"If you really believe that just to read a few verses and a short comment on them in a matter of five minutes, and to have a brief word of prayer, is adequate for your day, then I say that you do not know anything about the wiles of the devil."
The Christian Warfare by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Sunday, June 20, 2010
“Why art Thou Cast Down, O My Soul?”
(Extracts from an Address on Psalm 42:5, 11)
George Müller
“WHY art thou cast down, O my soul?” the Psalmist saith to himself. And so may we say to ourselves. Is there ever any ground to be cast down? There are two reasons, but only two: if we are as yet unconverted, we have ground to be cast down; or, if we are converted and live in sin, then we are rightly cast down. But except for these two things, there is no ground to be cast down, for all else may be brought before God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving; and regarding all our necessities, all our difficulties, all our trials, we may exercise faith in the power of God, and in the love of God; and in His own time help will come in answer to prayer and faith.
“Hope thou in God.” Oh, remember this—there is never a time when we may not hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and though to all appearance help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in God. And it will be found that it is not in vain; in the Lord’s own time help will come.
Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it thus within the past seventy years and four months! When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come, for God has His own resources, and these resources may be counted by hundreds, by thousands. He is not confined to this thing or that thing, or to twenty things; in ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times, God may help us. Our business is to spread our case before the Lord, in childlike simplicity to pour out all our heart before God, telling Him, “I do not deserve that Thou shouldst hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus—in Whom alone I trust for the salvation of my soul, Thy perfect Servant, my Savior—for His sake answer my prayer and give my grace quietly to wait till it please Thee to answer my prayer, for I believe Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way.” Thus invariably I have found that (with the exception of one case, for which I have prayed since November 10th, 1844) my prayer has been answered. And I cannot tell you what an effect this has had on my life, and how it has made me a happy man; and in my greatly advanced age it makes me a very happy man.
“For I shall yet praise Him.” More prayer, more exercise of faith, more patient waiting, and the result will be blessing, abundant blessing. Thus I have found it many hundreds of times, and therefore I continually say to myself, “Hope thou in God.”
“Who is...my God.” This is just the great point to remember, that this God is our God—Jehovah, the Almighty God—is our God. And, therefore, we must wait on Him longer and longer and longer, and exercise patience yet more and more and more; for in God’s own time it will be seen that it is not in vain.
Now the Psalmist tells God in all simplicity that his soul is cast down (v. 6). So may we tell God, our Father, tell the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask Him that He would now speak a word to us in season, because we are weary. That is His own precious promise in Isaiah 50:4. And when we are weary and tried, either through difficulty, sore temptation, losses, crosses, or greatly reduced through sickness—under such circumstances we may turn to the Lord Jesus, and remind Him, “My precious Lord Jesus, I am weary, wilt Thou now speak to me a word in season?” And He will comfort us, refresh our spirit, and so strengthen us by His Spirit in the inner man.
Oh! if you have never made trial of Him, make trial of Him, and you will find how ready He is to do this!
(Extracts from an Address on Psalm 42:5, 11)
George Müller
“WHY art thou cast down, O my soul?” the Psalmist saith to himself. And so may we say to ourselves. Is there ever any ground to be cast down? There are two reasons, but only two: if we are as yet unconverted, we have ground to be cast down; or, if we are converted and live in sin, then we are rightly cast down. But except for these two things, there is no ground to be cast down, for all else may be brought before God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving; and regarding all our necessities, all our difficulties, all our trials, we may exercise faith in the power of God, and in the love of God; and in His own time help will come in answer to prayer and faith.
“Hope thou in God.” Oh, remember this—there is never a time when we may not hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and though to all appearance help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in God. And it will be found that it is not in vain; in the Lord’s own time help will come.
Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it thus within the past seventy years and four months! When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come, for God has His own resources, and these resources may be counted by hundreds, by thousands. He is not confined to this thing or that thing, or to twenty things; in ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times, God may help us. Our business is to spread our case before the Lord, in childlike simplicity to pour out all our heart before God, telling Him, “I do not deserve that Thou shouldst hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus—in Whom alone I trust for the salvation of my soul, Thy perfect Servant, my Savior—for His sake answer my prayer and give my grace quietly to wait till it please Thee to answer my prayer, for I believe Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way.” Thus invariably I have found that (with the exception of one case, for which I have prayed since November 10th, 1844) my prayer has been answered. And I cannot tell you what an effect this has had on my life, and how it has made me a happy man; and in my greatly advanced age it makes me a very happy man.
“For I shall yet praise Him.” More prayer, more exercise of faith, more patient waiting, and the result will be blessing, abundant blessing. Thus I have found it many hundreds of times, and therefore I continually say to myself, “Hope thou in God.”
“Who is...my God.” This is just the great point to remember, that this God is our God—Jehovah, the Almighty God—is our God. And, therefore, we must wait on Him longer and longer and longer, and exercise patience yet more and more and more; for in God’s own time it will be seen that it is not in vain.
Now the Psalmist tells God in all simplicity that his soul is cast down (v. 6). So may we tell God, our Father, tell the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask Him that He would now speak a word to us in season, because we are weary. That is His own precious promise in Isaiah 50:4. And when we are weary and tried, either through difficulty, sore temptation, losses, crosses, or greatly reduced through sickness—under such circumstances we may turn to the Lord Jesus, and remind Him, “My precious Lord Jesus, I am weary, wilt Thou now speak to me a word in season?” And He will comfort us, refresh our spirit, and so strengthen us by His Spirit in the inner man.
Oh! if you have never made trial of Him, make trial of Him, and you will find how ready He is to do this!
Monday, June 14, 2010
My Heavenly Friend by George Muller
THE PRECIOUS LORD Jesus Christ is our Friend. Oh, let us seek to realize this! It is not a mere religious phrase or statement, but VERILY HE IS OUR FRIEND. He is the Brother “born for adversity,” the One who “sticketh closer than a brother,” who will never leave and never forsake us.
How precious even on earth to have a heavenly Friend, for this brings the joys of heaven in a little degree into our hearts now. And this is just what our heavenly Father desires regarding His children, that they might be as happy as they are capable of being while here in the body. Do we enter into it, that the one who is “altogether lovely” is ready hour by hour to be our Friend, by day and by night to prove Himself to be our Friend?
When we cannot sleep at night, say, “My precious heavenly Friend, wilt Thou give me a little sleep?” When in pain, say, “My precious heavenly Friend, if it may please Thee, wilt Thou take away this pain?—but if not, if Thou seest better that it should continue, sustain, help and strengthen me, my precious heavenly Friend!” When we feel lonely or tired, turn to the precious Lord Jesus: He is willing to be our Friend in our loneliness. I have found it thus. For sixty-two years and five months I had a beloved wife, and now in my ninety-second year I am left alone. But I turn to my precious Lord Jesus as I walk up and down in my room, and say, “My precious Lord Jesus, I am alone, and yet not alone, Thou art with me; Thou art my Friend, now Lord comfort me, comfort me, strengthen me, give to Thy poor servant everything Thou seest he needs.”
Oh! this is a REALITY, not a fable, that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Friend.
And we should not be satisfied till we are brought to this, that we know the Lord Jesus Christ experimentally to be our Friend, habitually to be our Friend. Just ponder this. Habitually, never leaving, never forsaking us, at all times and under all circumstances ready to prove Himself to be our Friend.
And this He is willing not merely to grant for a few months, or a year or two, but to the very end of our earthly pilgrimage. David in Psalm 23, says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Oh, how precious this!
Now this “LOVELY ONE” is coming again, and soon, soon, soon, may He come again, and then He will take us home, and there we shall be forever with Him. Oh, how precious that bright and glorious prospect! And here again the practical point is, to appropriate this to ourselves. “He is coming to take ME, poor, guilty, worthless, hell-deserving ME,—He is coming to take ME to Himself.”
And in the degree in which we enter into and appropriate to ourselves these glorious things, in that degree the joys of heaven will be commenced already.
How precious even on earth to have a heavenly Friend, for this brings the joys of heaven in a little degree into our hearts now. And this is just what our heavenly Father desires regarding His children, that they might be as happy as they are capable of being while here in the body. Do we enter into it, that the one who is “altogether lovely” is ready hour by hour to be our Friend, by day and by night to prove Himself to be our Friend?
When we cannot sleep at night, say, “My precious heavenly Friend, wilt Thou give me a little sleep?” When in pain, say, “My precious heavenly Friend, if it may please Thee, wilt Thou take away this pain?—but if not, if Thou seest better that it should continue, sustain, help and strengthen me, my precious heavenly Friend!” When we feel lonely or tired, turn to the precious Lord Jesus: He is willing to be our Friend in our loneliness. I have found it thus. For sixty-two years and five months I had a beloved wife, and now in my ninety-second year I am left alone. But I turn to my precious Lord Jesus as I walk up and down in my room, and say, “My precious Lord Jesus, I am alone, and yet not alone, Thou art with me; Thou art my Friend, now Lord comfort me, comfort me, strengthen me, give to Thy poor servant everything Thou seest he needs.”
Oh! this is a REALITY, not a fable, that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Friend.
And we should not be satisfied till we are brought to this, that we know the Lord Jesus Christ experimentally to be our Friend, habitually to be our Friend. Just ponder this. Habitually, never leaving, never forsaking us, at all times and under all circumstances ready to prove Himself to be our Friend.
And this He is willing not merely to grant for a few months, or a year or two, but to the very end of our earthly pilgrimage. David in Psalm 23, says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Oh, how precious this!
Now this “LOVELY ONE” is coming again, and soon, soon, soon, may He come again, and then He will take us home, and there we shall be forever with Him. Oh, how precious that bright and glorious prospect! And here again the practical point is, to appropriate this to ourselves. “He is coming to take ME, poor, guilty, worthless, hell-deserving ME,—He is coming to take ME to Himself.”
And in the degree in which we enter into and appropriate to ourselves these glorious things, in that degree the joys of heaven will be commenced already.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Cheerful Givers by George Muller
(Part of an Address at a Mildmay Park Conference.)
I HAVE been for fifty years, by God’s grace, acting on the principle of Christian giving according to the Scriptures, and I cannot tell you the abundance of spiritual blessing I have received to my own soul through acting thus; that is, seeking to be a cheerful giver; seeking to give as God has been pleased to prosper me.
I began when I had comparatively very, very little to spare; but as I gave, God increased my ability to give more and more: until at last God has been pleased, in the riches of His grace, to condescend to use a poor worthless worm like me, and has entrusted me year by year with very large sums to expend. Many beloved saints are depriving themselves of wondrous spiritual blessing by not giving as stewards what is entrusted to them. They act as if it were all their own, as if all belonged to them, as if already they were in possession of the inheritance incorruptible and undefiled; forgetting that they have nothing whatever which is their own, that they are bought by the precious blood of Christ, and all they possess—their bodily strength, their time, their talents, their business, their professions, their eyes, their hands, their feet, all belong to the Lord Jesus Christ; because He has bought them with His precious blood.
Therefore may I affectionately beseech and entreat my beloved Christian friends to take this to heart, and consider that hitherto they have been depriving themselves of vast spiritual blessings, because they have not followed the principles of giving systematically, and giving as God prospers them, and according to a plan; not merely just according to impulse—not as they are moved by a missionary or charity sermon, but systematically and habitually giving on principle, just as God enables them. If He entrusts to them one pound, to give accordingly a proportion; if they are left a legacy of a thousand pounds, to give accordingly; if He entrusts them with ten thousand pounds, or whatever it may be, to give accordingly. Oh, my brethren, I believe if we realized the blessing, we would give thus on principle; and, if so, we should give a hundred times more than we do now.
Just as we are constrained by the love of Christ, so God condescends to use us; and as we give, He is pleased to entrust to us more and more. It is impossible for us to say to what amount God may entrust us, or how largely He may give unto us the joy and honor, the precious privilege, of communicating to others.
And here allow me to refer to my own experience. The first year I began giving, God entrusted me with about fifty pounds; but this afterwards increased, until now He has entrusted me with about two thousand pounds a year. The poor man George Müller, known by everybody as a poor man, who is this very day as a poor man, who stands before you a poor man, and yet by the grace of God has been enabled to give about forty thousand pounds sterling —that is altogether since I began.
Of late, God has allowed me to receive one legacy after another, and thus sometimes two thousand and even three thousand a year have I been enabled to give; and see the blessedness, the privilege, the wondrous honor, that a poor man as I am should thus be entrusted by Him! By the grace of God I desire to be nothing but poor. I wish to be nothing else than a poor man, having nothing, no house of my own, no money in the Funds, not an acre of land—a poor man altogether; day by day waiting on God for everything, and yet He has allowed me the great honor and blessed privilege of giving more than forty thousand pounds sterling within the last fifty years. I began in the year 1830 to live thus as steward for the Lord. In the little way I could I gave, but God increased my ability more and more, until now He is allowing me to give in His service, year by year, two or three thousand pounds. Now, why do I say it? To encourage the hearts of my beloved brethren to seek to give systematically. If you have not done so hitherto, do begin now. It is a blessed thing for the soul, it is a blessed thing for your purse and God will entrust to you more and more.
Now I do not say imitate me, George Müller; but I say, seek to give, if it be ever so little, to give systematically; if it be only the twentieth part of your income, give systematically, and you will find a blessing to your soul; and the blessing with regard to stewardship will be such that you will be encouraged more and more to go on in this way.
I HAVE been for fifty years, by God’s grace, acting on the principle of Christian giving according to the Scriptures, and I cannot tell you the abundance of spiritual blessing I have received to my own soul through acting thus; that is, seeking to be a cheerful giver; seeking to give as God has been pleased to prosper me.
I began when I had comparatively very, very little to spare; but as I gave, God increased my ability to give more and more: until at last God has been pleased, in the riches of His grace, to condescend to use a poor worthless worm like me, and has entrusted me year by year with very large sums to expend. Many beloved saints are depriving themselves of wondrous spiritual blessing by not giving as stewards what is entrusted to them. They act as if it were all their own, as if all belonged to them, as if already they were in possession of the inheritance incorruptible and undefiled; forgetting that they have nothing whatever which is their own, that they are bought by the precious blood of Christ, and all they possess—their bodily strength, their time, their talents, their business, their professions, their eyes, their hands, their feet, all belong to the Lord Jesus Christ; because He has bought them with His precious blood.
Therefore may I affectionately beseech and entreat my beloved Christian friends to take this to heart, and consider that hitherto they have been depriving themselves of vast spiritual blessings, because they have not followed the principles of giving systematically, and giving as God prospers them, and according to a plan; not merely just according to impulse—not as they are moved by a missionary or charity sermon, but systematically and habitually giving on principle, just as God enables them. If He entrusts to them one pound, to give accordingly a proportion; if they are left a legacy of a thousand pounds, to give accordingly; if He entrusts them with ten thousand pounds, or whatever it may be, to give accordingly. Oh, my brethren, I believe if we realized the blessing, we would give thus on principle; and, if so, we should give a hundred times more than we do now.
Just as we are constrained by the love of Christ, so God condescends to use us; and as we give, He is pleased to entrust to us more and more. It is impossible for us to say to what amount God may entrust us, or how largely He may give unto us the joy and honor, the precious privilege, of communicating to others.
And here allow me to refer to my own experience. The first year I began giving, God entrusted me with about fifty pounds; but this afterwards increased, until now He has entrusted me with about two thousand pounds a year. The poor man George Müller, known by everybody as a poor man, who is this very day as a poor man, who stands before you a poor man, and yet by the grace of God has been enabled to give about forty thousand pounds sterling —that is altogether since I began.
Of late, God has allowed me to receive one legacy after another, and thus sometimes two thousand and even three thousand a year have I been enabled to give; and see the blessedness, the privilege, the wondrous honor, that a poor man as I am should thus be entrusted by Him! By the grace of God I desire to be nothing but poor. I wish to be nothing else than a poor man, having nothing, no house of my own, no money in the Funds, not an acre of land—a poor man altogether; day by day waiting on God for everything, and yet He has allowed me the great honor and blessed privilege of giving more than forty thousand pounds sterling within the last fifty years. I began in the year 1830 to live thus as steward for the Lord. In the little way I could I gave, but God increased my ability more and more, until now He is allowing me to give in His service, year by year, two or three thousand pounds. Now, why do I say it? To encourage the hearts of my beloved brethren to seek to give systematically. If you have not done so hitherto, do begin now. It is a blessed thing for the soul, it is a blessed thing for your purse and God will entrust to you more and more.
Now I do not say imitate me, George Müller; but I say, seek to give, if it be ever so little, to give systematically; if it be only the twentieth part of your income, give systematically, and you will find a blessing to your soul; and the blessing with regard to stewardship will be such that you will be encouraged more and more to go on in this way.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Be thankful!
Oh, you that have passed from death to life, you have reason indeed to be thankful! Remember what you once were by nature—dead. Think what you are now by grace—alive. Look at the dry bones thrown up from the graves. Such were you; and who has made you to differ? Go and fall low before the footstool of your God. Bless Him for His grace, His free distinguishing grace. Say to Him often, “Who am I, Lord, that you have brought me to this time? Why me? Why have you been merciful towards me?”
~ J.C. Ryle
~ J.C. Ryle
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