soul." This is no trifling matter.

The list of "created things" in Psalm 104 includes the heavens, the waters, the clouds, the wind, the earth, mountains, thunder, valleys, springs, hills, beasts of the field, birds, grass, trees, the moon, the sun, sea creatures, darkness, light, angels, and man. Neither you nor I nor any human made any of these things! Yet men still reject this evidence of the great Creator's "handiwork" (Psalm 19:1). All "sinners" by nature are blinded by their sin, so do not acknowledge this awesome God. But in humility all those who are redeemed must say with the psalmist here, "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of Him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord" (Psalm 104:33-34). Not sad, but glad!

Psalm 104 is all about God, His greatness, His glory, and His goodness. The holy attributes of God are wondrous themes to regularly occupy our thoughts. The true God is "clothed with splendor and majesty," and "covered with light as with a garment" (verses 1-2). "The glory of the Lord shall endure forever; the Lord shall rejoice in His works" (verse 31). "O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy riches" (verse 24). Note, God's works, wisdom, wealth. How this truly humbles us, for we are reminded that some day proud sinners are to "be consumed out of the earth" (verse 35).

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the mighty Creator, "the firstborn of every creature," as "all things were created by Him, and for Him" (Colossians 1:15-16). The Son is eternal, though Jesus the Man appeared in the fullness of time. Let us worship, praise, and give humble thanks to our Saviour for creating "all things," including man, the crown of creation. Let us render true praise to the grace and mercy of God for His great salvation, which has been so freely bestowed upon us in Christ, "even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14).

Psalm 104 teaches us that God's end and goal in creation was to glorify Himself, just as we know it is His "eternal purpose" to glorify His "manifold wisdom" by redeeming "the church" through Christ (Ephesians 3:10-11). His purpose shall never fail! So join me then in singing, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," for He is an awesome, gracious God.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"Dear Lord, assist our souls to pay, The debt of praise we owe; That we enjoy a gospel-day, And heaven begun below." John Newton

SOME SHORT SAYINGS OF JOHN FLAVEL

2010-03-29T21:22:00.003-04:00

John Flavel was a Puritan who lived from 1628-1691. He had some very spiritual writings. His works are available in our day from Banner of Truth, and much of it online. Among his best known works are "The Mystery of Providence" and "Keeping the Heart".

"One act of faith in the Lord Jesus pleases God more than all thy strivings to meet the claims of his law, through thy whole life, can do."

"Take away the knowledge of Christ, and Christians would be the most sad and melancholy beings in the world."

"As God did not at first choose you because you were high, He will not now forsake you because you are low."

"Though you cannot make the gospel effectual, yet the Spirit of God can make the means you are capable of using effectual."

"The Scriptures teach us the best way of living, the noblest way of suffering, and the most comfortable way of dying."

JELLYFISH CHRISTIANITY--J.C. RYLE

2010-03-19T20:39:00.003-04:00

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, was one of the soundest preachers and writers of his time. There were so many good things he had to say. He battled against the creeping liberalism of his denomination. He is remembered with fondness by the majority of Reformed Christians of our day. One of my favorite excerpts of his follows. You can still obtain most of his writings today.

“One plague of our age is the widespread dislike to what men are pleased to call dogmatic theology. In the place of it, the idol of the day is a kind of jellyfish Christianity – a Christianity without bone, or muscle, or sinew, – without any distinct teaching about the atonement or the work of the Spirit, or justification, or the way of peace with God – a vague, foggy, misty Christianity, of which the only watchwords seem to be, ‘You must be…liberal and kind. You must condemn no man’s doctrinal views. You must consider everybody is right and nobody is wrong’. And this creedless kind of religion, we are told, is to give us peace of conscience! And not to be satisfied with it in a sorrowful, dying world, is a proof that you are very narrow-minded! Satisfied, indeed! Such a religion might possibly do for unfallen angels! But to tell sinful, dying men and women, with the blood of our father Adam in our veins, to be satisfied with it, is an insult to common sense and a mockery of our distress. We need something far better than this. We need the blood of Christ."

The Upper Room; chapter six, “One Blood”, page 99; Banner of Truth, London, 1977 reprint

EXPOSITION OF PSALM 8:1- CHARLES SPURGEON

2010-03-09T08:32:00.006-05:00

Mr. Spurgeon! He has been called an Arminian, and a Hyper-Calvinist and everything in between. He must have been doing something right! When you go with the word of God as it is, you will be opposed by many enemies, but God will see you through. During this series of Spurgeon short articles, I am again enjoying his depth and love of Christ. Here he gives exposition of the first verse of one of my favorite Psalms. I hope you enjoy it as much as I, a few quaint words and all. cw

Verse 1. Unable to express the glory of God, the Psalmist utters a note of exclamation. O Jehovah our Lord! We need not wonder at this, for no heart can measure, no tongue can utter, the half of the greatness of Jehovah. The whole creation is full of his glory and radiant with the
excellency of his power; his goodness and his wisdom are manifested on every hand. The countless myriads of terrestrial beings, from man the head, to the creeping worm at the foot, are all supported and nourished by the Divine bounty. The solid fabric of the universe leans upon his eternal arm.

Universally is he present, and everywhere is his name excellent. God worketh ever and everywhere. There is no place where God is not. The miracles of his power await us on all sides. Traverse the silent valleys where the rocks enclose you on either side, rising like the battlements of heaven till you can see but a strip of the blue sky far overhead; you may be the only traveler who has passed through that glen; the bird may start up affrighted, and the moss may tremble beneath the first tread of human foot; but God is there in a thousand wonders, upholding yon rocky barriers, filling the flowercups with their perfume, and refreshing the lonely pines with the breath of his mouth. Descend, if you will, into the lowest depths of the ocean. where undisturbed the water sleeps, and the very sand is motionless in unbroken quiet, but the glory of the Lord is there, revealing its excellence in the silent palace of the sea. Borrow the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, but God is there. Mount to the highest heaven, or dive into the deepest hell, and God is in both hymned in everlasting song, or justified in terrible vengeance. Everywhere, and in every place, God dwells and is manifestly at work. Nor on earth alone is Jehovah extolled, for his brightness shines forth in the firmament
above the earth. His glory exceeds the glory of the starry heavens; above the region of the stars he hath set fast his everlasting throne, and there he dwells in light ineffable. Let us adore him "who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea; who maketh Arcturus,Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south." (Job 9:8-9.) We can scarcely find more fitting words than those of Nehemiah 9:6, "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee"

Returning to the text we are led to observe that this Psalm is addressed to God, because none but the Lord himself can fully know his own glory. The believing heart is ravished with what it sees, but God only knows the glory of God. What a sweetness lies in the little word our, how
much is God's glory endeared to us when we consider our interest in him as our Lord.
How excellent is thy name! no words can express that excellency; and therefore it is left as a note of exclamation. The very name of Jehovah is excellent, what must his person be. Note the fact that even the heavens cannot contain his glory, it is set above the heavens, since it is and ever must be too great for the creature to express. When wandering among the Alps, we felt that the Lord was infinitely greater than all his grandest works, and under that feeling we roughly wrote these few lines:—

Yet in all these how great soe'er they be, We see not Him.
The glass is all too dense And dark, or else our earthborn eyes too dim.
Yon Alps, that lift their heads above the clouds
And hold familiar converse with the stars,
Are dust, at which the balance trembleth not,
Compared with His divine immensity.
The snow-crown'd summits fail to set Him forth,
Who dwelleth in Eternity, and bears Alone, the name of High and Lofty One.
Depths unfathomed are too shallow to express
The wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord.
The mirror of the creatures has no space To bear the image of the Infinite. '
Tis true the Lord hath fairly writ his name,
And set his seal upon creation's brow.
But as the skilful potter much excels
The vessel which he fashions on the wheel,
E'en so, but in proportion greater far,
Jehovah's self transcends his noblest works.
Earth's ponderous wheels would break, her axles snap,
If freighted with the load of Deity.
Space is too narrow for the Eternal's rest,
And time too short a footstool for his throne.
E'en avalanche and thunder lack a voice,
To utter the full volume of his praise.
How then can I declare him?
Where are words With which my glowing tongue may speak his name?
Silent I bow, and humbly I adore.

From Treasury of David, Volume One, on Psalm eight, verse one.

THEY PREFERRED OFFICE TO CHARACTER

2010-02-20T15:23:00.006-05:00

CHARLES H. SPURGEON

These Israelites fell into another mistake, which is also often made to-day: they preferred office to character. In their distress, instead of calling upon God, they sent for Hophni and Phinehas. Why did their hearts turn to them? Simply because they were priests, and the people had come to hold the sacred office in such superstitious reverence that they thought that was everything. But these young men were sinners against the Lord exceedingly; they were not even moral men, much less were they spiritual men. They made the house of God to be abhorred, and dishonored the Lord before all Israel. Yet, because they happened to hold the office of the priesthood, they were put in the place of God.

Dear friends, this is a kind of feeling which many indulge. They think they shall be saved if they have a Levite for their priest. They imagine that the worship of God must be conducted properly, because the man who conducts it is in the apostolic succession, and has been duly ordained. You shall see a man eminent for the holiness of his life, for the disinterestedness of his character, for the fidelity of his preaching, for his power in prayer, for the blessing that rests upon his ministry in the conversion of sinners; but he is counted a mere nobody, because he lacks the superstitious qualification which deluded men think is so necessary. Here are Hophni and Phinehas, two of the grossest sinners in all the land of Israel; but then, you see, they are in the line of Aaron, and so they are trusted, and indeed are put in the place of God.

Now, God forbid that we should say a word against the house of Aaron, or against any who speak the name of the Lord, whom God has truly called unto his work! But, beloved, this work is not a mere matter of pedigree; it is a question of the abiding presence of God with man and in a man. Unless God be with the minister whom you hear, to what purpose do you listen? If the leader of the church be not one who walks with God, where will he lead you? "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." The blind man may wear a badge on his arm to show that he is a certified guide; but will you be saved from the ditch simply because he belongs to the order of guides, and has his certification with him? Be not led away by any such vain notion. Yet this is the error into which many have fallen in all ages of the church.

WASTED YEARS--CHARLES SPURGEON

2010-02-11T07:56:00.005-05:00

Yes those wasted years over which we sigh shall be restored to us. God can give us such plentiful grace that we shall crowd into the remainder of our days as much of service as will be some recompense for those years of unregeneracy over which we mourn in humble penitence.

The locusts of backsliding, worldliness, lukewarmness, are now viewed by us as a terrible plague. Oh that they had never come near us! The Lord in mercy has now taken them away, and we are full of zeal to serve Him. Blessed be His name, we can raise such harvests of spiritual graces as shall make our former barrenness to disappear. Through rich grace we can turn to account our bitter experience, and use it to warn others. We can become the more rooted in humility, childlike dependence, and penitent spirituality, by reason of our former shortcomings. If we are the more watchful, zealous, and tender, we shall gain by our lamentable losses. The wasted years, by a miracle of love, can be restored. Does it seem too great a boon?

Let us believe for it, and live for it, and we may yet realize it, even as Peter became all the more useful a man after his presumption was cured by his discovered weakness. “Lord, aid us by thy grace” (Faith’s Checkbook)

JESUS ONLY--CHARLES SPURGEON

2010-01-30T21:43:00.002-05:00

WE cannot too often or too plainly tell the seeking soul that his only hope for salvation lies in the Lord Jesus Christ. It lies in him completely, only, and alone. To save both from the guilt and the power of sin, Jesus is all sufficient. His name is called Jesus, because “he shall save his people from their sins” "The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” He is exalted on high “to give repentance and remission of sins.” It pleased God from of old to devise a method of salvation which should be all contained in his only-begotten Son. The Lord Jesus, for the working out of this salvation, became man, and being found in fashion as a man, became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. If another way of deliverance had been
possible, the cup of bitterness would have passed from him. It stands to reason that the darling of heaven would not have died to save us if we could ‘have been rescued at less expense. Infinite grace provided the great sacrifice; infinite love submitted to death for our sakes. How can we dream that there can be another way than the way which God has provided at such cost, and set forth in Holy Scripture so simply and so pressingly? Surely it is true that “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must ‘be saved.”

To suppose that the Lord Jesus has only half saved, men, and that there isneeded some ‘work’. or feeling of their own to finish his work is wicked. What is there of ours that could be added to his blood and righteousness? “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Can these be patched on to ‘the costly fabric of his divine righteousness? Rags and fine white linen! Our dross and his pure gold! It is an insult to the Savior to dream of such a thing. We have sinned enough, without adding this to all our other offenses.
( Taken from Around the Wicket Gate; some emphasis mine, cw)

HELP FROM WITHOUT-- CHARLES SPURGEON

2010-01-22T09:09:00.003-05:00

"Yea, I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:10).
Yesterday's promise secured us strength for what we have to do, but this guarantees us aid in cases where we cannot act alone. The LORD says, "I will help thee." Strength within is supplemented by help without. God can raise us up allies in our warfare if so it seems good in His sight; and even if He does not send us human assistance, He Himself will be at our side, and this is better still. "Our August Ally" is better than legions of mortal helpers.

His help is timely: He is a very present help in time of trouble. His help is very wise: He knows how to give each man help meet and fit for him. His help is most effectual, though vain is the help of man. His help is more than help, for He bears all the burden and supplies all the need. "The LORD is my helper, I will not fear what man can do unto me."

Because He has already been our help, we feel confidence in Him for the present and the future. Our prayer is, "LORD, be thou my helper"; our experience is, "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities"; our expectation is, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, whence cometh my help"; and our song soon will be, "Thou, LORD, hast holpen me."

C. H. SPURGEON (Main article from Faith's Checkbook for January 6th)
"God has given no pledge which He will not redeem,
and encouraged no hope which He will not fulfill."

LOVE UNTO THE END---CHARLES SPURGEON

2010-01-12T10:33:00.003-05:00

Praise the Lord! My computer is restored after a nasty virus suddenly took out almost everything. So in humble celebration, I am featuring here for a time Charles Spurgeon, my favorite gospel preacher of old.

“For the Lord will not cast off for ever” (Lamentations 3:31).
He may cast away for a season, but not for ever.

A woman may leave off her ornaments for a few days, but she will not
forget them, nor throw them upon the dunghill. It is not like the Lord to
cast off those whom He loves: for, “having loved his own which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end.” Some talk of our being in grace
and out of it, as if we were like rabbits that run in and out of their burrows:
but, indeed, it is not so. The Lord’s love is a far more serious and abiding
matter than this.

He chose us from eternity, and He will love us throughout eternity. He
loved us so as to die for us, and we may therefore be sure that His love will
never die. His honor is so wrapped up in the salvation of the believer, that
He can no more cast him off than He can cast off His own robes of office
as King of glory. No, no! The Lord Jesus, as a Head, never casts off His
members; as a Husband, He never casts off His bride.

Did you think you were cast off? Why did you think so evil of the Lord
who has betrothed you to Himself? Cast off such thoughts, and never let
them lodge in your soul again. “The Lord hath not cast away his people which he foreknew” (Romans 11:2). “He hateth putting away” (Malachi 2:16).

(Faith's Checkbook reading for January 12th)

CHRIST JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS

2009-12-28T20:25:00.007-05:00

BY B. B. WARFIELD

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1Timothy 1:15).

The saying that it was to "save sinners" that Christ Jesus came into the world is a faithful one, and worthy of all acceptation. And that means that it is not the primary function of Christianity in the world to educate men, though we shall not get along without teaching; or to ameliorate their physical and social condition, though we shall not get along without charity; but to proclaim salvation from sin. It exists in the world not for making men wise, nor for making them comfortable, but for saving them from sin. That done and all is done—each result following in its due course. That not done, and nothing is done. All the wisdom of the ages, all the delights of life, are of no avail so long as we are oppressed with sin. The core of the gospel is assuredly that Christ Jesus came to save sinners.

We need, however, once more to adjust the emphasis more precisely in order to gain the whole message of our passage. What Paul declares to be a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, is that Christ Jesus came to save sinners. Put the emphasis now on the one word "save"—Christ Jesus came to save sinners.

Not, then, merely to prepare salvation for them; to open to them a pathway to salvation; to remove the obstacles in the way of their salvation; to proclaim as a teacher a way of salvation; to introduce as a ruler conditions of life in which clean living becomes for the first time possible; to bring motives to holy action to bear upon us; to break down our enmity to God by an exhibition of His seeking love; to manifest to us what sin is in the sight of God, and how He will visit it with His displeasure. All these things He undoubtedly does. But all these things together touch but the circumference of His work for man. Under no interpretation of the nature or reach of His work can it be truly said that Christ Jesus came to do these things. For that we must penetrate deeper, and say with the primitive Church, in this faithful saying commended to us by the apostle, that Christ Jesus came to save sinners.

We must take the great declaration in the height and depth of its tremendous meaning. Jesus did all that is included in the great word "save." He did not come to induce us to save ourselves, or to help us to save ourselves, or to enable us to save ourselves. He came to save us. And it is therefore that His name was called Jesus— because He should save His people from their sins. The glory of our Lord, surpassing all His other glories to usward, is just that He is our actual and complete Saviour; our Saviour to the uttermost.

(From The Person and Work of Christ; Presbyterian and Reformed, c.1950; some emphasis mine cw)

THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

2009-12-14T10:14:00.007-05:00

by HARALAN POPOV 1907-1988
The Day before Christmas

On the other side of the island, wooden poles had been washed out by the torrents of flood water, now rising menacingly ever higher, so we were sent to dig new holes and set up the poles again. It was now 24th December. We worked in icy, rapidly flowing water up to our waists to retrieve the floating poles and load them on to a raft.

Having loaded one raft I climbed aboard it and began to punt it back to the shore. I was in the middle of the flooded river, when suddenly the raft simply came apart beneath me and I was deposited in the freezing water. I was a half-mile from the shore, caught up in the swollen, raging river with a heavy coat and boots on and so frozen that I couldn’t move. I was dragged downstream by the current and went under several times, but somehow managed to come up again. I was frozen through by the icy water, the boots dragged me down, the swift current pulled me along.

There was no human way out of this. Death was as certain as it could be. My arms, my legs, my whole body were numb from the icy water. The swift current, the heavy boots and coat were dragging me under again and again. Still I fought my way back to the surface, only to go under again.. My strength was completely gone. I gave up struggling. Death had its embrace around me.

With a final breath I cried out, “Lord, help me!” Suddenly a surge of strength shot through my frozen, exhausted body. I began swimming towards the shore with powerful strokes. Incredibly, I was able to pull myself along, heavy, sodden boots and all. It was truly God’s strength for I had none left. A strong swimmer would have had trouble making it, much less I in my condition. Yet, I could see I was making progress. I said over and over “Thank You, Lord.” Later, I remembered that beautiful hymn:

“Though sometimes He leads through water deep.
Trials fall across the way.
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep.
See His footsteps all the way.”

Those watching from the shore had already written me off as dead and had turned away and gone about their work. After all, life was so cheap, one prisoner more or less meant nothing. We had seen so many die, death was commonplace.
I struggled closer and closer to the shore. Finally, I could see the shore and saw two figures in black. They were nuns. At that time a trial against Catholic priests and nuns had just concluded, and they, too, had been convicted of espionage. More than fifty priests and nuns were condemned to prison and two Bishops and two priests were executed. The two nuns before me were floundering in the mud on the river bank while a woman guard commanded them to keep going. The guard brutally kicked one of the nuns, causing her to fall flat where she sank into the soft, oozing mud. She pulled herself up with great effort.

The village of Belene was about a mile and a half from us. It was Christmas. The bells of the church began to ring out with the glad tidings of the Christian faith. At the moment the bells began pealing, the two nuns down at the river bank were floundering and sinking in the mud without anyone to help them and I, an evangelical pastor, had just used my last ounce of strength to swim ashore and lay exhausted. The bells seemed to be saying, “God is born in the form of a man. God is revealing Himself through His Child.”

I’ll never forget that Christmas. I was lying exhausted and the two nuns were sinking deeper into the mud. We stopped our struggling and listened. It was dark and freezing cold. I was almost a solid block of ice. The bells could be heard faintly far off in the distance ringing out the message of the Saviour’s birth.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I lay there. They were tears of joy because I had not drowned and tears of sorrow because neither the nuns nor I were here for any crimes we had committed. We were here for His sake – He who was born in a stable on that night so long ago.

The author, Haralan Popov, a Protestant pastor in Bulgaria, spent 13 Christmases in prison. This is taken his book, Tortured for His Faith, which was published by Zondervan in 1970, and currently is out of print, but used copies are available online at Amazon. A new expanded edition is available for a donation at Door of Hope, Box 303, Glendale, CA 91209. See web site for information; http://www.dohi.org/index.asp

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

2009-12-03T18:45:00.006-05:00

Some preachers in our area don't believe you should consult any books but the KJV Bible. Some, although perhaps much fewer now than yesteryear, don't believe that church members should bring their own Bible to church. My former pastor, many years ago was harassed and practically attacked for bringing his own Bible to the pulpit in a church he was visiting.

My view is that the Bible is number one. That is what must be preached. However, books can be consulted, even quoted, as helps to preaching a rounded message. I certainly do not have as many as Mr. Spurgeon had. He made good use of thousands, including many Puritans.

Being informed of current events is also good. The apostles were. Later preachers such as Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones were. We must use every legitimate tool available to get the true message of Christ to the people. That is what we are doing with these blogs and Sermon Audio and Twitter. "Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
"

CONTENTED OR DISCONTENTED?

2009-11-25T20:36:00.016-05:00

THOMAS WATSON

Okay, Okay, by now, if you are reading my blogs, my other writings, or listening to my sermons at Sermon Audio, you realize that I am very fond of the Puritans. There have been many bad things said about them, mostly untrue. You see, they were not perfect but most genuinely strived to follow God's word. I won't say I agree with every one of them on everything. If you know anything about them, you know that there were differences among them. Some were Anglicans, some Presbyterians, some Baptists, while most were Congregationalists. One common thing among them. They had a love for the word, they were diligent students, gifted teachers, and passionate preachers. We would do well in our apostate day to read them more often. Now, I wouldn't want to live in their day. I like modern conveniences like electricity, automobiles, airplanes, central heat and air, refrigeration and many other things the 16th and 17th century Puritans could not have dreamed of. But they definitely had us on the word of God, brothers and sisters. If we could focus our attention on that; the word of God, we could yet see great things for God. On two out of my three blogs currently are my favorite Puritans; Thomas Brooks, and here, Thomas Watson. Give these short excerpts a careful read, will you please?

"The discontented person thinks everything he doth for God too much, and everything God doth for him too little. The way for a man to be contented is not by raising his estate, but by bringing his heart lower. Whatever trouble a child of God meets with,it is all the hell he shall have. Death begins a wicked man's hell, but it puts an end to a Godly man's hell. A contented spirit is never angry, unless it is with himself for having hard thoughts of God. Shoulds't thou have no evil about thee, who hast so much evil in thee? Thou art not fully sanctified in this life,how then thinkest thou to be fully satisfied? If we have not what we desire, we have more than we deserve."

"The torments of hell abide for ever.... If all the earth and sea were sand, and every thousandth year a bird should come, and take away one grain of this sand, it would be a long time ere that vast heap of sand were emptied; yet, if after all that time the damned may come out of hell, there were some hope; but this word EVER breaks the heart."

"If mercy is not a magnet to draw us nearer to God, it will be a millstone to sink us deeper into hell."
(Thomas Watson lived between 1620-1686, but being dead yet speaketh).

CHARLES SPURGEON ON JOHN 19:16:

2009-11-16T10:36:00.002-05:00

"Let us muse upon the fact that Jesus was [brought outside] the gates of the city. It was the common place of death. That little rising ground, which perhaps was called Golgotha, the place of a skull, from its somewhat resembling the crown of a man's skull, was the common place of execution. It was one of Death's castles; here he stored his gloomiest trophies; he was the grim lord of that stronghold. Our great hero, the destroyer of Death, bearded the lion in his den, slew the monster in his own castle, and dragged the dragon captive from his own den. Methinks Death thought it a splendid triumph when he saw the Master impaled and bleeding in the dominions of destruction; little did he know that the grave was to be rifled, and himself destroyed, by that crucified Son of man."
— from "The Procession of Sorrow," delivered on March 1, 1863, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

WALK WITHOUT STUMBLING

2009-11-10T09:01:00.004-05:00

BY CHARLES SPURGEON

"He will not suffer thy foot to be moved" (Psalm 121:3).

If the LORD will not suffer it, neither men nor devils can do it. How greatly would they rejoice if they could give us a disgraceful fall, drive us from our position, and bury us out of memory! They could do this to their heart's content were it not for one hindrance, and only one: the LORD will not suffer it; and if He does not suffer it, we shall not suffer it. The way of life is like traveling among the Alps. Along the mountain path one is constantly exposed to the slipping of the foot. Where the way is high the head is apt to swim, and then the feet soon slide; there are spots which are smooth as glass and others that are rough with loose stones, and in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. He who throughout life is enabled to keep himself upright and to walk without stumbling has the best of reasons for gratitude. What with pitfalls and snares, weak knees, weary feet, and subtle enemies, no child of God would stand fast for an hour were it not for the faithful love which will not suffer his foot to be moved.

Amidst a thousand snares I stand
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
That hand unseen shall hold me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill.

(From Faith's Checkbook for November 10th)