"I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ
than unravel all the mysteries of the divine Word,
for salvation is the one thing we are to live for."
~C.H. Spurgeon
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
A Good Exhortation & Reminder
Check out the message from I Corinthians 16 on the Lake Road podcast:
www.lakeroadchapel.org
"Be on the alert,
stand firm in the faith,
act like men,
be strong.
Let all that you do be done in love."
~1 Cor 16:13-14
www.lakeroadchapel.org
"Be on the alert,
stand firm in the faith,
act like men,
be strong.
Let all that you do be done in love."
~1 Cor 16:13-14
Self-Forgetful Love
"They will be like dew sent by the Lord." Micah 5:7
The lives of godly people are sometimes compared to the dew. One point of likeness, is the quiet way in which the dew performs its ministry. It falls silently and imperceptibly. It makes no noise. No one hears it dropping. It chooses its time in the night when men are sleeping, when none can see its beautiful work. It covers the leaves with clusters of pearls. It steals into the bosoms of the flowers, and leaves new cupfuls of sweetness there. It pours itself down among the roots of the grasses and tender herbs and plants. It loses itself altogether, and yet it is not lost. For in the morning there is fresh life everywhere, and new beauty. The fields are greener, the gardens are more fragrant, and all nature is clothed in fresh luxuriance!
Is there not in this simile, a suggestion as to the way we should seek to do good in this world? Should we not wish to have our influence felt--while no one thinks of us; rather than that we should be seen and heard and praised? Should we not be willing to lose ourselves in the service of self-forgetful love, as the dew loses itself in the bosom of the rose--caring only that other lives shall be sweeter, happier, and holier--and not that honor shall come to us? We are too anxious, some of us, that our names shall be written in large letters on the things we do, even on what we do for our Master; and are not willing to sink ourselves out of sight--and let Him alone have the praise.
Our Lord's teaching on the subject is very plain. He says: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." That is, they have that which they seek--the applause of men.
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The meaning would seem to be, that we are not to wish people to know of our good deeds, our charities, our self-denials; that we should not seek publicity, when we give money or do good works; indeed, that we are not even to tell ourselves what we have done; that we are not to think about our own good deeds so as to become conscious of them; not to put them down in our diaries and go about complimenting ourselves, throwing bouquets at ourselves, and whispering: "How good I am! What fine things I have done!"
This is an insightful test of our lives. Are we willing to be as the dew--to steal abroad in the darkness, carrying blessings to men's doors, blessings that shall enrich the lives of others and do them good--and then steal away again before those we have helped or blessed awaken, to know what hand it was that brought the gift? Are we willing to work for others . . .
without gratitude,
without recognition,
without human praise,
without requital?
Are we content to have our lives poured out like the dew--to bless the world and make it more fruitful--and yet remain hidden away ourselves? Is it enough for us to see the fruits of our toil and sacrifice--in others' spiritual growth, and deeper happiness; yet never hear our names spoken in praise or honor--perhaps even hearing others praised for things we have done?
If you go about doing good in simple ways, in gentle kindnesses, not thinking of reward, not dreaming of praise, not hoping for any return--you are enshrining your name where it will have immortal honor! Our lesson teaches us that this is the way we are to live--if we are followers of Christ!
(J. R. Miller, "The Beauty of Quietness" 1903),
Grace Gems
The lives of godly people are sometimes compared to the dew. One point of likeness, is the quiet way in which the dew performs its ministry. It falls silently and imperceptibly. It makes no noise. No one hears it dropping. It chooses its time in the night when men are sleeping, when none can see its beautiful work. It covers the leaves with clusters of pearls. It steals into the bosoms of the flowers, and leaves new cupfuls of sweetness there. It pours itself down among the roots of the grasses and tender herbs and plants. It loses itself altogether, and yet it is not lost. For in the morning there is fresh life everywhere, and new beauty. The fields are greener, the gardens are more fragrant, and all nature is clothed in fresh luxuriance!
Is there not in this simile, a suggestion as to the way we should seek to do good in this world? Should we not wish to have our influence felt--while no one thinks of us; rather than that we should be seen and heard and praised? Should we not be willing to lose ourselves in the service of self-forgetful love, as the dew loses itself in the bosom of the rose--caring only that other lives shall be sweeter, happier, and holier--and not that honor shall come to us? We are too anxious, some of us, that our names shall be written in large letters on the things we do, even on what we do for our Master; and are not willing to sink ourselves out of sight--and let Him alone have the praise.
Our Lord's teaching on the subject is very plain. He says: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." That is, they have that which they seek--the applause of men.
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The meaning would seem to be, that we are not to wish people to know of our good deeds, our charities, our self-denials; that we should not seek publicity, when we give money or do good works; indeed, that we are not even to tell ourselves what we have done; that we are not to think about our own good deeds so as to become conscious of them; not to put them down in our diaries and go about complimenting ourselves, throwing bouquets at ourselves, and whispering: "How good I am! What fine things I have done!"
This is an insightful test of our lives. Are we willing to be as the dew--to steal abroad in the darkness, carrying blessings to men's doors, blessings that shall enrich the lives of others and do them good--and then steal away again before those we have helped or blessed awaken, to know what hand it was that brought the gift? Are we willing to work for others . . .
without gratitude,
without recognition,
without human praise,
without requital?
Are we content to have our lives poured out like the dew--to bless the world and make it more fruitful--and yet remain hidden away ourselves? Is it enough for us to see the fruits of our toil and sacrifice--in others' spiritual growth, and deeper happiness; yet never hear our names spoken in praise or honor--perhaps even hearing others praised for things we have done?
If you go about doing good in simple ways, in gentle kindnesses, not thinking of reward, not dreaming of praise, not hoping for any return--you are enshrining your name where it will have immortal honor! Our lesson teaches us that this is the way we are to live--if we are followers of Christ!
(J. R. Miller, "The Beauty of Quietness" 1903),
Grace Gems
The Violent Take It By Force- Charles Spurgeon
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12
"Do you think you are going to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Have you got a notion in your heads that the road to paradise is all a lawn, the grass smoothly mown, still waters and green pastures ever and anon to cheer you? You have just got to clear your heads of that deceitful fancy. The way to heaven is up hill and down hill; up hill with difficulty, down hill with trials. It is through fire and through water, through flood and through flame, by the lions and by the leopards. Through the very mouths of dragons is the path to paradise. But the man who finds it so, and who desperately resolves in the strength of God to tread that path—nay, who does not resolve as if he could do nothing else but resolve, but who feels driven, as if with a hurricane behind him, to go into the right road, this man is never unsuccessful, never. Where God has given a violent anxiety for salvation he never disappoints it. No soul that has ever cried for it with a violent cry has been disappointed. From the beginning of creation until now there has never been raised to the throne of God a violent and earnest prayer which missed its answer. Go, soul, in the strong confidence that if thou goest earnestly thou goest successfully. God may sooner deny himself than deny the request of an earnest man. Our God may sooner cease to be "the Lord God, gracious and merciful," than cease to bless the men who seek the gates of heaven, with the violence of faith and prayer." ~Charles Spurgeon
"Do you think you are going to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Have you got a notion in your heads that the road to paradise is all a lawn, the grass smoothly mown, still waters and green pastures ever and anon to cheer you? You have just got to clear your heads of that deceitful fancy. The way to heaven is up hill and down hill; up hill with difficulty, down hill with trials. It is through fire and through water, through flood and through flame, by the lions and by the leopards. Through the very mouths of dragons is the path to paradise. But the man who finds it so, and who desperately resolves in the strength of God to tread that path—nay, who does not resolve as if he could do nothing else but resolve, but who feels driven, as if with a hurricane behind him, to go into the right road, this man is never unsuccessful, never. Where God has given a violent anxiety for salvation he never disappoints it. No soul that has ever cried for it with a violent cry has been disappointed. From the beginning of creation until now there has never been raised to the throne of God a violent and earnest prayer which missed its answer. Go, soul, in the strong confidence that if thou goest earnestly thou goest successfully. God may sooner deny himself than deny the request of an earnest man. Our God may sooner cease to be "the Lord God, gracious and merciful," than cease to bless the men who seek the gates of heaven, with the violence of faith and prayer." ~Charles Spurgeon
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Worth of A Soul
The worth of a soul: Who can count its value? Who can appraise its worth? An immortal soul is beyond all price.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
In money, one soul is of more value than the wealth of the world.
In journeyings, no foreign land is too distant or any portion of it is too inaccessible for all the people of the world to take a journey there, if by so doing one soul could be saved.There is no trouble too great, no humiliation too deep, no suffering too severe, no love too strong, no labor too hard, no expense too large, but that it is worth it, if it is spent in the effort to win a soul.
Of all creation in this world and in the world to come, the greatest, the most wonderful, the most priceless, the most enduring is a soul.
God loves the soul more than all creation. He fashioned it after His own image, and made it like unto Himself. Every soul has departed from God and gone astray, and God has bought every soul back again with a price. That price was the blood of His only begotten Son, Who took upon Himself the sin of the soul, suffering the death penalty, that the soul might be saved, cleansed and made holy again. God loves every soul with an everlasting, eternal love greater and deeper than
any human love can possibly be. Satan hates the soul. In Satan’s enmity towards God he is using all his energy, using every snare, his utmost cunning, employing every means with the one single purpose of ruining the soul of man, because Satan knows the soul is God’s most cherished creation, the apple of His eye.
A Soul Will Never Die
When this earth of ours has crumbled to dust and has passed away into the forgotten past, a soul will still be in its freshness of youth.
When a million million eternities have each lived out their endless ages and have rolled by into the unthinkable past, and time is no more, the soul will still be living a conscious personal reality endowed with perpetual life.
God has said: “He that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30)
If Christians would only realize the value and the immortality of precious souls, and the shortness of this earthly life, they would work feverishly, unceasingly, with all their greatest energy, day after day, year after year, that they might save one soul.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
In money, one soul is of more value than the wealth of the world.
In journeyings, no foreign land is too distant or any portion of it is too inaccessible for all the people of the world to take a journey there, if by so doing one soul could be saved.There is no trouble too great, no humiliation too deep, no suffering too severe, no love too strong, no labor too hard, no expense too large, but that it is worth it, if it is spent in the effort to win a soul.
Of all creation in this world and in the world to come, the greatest, the most wonderful, the most priceless, the most enduring is a soul.
God loves the soul more than all creation. He fashioned it after His own image, and made it like unto Himself. Every soul has departed from God and gone astray, and God has bought every soul back again with a price. That price was the blood of His only begotten Son, Who took upon Himself the sin of the soul, suffering the death penalty, that the soul might be saved, cleansed and made holy again. God loves every soul with an everlasting, eternal love greater and deeper than
any human love can possibly be. Satan hates the soul. In Satan’s enmity towards God he is using all his energy, using every snare, his utmost cunning, employing every means with the one single purpose of ruining the soul of man, because Satan knows the soul is God’s most cherished creation, the apple of His eye.
A Soul Will Never Die
When this earth of ours has crumbled to dust and has passed away into the forgotten past, a soul will still be in its freshness of youth.
When a million million eternities have each lived out their endless ages and have rolled by into the unthinkable past, and time is no more, the soul will still be living a conscious personal reality endowed with perpetual life.
God has said: “He that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30)
If Christians would only realize the value and the immortality of precious souls, and the shortness of this earthly life, they would work feverishly, unceasingly, with all their greatest energy, day after day, year after year, that they might save one soul.
Quotes on Evangelism by Spurgeon
"Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter."
"Do you want arguments for soul winning? Look up to Heaven, and ask yourself how sinners can ever reach those harps of gold and learn their everlasting song, unless they have someone to tell them of Jesus, who is mighty to save. But the best argument of all is to be found in the wounds of Jesus. You want to honour Him, you desire to put many crowns upon His head, and this you can best do by winning souls for Him. These are the spoils that He covets, these are the trophies for which He fights, these are the jewels that shall be His best adornment."
"Lost! Lost! Lost! Better a whole world on fire than a soul lost! Better every star quenched and the skies a wreck than a single soul to be lost!"
"I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ than unravel all the mysteries of the divine Word, for salvation is the one thing we are to live for."
"If there be any one point in which the Christian church ought to keep its fervor at a white heat, it is concerning missions. If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness,
it is the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world."
"When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready....Get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. herefore, do not go out without your tracts."
"To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world. And with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you seem to get a new heaven here upon earth."
"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
"If there existed only one man or woman who did not love the Saviour, and if that person lived among the wilds of Siberia, and if it were necessary that all the millions of believers on the face of the earth should journey there, and every one of them plead with him to come to Jesus before he could be converted, it would be well worth all the zeal, labour, and expense. If we had to preach to thousands year after year, and never rescued but one soul, that one soul would be full reward for all our labour, for a soul is of countless price."
"Do you want arguments for soul winning? Look up to Heaven, and ask yourself how sinners can ever reach those harps of gold and learn their everlasting song, unless they have someone to tell them of Jesus, who is mighty to save. But the best argument of all is to be found in the wounds of Jesus. You want to honour Him, you desire to put many crowns upon His head, and this you can best do by winning souls for Him. These are the spoils that He covets, these are the trophies for which He fights, these are the jewels that shall be His best adornment."
"Lost! Lost! Lost! Better a whole world on fire than a soul lost! Better every star quenched and the skies a wreck than a single soul to be lost!"
"I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ than unravel all the mysteries of the divine Word, for salvation is the one thing we are to live for."
"If there be any one point in which the Christian church ought to keep its fervor at a white heat, it is concerning missions. If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness,
it is the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world."
"When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready....Get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. herefore, do not go out without your tracts."
"To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world. And with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you seem to get a new heaven here upon earth."
"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
"If there existed only one man or woman who did not love the Saviour, and if that person lived among the wilds of Siberia, and if it were necessary that all the millions of believers on the face of the earth should journey there, and every one of them plead with him to come to Jesus before he could be converted, it would be well worth all the zeal, labour, and expense. If we had to preach to thousands year after year, and never rescued but one soul, that one soul would be full reward for all our labour, for a soul is of countless price."
Reaching the Lost
Tears Of The Saints
Artist(Band):Leeland
There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
People’s hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures
This is an emergency!
There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home
There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In its state of desperation
For Your glory
This is an emergency!
There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children, in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children, in Christ you stand!
There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home
Artist(Band):Leeland
There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
People’s hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures
This is an emergency!
There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home
There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In its state of desperation
For Your glory
This is an emergency!
There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children, in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children, in Christ you stand!
There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Only True God
"And this is eternal life, that they
may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
~John 17:3
may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
~John 17:3
The Lord of the Harvest
And He was saying to them,
"The harvest is plentiful,
but the laborers are few;
therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into His harvest." ~Luke 10:2
"The harvest is plentiful,
but the laborers are few;
therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into His harvest." ~Luke 10:2
The Gift Nobody Wants by Paul Washer
http://truthseldomheard.blogspot.com/2009/01/gift-nobody-wants-paul-washer.html
Whate'er My God Ordains
Whate’er my God ordains is right: His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth; And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path: I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent; His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there; He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.
Words: Samuel Rodigast
Tune: S. Gastorius
*Listen to this hymn here: www.restassuredhymns.com
I will be still whate’er He doth; And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path: I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent; His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there; He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.
Words: Samuel Rodigast
Tune: S. Gastorius
*Listen to this hymn here: www.restassuredhymns.com
Narrative of Surprising Conversions by Jonathan Edwards
http://www.calltoworship.org/calltoworship/testimony/phebe.html
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Burden for Souls
"I remember, when I have preached at different times
in the country, and sometimes here, that my whole soul
has agonized over men, every nerve of my body has been
strained and I could have wept my very being out of my eyes
and carried my whole frame away in a flood of tears,
if I could but win souls."
~Spurgeon, by Arnold Dallimore
in the country, and sometimes here, that my whole soul
has agonized over men, every nerve of my body has been
strained and I could have wept my very being out of my eyes
and carried my whole frame away in a flood of tears,
if I could but win souls."
~Spurgeon, by Arnold Dallimore
Two Wonderful Sermons
"O Church Arise" by Tim Conway, (August 23)
"Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son" by Vaylard Zupke, (July 12th)
Listen to them here: www.lakeroadchapel.org
"Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son" by Vaylard Zupke, (July 12th)
Listen to them here: www.lakeroadchapel.org
THE HOT WATER BOTTLE - A True Story By Helen Roseveare, Missionary to Africa
One night, in Central Africa, I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all that we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying, two-year-old daughter.
We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. We had no incubator. We had no electricity to run an incubator, and no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.
A student-midwife went for the box we had for such babies and for the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly, in distress, to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. "...and it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk; so, in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over a burst water bottle. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. All right," I said, "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can; sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with many of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chilled. I also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt consciousness of our African children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, the baby'll be dead; so, please send it this afternoon." While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of corollary, " ...And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?" As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen?" I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything: The Bible says so, but there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time that I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel! I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone; so, I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then, there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to look a little bored. Next, came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - - that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend. As I put my hand in again, I felt the...could it really be? I grasped it, and pulled it out. Yes, "A brand-new rubber, hot water bottle!" I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone: She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday School class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. One of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child -- five months earlier in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "That afternoon!" "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65:24
Helen Roseveare a doctor missionary from England to Zaire, Africa, told this as it had happened to her in Africa. She shared it in her testimony on a Wednesday night at Thomas Road Baptist Church.
We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. We had no incubator. We had no electricity to run an incubator, and no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.
A student-midwife went for the box we had for such babies and for the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly, in distress, to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. "...and it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk; so, in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over a burst water bottle. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. All right," I said, "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can; sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with many of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chilled. I also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt consciousness of our African children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, the baby'll be dead; so, please send it this afternoon." While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of corollary, " ...And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?" As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen?" I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything: The Bible says so, but there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time that I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel! I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone; so, I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then, there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to look a little bored. Next, came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - - that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend. As I put my hand in again, I felt the...could it really be? I grasped it, and pulled it out. Yes, "A brand-new rubber, hot water bottle!" I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone: She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday School class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. One of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child -- five months earlier in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "That afternoon!" "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65:24
Helen Roseveare a doctor missionary from England to Zaire, Africa, told this as it had happened to her in Africa. She shared it in her testimony on a Wednesday night at Thomas Road Baptist Church.
“I find it very beneficial to my health to walk thus for meditation before breakfast,and generally take out a New Testament and I find that I can profitably spend my time in the open air. I used to consider the time spent in walking a loss, but now I find it very profitable, not only to my body, but also to my soul.For I speak to my Father about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.”
~George Muller
~George Muller
Prayer
"I cannot help praying. If I were not allowed to utter a word all day long, that would not affect my praying. If I could not have five minutes that I might spend in prayer by myself, I should pray all the same. Minute by minute, moment by moment, somehow or other, my heart must commune with my God. Prayer has become as essential to me as the heaving of my lungs and the beating of my pulse."
~C. H. Spurgeon
~C. H. Spurgeon
The Love of Christ...
"The love of Christ in its sweetness, its fullness, its greatness, its faithfulness, [which] passeth all human comprehension...it is so vast and boundless that, as the swallow skimmeth the water, and diveth not into its depths, so all descriptive words but touch the surface, while depths immeasurable lie beneath."
~C. H. Spurgeon
~C. H. Spurgeon
When We Pray....
We do not come in prayer only to a place where God dispenses His favors to the poor. Nor do we some to the back door of the house of mercy to receive scraps, though that is more than we deserve. When we pray, we are standing in the palace before God's throne. We are on the glittering floor of the great King's reception room, and thus we are placed on advantaged ground.Shall we come with stunted requests and a narrow, contracted faith? No, for it does not become a King to be giving away pennies. Our God distributes pieces of broad gold. Oh that we always felt this way when we came before the throne of grace! Then He would do "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think." (Eph.3:20)
~C.H. Spurgeon
~C.H. Spurgeon
The Sower Went Out to Sow
And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty,and somethirty."
~Matthew 13:3
But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty,and somethirty."
~Matthew 13:3
I have many in this city who are my people. Acts 18:10
"This should be a great encouragement in proclaiming the Gospel, since among the people in our communities---the disinterested, the rebellious, the careless---God has an elect people who must be saved. When you take the Word to them, you do so because God has ordained you to be the messenger of life to their souls, and they must receive it, for so the decree of predestination runs. They are as much redeemed by blood as the saints before the eternal throne. They are Christ's property, and yet perhaps they are lovers of selfish pleasures and haters of holiness; but if Jesus Christ purchased them, He will have them. God is not unfaithful to forget the price that His Son has paid. He will not suffer His substitution to be in any case an ineffectual, dead thing. Tens of thousands of redeemed ones are not regenerated yet, but regenerated they must be; and this is our comfort when we go to them with the quickening Word of God.
~Charles Spurgeon
~Charles Spurgeon
Friday, August 7, 2009
Being A Christian When You Are Young
To be a believer in Jesus Christ early in life is to be saved from a thousand regrets! Such a person shall never have to say that they carry in their bones the sins of their youth. The Christian young man will not fall into the common sins of other young men and injure his bodily health by excesses.
He will likely marry a Christian woman and so have a holy companion in his journey towards heaven. The same is true for young women who really follow Christ.
Early godliness helps us to form friendships for the rest of life which will prove helpful and saves us from those which are harmful. The young Christian will select, as his friends, the godly from the church and not the party-goers at the local bar. They will be his helpers in virtue and not his tempters to sin. Depend upon it--a great deal depends upon whom we choose for our companions early in life. If we start in bad company, it is very hard to break away from it.
The man brought to Christ early in life has this further advantage--he is helped to form holy habits and is saved from being the slave of sinful ones. Habits soon become second nature; to form new ones is hard work; but those formed in youth usually remain to old age.
I also notice that very frequently those who are brought to Christ while young grow in grace more rapidly and readily than others do. They have not so much to unlearn and they have not such a heavy weight of old sinful memories to carry. The scars and bleeding sores which come from having spent years in the service of the devil are missed by those whom the Lord brings into His church early, before they have wandered far into the sinful pleasures of this evil world.
I cannot commend early godliness too highly. How attractive it is! Grace looks loveliest in youth! That which would not be noticed in the grown man strikes at once the most careless observer when seen in a child or younger person. Grace then has a convincing force--the infidel drops his weapon and admires. A word spoken by a child abides in the memory and its artless accents touch the heart. Where the minister's sermon fails, the young person's prayer may gain the victory!
C. H. Spurgeon
He will likely marry a Christian woman and so have a holy companion in his journey towards heaven. The same is true for young women who really follow Christ.
Early godliness helps us to form friendships for the rest of life which will prove helpful and saves us from those which are harmful. The young Christian will select, as his friends, the godly from the church and not the party-goers at the local bar. They will be his helpers in virtue and not his tempters to sin. Depend upon it--a great deal depends upon whom we choose for our companions early in life. If we start in bad company, it is very hard to break away from it.
The man brought to Christ early in life has this further advantage--he is helped to form holy habits and is saved from being the slave of sinful ones. Habits soon become second nature; to form new ones is hard work; but those formed in youth usually remain to old age.
I also notice that very frequently those who are brought to Christ while young grow in grace more rapidly and readily than others do. They have not so much to unlearn and they have not such a heavy weight of old sinful memories to carry. The scars and bleeding sores which come from having spent years in the service of the devil are missed by those whom the Lord brings into His church early, before they have wandered far into the sinful pleasures of this evil world.
I cannot commend early godliness too highly. How attractive it is! Grace looks loveliest in youth! That which would not be noticed in the grown man strikes at once the most careless observer when seen in a child or younger person. Grace then has a convincing force--the infidel drops his weapon and admires. A word spoken by a child abides in the memory and its artless accents touch the heart. Where the minister's sermon fails, the young person's prayer may gain the victory!
C. H. Spurgeon
God Hears Prayer
The following is a good reminder from E.M. Bounds that "ask and it will be given to you."
Two cases of unanswered prayer are recorded in the Scriptures in addition to the Gethsemane prayer of our Lord. The first was that of David for the life of his baby child, but for good reasons to Almighty God the request was not granted. The second was that of Paul for the removal of the thorn in the flesh, which was denied. But we are constrained to believe these must have been notable as exceptions to God's rule, as illustrated in the history of prophet, priest, apostle and saint, as recorded in the divine Word.
The Possibilities of Prayer, 105.
(posted by Mason Vann)
Two cases of unanswered prayer are recorded in the Scriptures in addition to the Gethsemane prayer of our Lord. The first was that of David for the life of his baby child, but for good reasons to Almighty God the request was not granted. The second was that of Paul for the removal of the thorn in the flesh, which was denied. But we are constrained to believe these must have been notable as exceptions to God's rule, as illustrated in the history of prophet, priest, apostle and saint, as recorded in the divine Word.
The Possibilities of Prayer, 105.
(posted by Mason Vann)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Robert Chapman: An Apostle of Love
Robert Chapman lived from 1803 to 1902 in England. He was known for living a remarkable life of Christian love (a life he would say was entirely unremarkable).
Here a few choice quotes from his biography (Robert Chapman: A Biography)
"My business is to love others and not to seek that others shall love me."
"There are many who preach Christ, but not so many who live Christ. My great aim is to live Christ." (p.29)
"Men's books full oft with chaff are stored, God's naught but golden grain afford." (p.142)
"The great cause of neglecting the Scriptures is not want of time, but want of heart, some idol taking the place of Christ." (p.168)
Here a few choice quotes from his biography (Robert Chapman: A Biography)
"My business is to love others and not to seek that others shall love me."
"There are many who preach Christ, but not so many who live Christ. My great aim is to live Christ." (p.29)
"Men's books full oft with chaff are stored, God's naught but golden grain afford." (p.142)
"The great cause of neglecting the Scriptures is not want of time, but want of heart, some idol taking the place of Christ." (p.168)
A Burden for the Lost
"I remember, when I have preached at different times in the country,
and sometimes here, that my whole soul has agonized over men,
every nerve of my body has been strained and I could have wept my very being out of my eyes and carried my whole frame away in a flood of tears,
if I could but win souls." ~Spurgeon, by Arnold Dallimore
and sometimes here, that my whole soul has agonized over men,
every nerve of my body has been strained and I could have wept my very being out of my eyes and carried my whole frame away in a flood of tears,
if I could but win souls." ~Spurgeon, by Arnold Dallimore
"Are You Bad Enough to Become A Christian?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di5XTs_rcUc
by John Marshall
by John Marshall
Monday, June 29, 2009
Lloyd-Jones on Jonathan Edwards
"No man is more relevant to the present condition of Christianity than Jonathan Edwards. . . . He was a mighty theologian and a great evangelist at the same time. . . . He was pre-eminently the theologian of revival. If you want to know anything about true revival, Edwards is the man to consult. Revivals have often started as the result of people reading volumes such as these two volumes of Edwards' Works."
-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1976
-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1976
So Send I You
by Margaret Clarkson, hymn writer
So send I you--by grace made strong to triumph
O'er hosts of hell, o'er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer-
So send I you, my victory to win.
So send I you--to take to souls in
The word of truth that sets the captive free,
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death's fetters-
So send I you, to bring the lost to me.
So send I you--my strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised presence-
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.
So send I you--to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down,
To hear My voice, "well done, My faithful servant-
Come, share My throne, My kingdom, and My crown!"
"As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you."
So send I you--by grace made strong to triumph
O'er hosts of hell, o'er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer-
So send I you, my victory to win.
So send I you--to take to souls in
The word of truth that sets the captive free,
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death's fetters-
So send I you, to bring the lost to me.
So send I you--my strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised presence-
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.
So send I you--to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down,
To hear My voice, "well done, My faithful servant-
Come, share My throne, My kingdom, and My crown!"
"As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you."
Evangelism on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oXuV9Fbdtg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSls5kQMIwo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEtua3n3KCc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSls5kQMIwo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEtua3n3KCc
Monday, June 22, 2009
Every Christian A Missionary
"Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter."
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"Do you want arguments for soul winning? Look up to Heaven, and ask yourself
how sinners can ever reach those harps of gold and learn their everlasting song,
unless they have someone to tell them of Jesus, who is mighty to save.
But the best argument of all is to be found in the wounds of Jesus.
You want to honor Him, you desire to put many crowns upon His head,
and this you can best do by winning souls for Him. These are the spoils
that He covets, these are the trophies for which He fights, these are the
jewels that shall be His best adornment." ~C.H. Spurgeon
"Lost! Lost! Lost! Better a whole world on fire than a soul lost!
Better every star quenched and the skies a wreck than a
single soul to be lost!" ~C. H. Spurgeon
"I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ
than unravel all the mysteries of the divine Word,
for salvation is the one thing we are to live for."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"If there be any one point in which the Christian church ought
to keep its fervor at a white heat, it is concerning missions.
If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness,
it is the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"When preaching and private talk are not available, you
need to have a tract ready....Get good striking tracts, or
none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of
eternal life. Therefore, do not go out without your tracts."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world.
And with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you
seem to get a new heaven here upon earth."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell
over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with
our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell
must be d, at least let it be d in the teeth of our exertions,
and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"If there existed only one man or woman who did not
love the Savior, and if that person lived among the wilds
of Siberia, and if it were necessary that all the millions of
believers on the face of the earth should journey there,
and every one of them plead with him to come to Jesus
before he could be converted, it would be well worth all the
zeal, labor, and expense. If we had to preach to thousands
year after year, and never rescued but one soul, that one soul
would be full reward for all our labor, for a soul is of countless price."
~C.H. Spurgeon
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"Do you want arguments for soul winning? Look up to Heaven, and ask yourself
how sinners can ever reach those harps of gold and learn their everlasting song,
unless they have someone to tell them of Jesus, who is mighty to save.
But the best argument of all is to be found in the wounds of Jesus.
You want to honor Him, you desire to put many crowns upon His head,
and this you can best do by winning souls for Him. These are the spoils
that He covets, these are the trophies for which He fights, these are the
jewels that shall be His best adornment." ~C.H. Spurgeon
"Lost! Lost! Lost! Better a whole world on fire than a soul lost!
Better every star quenched and the skies a wreck than a
single soul to be lost!" ~C. H. Spurgeon
"I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ
than unravel all the mysteries of the divine Word,
for salvation is the one thing we are to live for."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"If there be any one point in which the Christian church ought
to keep its fervor at a white heat, it is concerning missions.
If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness,
it is the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"When preaching and private talk are not available, you
need to have a tract ready....Get good striking tracts, or
none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of
eternal life. Therefore, do not go out without your tracts."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world.
And with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you
seem to get a new heaven here upon earth."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell
over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with
our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell
must be d, at least let it be d in the teeth of our exertions,
and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
~C.H. Spurgeon
"If there existed only one man or woman who did not
love the Savior, and if that person lived among the wilds
of Siberia, and if it were necessary that all the millions of
believers on the face of the earth should journey there,
and every one of them plead with him to come to Jesus
before he could be converted, it would be well worth all the
zeal, labor, and expense. If we had to preach to thousands
year after year, and never rescued but one soul, that one soul
would be full reward for all our labor, for a soul is of countless price."
~C.H. Spurgeon
Thursday, June 18, 2009
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
"God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, LORD Jesus."
"Saturate me with the oil of Thy Spirit, that I may be aflame. Make me Thy fuel O flame of God."
"We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!"
Quotes by Jim Elliot, 1927-1956, (martyred missionary to Ecuador),
read his life story in the book "Shadow of the Almighty" by Elisabeth Elliot
"God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, LORD Jesus."
"Saturate me with the oil of Thy Spirit, that I may be aflame. Make me Thy fuel O flame of God."
"We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!"
Quotes by Jim Elliot, 1927-1956, (martyred missionary to Ecuador),
read his life story in the book "Shadow of the Almighty" by Elisabeth Elliot
Monday, June 15, 2009
Ten Books for Your Beach Bag:
*Singing in the Fire by Faith Cook (accounts of men & women of whom the world was not worthy!)
*Justification & Regeneration by Charles Leiter (how can anyone ever tire of this subject? Also, now available in Spanish!)
*The Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot --(a young man with a passion for God and a burden for souls)
*The Awakening by Marie Monsen (an account of revival in China, out-of-print for many years, but available once again!)
*Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (meditate on the words of the greatest sermon ever preached!)
*A Stone Made Smooth by Wong Ming-Dao (a tremendously honest & humble autobiography!)
*Morning & Evening by C.H. Spurgeon (a classic full of jewels!)
*The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (worth reading again & again!)
*Out of the Depths: the Life Story of John Newton (better than fiction! the story behind the hymn "Amazing Grace")
*The Hidden Life of Prayer by D.M. MacIntyre (an encouragement to pray!)
*Justification & Regeneration by Charles Leiter (how can anyone ever tire of this subject? Also, now available in Spanish!)
*The Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot --(a young man with a passion for God and a burden for souls)
*The Awakening by Marie Monsen (an account of revival in China, out-of-print for many years, but available once again!)
*Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (meditate on the words of the greatest sermon ever preached!)
*A Stone Made Smooth by Wong Ming-Dao (a tremendously honest & humble autobiography!)
*Morning & Evening by C.H. Spurgeon (a classic full of jewels!)
*The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (worth reading again & again!)
*Out of the Depths: the Life Story of John Newton (better than fiction! the story behind the hymn "Amazing Grace")
*The Hidden Life of Prayer by D.M. MacIntyre (an encouragement to pray!)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
"We do not speak and act like men in earnest. Our words are feeble, even when sound and true; our looks are careless, even when our words are weighty; and our tones betray the apathy which both words and looks disguise. Love is wanting, deep love, love strong as death, love such as made Jeremiah weep in secret places for the pride of Israel, and Paul speak 'even weeping' of the enemies of the cross of Christ."
~taken from "Words to Winners of Souls" by Horatius Bonar
~taken from "Words to Winners of Souls" by Horatius Bonar
The Violent Take It by Force
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12
"Do you think you are going to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Have you got a notion in your heads that the road to paradise is all a lawn, the grass smoothly mown, still waters and green pastures ever and anon to cheer you? You have just got to clear your heads of that deceitful fancy. The way to heaven is up hill and down hill; up hill with difficulty, down hill with trials. It is through fire and through water, through flood and through flame, by the lions and by the leopards. Through the very mouths of dragons is the path to paradise. But the man who finds it so, and who desperately resolves in the strength of God to tread that path—nay, who does not resolve as if he could do nothing else but resolve, but who feels driven, as if with a hurricane behind him, to go into the right road, this man is never unsuccessful, never. Where God has given a violent anxiety for salvation he never disappoints it. No soul that has ever cried for it with a violent cry has been disappointed. From the beginning of creation until now there has never been raised to the throne of God a violent and earnest prayer which missed its answer. Go, soul, in the strong confidence that if thou goest earnestly thou goest successfully. God may sooner deny himself than deny the request of an earnest man. Our God may sooner cease to be "the Lord God, gracious and merciful," than cease to bless the men who seek the gates of heaven, with the violence of faith and prayer." ~Charles Spurgeon
"Do you think you are going to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Have you got a notion in your heads that the road to paradise is all a lawn, the grass smoothly mown, still waters and green pastures ever and anon to cheer you? You have just got to clear your heads of that deceitful fancy. The way to heaven is up hill and down hill; up hill with difficulty, down hill with trials. It is through fire and through water, through flood and through flame, by the lions and by the leopards. Through the very mouths of dragons is the path to paradise. But the man who finds it so, and who desperately resolves in the strength of God to tread that path—nay, who does not resolve as if he could do nothing else but resolve, but who feels driven, as if with a hurricane behind him, to go into the right road, this man is never unsuccessful, never. Where God has given a violent anxiety for salvation he never disappoints it. No soul that has ever cried for it with a violent cry has been disappointed. From the beginning of creation until now there has never been raised to the throne of God a violent and earnest prayer which missed its answer. Go, soul, in the strong confidence that if thou goest earnestly thou goest successfully. God may sooner deny himself than deny the request of an earnest man. Our God may sooner cease to be "the Lord God, gracious and merciful," than cease to bless the men who seek the gates of heaven, with the violence of faith and prayer." ~Charles Spurgeon
Hope When Praying for a Lost Family Member
John Newton to William Cowper, February 22 1770
"I am willing to hope that you will be made a messenger of light and peace to his soul. The Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save. He can do great things in a small time, as you know from your own experience. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, he can command light to shine out of darkness. If he speaks, it is done... One glimpse of the worth of the soul, the evil of sin, and the importance of eternity, will effect that which hath been in vain attempted by repeated arguments."
[Cowper's brother, John, converted on his deathbed a few days later]
"I am willing to hope that you will be made a messenger of light and peace to his soul. The Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save. He can do great things in a small time, as you know from your own experience. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, he can command light to shine out of darkness. If he speaks, it is done... One glimpse of the worth of the soul, the evil of sin, and the importance of eternity, will effect that which hath been in vain attempted by repeated arguments."
[Cowper's brother, John, converted on his deathbed a few days later]
The Kind of Revial We Need
IT IS GOOD for us to draw nigh unto God in prayer. Our minds are grieved to see so little attention given to united prayer by many churches.
How can we expect a blessing if we are too idle to ask for it? How can we look for a Pentecost if we never meet with one another, in one place, to wait upon the Lord? Brethren, we shall never see much change for the better in our churches till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians.
But now that we have come together, how shall we pray? Let us not degenerate into formality, or we shall be dead while we think we live. Let us not waiver through unbelief, or we shall pray in vain. Oh, for great faith with which to offer great prayers!
We have been mingling praise and prayer together as a delicious compound of spices, fit to be presented upon the altar of incense through Christ our Lord; may we not at this time offer some special far-reaching petition? It is suggested to me that we pray for a true and genuine revival of religion throughout the world.
A Real and Lasting Revival
I am glad of any signs of life, even if they should be feverish and transient, and I am slow to judge any well intended movement, but I am very fearful that many so called revivals in the long run wrought more harm than good. A species of religious gambling has fascinated many men, and given them a distaste for the sober business of true godliness.
But if I would nail down counterfeits upon the counter, I do not therefore undervalue true gold. Far from it. It is to be desired beyond measure that the Lord would send a real and lasting revival of spiritual life.
We need a work of the Holy Spirit of a supernatural kind, putting power into the preaching of the Word, inspiring all believers with heavenly energy, and solemnly affecting the hearts of the careless, so that they turn to God and live. We would not be drunk with the wine of carnal excitement, but we would be filled with the Spirit. We would behold the fire descending from heaven in answer to the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men. Can we not entreat the Lord our God to make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the people in this day of declension and vanity?
Old-fashioned Doctrine
We want a revival of old-fashioned doctrine. I know not a single doctrine which is not at this hour studiously undermined by those who ought to be its defenders. There is not a truth that is precious to the soul which is not now denied by those whose profession it is to proclaim it. To me it is clear that we need a revival of old-fashioned gospel preaching like that of Whitefield and Wesley.
The Scriptures must be made the infallible foundation of all teaching; the ruin, redemption and regeneration of mankind must be set forth in unmistakable terms.
Personal Godliness
Urgently do we need a revival of personal godliness. This is, indeed, the secret of church prosperity. When individuals fall from their steadfastness, the church is tossed to and fro; when personal faith is steadfast, the church abides true to her Lord.
It is upon the truly godly and spiritual that the future of religion depends in the hand of God. Oh, for more truly holy men, quickened and filled with the Holy Spirit, consecrated to the Lord and sanctified by His truth.
Brethren, we must each one live if the church is to be alive; we must live unto God if we expect to see the pleasure of the Lord prospering in our hands. Sanctified men are the salt of society and the saviours of the race.
Domestic Religion
We deeply want a revival of domestic religion. The Christian family was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the puritans, but in these evil times hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or discipline. How can we hope to see the kingdom of our Lord advance when His own disciples do not teach His gospel to their own children?
Oh, Christian men and women, be thorough in what you do and know and teach! Let your families be trained in the fear of God and be yourselves "holiness unto the Lord"; so shall you stand like a rock amid the surging waves of error and ungodliness which rage around us.
Vigorous, Consecrated Strength
We want also a revival of vigorous, consecrated strength. I have pleaded for true piety; I now beg for one of the highest results of it. We need saints. We need gracious minds trained to a high form of spiritual life by much converse with God in solitude.
Saints acquire nobility from their constant resort to the place where the Lord meets with them. There they also acquire that power in prayer which we so greatly need. Oh, that we had more men like John Knox, whose prayers were more terrible to Queen Mary than 10,000 men! Oh, that we had more Elijahs by whose faith the windows of heavens should be shut or opened!
This power comes not by a sudden effort; it is the outcome of a life devoted to the God of Israel! If our life is all in public, it will be a frothy, vapoury ineffectual existence; but if we hold high converse with God in secret, we shall be mighty for good. He that is a prince with God will take high rank with men, after the true measure of nobility.
Beware of being a lean-to; endeavour to rest on your own walls of real faith in the Lord Jesus. May none of us fall into a mean, poverty-stricken dependence on man! We want among us believers like those solid, substantial family mansions which stand from generation to generation as landmarks of the country; no lath-and-plaster fabrics, but edifices solidly constructed to bear all weathers, and defy time itself.
Given a host of men who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, the glory of God's grace will be clearly manifested, not only in them, but in those round about them. The Lord send us a revival of consecrated strength, and heavenly energy!
Preach by your hands if you cannot preach by your tongues. When our church members show the fruits of true godliness, we shall soon have inquiries for the tree which bears such a crop.
Oh the coming together of the saints is the first part of Pentecost, and the ingathering of sinners is the second. It began with "only a prayer meeting", but it ended with a grand baptism of thousands of converts. Oh that the prayers of believers may act as lode stones to sinners! Oh that every gathering of faithful men might be a lure to attract others to Jesus! May many souls fly to Him because they see others speeding in that direction.
"Lord, we turn from these poor foolish procrastinators to thyself, and we plead for them with thine all-wise and gracious spirit! Lord, turn them and they shall be turned! By their conversion, pray that a true revival has commenced tonight! Let it spread through all our households, and then run from church to church till the whole of christendom shall be ablaze with a heaven-descended fire!"
~C.H. Spurgeon
How can we expect a blessing if we are too idle to ask for it? How can we look for a Pentecost if we never meet with one another, in one place, to wait upon the Lord? Brethren, we shall never see much change for the better in our churches till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians.
But now that we have come together, how shall we pray? Let us not degenerate into formality, or we shall be dead while we think we live. Let us not waiver through unbelief, or we shall pray in vain. Oh, for great faith with which to offer great prayers!
We have been mingling praise and prayer together as a delicious compound of spices, fit to be presented upon the altar of incense through Christ our Lord; may we not at this time offer some special far-reaching petition? It is suggested to me that we pray for a true and genuine revival of religion throughout the world.
A Real and Lasting Revival
I am glad of any signs of life, even if they should be feverish and transient, and I am slow to judge any well intended movement, but I am very fearful that many so called revivals in the long run wrought more harm than good. A species of religious gambling has fascinated many men, and given them a distaste for the sober business of true godliness.
But if I would nail down counterfeits upon the counter, I do not therefore undervalue true gold. Far from it. It is to be desired beyond measure that the Lord would send a real and lasting revival of spiritual life.
We need a work of the Holy Spirit of a supernatural kind, putting power into the preaching of the Word, inspiring all believers with heavenly energy, and solemnly affecting the hearts of the careless, so that they turn to God and live. We would not be drunk with the wine of carnal excitement, but we would be filled with the Spirit. We would behold the fire descending from heaven in answer to the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men. Can we not entreat the Lord our God to make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the people in this day of declension and vanity?
Old-fashioned Doctrine
We want a revival of old-fashioned doctrine. I know not a single doctrine which is not at this hour studiously undermined by those who ought to be its defenders. There is not a truth that is precious to the soul which is not now denied by those whose profession it is to proclaim it. To me it is clear that we need a revival of old-fashioned gospel preaching like that of Whitefield and Wesley.
The Scriptures must be made the infallible foundation of all teaching; the ruin, redemption and regeneration of mankind must be set forth in unmistakable terms.
Personal Godliness
Urgently do we need a revival of personal godliness. This is, indeed, the secret of church prosperity. When individuals fall from their steadfastness, the church is tossed to and fro; when personal faith is steadfast, the church abides true to her Lord.
It is upon the truly godly and spiritual that the future of religion depends in the hand of God. Oh, for more truly holy men, quickened and filled with the Holy Spirit, consecrated to the Lord and sanctified by His truth.
Brethren, we must each one live if the church is to be alive; we must live unto God if we expect to see the pleasure of the Lord prospering in our hands. Sanctified men are the salt of society and the saviours of the race.
Domestic Religion
We deeply want a revival of domestic religion. The Christian family was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the puritans, but in these evil times hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or discipline. How can we hope to see the kingdom of our Lord advance when His own disciples do not teach His gospel to their own children?
Oh, Christian men and women, be thorough in what you do and know and teach! Let your families be trained in the fear of God and be yourselves "holiness unto the Lord"; so shall you stand like a rock amid the surging waves of error and ungodliness which rage around us.
Vigorous, Consecrated Strength
We want also a revival of vigorous, consecrated strength. I have pleaded for true piety; I now beg for one of the highest results of it. We need saints. We need gracious minds trained to a high form of spiritual life by much converse with God in solitude.
Saints acquire nobility from their constant resort to the place where the Lord meets with them. There they also acquire that power in prayer which we so greatly need. Oh, that we had more men like John Knox, whose prayers were more terrible to Queen Mary than 10,000 men! Oh, that we had more Elijahs by whose faith the windows of heavens should be shut or opened!
This power comes not by a sudden effort; it is the outcome of a life devoted to the God of Israel! If our life is all in public, it will be a frothy, vapoury ineffectual existence; but if we hold high converse with God in secret, we shall be mighty for good. He that is a prince with God will take high rank with men, after the true measure of nobility.
Beware of being a lean-to; endeavour to rest on your own walls of real faith in the Lord Jesus. May none of us fall into a mean, poverty-stricken dependence on man! We want among us believers like those solid, substantial family mansions which stand from generation to generation as landmarks of the country; no lath-and-plaster fabrics, but edifices solidly constructed to bear all weathers, and defy time itself.
Given a host of men who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, the glory of God's grace will be clearly manifested, not only in them, but in those round about them. The Lord send us a revival of consecrated strength, and heavenly energy!
Preach by your hands if you cannot preach by your tongues. When our church members show the fruits of true godliness, we shall soon have inquiries for the tree which bears such a crop.
Oh the coming together of the saints is the first part of Pentecost, and the ingathering of sinners is the second. It began with "only a prayer meeting", but it ended with a grand baptism of thousands of converts. Oh that the prayers of believers may act as lode stones to sinners! Oh that every gathering of faithful men might be a lure to attract others to Jesus! May many souls fly to Him because they see others speeding in that direction.
"Lord, we turn from these poor foolish procrastinators to thyself, and we plead for them with thine all-wise and gracious spirit! Lord, turn them and they shall be turned! By their conversion, pray that a true revival has commenced tonight! Let it spread through all our households, and then run from church to church till the whole of christendom shall be ablaze with a heaven-descended fire!"
~C.H. Spurgeon
Friday, June 12, 2009
All That God Does Is Wonderful
"All that God does is wonderful. He delivered me from the deep pit of sin; He cleansed me through the blood of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His Spirit He gave a new birth and I became His child. He also chose me and called me, bringing me into His Service and setting me up to be a watchman both in the world and in the church. He commanded me to labour for the Gospel, to battle for His Truth, and to witness to His Way. When I reflect on these things I cannot doubt His call in the slightest and I dare not have even the appearance of idleness."
~Wong Ming-Dao (Chinese Pastor)
~Wong Ming-Dao (Chinese Pastor)
The Only True God
"And this is eternal life, that they
may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
~John 17:3
may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
~John 17:3
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Words to Winners of Souls
"We do not speak and act like men in earnest. Our words are feeble, even when sound and true; our looks are careless, even when our words are weighty; and our tones betray the apathy which both words and looks disguise. Love is wanting, deep love, love strong as death, love such as made Jeremiah weep in secret places for the pride of Israel, and Paul speak 'even weeping' of the enemies of the cross of Christ."
~Horatius Bonar, Words to Winners of Souls
~Horatius Bonar, Words to Winners of Souls
The Living God
"Our calling in life is to know God, and to love God, and to walk with God, and in that relationship with God to be conformed to the image of His Son. And there will be this burning, brethren, of the image of the Living God upon our face and upon our heart so that when men are with us, they sense a distinction, they sense a difference."
--Far East Missionary"
--Far East Missionary"
The Cross
"Man, in his natural spirit of self-justifying legalism, has tried to get away from the cross of Christ and its perfection, or to erect another cross instead, or to setup a screen of ornaments between himself and it, or to alter its true meaning into something more congenial to his tastes, or to transfer the virtue of it to some act or performance or feeling of its own. Thus the simplicity of the cross is nullified, and its saving power is denied. For the cross saves completely, or not at all. Our faith does not divide the work of salvation between itself and the cross. It is the acknowledgment that the cross alone saves, and that it saves alone. Faith adds nothing to the cross, nor to its healing virtue. It owns the fulness, and sufficiency, and suitableness of the work done there, and bids the toiling spirit cease from its labours and enter into rest. Faith does not come to Calvary to do anything. It comes to see the glorious spectacle of all things done, and to accept this completion without a misgiving as to its efficacy. It listens to the “It is finished!” of the Sin-bearer, and says, “Amen.” ~Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)
Excerpt taken from "The Everlasting Righteousness" by Horatius Bonar first published 1874, Banner of Truth 1993
Excerpt taken from "The Everlasting Righteousness" by Horatius Bonar first published 1874, Banner of Truth 1993
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
True Christianity
“True Christianity! Let us mind that word true. There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. It passes muster, it satisfies sleepy consciences; but it is not good money. It is not the authentic reality that called itself Christianity in the beginning.
There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. They make a profession of faith in Christ. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any fight about their religion! Of spiritual strife and exertion and conflict and self–denial and watching and warring they know literally nothing at all.
Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded and His apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is a fight.”
~J.C. Ryle, from the book Holiness
There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. They make a profession of faith in Christ. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any fight about their religion! Of spiritual strife and exertion and conflict and self–denial and watching and warring they know literally nothing at all.
Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded and His apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is a fight.”
~J.C. Ryle, from the book Holiness
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Forgetting Self: Lessons from a Samaritan Woman
The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." John 4:15
So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ,is it?" John 4:28-29
When the conversation began she could think of nothing but her and her needs. But by the end of the conversation she had forgotten her needs all together, and could think of nothing but Him. But most never see Him (John 4:10). And they leave the time worse than when they came, still holding an empty waterpot. ~Mason Vann
So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ,is it?" John 4:28-29
When the conversation began she could think of nothing but her and her needs. But by the end of the conversation she had forgotten her needs all together, and could think of nothing but Him. But most never see Him (John 4:10). And they leave the time worse than when they came, still holding an empty waterpot. ~Mason Vann
"For God so loved the world, that He gave..."
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not sent the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth come to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:16-21
The Last Testimony of John Brown: None Like Christ
'If I never write to you more, let these be my last words: There is none like Christ-- none like Christ-- none like Christ. Nothing like redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. There is no learning nor knowledge like the knowledge of Christ, no life like Christ living in the heart by faith, no work like the service of Christ, and no riches or wealth like the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Little as I know of Christ (and it is my sin and shame that I know so little of Him), I would not exchange the learning of one hour's fellowship with Christ for all the academic learning in ten thousand universities, even if angels were my teachers. Nor would I exchange the pleasure my soul has found in a word or two about Christ for all the pleasures of creation since the world began. For what would I exchange being forever with Christ, to behold his glory and see Him as He is and enter into the joy of my Lord?'
~John Brown of Haddington
(an 18th century British Christian)
Little as I know of Christ (and it is my sin and shame that I know so little of Him), I would not exchange the learning of one hour's fellowship with Christ for all the academic learning in ten thousand universities, even if angels were my teachers. Nor would I exchange the pleasure my soul has found in a word or two about Christ for all the pleasures of creation since the world began. For what would I exchange being forever with Christ, to behold his glory and see Him as He is and enter into the joy of my Lord?'
~John Brown of Haddington
(an 18th century British Christian)
The Gospel that Makes Alive!
"Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul." ~C.H. Spurgeon
Increased Love for Christ
As we see what our sin did, “it should increase our hatred for sin and increase our resolve against it and increase our love for Christ.” ~Matthew Henry
Mighty is the Power of the Cross
What can take a dying man and raise him up to life again?
What can heal a wounded soul?
What can make us white as snow?
What can fill the emptiness?
What can mend our brokenness?
Brokenness
[Chorus:]
Mighty, awesome, wonderful
Is the holy cross
Where the Lamb laid down His life
To lift us from the fall
Mighty is the power of the cross
What restores our faith in God?
What reveals the Father's love?
What can lead the wayward home?
What can melt a heart of stone?
What can free the guilty ones
What can save and overcome?
Overcome
~by Chris Tomlin
What can heal a wounded soul?
What can make us white as snow?
What can fill the emptiness?
What can mend our brokenness?
Brokenness
[Chorus:]
Mighty, awesome, wonderful
Is the holy cross
Where the Lamb laid down His life
To lift us from the fall
Mighty is the power of the cross
What restores our faith in God?
What reveals the Father's love?
What can lead the wayward home?
What can melt a heart of stone?
What can free the guilty ones
What can save and overcome?
Overcome
~by Chris Tomlin
The Way to A Child's Heart
Kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys –these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily, -these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his heart.” ~J.C. Ryle
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Quotes by Robert Murray McCheyne
"Pray for me, that I may be made holier and wiser--less like myself, and more like my heavenly Master; that I may not regard my life, if so be I may finish my course with joy. This day eleven years ago, I lost my loved and loving brother, and began to seek a Brother who cannot die."
"Read part of the life of Jonathan Edwards. How feeble does my spark of Christianity appear beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me."
"If nothing else will do to sever me from my sins, Lord, send me such sore and trying calamities as shall awake me from earthly slumbers. It must always be best to be alive to thee, whatever be the quickening instrument."
"Life itself is vanishing fast. Make haste for eternity."
"Do everything in earnest--if it is worth doing, then do it with all your might. Above all, keep much in the presence of God. Never see the face of man till you have seen his face who is our Life, our All."
Written about M'Cheyne:
"He might have risen to high eminence in the circles of taste and literature, but denied himself all such hopes, that he might win souls. With such peculiar talents as he possessed, his ministry might have, in any circumstance, attracted many; but these attractions were all made subsidiary to the single desire of awakening the dead in trespasses and sins. Nor would he have expected to be blessed to the salvation of souls, unless he had himself been a monument of sovereign grace. In his esteem "to be in Christ before being in the ministry," was a thing indispensable. He often pointed to those solemn words of Jeremiah 23:21 'I have not sent these prophets yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.' "
"...he would be a sorry student of the Bible, who would not know all that God had inspired; who would not examine into the most barren chapters to collect the good for which they were intended; who would not strive to understand all the bloody battles which are chronicled, that he might find 'bread out the eater, and honey out of the lion.' "
"I hope and pray that it may be his will to restore me again to you and your parish, with a heart tutored by sickness to speak more and more as dying to dying."
"That text of Jude has peculiar beauties for me at this season. If it be good to come under the love of God once, surely it is good to keep ourselves there. Any yet how reluctant we are!"
"One thing always fills the cup of my consolation, that God may work by the meanest and poorest words, as well as by the most polished and ornate--yea, perhaps, more readily, that the glory may be all his own."
"O Lord, make me hang on thee to open their hearts, thou opener of Lydia's heart. I fear thou wilt not bless my preaching, until I am brought thus to hang on thee."
"A dark hour makes Jesus bright."
Ever watchful for opportunities, on the blank leaf of a book which he sent to a little boy of his congregation, he wrote these simple lines:
Peace be to thee, gentle boy!
Many years of health and joy!
Love your Bible more than play--
row in wisdom every day.
Like the lark on hovering wing,
Early rise, and mount and sing;
Like the dove that found no rest
Till it flew to Noah's breast:--
Rest not in this world of sin,
Till the Saviour take thee in.
"He has set me down among the noisy mechanics and political weavers of this godless town. He will make the money sufficient. He that paid his taxes from a fish's mouth, will supply all my need."
"Speak to your people as on the brink of eternity."
"If the veil of the world's machinery were lifted off, how much we would find is done in answer to the prayers of God's children."
"Use your health while you have it, my dear friend and brother. Do not cast away peculiar opportunities that may never come again. You know not when your last Sabbath with your people may come. Speak for eternity. Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin."
"I have no desire but the salvation of my people, by whatever instrument."
"Now, remember, Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone. Looking at our own shining face is the bane of the spiritual life and of the ministry. O for closest communion with God, till soul and body---head, face, and heart---shine with divine brilliancy; but O for a holy ignorance of our shining."
"Christ gives last knocks. When your heart becomes hard and careless, then fear lest Christ may have given a last knock."
"I earnestly long for more grace and personal holiness, and more usefulness."
"I ought to see that in Christ's bloodshedding there is an infinite overpayment for all my sins."
"I often pray, Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made."
"Live so as to be missed."
"How many purposes God has in view of which we know nothing!"
"Take heed to thyself. Your own soul is your first and greatest care."
"Keep up close communion with God. Study likeness to him in all things..."
"I know well that when Christ is nearest, Satan also is busiest."
"I feel there are two things it is impossible to desire with sufficient ardour--personal holiness, and the honour of Christ in the salvation of souls."
"It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God."
"Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison with eternal realities."
"Even those that are most deeply concerned about their souls do not see the millionth part of the blackness of their hearts and lives."
"Every wave of trouble has been wafting you to the sunny shores of a sinless eternity."
"...do not think any sin trivial; remember it will have everlasting consequences."
"Go on, dear brother; but an inch of time remains, and then eternal ages roll on for ever--but an inch on which we can stand and preach the way of salvation to a perishing world."
"The possession of grace fills us with very different feelings from the possession of anything else. A man who has much money is not very anxious that all the world should be rich---one who has much learning does not long that all the world were learned; but if you have tasted the grace of the gospel, the irresistible longing of your hearts will be, O that all the world might taste its regenerating waters!"
"Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely."
"Spared fig trees should bear much fruit; pray that it may be so with me."
"Luther used to say, that temptations, afflictions, and prayer made a minister."
"Pray to be taught to pray. Do not be content with old forms that flow from the lips only. Most Christians have need to cast their formal prayers away, to be taught to cry, Abba."
"Remember also, the present is your only time to be saved. There is no believing, no repenting, no conversion in the grave---no minister will speak to you there. This is the time of conversion."
"Our God can work through means or above them. He that puts the treasure into earthen vessels, often allows the vessels to be chipped and broken, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
"If you had an angel's righteousness, you might well lay it down and put on Jesus. The robe of a blood-washed sinner is far whiter than that of an angel."
"I long for love without any coldness, light without dimness, and purity without spot or wrinkle. I long to be at Jesus' feet, and tell him I am all his, and ever will be."
"Do you not feel your heart lighter now as you walk on the narrow way? Is not a Christian's darkest hour calmer than the world's brightest?"
"One smile from Jesus sustains my soul amid all the storms and frowns of this passing world. Pray to know Jesus better."
"Do not fear the face of man. Remember how small their anger will appear in eternity."
~Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843),
minister of St Peter's Church Dundee (1836 - 1843),
(a godly evangelical pastor and evangelist with a great love for souls)
"Read part of the life of Jonathan Edwards. How feeble does my spark of Christianity appear beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me."
"If nothing else will do to sever me from my sins, Lord, send me such sore and trying calamities as shall awake me from earthly slumbers. It must always be best to be alive to thee, whatever be the quickening instrument."
"Life itself is vanishing fast. Make haste for eternity."
"Do everything in earnest--if it is worth doing, then do it with all your might. Above all, keep much in the presence of God. Never see the face of man till you have seen his face who is our Life, our All."
Written about M'Cheyne:
"He might have risen to high eminence in the circles of taste and literature, but denied himself all such hopes, that he might win souls. With such peculiar talents as he possessed, his ministry might have, in any circumstance, attracted many; but these attractions were all made subsidiary to the single desire of awakening the dead in trespasses and sins. Nor would he have expected to be blessed to the salvation of souls, unless he had himself been a monument of sovereign grace. In his esteem "to be in Christ before being in the ministry," was a thing indispensable. He often pointed to those solemn words of Jeremiah 23:21 'I have not sent these prophets yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.' "
"...he would be a sorry student of the Bible, who would not know all that God had inspired; who would not examine into the most barren chapters to collect the good for which they were intended; who would not strive to understand all the bloody battles which are chronicled, that he might find 'bread out the eater, and honey out of the lion.' "
"I hope and pray that it may be his will to restore me again to you and your parish, with a heart tutored by sickness to speak more and more as dying to dying."
"That text of Jude has peculiar beauties for me at this season. If it be good to come under the love of God once, surely it is good to keep ourselves there. Any yet how reluctant we are!"
"One thing always fills the cup of my consolation, that God may work by the meanest and poorest words, as well as by the most polished and ornate--yea, perhaps, more readily, that the glory may be all his own."
"O Lord, make me hang on thee to open their hearts, thou opener of Lydia's heart. I fear thou wilt not bless my preaching, until I am brought thus to hang on thee."
"A dark hour makes Jesus bright."
Ever watchful for opportunities, on the blank leaf of a book which he sent to a little boy of his congregation, he wrote these simple lines:
Peace be to thee, gentle boy!
Many years of health and joy!
Love your Bible more than play--
row in wisdom every day.
Like the lark on hovering wing,
Early rise, and mount and sing;
Like the dove that found no rest
Till it flew to Noah's breast:--
Rest not in this world of sin,
Till the Saviour take thee in.
"He has set me down among the noisy mechanics and political weavers of this godless town. He will make the money sufficient. He that paid his taxes from a fish's mouth, will supply all my need."
"Speak to your people as on the brink of eternity."
"If the veil of the world's machinery were lifted off, how much we would find is done in answer to the prayers of God's children."
"Use your health while you have it, my dear friend and brother. Do not cast away peculiar opportunities that may never come again. You know not when your last Sabbath with your people may come. Speak for eternity. Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin."
"I have no desire but the salvation of my people, by whatever instrument."
"Now, remember, Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone. Looking at our own shining face is the bane of the spiritual life and of the ministry. O for closest communion with God, till soul and body---head, face, and heart---shine with divine brilliancy; but O for a holy ignorance of our shining."
"Christ gives last knocks. When your heart becomes hard and careless, then fear lest Christ may have given a last knock."
"I earnestly long for more grace and personal holiness, and more usefulness."
"I ought to see that in Christ's bloodshedding there is an infinite overpayment for all my sins."
"I often pray, Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made."
"Live so as to be missed."
"How many purposes God has in view of which we know nothing!"
"Take heed to thyself. Your own soul is your first and greatest care."
"Keep up close communion with God. Study likeness to him in all things..."
"I know well that when Christ is nearest, Satan also is busiest."
"I feel there are two things it is impossible to desire with sufficient ardour--personal holiness, and the honour of Christ in the salvation of souls."
"It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God."
"Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison with eternal realities."
"Even those that are most deeply concerned about their souls do not see the millionth part of the blackness of their hearts and lives."
"Every wave of trouble has been wafting you to the sunny shores of a sinless eternity."
"...do not think any sin trivial; remember it will have everlasting consequences."
"Go on, dear brother; but an inch of time remains, and then eternal ages roll on for ever--but an inch on which we can stand and preach the way of salvation to a perishing world."
"The possession of grace fills us with very different feelings from the possession of anything else. A man who has much money is not very anxious that all the world should be rich---one who has much learning does not long that all the world were learned; but if you have tasted the grace of the gospel, the irresistible longing of your hearts will be, O that all the world might taste its regenerating waters!"
"Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely."
"Spared fig trees should bear much fruit; pray that it may be so with me."
"Luther used to say, that temptations, afflictions, and prayer made a minister."
"Pray to be taught to pray. Do not be content with old forms that flow from the lips only. Most Christians have need to cast their formal prayers away, to be taught to cry, Abba."
"Remember also, the present is your only time to be saved. There is no believing, no repenting, no conversion in the grave---no minister will speak to you there. This is the time of conversion."
"Our God can work through means or above them. He that puts the treasure into earthen vessels, often allows the vessels to be chipped and broken, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
"If you had an angel's righteousness, you might well lay it down and put on Jesus. The robe of a blood-washed sinner is far whiter than that of an angel."
"I long for love without any coldness, light without dimness, and purity without spot or wrinkle. I long to be at Jesus' feet, and tell him I am all his, and ever will be."
"Do you not feel your heart lighter now as you walk on the narrow way? Is not a Christian's darkest hour calmer than the world's brightest?"
"One smile from Jesus sustains my soul amid all the storms and frowns of this passing world. Pray to know Jesus better."
"Do not fear the face of man. Remember how small their anger will appear in eternity."
~Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843),
minister of St Peter's Church Dundee (1836 - 1843),
(a godly evangelical pastor and evangelist with a great love for souls)
Letters by Samuel Rutherford
These letters are amazing!
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/rutherford/letters.toc.html
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/rutherford/letters.toc.html
All for Jesus
All for Jesus, all for Jesus!
All my being's ransomed powers:
All my thoughts and words and doings,
All my days and all my hours.
All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my days and all my hours;
All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my days and all my hours.
Let my hands perform His bidding,
Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only,
Let my lips speak forth His praise.
Worldlings prize their gems of beauty,
Cling to gilded toys of dust,
Boast of wealth and fame and pleasure;
Only Jesus will I trust.
Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I've lost sight of all beside;
So enchained my spirit's vision,
Looking at the Crucified.
Oh, what wonder! how amazing!
Jesus, glorious King of kings,
Deigns to call me His belovèd,
Let's me rest beneath His wings.
~M.D. James, 1871
All my being's ransomed powers:
All my thoughts and words and doings,
All my days and all my hours.
All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my days and all my hours;
All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my days and all my hours.
Let my hands perform His bidding,
Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only,
Let my lips speak forth His praise.
Worldlings prize their gems of beauty,
Cling to gilded toys of dust,
Boast of wealth and fame and pleasure;
Only Jesus will I trust.
Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I've lost sight of all beside;
So enchained my spirit's vision,
Looking at the Crucified.
Oh, what wonder! how amazing!
Jesus, glorious King of kings,
Deigns to call me His belovèd,
Let's me rest beneath His wings.
~M.D. James, 1871
So Understood and Felt That It Sets Men Aflame
“The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them...providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church...the need is for Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt that it sets men aflame.” ~C.H. Spurgeon
The Door of Mercy is Not Yet Shut
I offer you salvation this day; the door of mercy is not yet shut, there does yet remain a sacrifice for sin, for all that will accept the Lord Jesus Christ. He will embrace you in the arms of his love. O turn to him, turn in a sense of your own unworthiness; tell him how polluted you are, how vile, and be not faithless, but believing. Why fear ye that the Lord Jesus Christ will not accept you? Your sins will be no hindrance, your unworthiness no hindrance; if your own corrupt hearts do not keep you back nothing will hinder Christ from receiving you. He loves to see poor sinners coming to him, he is pleased to see them lie at his feet pleading his promises; and if you thus come to Christ, he will not send you away without his Spirit; no, but will receive and bless you. O do not put a slight on infinite love–he only wants you to believe on him, that you might be saved. This, this is all the dear Saviour desires, to make you happy, that you may leave your sins, to sit down eternally with him at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Let me beseech you to come to Jesus Christ; I invite you all to come to him, and receive him as your Lord and Saviour; he is ready to receive you. I invite you to come to him, that you may find rest for your souls. He will rejoice and be glad. He calls you by his ministers; O come unto him–he is labouring to bring you back from sin and from Satan, unto himself: open the door of your hearts, and the King of glory shall enter in. My heart is full, it is quite full, and I must speak, or I shall burst. What, do you think your souls of no value? Do you esteem them as not worth saving? Are your pleasures worth more than your souls? Had you rather regard the diversions of this life, than the salvation of your souls? If so, you will never be partakers with him in glory; but if you come unto him, he will supply you with his grace here, and bring you to glory hereafter; and there you may sing praises and hallelujahs to the Lamb for ever. And may this be the happy end of all who hear me!
~George Whitefield
~George Whitefield
"If Any Man Thirst"
Souls of men have been thirsty ever since Adam turned his back on God. Thirsty for rest; thirsty for peace; thirsty for eternal life; thirsty for God. The greatest and the least; the wisest and the most simple; the outcast and the Pharisee, they all know this thirst. Here was a man who dared to cry, "If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink." If He were only a man, these words were among the most blasphemous ever spoken. Had any other man but Christ said these words, he would be either pitied as a madman, or scorned as a most notorious blasphemer. No one feels that way about Him. These words from His lips carry with them the simple conviction of truth, so that without the least effort we bow our hearts to their blessed proclamation. But what wonderful words they are! Think of Him being able to quench the thirst of any man any where! This stranger from Galilee! this "carpenter" from Nazareth declaring He could meet the deep desires of the souls of men! How utterly stupendous the declaration! How absolutely God-like the promises! Surely, never man spake like this man.
~taken from "Our Lord Jesus Christ: A Plant of Renown" by Leonard Sheldrake
~taken from "Our Lord Jesus Christ: A Plant of Renown" by Leonard Sheldrake
The Book of Revelation
Why was the book of Revelation written? It was not written primarily, let me assure you, in order that people might be able to work out the date of the end of the world! That is a very grievous misunderstanding of the book.
The book of Revelation was written in order that God's people, who were passing through terrible persecutions and terrible adversity, might still be able to go on rejoicing. It is a book that showed them the ultimate victory of the Lord over Satan and all the other forces. They were to rejoice. It was written for men and women who had been in trouble, and was meant to primarily help them, not primarily for people who were to live two thousand years later.
And so it has been a help to Christian people in every age and in every generation. If your understanding of Revelation does not help you rejoice, then you are misunderstanding it.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The book of Revelation was written in order that God's people, who were passing through terrible persecutions and terrible adversity, might still be able to go on rejoicing. It is a book that showed them the ultimate victory of the Lord over Satan and all the other forces. They were to rejoice. It was written for men and women who had been in trouble, and was meant to primarily help them, not primarily for people who were to live two thousand years later.
And so it has been a help to Christian people in every age and in every generation. If your understanding of Revelation does not help you rejoice, then you are misunderstanding it.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Violent Take It By Force
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12
"Do you think you are going to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Have you got a notion in your heads that the road to paradise is all a lawn, the grass smoothly mown, still waters and green pastures ever and anon to cheer you? You have just got to clear your heads of that deceitful fancy. The way to heaven is up hill and down hill; up hill with difficulty, down hill with trials. It is through fire and through water, through flood and through flame, by the lions and by the leopards. Through the very mouths of dragons is the path to paradise. But the man who finds it so, and who desperately resolves in the strength of God to tread that path—nay, who does not resolve as if he could do nothing else but resolve, but who feels driven, as if with a hurricane behind him, to go into the right road, this man is never unsuccessful, never. Where God has given a violent anxiety for salvation he never disappoints it. No soul that has ever cried for it with a violent cry has been disappointed. From the beginning of creation until now there has never been raised to the throne of God a violent and earnest prayer which missed its answer. Go, soul, in the strong confidence that if thou goest earnestly thou goest successfully. God may sooner deny himself than deny the request of an earnest man. Our God may sooner cease to be "the Lord God, gracious and merciful," than cease to bless the men who seek the gates of heaven, with the violence of faith and prayer." ~Charles Spurgeon
"Do you think you are going to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Have you got a notion in your heads that the road to paradise is all a lawn, the grass smoothly mown, still waters and green pastures ever and anon to cheer you? You have just got to clear your heads of that deceitful fancy. The way to heaven is up hill and down hill; up hill with difficulty, down hill with trials. It is through fire and through water, through flood and through flame, by the lions and by the leopards. Through the very mouths of dragons is the path to paradise. But the man who finds it so, and who desperately resolves in the strength of God to tread that path—nay, who does not resolve as if he could do nothing else but resolve, but who feels driven, as if with a hurricane behind him, to go into the right road, this man is never unsuccessful, never. Where God has given a violent anxiety for salvation he never disappoints it. No soul that has ever cried for it with a violent cry has been disappointed. From the beginning of creation until now there has never been raised to the throne of God a violent and earnest prayer which missed its answer. Go, soul, in the strong confidence that if thou goest earnestly thou goest successfully. God may sooner deny himself than deny the request of an earnest man. Our God may sooner cease to be "the Lord God, gracious and merciful," than cease to bless the men who seek the gates of heaven, with the violence of faith and prayer." ~Charles Spurgeon
Friday, April 10, 2009
In Search of An Honest Atheist
Do honest atheists exist? By honest, I don't mean atheists who pay their taxes and keep their promises and choose not to steal or lie. What I mean in asking the question is whether or not there exists an atheist who honestly believes there is no God.
There are, undoubtedly, many who claim to be atheists. They insist, often loudly and angrily, that there is no God and that religion is the cause of virtually all human pain and suffering. The only ultimate reality, so they say, is matter. Physical substance, whether helium or hormones, whether water or fire, is all there is. Everything can be explained or accounted for in terms of the existence and interaction of material substance of one sort or another. In other words, there is no spiritual realm. There are no angels. There is no immaterial soul in man, and above all, there is no "god" or deity or divinity or supernatural being of any sort.
So I'll ask again: do honest atheists exist? You may think that to be a silly question given the notoriety of late among such prominent professing atheists as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, just to name a few. But the operative word here is professing. Yes, many profess to be atheists and make a pretty good living writing books about it or appearing on talk shows or teaching in our universities and colleges. But my question is again whether or not these people, in the depth and quiet of their own hearts, honestly believe there is no God.
I contend they do not. I contend that they are living and speaking in denial of what they know to be true. I contend that they are laboring to persuade themselves of what is indelibly and inescapably inscribed on their hearts: that there is a God and that they are morally accountable to him.
No one has made the case for the non-existence of honest atheists, with greater clarity and force, than John Calvin. "There is within the human mind," said Calvin, "and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. . . . To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretense of ignorance, God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty."
Before we turn to Calvin's biblical defense of this truth, let's hear him make the point again. This sense or awareness of divinity which can never be effaced "is engraved upon men's minds" and "is naturally born in all" and "is fixed deep within, as it were in the very marrow." No matter how vocal their denials or sarcastic their laughter or loud their derision, "the worm of conscience, sharper than any cauterizing iron, gnaws away within." Although many "strive with every nerve" to suppress this truth, "it is not a doctrine that must first be learned in school" but one of which "each of us is master from his mother's womb and which nature itself permits no one to forget."
But how do we know that all men know there is a God? On what grounds do we refuse to honor their claim to being atheists? Calvin points us in two directions. Not only has God "sowed in men's minds that seed of religion," what we often refer to as conscience (see Romans 2:12-16), but he has also "revealed himself and daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of the universe. As a consequence, men cannot open their eyes without being compelled to see him." Upon all his works in the natural order of creation "he has engraved unmistakable marks of his glory, so clear and so prominent that even unlettered and stupid folk cannot plead the excuse of ignorance."
I can't emphasize strongly enough that although such knowledge is inescapable, it is inadequate to impart eternal life or the forgiveness of sins. Although countless burning lamps shine for us in the workmanship of the universe, "although they bathe us wholly in their radiance, yet they can of themselves in no way lead us into the right path." God's existence and eternal power and divine nature are made "plain" to all men, rendering them "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). But we do not have "eyes" to behold his saving splendor "unless they be illumined by the inner revelation of God through faith."
The fault is not with what God has revealed. There is no shortcoming or defect in his handiwork. The failure is in us. The dullness and stupidity and delusion are wholly ours. The problem isn't that mankind lacks sufficient evidence for the existence of God. The problem isn't that the evidence suffers from lack of clarity or beauty or falls short in its persuasive power.
The problem is that mankind, apart from Christ and his regenerating grace, despises what he sees. The problem is that we hate what we know. The problem isn't that men look upon creation or contemplate the conviction of their own conscience and turn away saying, "It's not enough; proof is lacking; it doesn't add up; God doesn't exist." The problem is that they willfully and selfishly and knowingly loathe the God whom they see and know to exist and would rather indulge their own fleshly s and worship their own souls than to honor and give thanks to the God of glory (cf. Romans 1:21-25).
Calvin has read Paul rightly. His conclusions are therefore on the mark. There is no such thing as an honest atheist. There are those aplenty who with their mouths scoff at the notion of God and formulate their arguments to "prove" he does not exist. Perhaps there are even some who from years of willful rebellion and self-induced hardening of heart have anesthetized their souls to God's powerful presence. Perhaps there are some (many?) whom God has simply "given over" (Romans 1:24,26,28) to the deeper cultivation of their self-delusion, some (many?) who have degenerated to such a degree that they've rendered themselves impervious to the clearest and most persuasive of evidence. But in any and every case, they are still "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). The plea of ignorance will not suffice at the final bar of judgment.
Do not go in search of an honest atheist. You won't find one. Turn, instead, to the heavens above which "declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1a). Turn, instead, to the sky that "proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1b). "Lift up your eyes on high and see" the trillions and trillions of stars and worship the One who "brings out their host by number" and calls "them all by name," whose power alone sustains them so that "not one is missing" (Isaiah 40:26). And then worship!
And then share these glorious truths with a "professing" atheist and direct him to the revelation of Christ in Scripture and pray that the God who said "Let light shine out of darkness" might shine in his heart "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). ~Sam Storms
There are, undoubtedly, many who claim to be atheists. They insist, often loudly and angrily, that there is no God and that religion is the cause of virtually all human pain and suffering. The only ultimate reality, so they say, is matter. Physical substance, whether helium or hormones, whether water or fire, is all there is. Everything can be explained or accounted for in terms of the existence and interaction of material substance of one sort or another. In other words, there is no spiritual realm. There are no angels. There is no immaterial soul in man, and above all, there is no "god" or deity or divinity or supernatural being of any sort.
So I'll ask again: do honest atheists exist? You may think that to be a silly question given the notoriety of late among such prominent professing atheists as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, just to name a few. But the operative word here is professing. Yes, many profess to be atheists and make a pretty good living writing books about it or appearing on talk shows or teaching in our universities and colleges. But my question is again whether or not these people, in the depth and quiet of their own hearts, honestly believe there is no God.
I contend they do not. I contend that they are living and speaking in denial of what they know to be true. I contend that they are laboring to persuade themselves of what is indelibly and inescapably inscribed on their hearts: that there is a God and that they are morally accountable to him.
No one has made the case for the non-existence of honest atheists, with greater clarity and force, than John Calvin. "There is within the human mind," said Calvin, "and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. . . . To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretense of ignorance, God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty."
Before we turn to Calvin's biblical defense of this truth, let's hear him make the point again. This sense or awareness of divinity which can never be effaced "is engraved upon men's minds" and "is naturally born in all" and "is fixed deep within, as it were in the very marrow." No matter how vocal their denials or sarcastic their laughter or loud their derision, "the worm of conscience, sharper than any cauterizing iron, gnaws away within." Although many "strive with every nerve" to suppress this truth, "it is not a doctrine that must first be learned in school" but one of which "each of us is master from his mother's womb and which nature itself permits no one to forget."
But how do we know that all men know there is a God? On what grounds do we refuse to honor their claim to being atheists? Calvin points us in two directions. Not only has God "sowed in men's minds that seed of religion," what we often refer to as conscience (see Romans 2:12-16), but he has also "revealed himself and daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of the universe. As a consequence, men cannot open their eyes without being compelled to see him." Upon all his works in the natural order of creation "he has engraved unmistakable marks of his glory, so clear and so prominent that even unlettered and stupid folk cannot plead the excuse of ignorance."
I can't emphasize strongly enough that although such knowledge is inescapable, it is inadequate to impart eternal life or the forgiveness of sins. Although countless burning lamps shine for us in the workmanship of the universe, "although they bathe us wholly in their radiance, yet they can of themselves in no way lead us into the right path." God's existence and eternal power and divine nature are made "plain" to all men, rendering them "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). But we do not have "eyes" to behold his saving splendor "unless they be illumined by the inner revelation of God through faith."
The fault is not with what God has revealed. There is no shortcoming or defect in his handiwork. The failure is in us. The dullness and stupidity and delusion are wholly ours. The problem isn't that mankind lacks sufficient evidence for the existence of God. The problem isn't that the evidence suffers from lack of clarity or beauty or falls short in its persuasive power.
The problem is that mankind, apart from Christ and his regenerating grace, despises what he sees. The problem is that we hate what we know. The problem isn't that men look upon creation or contemplate the conviction of their own conscience and turn away saying, "It's not enough; proof is lacking; it doesn't add up; God doesn't exist." The problem is that they willfully and selfishly and knowingly loathe the God whom they see and know to exist and would rather indulge their own fleshly s and worship their own souls than to honor and give thanks to the God of glory (cf. Romans 1:21-25).
Calvin has read Paul rightly. His conclusions are therefore on the mark. There is no such thing as an honest atheist. There are those aplenty who with their mouths scoff at the notion of God and formulate their arguments to "prove" he does not exist. Perhaps there are even some who from years of willful rebellion and self-induced hardening of heart have anesthetized their souls to God's powerful presence. Perhaps there are some (many?) whom God has simply "given over" (Romans 1:24,26,28) to the deeper cultivation of their self-delusion, some (many?) who have degenerated to such a degree that they've rendered themselves impervious to the clearest and most persuasive of evidence. But in any and every case, they are still "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). The plea of ignorance will not suffice at the final bar of judgment.
Do not go in search of an honest atheist. You won't find one. Turn, instead, to the heavens above which "declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1a). Turn, instead, to the sky that "proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1b). "Lift up your eyes on high and see" the trillions and trillions of stars and worship the One who "brings out their host by number" and calls "them all by name," whose power alone sustains them so that "not one is missing" (Isaiah 40:26). And then worship!
And then share these glorious truths with a "professing" atheist and direct him to the revelation of Christ in Scripture and pray that the God who said "Let light shine out of darkness" might shine in his heart "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). ~Sam Storms
Humility & Perseverance
...others have labored and you have entered into their labor. ~John 4:38
This both keeps us humble and encourages perseverance. Often when an itinerant preacher sees a harvest during a meeting we fail to realize he is picking another man's fruit. A faithful pastor planted that seed year's ago; a broken-hearted mother kept it safe through her loud cries and tears. So this verse helps us keep perspective if we might be on the end of that process.
But we are also encouraged to persevere. Each word, sentence, and thought spoken is another log in place. Every prayer offered and tear shed tightens the bundle a little more. And we never know but that the next laborer may bring with him the coveted fire from Heaven. ~Mason Vann
This both keeps us humble and encourages perseverance. Often when an itinerant preacher sees a harvest during a meeting we fail to realize he is picking another man's fruit. A faithful pastor planted that seed year's ago; a broken-hearted mother kept it safe through her loud cries and tears. So this verse helps us keep perspective if we might be on the end of that process.
But we are also encouraged to persevere. Each word, sentence, and thought spoken is another log in place. Every prayer offered and tear shed tightens the bundle a little more. And we never know but that the next laborer may bring with him the coveted fire from Heaven. ~Mason Vann
God's Answers to Man's Questions
“Aren’t there many ways to God?”
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’
“Did Jesus ever claim to be God?”
John 10:30, 33 Jesus answered them, ‘I and the Father are one.’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.’
“How do I know that Jesus is who He claims to be?”
John 7:16-17 Jesus therefore answered them, and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.’
“Isn’t the Bible just a bunch of myths?”
2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
“What about all the contradictions in the Bible?”
Proverbs 14:6 A scoffer seeks wisdom, and finds none, but knowledge is easy to him who has understanding.
“Why is there so much suffering in the world?”
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
“What is the real purpose of life?”
Matthew 22:37-38 And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.’
“Aren’t all men basically good?”
Romans 3:10-12 There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; ...there is none who does good, there is not even one.
“Won’t my good works outweigh my bad works?”
Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.
“Why did Christ die?”
1 Timothy 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
“I don’t really love Christ. Isn’t it all right to be neutral?”
1 Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.
“What must I do to be saved?”
Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved...
“How do I know God will receive me?”
Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
“What is eternal life?”
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
“How could I ever change?”
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
www.lakeroadchapel.org
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’
“Did Jesus ever claim to be God?”
John 10:30, 33 Jesus answered them, ‘I and the Father are one.’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.’
“How do I know that Jesus is who He claims to be?”
John 7:16-17 Jesus therefore answered them, and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.’
“Isn’t the Bible just a bunch of myths?”
2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
“What about all the contradictions in the Bible?”
Proverbs 14:6 A scoffer seeks wisdom, and finds none, but knowledge is easy to him who has understanding.
“Why is there so much suffering in the world?”
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
“What is the real purpose of life?”
Matthew 22:37-38 And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.’
“Aren’t all men basically good?”
Romans 3:10-12 There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; ...there is none who does good, there is not even one.
“Won’t my good works outweigh my bad works?”
Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.
“Why did Christ die?”
1 Timothy 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
“I don’t really love Christ. Isn’t it all right to be neutral?”
1 Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.
“What must I do to be saved?”
Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved...
“How do I know God will receive me?”
Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
“What is eternal life?”
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
“How could I ever change?”
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
www.lakeroadchapel.org
ALL WE NEED TO KNOW
"Remember that, to the faithful reader of this blessed Word, it reveals all that we need to know about the Father, all that we need to know about the Lord Jesus Christ, all about the power of the Spirit, all about the world that lieth in the wicked one, all about the road to heaven, and the blessedness of the world to come. In this blessed book we have the whole Gospel, and all rules necessary for our Christian life and warfare. Let us see then that we study it with our whole heart and with prayer, meditation, faith and obedience." ~George Muller (1805–1898)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Evangelistic Zeal Flows From Love to Christ
"In vain do we seek to awaken our churches to zeal in evangelism as a separate thing. To be genuine it must flow from love to Christ. It is when a sense of personal communion with the Son of God is highest that we shall be most fit for missionary work, either ourselves or to stir up others." ~Archibald Alexander
The Tests of Life by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
For your encouragement and comfort--and especially for those who may feel that they are very weak, and doubtful about their position--let me suggest some few simple tests. What are the tests of 'life?' Here are some of them. The Apostle Peter writes, 'As new-born s, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby' (1 Peter 2:2). I put it to you in this way. Do you enjoy public meetings for worship? That is not true of the natural man, the non-Christian. Men and women of the world regard such meetings as the height of boredom; and they have no understanding of what is being said. They say, 'What is all that? What does it mean? What has it got to do with me?' And they would never want to hear it again. Does exposition of the Truth in preaching appeal to you? Do you like it? Do you enjoy it? Would you like to know more about it? If you can say 'Yes' to those questions you possess good presumptive evidence that you have new life in you. You may only be a 'babe'; but thank God, you are born again, you are 'in Christ'. Do not be misled by people who would apply the test of mature, , fully-grown Christian to a new-born . 'The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2:14). If you therefore 'receive' these things, though you may be living an unworthy life, you are 'born again.' 'The natural mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' If you can say honestly that your desire is to know God and to serve Him, you are a child of God. You may be imperfect, I am not excusing you--but you must be clear about this. If, because of your failures, you are made to feel, as I said earlier, that you are not a Christian at all, then your position is such that you ahve to go right back to the beginning once more. Therefore, I say, do not allow any legalist to cause you to doubt your position. The new-born desires the 'milk', 'the sincere milk of the word, that he may grow thereby'; he is interested in spiritual things. His understanding may be very small, and very immature; but if he has even a glimmer of light, and if he wants more of it--if he is drawn to the truth, and likes to be amongst God's people--then the statement that 'We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren' applies to him. Those are some of the tests which we can apply to ourselves. The Apostle's assertion is that you cannot be a Christian without a death and a new birth--a 'life'.
Reading or Praying
As the apostle says to Timothy, so also he says to everyone, 'Give yourself to reading.' He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains (inspired by the Holy Spirit) proves that he has no brains of his own. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible. The best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying.
~C. H. Spurgeon
~C. H. Spurgeon
The Command to Go Everywhere
“If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed, until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. There is little right giving because there is little right living, and because of the lack of sympathetic contact with God in holiness of heart, there is a lack of effectual contact with him at the Throne of Grace. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together, and a low standard in one means a general debility in the whole spiritual being.”
~Arthur T. Pierson
~Arthur T. Pierson
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan
An amazing book!
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/bunyan/5f00.0096/5f00.0096.c.htm
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/bunyan/5f00.0096/5f00.0096.c.htm
A Few Years Ago....
“A few years ago, God’s Word was so far from being sweet to us that we thought it the driest book that was ever written. It is not so now. We were then dead in trespasses and sins, and what is honey in a dead man’s mouth?”
~Charles Spurgeon preaching on Ps. 119:103
~Charles Spurgeon preaching on Ps. 119:103
Saturday, March 21, 2009
An Ant at the Grainery Door
"Do not be afraid--for I Myself will help you--declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 41:14
This morning, let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us.
"I Myself will help you. It is but a small thing for Me, your God, to help you. Consider what I have done already. What! not help you? Why, I bought you with My blood. What! not help you? Why, I have died for you! And if I have done the greater, will I not do the lesser? Help you? Before the world began, I chose you. I laid aside My glory and became a man for you. I gave up My life for you! And if I did all this, I will surely help you now. If you had need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it to you. You require little, compared with what I am ready to give. It is much for you to need, but it is nothing for Me to bestow.
What! not help you? Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of your grainery, asking for help, it would not ruin you to give him a handful of your wheat! Just so, you are nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency!"
"I Myself will help you!" O my soul, is not this enough? Bring your empty pitcher here! Surely this well will fill it. Hasten! gather up your needs, and bring them here--your emptiness, your woes, your troubles. Behold, this river of God is full for your supply. What more can you desire? The Eternal God is your helper! ~C.H. Spurgeon
This morning, let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us.
"I Myself will help you. It is but a small thing for Me, your God, to help you. Consider what I have done already. What! not help you? Why, I bought you with My blood. What! not help you? Why, I have died for you! And if I have done the greater, will I not do the lesser? Help you? Before the world began, I chose you. I laid aside My glory and became a man for you. I gave up My life for you! And if I did all this, I will surely help you now. If you had need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it to you. You require little, compared with what I am ready to give. It is much for you to need, but it is nothing for Me to bestow.
What! not help you? Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of your grainery, asking for help, it would not ruin you to give him a handful of your wheat! Just so, you are nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency!"
"I Myself will help you!" O my soul, is not this enough? Bring your empty pitcher here! Surely this well will fill it. Hasten! gather up your needs, and bring them here--your emptiness, your woes, your troubles. Behold, this river of God is full for your supply. What more can you desire? The Eternal God is your helper! ~C.H. Spurgeon
Friday, March 20, 2009
O Soul, Consider This Deeply!
The quote I have below is a foot note from The Pilgrim's Progress, written by John Bunyan:
"O soul, consider this deeply: it is the life of a Christian that carries more conviction and persuasion than his words. Though, like an angel, you talk of Christ, of the gospel, of the doctrines of grace, and of heaven; yet, if you indulge devilish tempers, and live under the power of any sinful s and passions, you will hereby harden others against the things of God and prevent their setting out in the ways of God. Study and pray to be a consistent walker in the ways of holiness; else, all is but windy profession and airy talk. O how much harm is done to Christ's cause by the unholy walk of many professors!"
"O soul, consider this deeply: it is the life of a Christian that carries more conviction and persuasion than his words. Though, like an angel, you talk of Christ, of the gospel, of the doctrines of grace, and of heaven; yet, if you indulge devilish tempers, and live under the power of any sinful s and passions, you will hereby harden others against the things of God and prevent their setting out in the ways of God. Study and pray to be a consistent walker in the ways of holiness; else, all is but windy profession and airy talk. O how much harm is done to Christ's cause by the unholy walk of many professors!"
Thank you, Mr. Spurgeon!
“The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them...providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church...the need is for Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt that it sets men aflame.” ~C.H. Spurgeon
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Waiting Upon God
“There is a strange strength conceived in solitude. Crows go in flocks and wolves in packs, but the lion and the eagle are solitaires. Strength is not in bluster and noise… Strength is in quietness. The lake must be calm if the heavens are to be reflected on its surface. Our Lord loved the people, but how often we read of His going away from them for a brief season… The one thing needed above all other today is that we shall go apart with our Lord, and sit at His feet in the sacred privacy of His blessed presence. Oh, for the lost art of meditation! Oh, for the culture of the secret place! Oh, for the tonic of waiting upon God!”
~taken from “A Place of Quiet Rest”
by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
~taken from “A Place of Quiet Rest”
by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Scriptural Knowledge That Does Not Lead to Prayer is Wrong
"The ultimate test of my understanding of the Scriptural teaching is the amount of time I spend in prayer. As theology is ultimately the knowledge of God, the more theology I know, the more it should drive me to seek to know God. Not to know about Him, but to know Him. ... I may talk learnedly about regeneration, but what is eternal life? It is that they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom God has sent. If all my knowledge does not lead me to prayer there is something wrong somewhere. It is meant to do that. The value of the knowledge is that it gives me such an understanding of the value of prayer, that I devote time to prayer and delight in prayer. If it does not product these results in my life, there is something wrong and spurious about it, or else I am handling it in a wrong manner." ~Martyn Lloyd Jones
Five Lies Sinners Love
Man likes to live with five dominant lies which are very comfortable to the sinner.
First, life is random--no purpose and no creator, thus no accountability. No one made us, and that is why we are free in this random world to do what we want.
Second, truth is relative--no absolutes, no standards, so we are all free to possess our own truth and demand the freedom to live our lives according to our own truth, which is of our own invention.
Third, people are basically good--if they go bad, someone else is to blame; someone abused them and they now lack self-esteem. They have psychological problems based on environmental failures. But still people are basically good: "I'm a good person."
Fourth, everyone can change their own life--get control, take charge, envision your own destiny, become the person you want to be. You have the power to become whatever you want to be, you can be everything you want to be.
Fifth, the goal of life is self-satisfaction--the main thing is to be happy; as long as you’re happy, that’s what counts.
It's this blatant kind of brash self-delusion--life is random, truth is relative, people are basically good, everybody can change his own life if he chooses to, and the goal of life is self-satisfaction.
Truth and reality is opposite that.
Life is not random--God is sovereign, so nothing is random.
Truth is not relative--the Bible is absolute truth and all truth is absolutely absolute.
All people are not basically good--all people are basically and truly sinful.
No one can change their own life--only Christ can change a person's life.
The goal of life is not self-satisfaction--the goal of life is selfless submission to Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur
First, life is random--no purpose and no creator, thus no accountability. No one made us, and that is why we are free in this random world to do what we want.
Second, truth is relative--no absolutes, no standards, so we are all free to possess our own truth and demand the freedom to live our lives according to our own truth, which is of our own invention.
Third, people are basically good--if they go bad, someone else is to blame; someone abused them and they now lack self-esteem. They have psychological problems based on environmental failures. But still people are basically good: "I'm a good person."
Fourth, everyone can change their own life--get control, take charge, envision your own destiny, become the person you want to be. You have the power to become whatever you want to be, you can be everything you want to be.
Fifth, the goal of life is self-satisfaction--the main thing is to be happy; as long as you’re happy, that’s what counts.
It's this blatant kind of brash self-delusion--life is random, truth is relative, people are basically good, everybody can change his own life if he chooses to, and the goal of life is self-satisfaction.
Truth and reality is opposite that.
Life is not random--God is sovereign, so nothing is random.
Truth is not relative--the Bible is absolute truth and all truth is absolutely absolute.
All people are not basically good--all people are basically and truly sinful.
No one can change their own life--only Christ can change a person's life.
The goal of life is not self-satisfaction--the goal of life is selfless submission to Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur
A Letter From A Father
My dear child,
You may well think it is natural for a parent to be concerned for a child at so great a distance away, so far out of view, and so far out of the reach of communication, where, if you should be stricken with any dangerous sickness that would result in death, you might probably be in your grave before we would hear of your danger. But yet, my greatest concern is not for your health or temporal welfare, but for the good of your soul.
Though you are at so great a distance from us, yet God is everywhere. You are much out of the reach of our care, but you are in His hands every moment! We have not the comfort of seeing you, but He sees you! His eye is always upon you. And if you may but live sensibly near to God, and have His gracious presence, it is no great matter if you are far distant from us. I had rather you should remain hundreds of miles distant from us and have God near to you than to have you always with us, and live at a distance from God.
And if the next news we would hear of you would be of your death, though that would be very sad; yet, if at the same time we had the best grounds to hope that you had died in the Lord, how much more comfortable would this be to us than if you died without the grace and favor of God!
It is comfortable to have the presence of earthly friends, especially in sickness, and on a death-bed; but the great thing is to have God as our friend, and to be united to Christ, who can never die and from whom our own death cannot separate us.
My desire and daily prayer is that you may meet with God where you are, and have much of His divine influences on your heart, wherever you may be; and that, in God's due time, you may be returned to us again, in prosperous circumstances in your soul.
I hope that you will maintain a strict and constant watch over yourself, against all temptations, that you do not forsake or forget God; and particularly, that you do not grow slack in secret piety. Retire often from this vain world, from all its bubbles and empty shadows, and vain amusements; and converse with God alone. Seek for that Divine grace and comfort, the least drop of which is worth more than all the riches, gaiety, pleasures, and entertainments of the whole world!
May you be sensible of your dependence on the care and kindness of God and of the vanity of all human helps. May you seek His face, to trust in Him, and walk closely with Him. Commending you to the care and special favor of our heavenly Father.
Your very affectionate father,
Jonathan Edwards
July 26, 1749
You may well think it is natural for a parent to be concerned for a child at so great a distance away, so far out of view, and so far out of the reach of communication, where, if you should be stricken with any dangerous sickness that would result in death, you might probably be in your grave before we would hear of your danger. But yet, my greatest concern is not for your health or temporal welfare, but for the good of your soul.
Though you are at so great a distance from us, yet God is everywhere. You are much out of the reach of our care, but you are in His hands every moment! We have not the comfort of seeing you, but He sees you! His eye is always upon you. And if you may but live sensibly near to God, and have His gracious presence, it is no great matter if you are far distant from us. I had rather you should remain hundreds of miles distant from us and have God near to you than to have you always with us, and live at a distance from God.
And if the next news we would hear of you would be of your death, though that would be very sad; yet, if at the same time we had the best grounds to hope that you had died in the Lord, how much more comfortable would this be to us than if you died without the grace and favor of God!
It is comfortable to have the presence of earthly friends, especially in sickness, and on a death-bed; but the great thing is to have God as our friend, and to be united to Christ, who can never die and from whom our own death cannot separate us.
My desire and daily prayer is that you may meet with God where you are, and have much of His divine influences on your heart, wherever you may be; and that, in God's due time, you may be returned to us again, in prosperous circumstances in your soul.
I hope that you will maintain a strict and constant watch over yourself, against all temptations, that you do not forsake or forget God; and particularly, that you do not grow slack in secret piety. Retire often from this vain world, from all its bubbles and empty shadows, and vain amusements; and converse with God alone. Seek for that Divine grace and comfort, the least drop of which is worth more than all the riches, gaiety, pleasures, and entertainments of the whole world!
May you be sensible of your dependence on the care and kindness of God and of the vanity of all human helps. May you seek His face, to trust in Him, and walk closely with Him. Commending you to the care and special favor of our heavenly Father.
Your very affectionate father,
Jonathan Edwards
July 26, 1749
The God to Whom I Belong and Whom I Serve
"For this very night an angel of
the God to whom I belong and whom I serve
stood before me..." ~Acts 27:23
Paul knew He belonged to God and He knew he served God.
*Read about Paul's experiences: 2 Cor. 11
a title of honor:
"a servant"
"your bond-servant": Simeon (Luke 2:29)
"My servant"
"bondservants of Jesus Christ"
Romans 1:1
Joshua 1:2
Job 1
Isaiah 41:8,9
Isaiah 53:11
Titus 1:1
Philippians 1:1
James 1:1
2 Peter 1:1
Jude 1:1
You Belong to Christ: I Cor. 3:23, John 17:6
We belong to the Son. We are His possession.
John 12:26
John 18
Acts 4:29
Romans 14:4
Colossians 1:7
What It Means to Belong to God:
1. Ownership: "you were bought"
I Cor. 6:29,20
Numbers 8:14-18
It is good to be owned by the Lord.
2. Acceptance
Romans 9:25,26 "My people"
3. Preciousness
Malachi 3:17
John 17
4. Mutual Commitment
Isaiah 44:1-5
"belonging to the Lord": a delight in that!
5. Deep intimate mutual love
Song of Solomon
John 2
6. Jealous care & protection
Deut. 32:9, 10
7. Security
John 10: 27-29
"My sheep"
The knowledge that he belonged to God and served God gave Paul confidence, authority, and boldness.
What It Means to Be A Servant of God:
1. Dignity (Moses)
Acts 16:17 "servants of the Most High God"
John 12:25
Mark 13:34
2. A Task to Accomplish: A Job to Do
It matters!
3. Authority
Mark 13
putting His slaves in charge
None of the tasks Christ gives out are worthless.
4. Protection from Evil
"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me, " declares the Lord.
~Isaiah 54:17
"Lord, what do you want your servant to do?"
HE HAS TAKEN YOU AS HIS OWN
(sermon by Charles Leiter, preached 1/18/09)
the God to whom I belong and whom I serve
stood before me..." ~Acts 27:23
Paul knew He belonged to God and He knew he served God.
*Read about Paul's experiences: 2 Cor. 11
a title of honor:
"a servant"
"your bond-servant": Simeon (Luke 2:29)
"My servant"
"bondservants of Jesus Christ"
Romans 1:1
Joshua 1:2
Job 1
Isaiah 41:8,9
Isaiah 53:11
Titus 1:1
Philippians 1:1
James 1:1
2 Peter 1:1
Jude 1:1
You Belong to Christ: I Cor. 3:23, John 17:6
We belong to the Son. We are His possession.
John 12:26
John 18
Acts 4:29
Romans 14:4
Colossians 1:7
What It Means to Belong to God:
1. Ownership: "you were bought"
I Cor. 6:29,20
Numbers 8:14-18
It is good to be owned by the Lord.
2. Acceptance
Romans 9:25,26 "My people"
3. Preciousness
Malachi 3:17
John 17
4. Mutual Commitment
Isaiah 44:1-5
"belonging to the Lord": a delight in that!
5. Deep intimate mutual love
Song of Solomon
John 2
6. Jealous care & protection
Deut. 32:9, 10
7. Security
John 10: 27-29
"My sheep"
The knowledge that he belonged to God and served God gave Paul confidence, authority, and boldness.
What It Means to Be A Servant of God:
1. Dignity (Moses)
Acts 16:17 "servants of the Most High God"
John 12:25
Mark 13:34
2. A Task to Accomplish: A Job to Do
It matters!
3. Authority
Mark 13
putting His slaves in charge
None of the tasks Christ gives out are worthless.
4. Protection from Evil
"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me, " declares the Lord.
~Isaiah 54:17
"Lord, what do you want your servant to do?"
HE HAS TAKEN YOU AS HIS OWN
(sermon by Charles Leiter, preached 1/18/09)
Losing Our Expectancy
Possibly one of the most devastating things that can happen to us as Christians is that we cease to expect anything to happen. I am not sure but that this is not one of our greatest troubles today. We come to our services and they are orderly, they are nice ‒ we come, we go ‒ and sometimes they are timed almost to the minute, and there it is. But that is not Christianity, my friend. Where is the Lord of glory? Where is the one sitting by the well? Are we expecting him? Do we anticipate this? Are we open to it? Are we aware that we are ever facing this glorious possibility of having the greatest surprise of our life?
Or let me put it like this. You may feel and say ‒ as many do ‒ ‘I was converted and became a Christian. I’ve grown ‒ yes, I’ve grown in knowledge, I’ve been reading books, I’ve been listening to sermons, but I’ve arrived now at a sort of peak and all I do is maintain that. For the rest of my life I will just go on like this.’
Now, my friend, you must get rid of that attitude; you must get rid of it once and for ever. That is ‘religion’, it is not Christianity. This is Christianity: the Lord appears! Suddenly, in the midst of the drudgery and the routine and the sameness and the dullness and the drabness, unexpectedly, surprisingly, he meets with you and he says something to you that changes the whole of your life and your outlook and lifts you to a level that you had never conceived could be possible for you. Oh, if we get nothing else from this story, I hope we will get this. Do not let the devil persuade you that you have got all you are going to get, still less that you received all you were ever going to receive when you were converted. That has been a popular teaching, even among evangelicals. You get everything at your conversion, it is said, including baptism with the Spirit, and nothing further, ever. Oh, do not believe it; it is not true. It is not true to the teaching of the Scriptures, it is not true in the experience of the saints running down the centuries. There is always this glorious possibility of meeting with him in a new and a dynamic way.
D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Living Water: Studies in John 4
Or let me put it like this. You may feel and say ‒ as many do ‒ ‘I was converted and became a Christian. I’ve grown ‒ yes, I’ve grown in knowledge, I’ve been reading books, I’ve been listening to sermons, but I’ve arrived now at a sort of peak and all I do is maintain that. For the rest of my life I will just go on like this.’
Now, my friend, you must get rid of that attitude; you must get rid of it once and for ever. That is ‘religion’, it is not Christianity. This is Christianity: the Lord appears! Suddenly, in the midst of the drudgery and the routine and the sameness and the dullness and the drabness, unexpectedly, surprisingly, he meets with you and he says something to you that changes the whole of your life and your outlook and lifts you to a level that you had never conceived could be possible for you. Oh, if we get nothing else from this story, I hope we will get this. Do not let the devil persuade you that you have got all you are going to get, still less that you received all you were ever going to receive when you were converted. That has been a popular teaching, even among evangelicals. You get everything at your conversion, it is said, including baptism with the Spirit, and nothing further, ever. Oh, do not believe it; it is not true. It is not true to the teaching of the Scriptures, it is not true in the experience of the saints running down the centuries. There is always this glorious possibility of meeting with him in a new and a dynamic way.
D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Living Water: Studies in John 4
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