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

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

  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

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.htmlwww.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html

CHRIST'S MINISTRY--B.B. WARFIELD

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

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

 --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

"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!