Revival # 3
People say to me all over the country, "I am interested in revival." I say, "Yes, so are a million other Americans." I find all kinds of people interested in it. I don't find many people burdened for it. People are very interested in revival, but we don't start to break the fallow ground. We don't prepare the way for the Lord.
I remember as a little boy I used to go to bed at night with a candle...you never had that joy, did you? I remember thinking how many other candles you could bring and light off that candle? I wonder and I wonder. I never found an answer, but I often used to wonder.
It was Charles Wesley who wrote the hymn, "See how great flame aspires, kindled by a spark of grace.
Jesus' love the nations fires,sets the kingdoms all ablaze,
To bring fire on earth He came, kindled in some hearts it is,
Oh that all might catch the blaze, all partake the glorious bliss.
Jesus said, "To bring fire on earth have I come, "Did you hear anybody preach on that text? What kind of fire? Well, surely not hell fire. Holy Spirit fire! The most devastating fire of all is not the fire that consumes a building. It isn't even the fire of hell. The greatest, most devastating fire, is the fire of God. We say, "God is love, God is love, God is love. And yet our God is a consuming fire. "Who shall abide the day of His coming," Malachi says, "He is like a refiner's fire." Matthew 3:16, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit fire." But you see, that aspect is not stressed in the day in which we live.
Everybody talks about the baptism. So what do you mean by the baptism? There is a baptism with the Holy Spirit and Fire. Not just with the Holy Spirit, but with Fire. When He comes He will "thoroughly purge His floor and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Which again, can happen individually, or it can happen in a church, or it can come and work through a whole community or it can work through a whole nation.
There will be a thousand people who, if you get a heart and a vision, will say, "Oh, you've got tunnel vision." Hmmm? Well, I think the one reason why the Apostle Paul conquered - and triumphed - and out-smarted us - and out-suffered us - and out-prayed us - and out-sacrificed us - and out-preached us was because he settled for one thing: "This one thing I do." You've got to have one vision, You've got to have one heart, You've got to have one purpose, "This one thing I do - "I sell out to God's will totally.
Well, what does this become? Well, I believe this thing becomes an obsession, as I was saying to a brother this morning. For fifty years I've wept, and I've prayed, and I've groaned, and I've read, and I've fasted, and I've met with guys for nights of prayer, and days of prayer, and days and days of prayer, for revival. There isn't much sign of it. Well, are you sure? You see, prayers never die! What are these under the altar? The prayers of saints." You never pray a prayer that is born of God without it being on record with God. God never wastes anything. Do you think you and I have prayers born of grief, born of anguish, born of desire to see an overthrow of iniquity, (for after all that is what revival is) and you think God will let them die?
Now again, the shadow of darkness and death is over this generation like nothing we've ever had before. And yet, the greatest tragedy of all is this: a sick church in a dying world! We have neither the vision nor the passion, nor at this moment, the intention of setting our house in order - "to break the fallow ground" - to prepare the way of the Lord.
My hope is that as we go on here we are not just going to gather information and statistics about revival, but that we are going to individually seek personal revival.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
[copyright/reproduction limitations: "Copyright (c) 1994 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas")
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Revival # 2
Revival # 2
When I was praying in the Bahamas one day, I saw a great column of smoke, which happened to be coming from tires that were being burned. It was as black as could be, and over there I saw a wisp of smoke going up from the ground. I didn't think of it until about a year later, I was praying and the Lord said, "That volume of black, thick smoke is like the volume of sin that goes up every day." All the blasphemy, all the unbelief, all the dirty stories, all the lying, all the deception, all sex-perversion, all drunkenness - this tremendous column of iniquity goes up in the sight of God. And here you have a little wisp - of what? That is the praise that God gets out of His people. If we are going to realize how much we need revival we need to recognize the dimension of sin. We have to recognize that sin offends God!
Psalm 85:4 says, "Turn us, O God of our salvation and cause Thine anger towards us to cease. Wilt Thou be angry with us forever?" Psalm 80 verse 3, "Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to shine." "...cause Thy face to shine." You know, I think one of the awesome tragedies of our day is this: the people of Israel could not live if God turned His face away from them and seems now we cannot live if God turns His face on us!
The awesomeness of God's presence...The awesomeness of God's majesty... We've had meetings, in the last month particularly, where I would sit down at the end of the meeting. I didn't know what to do with it, and the pastor said, "Well, I can't handle a meeting like this, what do you do?" The invasion of God's power was so awesome that there was no way that you could handle it, so you just let the meeting ride itself out. We were having meetings five hours long, beginning at seven at night and finishing at midnight. College students came, and university people, and business people. When God comes, our social distinctions don't matter, our intellectual distinctions don't matter. There is an overwhelming sense that God is dealing, not with my intellect, not with my body, not with my emotions, so much as with the inner man...the inner being...the inner temple which He wants to indwell.
Joel speaks about the priests, the ministers of God. Look at Joel 1:13, "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: how ye ministers of the altar,come lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God." Go over to verse 12 of the 2nd chapter, "Turn ye now ever to Me with all your heart and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments." Come down to verse 17, "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach."
Now, how do you get to that state? There is no way you can jump to that level in ten minutes. It is an operation. It's a process. It's a preparation. There has to be an individual breaking up of fallow ground in me. What is there in my individual life that obstructs the flow of the Holy Spirit? If you are going to break up fallow ground you have to get your own life into a state of discipline - and we are the most undisciplined generation of believers ever! There is no way of getting to revival unless previously there comes brokenness.
What God wants is not to fill up empty pews. He is not concerned about filling empty churches. He is concerned about filling empty hearts. And empty lives, and empty eyes that have no vision; Empty hearts that have no passion, And empty wills that have no purpose.
Have you ever thought about the enormity of the Jewish system? A great monolith of priests and Levites, and offerings and sacrifices, and new moons and Sabbaths, and Urim and Thumin. Then suddenly God puts one solitary individual there he he has one commission. "You go and prepare the way of the Lord." But he has all this against him: At least 2000 priests, a senior priest and elaborate temple. A system of buying and selling cattle and other things for sacrifice. An outer court, where you could come to a priest and tell him of your sin and your guilt and he would make an offering for you. And this fellow comes and he is saying that the religious system is all obsolete - that God is going to manifest Himself independent of all of that, and there is Somebody Else! They say, "You must be the man." He says, "Oh, no, no, no! I am not the One. I am just coming to prepare the way of the Lord."
Now think of the sorrow of God after Adam failed. Think of the sorrow of God after the whole system that He'd inaugurated failed. Think of something which may be even more awesome still: Think of the fact that 2000 years have lapsed since Jesus came and did a full work of redemption...and the church is still dragging its feet today!
The human dilemma that we are in right now is that we have never been in a lower point. People say sometimes, "Don't worry, we have got out of situations like this." Oh, no! We haven't. Don't you fool yourself. We've never gotten out of a situation like this. You know why? Because we have never been in a situation like this. That's why!
We've never had difficulties like this. We've never had this plague of divorce. We've never had a million girls under sixteen pregnant, like last year. What did they say the night before last on the news, "Tonight 20,000 girls over the nation will get pregnant. Sex is a sport. Immorality is an accepted way of life. People say there are fewer divorces than last year. Well, how do you expect any more when they don't get married? They did get married at one time and got divorced. They don't even bother to get married now, just live together. Have a baby, so what? "We agree to part," that's it. So we are a broken nation. Never, never in our history did we need revival more than today, the day in which we live. But you don't wish revival...there is no such thing.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 3)
[Reproduction Limitations: (c) 1994 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas)"
When I was praying in the Bahamas one day, I saw a great column of smoke, which happened to be coming from tires that were being burned. It was as black as could be, and over there I saw a wisp of smoke going up from the ground. I didn't think of it until about a year later, I was praying and the Lord said, "That volume of black, thick smoke is like the volume of sin that goes up every day." All the blasphemy, all the unbelief, all the dirty stories, all the lying, all the deception, all sex-perversion, all drunkenness - this tremendous column of iniquity goes up in the sight of God. And here you have a little wisp - of what? That is the praise that God gets out of His people. If we are going to realize how much we need revival we need to recognize the dimension of sin. We have to recognize that sin offends God!
Psalm 85:4 says, "Turn us, O God of our salvation and cause Thine anger towards us to cease. Wilt Thou be angry with us forever?" Psalm 80 verse 3, "Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to shine." "...cause Thy face to shine." You know, I think one of the awesome tragedies of our day is this: the people of Israel could not live if God turned His face away from them and seems now we cannot live if God turns His face on us!
The awesomeness of God's presence...The awesomeness of God's majesty... We've had meetings, in the last month particularly, where I would sit down at the end of the meeting. I didn't know what to do with it, and the pastor said, "Well, I can't handle a meeting like this, what do you do?" The invasion of God's power was so awesome that there was no way that you could handle it, so you just let the meeting ride itself out. We were having meetings five hours long, beginning at seven at night and finishing at midnight. College students came, and university people, and business people. When God comes, our social distinctions don't matter, our intellectual distinctions don't matter. There is an overwhelming sense that God is dealing, not with my intellect, not with my body, not with my emotions, so much as with the inner man...the inner being...the inner temple which He wants to indwell.
Joel speaks about the priests, the ministers of God. Look at Joel 1:13, "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: how ye ministers of the altar,come lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God." Go over to verse 12 of the 2nd chapter, "Turn ye now ever to Me with all your heart and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments." Come down to verse 17, "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach."
Now, how do you get to that state? There is no way you can jump to that level in ten minutes. It is an operation. It's a process. It's a preparation. There has to be an individual breaking up of fallow ground in me. What is there in my individual life that obstructs the flow of the Holy Spirit? If you are going to break up fallow ground you have to get your own life into a state of discipline - and we are the most undisciplined generation of believers ever! There is no way of getting to revival unless previously there comes brokenness.
What God wants is not to fill up empty pews. He is not concerned about filling empty churches. He is concerned about filling empty hearts. And empty lives, and empty eyes that have no vision; Empty hearts that have no passion, And empty wills that have no purpose.
Have you ever thought about the enormity of the Jewish system? A great monolith of priests and Levites, and offerings and sacrifices, and new moons and Sabbaths, and Urim and Thumin. Then suddenly God puts one solitary individual there he he has one commission. "You go and prepare the way of the Lord." But he has all this against him: At least 2000 priests, a senior priest and elaborate temple. A system of buying and selling cattle and other things for sacrifice. An outer court, where you could come to a priest and tell him of your sin and your guilt and he would make an offering for you. And this fellow comes and he is saying that the religious system is all obsolete - that God is going to manifest Himself independent of all of that, and there is Somebody Else! They say, "You must be the man." He says, "Oh, no, no, no! I am not the One. I am just coming to prepare the way of the Lord."
Now think of the sorrow of God after Adam failed. Think of the sorrow of God after the whole system that He'd inaugurated failed. Think of something which may be even more awesome still: Think of the fact that 2000 years have lapsed since Jesus came and did a full work of redemption...and the church is still dragging its feet today!
The human dilemma that we are in right now is that we have never been in a lower point. People say sometimes, "Don't worry, we have got out of situations like this." Oh, no! We haven't. Don't you fool yourself. We've never gotten out of a situation like this. You know why? Because we have never been in a situation like this. That's why!
We've never had difficulties like this. We've never had this plague of divorce. We've never had a million girls under sixteen pregnant, like last year. What did they say the night before last on the news, "Tonight 20,000 girls over the nation will get pregnant. Sex is a sport. Immorality is an accepted way of life. People say there are fewer divorces than last year. Well, how do you expect any more when they don't get married? They did get married at one time and got divorced. They don't even bother to get married now, just live together. Have a baby, so what? "We agree to part," that's it. So we are a broken nation. Never, never in our history did we need revival more than today, the day in which we live. But you don't wish revival...there is no such thing.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 3)
[Reproduction Limitations: (c) 1994 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas)"
Revival # 1
Revival # 1
Revival....another definition would be to recover, repair or restore. Hosea 10:12 says: "Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon you."
What is fallow ground? Fallow ground is ground that has been fruitful, and then it has been plowed over, and no seed has been sown in it, and therefore it has become unproductive.
Notice, there is a human emphasis here - it says that we are to break up - you break up your fallow ground.
Now take another aspect of it here in Psalm 85:6 "Would Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee." So, there is an absence of joy, of vitality - there is an absence of ecstasy.
The very word "revive" presupposed life. You can only revive what has already had vitality - life that has become sick, weak, or apathetic. I thing the nearest analogy I can give you is a recent case of a man who apparently drowned. He had been under the water for an incredible amount of time. Then somebody pulled him out and worked and worked on him, and eventually life came again. This is actually what it means to revive, it means to revitalize. It means to restore lost power. It means to recover lost energy.
In the Acts of the Apostles 3:19 we read, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Whatever else we say about revival we have to recognize this, that revival is an act of mercy in the sovereignty of God.
There is a vast difference between revival and evangelism. When we speak of revival in America we think of church advertising, "Our revival will begin next Sunday night at a certain time and it is going to finish the next Sunday night at a certain time." Obviously this is something purely mechanical, it is something which men have engineered.
I think that one of the offenses of revival, in the historic sense, is that it cannot be organized. As Dr. Tozer said, "When revival comes it changes the moral climate of a community." You can have revival that covers a church - Spurgeon had that. You can have a revival that covers a city. You can have a revival that covers a whole nation - and I am thinking in this context more than in the other contexts (though sometimes revival spreads from here to there - like fire spreads.)
Revival cannot be organized - evangelism can be organized.
Revival cannot be subsidized - evangelism can and usually it must be. Revival cannot be advertised - evangelism can.
It may cost millions of dollars, as it often does, to have one of our huge, modern, so called revivals. You have to pay vast sums of money for time on TV, for example - perhaps a million dollars a night. That's incredible, that's unthinkable to me in the context of Biblical revival, or even historical revival.
Why doesn't revival need to be advertised? For the simple reason, that fire is the most self advertising thing that there is, whether it is a physical fire or a revival fire. It draws people like a magnet!
To bring this down to modern technology - revival cannot be computerized. There is information that you can put in a computer and presto, you get the answer predicting an outcome according to the facts that were put in. But you cannot computerize or predict revival. There are periods in which one thing predominates. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by sorrow. Sometimes revival is taken over by stillness. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by joy, ecstasy till you don't know whether you are in the flesh or whether you've gone out of the earth.
There are times when you go to a prayer meeting and the power of God is there. There is stillness and you feel it is creative. You feel, "Now something is building up around here, somebody is going to come out shortly with a heart bursting - with some agonizing prayer.
Revival cannot be rationalized. Again, one of the offensive things about revival is you can't put your finger on the spot, usually, as to how or why or where it began. It is supremely an act of God. You find a man would go with a series of messages to a community and before long that community is alive, it's throbbing. He goes to another town with exactly the same group of men, the same type of prayer is poured out, the same sweat and soul travail and there is no response.
You can't predict and you can't organize revival. Why? Because you can't organize where the wind is coming from. The Spirit, the wind, bloweth where it listeth. If you say it's going to come this way, it comes that way. If you say God's going to use that man, very often He doesn't even bother with that man. Revival so often comes through unknown characters.
I don't think the world has ever been in a greater sense of turmoil than it is in this moment. I don't think our nation has. Whatever we shall say about revival we have to recognize this: There are three things about natural life: conception, gestation, and birth. You can't alter the program. There has never been revival, that I can trace, that has not been preceded by agonizing prayer. You might say, "I haven't got to that stage yet of agonizing prayer. How does it come?" Well, it comes through VISION.
If we are really going to get a concept of revival we have to get a vision of God's sorrow over sin. We have to get a concept of how, day by day, we offend God. As a nation we offend God in millions of ways.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 2)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This article is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge.]
Revival....another definition would be to recover, repair or restore. Hosea 10:12 says: "Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon you."
What is fallow ground? Fallow ground is ground that has been fruitful, and then it has been plowed over, and no seed has been sown in it, and therefore it has become unproductive.
Notice, there is a human emphasis here - it says that we are to break up - you break up your fallow ground.
Now take another aspect of it here in Psalm 85:6 "Would Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee." So, there is an absence of joy, of vitality - there is an absence of ecstasy.
The very word "revive" presupposed life. You can only revive what has already had vitality - life that has become sick, weak, or apathetic. I thing the nearest analogy I can give you is a recent case of a man who apparently drowned. He had been under the water for an incredible amount of time. Then somebody pulled him out and worked and worked on him, and eventually life came again. This is actually what it means to revive, it means to revitalize. It means to restore lost power. It means to recover lost energy.
In the Acts of the Apostles 3:19 we read, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Whatever else we say about revival we have to recognize this, that revival is an act of mercy in the sovereignty of God.
There is a vast difference between revival and evangelism. When we speak of revival in America we think of church advertising, "Our revival will begin next Sunday night at a certain time and it is going to finish the next Sunday night at a certain time." Obviously this is something purely mechanical, it is something which men have engineered.
I think that one of the offenses of revival, in the historic sense, is that it cannot be organized. As Dr. Tozer said, "When revival comes it changes the moral climate of a community." You can have revival that covers a church - Spurgeon had that. You can have a revival that covers a city. You can have a revival that covers a whole nation - and I am thinking in this context more than in the other contexts (though sometimes revival spreads from here to there - like fire spreads.)
Revival cannot be organized - evangelism can be organized.
Revival cannot be subsidized - evangelism can and usually it must be. Revival cannot be advertised - evangelism can.
It may cost millions of dollars, as it often does, to have one of our huge, modern, so called revivals. You have to pay vast sums of money for time on TV, for example - perhaps a million dollars a night. That's incredible, that's unthinkable to me in the context of Biblical revival, or even historical revival.
Why doesn't revival need to be advertised? For the simple reason, that fire is the most self advertising thing that there is, whether it is a physical fire or a revival fire. It draws people like a magnet!
To bring this down to modern technology - revival cannot be computerized. There is information that you can put in a computer and presto, you get the answer predicting an outcome according to the facts that were put in. But you cannot computerize or predict revival. There are periods in which one thing predominates. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by sorrow. Sometimes revival is taken over by stillness. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by joy, ecstasy till you don't know whether you are in the flesh or whether you've gone out of the earth.
There are times when you go to a prayer meeting and the power of God is there. There is stillness and you feel it is creative. You feel, "Now something is building up around here, somebody is going to come out shortly with a heart bursting - with some agonizing prayer.
Revival cannot be rationalized. Again, one of the offensive things about revival is you can't put your finger on the spot, usually, as to how or why or where it began. It is supremely an act of God. You find a man would go with a series of messages to a community and before long that community is alive, it's throbbing. He goes to another town with exactly the same group of men, the same type of prayer is poured out, the same sweat and soul travail and there is no response.
You can't predict and you can't organize revival. Why? Because you can't organize where the wind is coming from. The Spirit, the wind, bloweth where it listeth. If you say it's going to come this way, it comes that way. If you say God's going to use that man, very often He doesn't even bother with that man. Revival so often comes through unknown characters.
I don't think the world has ever been in a greater sense of turmoil than it is in this moment. I don't think our nation has. Whatever we shall say about revival we have to recognize this: There are three things about natural life: conception, gestation, and birth. You can't alter the program. There has never been revival, that I can trace, that has not been preceded by agonizing prayer. You might say, "I haven't got to that stage yet of agonizing prayer. How does it come?" Well, it comes through VISION.
If we are really going to get a concept of revival we have to get a vision of God's sorrow over sin. We have to get a concept of how, day by day, we offend God. As a nation we offend God in millions of ways.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 2)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This article is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge.]
And Why, Dear Saviour - Tell Me Why?
And Why, Dear Saviour - Tell Me Why?
"He gave Himself for us - that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).
He gave Himself for us." Note the contrast between the Giver - and those for whom He gave Himself.
The Giver is He who was the only begotten Son of God, the author of creation, the sustainer of the universe, the brightness of divine glory, the source and end of all things! He who was proclaimed by the prophet as "the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace." He who is declared by the apostle to be "God over all - blessed for evermore!"
"He gave Himself for us." For US - who at the best are mere creatures, between whom and our Creator, there can be no comparison. But it was not for us as mere creatures - but for us as base, vile, insignificant, and totally depraved creatures! We had debased ourselves, even unto hell. Our nature could not be worse, for "the human heart is the most deceitful of all things - are desperately wicked!"
The most exalted, glorious, and holy being in the universe - gave Himself for the most vile, polluted, and degraded of His creatures!
O how astonishing!!
But He volunteered on our behalf, without any solicitation, offering to become our Substitute - to fulfill the law in our stead; our Sacrifice - to make a full atonement for our sins; and our Ransomer - to pay the satisfactory price for our redemption.
He engaged to bear the desert of all our sins in His own body - to suffer all that the inflexible justice of God could inflict on our Surety - and so put away our sins forever, by the sacrifice of Himself. He gave His person - for our persons; His blood - as our ransom price; and His life - for our lives!
He gave His entire self,doing and suffering all that was necessary to secure our release from sin's curse, and our everlasting salvation.
O amazing grace of a gracious Saviour!!
He gave Himself - that He might justify redeem, ransom, or deliver us - from the guilt, power, and penal consequences of sin. He gave Himself - to expiate the guilt, to destroy the power, and secure us against the eternal desert of our transgressions.
He gave Himself to purify unto Himself, by fully expiating their sins - a peculiar people: a people purchased - to be peculiarly His own; a people sanctified, separated from all others - to be set apart for Himself; a people to be His own subjects - as the King of Zion; a people to be His own soldiers - as the Captain of our salvation; a people to be His own servants - as the Lord of the house; a people to be His own children - as the everlasting Father!
"He gave Himself!" The love of Jesus is unparalleled. Out of pure love to us who had no love to Him, nor ever would have had - but for His first loving us! He gave, not only His time, His labor, His wealth - but HIMSELF! He gave His entire person as the God-man, the incarnate Jehovah!
"He gave Himself!" This was more than as if He had given a thousand worlds - for these He could create with a word!
"He gave Himself," and not even to die some easy and honorable death - but the most painful, shameful death, that any man ever invented, or any creature ever suffered!
O wondrous love!!
And WHY, dear Saviour - tell me why.
You thus would suffer, bleed and die?
What mighty motive could Thee move,
The motive's plain - 'twas all for love!
For love of whom? Of sinners base,
A hardened herd, a rebel race!
That mocked and trampled on Thy blood,
And trifled with the wounds of God!
They nailed Him to the accursed tree;
They did, my brethren - and so did we!
The soldier pierced His side, 'tis true;
But we have pierced Him through and through!
O Jesus, never, never was there love like Yours!
~James Smith~
"He gave Himself for us - that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).
He gave Himself for us." Note the contrast between the Giver - and those for whom He gave Himself.
The Giver is He who was the only begotten Son of God, the author of creation, the sustainer of the universe, the brightness of divine glory, the source and end of all things! He who was proclaimed by the prophet as "the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace." He who is declared by the apostle to be "God over all - blessed for evermore!"
"He gave Himself for us." For US - who at the best are mere creatures, between whom and our Creator, there can be no comparison. But it was not for us as mere creatures - but for us as base, vile, insignificant, and totally depraved creatures! We had debased ourselves, even unto hell. Our nature could not be worse, for "the human heart is the most deceitful of all things - are desperately wicked!"
The most exalted, glorious, and holy being in the universe - gave Himself for the most vile, polluted, and degraded of His creatures!
O how astonishing!!
But He volunteered on our behalf, without any solicitation, offering to become our Substitute - to fulfill the law in our stead; our Sacrifice - to make a full atonement for our sins; and our Ransomer - to pay the satisfactory price for our redemption.
He engaged to bear the desert of all our sins in His own body - to suffer all that the inflexible justice of God could inflict on our Surety - and so put away our sins forever, by the sacrifice of Himself. He gave His person - for our persons; His blood - as our ransom price; and His life - for our lives!
He gave His entire self,doing and suffering all that was necessary to secure our release from sin's curse, and our everlasting salvation.
O amazing grace of a gracious Saviour!!
He gave Himself - that He might justify redeem, ransom, or deliver us - from the guilt, power, and penal consequences of sin. He gave Himself - to expiate the guilt, to destroy the power, and secure us against the eternal desert of our transgressions.
He gave Himself to purify unto Himself, by fully expiating their sins - a peculiar people: a people purchased - to be peculiarly His own; a people sanctified, separated from all others - to be set apart for Himself; a people to be His own subjects - as the King of Zion; a people to be His own soldiers - as the Captain of our salvation; a people to be His own servants - as the Lord of the house; a people to be His own children - as the everlasting Father!
"He gave Himself!" The love of Jesus is unparalleled. Out of pure love to us who had no love to Him, nor ever would have had - but for His first loving us! He gave, not only His time, His labor, His wealth - but HIMSELF! He gave His entire person as the God-man, the incarnate Jehovah!
"He gave Himself!" This was more than as if He had given a thousand worlds - for these He could create with a word!
"He gave Himself," and not even to die some easy and honorable death - but the most painful, shameful death, that any man ever invented, or any creature ever suffered!
O wondrous love!!
And WHY, dear Saviour - tell me why.
You thus would suffer, bleed and die?
What mighty motive could Thee move,
The motive's plain - 'twas all for love!
For love of whom? Of sinners base,
A hardened herd, a rebel race!
That mocked and trampled on Thy blood,
And trifled with the wounds of God!
They nailed Him to the accursed tree;
They did, my brethren - and so did we!
The soldier pierced His side, 'tis true;
But we have pierced Him through and through!
O Jesus, never, never was there love like Yours!
~James Smith~
The Fear of God # 3 (and others)
The Fear of God # 3 (and others)
Incentives for the Fear of God
It is not sufficient to be on guard against the sins which are contrary to the fear of God; rather, it is our great duty to conquer them all by the fear of God. The livelier the fear of God is - the less power will sin have over you. Therefore in the future commit yourself fully to tenderly fear the Lord your God - in order that the fear of God may guard you and direct your thoughts, words, and deeds. Oh, if only I could make you more lively in this! Give careful attention to the following incentives; may you be tender and pliable.
First, does not God have all the perfections within Himself which are able to engender reverence? He is majestic, glorious, omnipotent, holy, good, and awe-inspiring; that is His nature. How can anyone therefore be in the presence of God without fear and reverence?
Consider what has been expressed in the Word of God: "Who is like unto You, O Lord, among the gods? who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exodus 15:11); "That you may fear this glorious and fearful name - the Lord your God" (Deu. 28:58); "For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods" (1 Chron. 16:25; "O Lord God of heaven, the great and dreadful God" (Neh. 1:5). His wrath upon the sinner is dreadful. Who knows the power of Your anger? even according to Your fear, so is Your wrath" (Psalm 90:11). His goodness begets reverence in order that He may thus be feared in love. "But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared" (Psalm 130:4). Is it not proper, befitting, and requisite - that you, having been created by God and having received grace from God, fear this majestic God and tremble before Him?
Secondly, the root of the matter is indeed in you. You desire it and you cannot hear the fear of God mentioned, and your heart is inclined to it and your desires are stirred up. Why would you subdue this desire? All that has a principle of life is desirous for growth and perfection - which is thus also true for you in this respect. It is indeed natural if a servant fears his master and a child his father. You have chosen the Lord to be your Lord, and has not He given you the Holy Spirit of the adoption of children and set you among His children? Have you not entered into covenant with Him - that He would be a God unto you and that you would be the recipient of His favor? This must stir you up to fear your Lord and your Father. "If then I am a Father - where is My honor? And if I am a Master - where is My fear?" (Mal. 1:6). Acknowledge this relationship, and it will beget filial fear in you.
Thirdly, the fear of God is the fountain of all the holiness which delights you. Sinful lusts will lose their potency, corruptions which surface will readily be subdued, you will be stopped in the middle of sinning, and you will find yourself inclined toward the practice of all manner of virtues. "The fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Pro. 9:10); "The fear of the Lord is clean" (Psalm 19:9); "The fear of the Lord tends to life:" (Pro. 19:23); "...perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1).
Fourthly, the Lord has pleasure in those who fear Him. It ought to be a very precious matter to us - that God is pleased with us. It ought to be our great desire and earnest endeavor - to be pleasing to the Lord. God is, however, pleased with the fear of God, for therein the acknowledgement and the glorification of His perfections coalesce. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him" (Psalm 147:11). How lovely it is when man delights himself in God - and when God finds pleasure in man!
~Wilhelmus A'Brakel~
(The End)
_________________________
The Revival Song
(Tune: "There Shall be Showers")
Lord, we are hungry for blessing,
This is in tune with Thy Word;
Now, as our need we're confessing,
Give us new hearts, cleansed and stirred.
Chorus:
Visit our city,
Lord, save our nation, we pray.
Quicken our love and our zeal, and
Send us revival today!
Great is the need of our nations,
Great is the need of this hour;
Lord, we abhor our stagnation,
Answer with Holy Spirit power.
Look on our great desperation,
Hold back Thy judgment we pray;
Move through the length of our nation,
Open Thy windows today.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
_____________________
Nearer, Still Nearer
Nearer, still nearer, I draw to Thee,
All through the offering that Thou gavest me.
Jesus my Saviour, God's only Son,
Paid my redemption; now barriers are gone;
Paid my redemption; now barriers are gone.
Nearer, still nearer, Lord, I would come
All through the merits of Thine only Son;
His perfect offering cleanses my heart,
Now to this temple Thy Spirit impart;
Now to this temple Thy Spirit impart.
Nearer, still nearer; come more and more.
Jesus my Master, I long to adore
Thee for Thy mercy, patience and power;
Thee will I worship, rejoice evermore;
Thee will I worship, rejoice evermore.
Nearer, still nearer, down at Thy feet,
Through Thy atonement my offering's complete.
Sanctify body, spirit, and soul,
My all is utterly 'neath Thy control;
My all is utterly 'neath Thy control.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
Incentives for the Fear of God
It is not sufficient to be on guard against the sins which are contrary to the fear of God; rather, it is our great duty to conquer them all by the fear of God. The livelier the fear of God is - the less power will sin have over you. Therefore in the future commit yourself fully to tenderly fear the Lord your God - in order that the fear of God may guard you and direct your thoughts, words, and deeds. Oh, if only I could make you more lively in this! Give careful attention to the following incentives; may you be tender and pliable.
First, does not God have all the perfections within Himself which are able to engender reverence? He is majestic, glorious, omnipotent, holy, good, and awe-inspiring; that is His nature. How can anyone therefore be in the presence of God without fear and reverence?
Consider what has been expressed in the Word of God: "Who is like unto You, O Lord, among the gods? who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exodus 15:11); "That you may fear this glorious and fearful name - the Lord your God" (Deu. 28:58); "For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods" (1 Chron. 16:25; "O Lord God of heaven, the great and dreadful God" (Neh. 1:5). His wrath upon the sinner is dreadful. Who knows the power of Your anger? even according to Your fear, so is Your wrath" (Psalm 90:11). His goodness begets reverence in order that He may thus be feared in love. "But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared" (Psalm 130:4). Is it not proper, befitting, and requisite - that you, having been created by God and having received grace from God, fear this majestic God and tremble before Him?
Secondly, the root of the matter is indeed in you. You desire it and you cannot hear the fear of God mentioned, and your heart is inclined to it and your desires are stirred up. Why would you subdue this desire? All that has a principle of life is desirous for growth and perfection - which is thus also true for you in this respect. It is indeed natural if a servant fears his master and a child his father. You have chosen the Lord to be your Lord, and has not He given you the Holy Spirit of the adoption of children and set you among His children? Have you not entered into covenant with Him - that He would be a God unto you and that you would be the recipient of His favor? This must stir you up to fear your Lord and your Father. "If then I am a Father - where is My honor? And if I am a Master - where is My fear?" (Mal. 1:6). Acknowledge this relationship, and it will beget filial fear in you.
Thirdly, the fear of God is the fountain of all the holiness which delights you. Sinful lusts will lose their potency, corruptions which surface will readily be subdued, you will be stopped in the middle of sinning, and you will find yourself inclined toward the practice of all manner of virtues. "The fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Pro. 9:10); "The fear of the Lord is clean" (Psalm 19:9); "The fear of the Lord tends to life:" (Pro. 19:23); "...perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1).
Fourthly, the Lord has pleasure in those who fear Him. It ought to be a very precious matter to us - that God is pleased with us. It ought to be our great desire and earnest endeavor - to be pleasing to the Lord. God is, however, pleased with the fear of God, for therein the acknowledgement and the glorification of His perfections coalesce. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him" (Psalm 147:11). How lovely it is when man delights himself in God - and when God finds pleasure in man!
~Wilhelmus A'Brakel~
(The End)
_________________________
The Revival Song
(Tune: "There Shall be Showers")
Lord, we are hungry for blessing,
This is in tune with Thy Word;
Now, as our need we're confessing,
Give us new hearts, cleansed and stirred.
Chorus:
Visit our city,
Lord, save our nation, we pray.
Quicken our love and our zeal, and
Send us revival today!
Great is the need of our nations,
Great is the need of this hour;
Lord, we abhor our stagnation,
Answer with Holy Spirit power.
Look on our great desperation,
Hold back Thy judgment we pray;
Move through the length of our nation,
Open Thy windows today.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
_____________________
Nearer, Still Nearer
Nearer, still nearer, I draw to Thee,
All through the offering that Thou gavest me.
Jesus my Saviour, God's only Son,
Paid my redemption; now barriers are gone;
Paid my redemption; now barriers are gone.
Nearer, still nearer, Lord, I would come
All through the merits of Thine only Son;
His perfect offering cleanses my heart,
Now to this temple Thy Spirit impart;
Now to this temple Thy Spirit impart.
Nearer, still nearer; come more and more.
Jesus my Master, I long to adore
Thee for Thy mercy, patience and power;
Thee will I worship, rejoice evermore;
Thee will I worship, rejoice evermore.
Nearer, still nearer, down at Thy feet,
Through Thy atonement my offering's complete.
Sanctify body, spirit, and soul,
My all is utterly 'neath Thy control;
My all is utterly 'neath Thy control.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
Saturday, October 20, 2018
The Fear of God # 2
The Fear of God # 2
2. Be assured that if you continue on without fear for the Lord - even though you may peacefully approach your end - the terror of the Lord will at last come upon you. When you will be forsaken by everything, the Lord will be a terror to you and strike terror into you. Oh, how many there are who breathe their last breath with consternation and full of terror! Remember Belshazzar, and consider that you will also experience this. "Then the king's face turned pale with fear. Such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him!" (Dan. 5:6). In that condition he departed from life.
3. And even if no terror were to come upon you in this life and at death, you will nevertheless be overcome with fear on every side after your death. Then wrath and anger, oppression and consternation will eternally be upon you. Then you will know what it is to fall into the hands of God. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). Give heed to what is expressed in Psalm 76:7, "You, even You, are to be feared: and who may stand in Your sight when once You are angry?" It is in this manner that the prophet presents this terror, "The sinners of Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us will dwell with the devouring fire! who among us will dwell with everlasting burnings!" (Isaiah 33:14). Oh, that you would quietly reflect upon, and apply all this to yourself - and that you would believe it!
The Fear of God In Believers
We shall now turn to you, believers. You will indeed observe your deficiency in this, but you will also be able to perceive that the Lord has put the principle of His fear within you.
1. Do you not desire that disposition of the fear of God as we have described in this, judging it to be good and fitting, but you grieve that you have so little of it and are desirous for a greater measure of it. This is an indication that you are already a partaker of it, for the servants of God are described as such, "...Your servants, who desire to fear Your name" (Neh. 1:11).
2. Do you not perceive heartfelt intentions and initiatives to walk in the fear of the Lord? Can you find any delight in having subdued a sin and in having done some good, unless this has been done in the fear of God? And perceiving your deficiency and impotence toward that which you love, is it not frequently your earnest prayer to God - that He would fulfill His promise to you in putting His fear in your heart? Behold, there you have evidence that you have the nature of those who fear God. This was David's prayer: "Unite my heart to fear Your name" (Psalm 86:11).
3. Is your desire for the fear of God entirely impotent and your prayer entirely fruitless, or do you perceive the principles of it in your actions? Does not God reveal Himself to you in His majesty? Does not your heart say that the Lord is indeed worthy to be served? Are not reverential motions stirred up within you toward God? Do you not at times bow in reverence before Him? Has it not been your experience that, due to a sense of His majesty, you have cast your eyes downward, closed your eyes, and covered your face with your hands? Did not a holy trembling come upon you at times, and was it not your delight if these motions became more sensitive - yes, did it not cause you to rejoice when thinking upon this afterwards, wishing it to recur and that it would always be thus? Would you not have committed many sins, and neglected many holy things - if the fear of the Lord had not prevented you? Does not the fear of God nip many sins in the bud, and does not this motivate you to perform your duty? If these things are within you - you must be convinced of the truth, even though the measure is yet small. You will observe your disposition in Job: "I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of His splendor I could not do such things" (Job 31:23). Such was also true for Nehemiah: "...but I did not do so - because of the fear of God" (Neh. 5:15). Acknowledge therefore this received grace, and it will render you capable to read the following rebuke and exhortation, with benefit.
Believers Rebuked
The more clearly you will be convinced of the principles of the fear of God within you - the more you must grieve over your deficiency in the fear of God. These manifest themselves in the disposition of the heart, the penetration of sinful thoughts, words, and deeds contrary to the revelation of God's presence, and in the fear of man whereby the fear of God must consequently yield.
First, we are to be severely reprimanded, if, knowing that God is majestic, having experienced how good it is to humbly walk with the Majestic One, and knowing how invigorating it is to walk in the way of uprightness, we nevertheless neglect to thus focus upon the Lord and fear Him continually. This makes us vulnerable to all kinds of sin. When the doorkeeper sleeps with the door wide open - every lust can then enter without any impediment! And even if we are aware of this, there is nevertheless no strength to oppose it, and we are overcome before realizing it. If then, with Samson, we wish to offer resistance, we shall have lost our strength.
Secondly, this is followed by a disposition which is yet more evil, namely, when we even proceed to satisfy this lust, doing so not only when our conscience points out its evil, and counsels us not to begin; and upon having begun, counseled us to desist from and subdue the lust, to be silent in the midst of an evil discourse, and to refrain from the sin which we are currently committing; but also when our conscience causes us to reflect upon God and His majesty.
Indeed, this is especially true (which is most abominable) when God manifests Himself to the soul, sensibly discourages the soul from sin, and, so to speak, shakes His finger and says, "Behold! I am here, and I certainly see what you are doing! Cease sinning - or else I shall cause you to feel my displeasure!"
It is a setting aside of the fear of God, a grieving of the Holy Spirit, and the inflicting of a deadly wound upon the soul when, due to the agitation of sin, we are driven onward and seek to hide ourselves from the presence of God in order to be able to proceed, and then actually prevail in carrying out the sin which is at hand. If God were not infinitely longsuffering and immutable, He would cast away such impudent souls!
The third sin committed is to fear man - a sin to which the godly are still vulnerable. If we have not yet fully denied ourselves in regard to honor, love, advantage, and pleasure, nor are much inclined to acknowledge the insignificance of man (that is, that man can neither stir nor move, can do neither good nor evil to us), and we have not accustomed ourselves to see the hand of the Lord in all things, thus perceiving that God alone does everything, and that all men are but instruments in His hand, being used either to do good or evil unto us - this will engender a looking unto man.
We fear man when in sickness, legal cases, business transactions, in pursuing our desire which must be attained. We are fearful of loosing their favor. When we fear man, the fear of God is rendered inferior and must yield. If, however, the fear of man motivates us to do something which is contrary to the fear of God, then we reject the fear of God because of the fear of man. This is a dreadful sin, for first of all God has forbidden it. "Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; ..."(Matthew 10:28).
Secondly, it is the greatest act of contempt toward God if He must yield to man for you. It is idolatry and a sin of the heathen.
Thirdly, it is a denial of the providence of God - as if God did not reign; as if the creature could function independently.
~Wilhelmus A'Brakel~
(continued with # 3)
2. Be assured that if you continue on without fear for the Lord - even though you may peacefully approach your end - the terror of the Lord will at last come upon you. When you will be forsaken by everything, the Lord will be a terror to you and strike terror into you. Oh, how many there are who breathe their last breath with consternation and full of terror! Remember Belshazzar, and consider that you will also experience this. "Then the king's face turned pale with fear. Such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him!" (Dan. 5:6). In that condition he departed from life.
3. And even if no terror were to come upon you in this life and at death, you will nevertheless be overcome with fear on every side after your death. Then wrath and anger, oppression and consternation will eternally be upon you. Then you will know what it is to fall into the hands of God. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). Give heed to what is expressed in Psalm 76:7, "You, even You, are to be feared: and who may stand in Your sight when once You are angry?" It is in this manner that the prophet presents this terror, "The sinners of Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us will dwell with the devouring fire! who among us will dwell with everlasting burnings!" (Isaiah 33:14). Oh, that you would quietly reflect upon, and apply all this to yourself - and that you would believe it!
The Fear of God In Believers
We shall now turn to you, believers. You will indeed observe your deficiency in this, but you will also be able to perceive that the Lord has put the principle of His fear within you.
1. Do you not desire that disposition of the fear of God as we have described in this, judging it to be good and fitting, but you grieve that you have so little of it and are desirous for a greater measure of it. This is an indication that you are already a partaker of it, for the servants of God are described as such, "...Your servants, who desire to fear Your name" (Neh. 1:11).
2. Do you not perceive heartfelt intentions and initiatives to walk in the fear of the Lord? Can you find any delight in having subdued a sin and in having done some good, unless this has been done in the fear of God? And perceiving your deficiency and impotence toward that which you love, is it not frequently your earnest prayer to God - that He would fulfill His promise to you in putting His fear in your heart? Behold, there you have evidence that you have the nature of those who fear God. This was David's prayer: "Unite my heart to fear Your name" (Psalm 86:11).
3. Is your desire for the fear of God entirely impotent and your prayer entirely fruitless, or do you perceive the principles of it in your actions? Does not God reveal Himself to you in His majesty? Does not your heart say that the Lord is indeed worthy to be served? Are not reverential motions stirred up within you toward God? Do you not at times bow in reverence before Him? Has it not been your experience that, due to a sense of His majesty, you have cast your eyes downward, closed your eyes, and covered your face with your hands? Did not a holy trembling come upon you at times, and was it not your delight if these motions became more sensitive - yes, did it not cause you to rejoice when thinking upon this afterwards, wishing it to recur and that it would always be thus? Would you not have committed many sins, and neglected many holy things - if the fear of the Lord had not prevented you? Does not the fear of God nip many sins in the bud, and does not this motivate you to perform your duty? If these things are within you - you must be convinced of the truth, even though the measure is yet small. You will observe your disposition in Job: "I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of His splendor I could not do such things" (Job 31:23). Such was also true for Nehemiah: "...but I did not do so - because of the fear of God" (Neh. 5:15). Acknowledge therefore this received grace, and it will render you capable to read the following rebuke and exhortation, with benefit.
Believers Rebuked
The more clearly you will be convinced of the principles of the fear of God within you - the more you must grieve over your deficiency in the fear of God. These manifest themselves in the disposition of the heart, the penetration of sinful thoughts, words, and deeds contrary to the revelation of God's presence, and in the fear of man whereby the fear of God must consequently yield.
First, we are to be severely reprimanded, if, knowing that God is majestic, having experienced how good it is to humbly walk with the Majestic One, and knowing how invigorating it is to walk in the way of uprightness, we nevertheless neglect to thus focus upon the Lord and fear Him continually. This makes us vulnerable to all kinds of sin. When the doorkeeper sleeps with the door wide open - every lust can then enter without any impediment! And even if we are aware of this, there is nevertheless no strength to oppose it, and we are overcome before realizing it. If then, with Samson, we wish to offer resistance, we shall have lost our strength.
Secondly, this is followed by a disposition which is yet more evil, namely, when we even proceed to satisfy this lust, doing so not only when our conscience points out its evil, and counsels us not to begin; and upon having begun, counseled us to desist from and subdue the lust, to be silent in the midst of an evil discourse, and to refrain from the sin which we are currently committing; but also when our conscience causes us to reflect upon God and His majesty.
Indeed, this is especially true (which is most abominable) when God manifests Himself to the soul, sensibly discourages the soul from sin, and, so to speak, shakes His finger and says, "Behold! I am here, and I certainly see what you are doing! Cease sinning - or else I shall cause you to feel my displeasure!"
It is a setting aside of the fear of God, a grieving of the Holy Spirit, and the inflicting of a deadly wound upon the soul when, due to the agitation of sin, we are driven onward and seek to hide ourselves from the presence of God in order to be able to proceed, and then actually prevail in carrying out the sin which is at hand. If God were not infinitely longsuffering and immutable, He would cast away such impudent souls!
The third sin committed is to fear man - a sin to which the godly are still vulnerable. If we have not yet fully denied ourselves in regard to honor, love, advantage, and pleasure, nor are much inclined to acknowledge the insignificance of man (that is, that man can neither stir nor move, can do neither good nor evil to us), and we have not accustomed ourselves to see the hand of the Lord in all things, thus perceiving that God alone does everything, and that all men are but instruments in His hand, being used either to do good or evil unto us - this will engender a looking unto man.
We fear man when in sickness, legal cases, business transactions, in pursuing our desire which must be attained. We are fearful of loosing their favor. When we fear man, the fear of God is rendered inferior and must yield. If, however, the fear of man motivates us to do something which is contrary to the fear of God, then we reject the fear of God because of the fear of man. This is a dreadful sin, for first of all God has forbidden it. "Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; ..."(Matthew 10:28).
Secondly, it is the greatest act of contempt toward God if He must yield to man for you. It is idolatry and a sin of the heathen.
Thirdly, it is a denial of the providence of God - as if God did not reign; as if the creature could function independently.
~Wilhelmus A'Brakel~
(continued with # 3)
The Fear of God # 1
The Fear of God # 1
The Word "Fear" Defined
"Fear" is either expressive of reverence or terror. Fear as terror is generally expressed by the Hebrew words magor, and pacadh, and by the Greek word Phobos. Fear as being reverence is denominated in Hebrew as yirah, and in Greek as eulabeia. However, these words are occasionally also used without this distinction.
Fear issues forth from love either for ourselves or for God. Self-love engenders fear when something occurs which could deprive us of something good or whereby some evil could befall us. We fear deprivation, or the evil itself, and whatever or whoever would deprive us of that which is good, or whereby evil could be inflicted upon us.
God has created self-love in man and wills that we make use of it. The law requires that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:39). It is therefore not sinful to fear deprivation and evil. This fear was inherent in Adam's nature prior to the fall, even though there was no occasion for this fear to arise in him. The Lord Jesus also had such fear (Matt. 26:37; Heb. 5:7). One may indeed be fearful of death and other discomforts, and thus also of wild animals and evil men.
This fear becomes evil, however, if it begets the use of evil means - either to preserve or acquire that which is good, or to avoid evil. This is true if we fear man more than God and, in neglecting both the fear of God and obedience toward His commandments, we seek to get man on our side in sinful ways. We then give no heed as to whether we displease God; as long as we can please men in order that they will do us no evil, but good. "Do not fear not those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).
Since we must have love for ourselves, and fear issues forth therefrom, we must have more fear for evil which relates to the soul than to the body. Since, the soul's well or woe is dependent upon God, we must be fearful out of love for our own salvation, and must fear God's judgments. "My flesh trembles for fear of You; and I am afraid of Your judgments" (Psalm 119:120). An unconverted person must also, by fear for the eternal wrath of God, be persuaded to believe (2 Cor. 5:11). A converted person must, for fear of spiritual harm, stir himself up to be earnest. "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb. 4:1).
The Definition and Nature of Filial (Godly) Fear
Filial fear is a holy inclination of the heart, generated by God in the hearts of His children, whereby they, out of reverence for God, take careful pains not to displease God, and earnestly endeavor to please Him in all things. It is a motion of the heart. The noble soul is gifted with emotions, and dependent upon what the objects are, is moved to either joy or sorrow, love or hatred, fear or fearlessness. As far as the fear of God is concerned, man is insensitive, hard, and without emotion. "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18). In regeneration, however, the heart of stone is removed and a heart of flesh is received, which is soft and pliable, and is very readily moved upon beholding God, dependent upon the measure in which God reveals Himself to the soul. If God is perceived as being majestic, a motion immediately arises within their soul - a motion which is befitting to the creature, in respect to God. It is a holy motion. Since an unconverted person is in essence nothing but sin,also all that proceeds from him is distorted. The ability to fear is directed toward an erroneous object and is exercised in a disorderly fashion. Believers, however, having been sanctified in principle, are also sanctified as far as their inner motions are concerned. Their fear has a proper object and consequently functions in a holy manner, that is, in faith and love. They are devout and fear God (Acts 10:2).
God generates this holy motion. By nature man is totally unfit for any good work. He finds no delight in God and has no desire to fear the Lord. He may be terrified of God, but he cannot fear Him rightly. However, God enables His own people to fear Him. "I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me" (Jer. 32:40). The Holy Spirit is therefore called "the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:2).
This filial fear is found in the hearts of God's children. The heart is the seat of all emotions - evil as well as good. God has enclosed this precious gift in the hearts of His children, and all the motions relative to fear proceed from the heart. Their fear neither consists in talk, refraining from evil and doing good, nor in the appearance of fear - but rather in truth. The heart, intellect, will, and affections are involved here, and the heart brings forth various deeds which manifest the fear of God. Only God's children truly fear the Lord, and therefore those who have this virtue are called God-fearing people. "...the same man was just and devout" (Luke 2:25); "...devout men" (Acts 2:5); "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial" (Acts 8:2).
Filial fear is engendered by reverence for God. God is the object of this fear. "O fear the Lord, you His saints" (Psalm 34:9). God is eminent, glorious, and majestic within Himself - even if there were no creatures. "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty" (1 Chr. 29:11). Hereby God is awe-inspiring in and of Himself. With the advent of intelligent creatures who observe the brilliance of His glory, it cannot but be that they have reverence for Him, who is both infinite and majestic.
A natural man does not know God. Therefore he may be fearful of His judgments, for calamities, and sometimes may acknowledge God to be solemn, but he cannot have reverence for Him. That is the privilege and blessedness of believers. A sinful person cannot tolerate God's majesty. He would flee in terror from God, for He is to him a consuming fire. However, in Christ - God is a reconciled Father to His children, and therefore they simultaneously love and revere Him. "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11).
The Serious Consequence of Being Void of the Fear of God.
1. Be assured that God will give you a fearful and trembling heart as long as you do not fear Him, so that you will find neither rest nor safety anywhere. Rather, your own heart and conscience will be continually tormented. The wish of David will come upon you. 'Put them in fear, O Lord" (Psalm 9:20). Be assured that the curse which the Lord threatens - will come upon you. "The Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. Your lives will hang in doubt. You will live night and day in fear, with no reason to believe that you will see the morning light. In the morning you will say, "If only it were night!" And in the evening you will say, "If only it were morning!" You will say this because of your terror at the awesome horrors you see around you" (Deu. 28:65-67). "You will live there in such constant fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing.
~Wilhelmus A'Brakel~
(continued with # 2)
The Word "Fear" Defined
"Fear" is either expressive of reverence or terror. Fear as terror is generally expressed by the Hebrew words magor, and pacadh, and by the Greek word Phobos. Fear as being reverence is denominated in Hebrew as yirah, and in Greek as eulabeia. However, these words are occasionally also used without this distinction.
Fear issues forth from love either for ourselves or for God. Self-love engenders fear when something occurs which could deprive us of something good or whereby some evil could befall us. We fear deprivation, or the evil itself, and whatever or whoever would deprive us of that which is good, or whereby evil could be inflicted upon us.
God has created self-love in man and wills that we make use of it. The law requires that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:39). It is therefore not sinful to fear deprivation and evil. This fear was inherent in Adam's nature prior to the fall, even though there was no occasion for this fear to arise in him. The Lord Jesus also had such fear (Matt. 26:37; Heb. 5:7). One may indeed be fearful of death and other discomforts, and thus also of wild animals and evil men.
This fear becomes evil, however, if it begets the use of evil means - either to preserve or acquire that which is good, or to avoid evil. This is true if we fear man more than God and, in neglecting both the fear of God and obedience toward His commandments, we seek to get man on our side in sinful ways. We then give no heed as to whether we displease God; as long as we can please men in order that they will do us no evil, but good. "Do not fear not those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).
Since we must have love for ourselves, and fear issues forth therefrom, we must have more fear for evil which relates to the soul than to the body. Since, the soul's well or woe is dependent upon God, we must be fearful out of love for our own salvation, and must fear God's judgments. "My flesh trembles for fear of You; and I am afraid of Your judgments" (Psalm 119:120). An unconverted person must also, by fear for the eternal wrath of God, be persuaded to believe (2 Cor. 5:11). A converted person must, for fear of spiritual harm, stir himself up to be earnest. "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb. 4:1).
The Definition and Nature of Filial (Godly) Fear
Filial fear is a holy inclination of the heart, generated by God in the hearts of His children, whereby they, out of reverence for God, take careful pains not to displease God, and earnestly endeavor to please Him in all things. It is a motion of the heart. The noble soul is gifted with emotions, and dependent upon what the objects are, is moved to either joy or sorrow, love or hatred, fear or fearlessness. As far as the fear of God is concerned, man is insensitive, hard, and without emotion. "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18). In regeneration, however, the heart of stone is removed and a heart of flesh is received, which is soft and pliable, and is very readily moved upon beholding God, dependent upon the measure in which God reveals Himself to the soul. If God is perceived as being majestic, a motion immediately arises within their soul - a motion which is befitting to the creature, in respect to God. It is a holy motion. Since an unconverted person is in essence nothing but sin,also all that proceeds from him is distorted. The ability to fear is directed toward an erroneous object and is exercised in a disorderly fashion. Believers, however, having been sanctified in principle, are also sanctified as far as their inner motions are concerned. Their fear has a proper object and consequently functions in a holy manner, that is, in faith and love. They are devout and fear God (Acts 10:2).
God generates this holy motion. By nature man is totally unfit for any good work. He finds no delight in God and has no desire to fear the Lord. He may be terrified of God, but he cannot fear Him rightly. However, God enables His own people to fear Him. "I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me" (Jer. 32:40). The Holy Spirit is therefore called "the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:2).
This filial fear is found in the hearts of God's children. The heart is the seat of all emotions - evil as well as good. God has enclosed this precious gift in the hearts of His children, and all the motions relative to fear proceed from the heart. Their fear neither consists in talk, refraining from evil and doing good, nor in the appearance of fear - but rather in truth. The heart, intellect, will, and affections are involved here, and the heart brings forth various deeds which manifest the fear of God. Only God's children truly fear the Lord, and therefore those who have this virtue are called God-fearing people. "...the same man was just and devout" (Luke 2:25); "...devout men" (Acts 2:5); "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial" (Acts 8:2).
Filial fear is engendered by reverence for God. God is the object of this fear. "O fear the Lord, you His saints" (Psalm 34:9). God is eminent, glorious, and majestic within Himself - even if there were no creatures. "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty" (1 Chr. 29:11). Hereby God is awe-inspiring in and of Himself. With the advent of intelligent creatures who observe the brilliance of His glory, it cannot but be that they have reverence for Him, who is both infinite and majestic.
A natural man does not know God. Therefore he may be fearful of His judgments, for calamities, and sometimes may acknowledge God to be solemn, but he cannot have reverence for Him. That is the privilege and blessedness of believers. A sinful person cannot tolerate God's majesty. He would flee in terror from God, for He is to him a consuming fire. However, in Christ - God is a reconciled Father to His children, and therefore they simultaneously love and revere Him. "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11).
The Serious Consequence of Being Void of the Fear of God.
1. Be assured that God will give you a fearful and trembling heart as long as you do not fear Him, so that you will find neither rest nor safety anywhere. Rather, your own heart and conscience will be continually tormented. The wish of David will come upon you. 'Put them in fear, O Lord" (Psalm 9:20). Be assured that the curse which the Lord threatens - will come upon you. "The Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. Your lives will hang in doubt. You will live night and day in fear, with no reason to believe that you will see the morning light. In the morning you will say, "If only it were night!" And in the evening you will say, "If only it were morning!" You will say this because of your terror at the awesome horrors you see around you" (Deu. 28:65-67). "You will live there in such constant fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing.
~Wilhelmus A'Brakel~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, October 13, 2018
What Seek Ye? (and others)
What Seek Ye? (and others)
We all get what we seek in the end - let me say it differently, "The God we seek, is the God we find."
This truth becomes our hope of glory - or the cause of our destruction. John says, "We shall be like him for we shall see Him" (1 John 3:2).
The church has presented an image of God, not engraved in stone, but rather engraved in words by the reasoning of man's mind and the influences of the age in which we live. The phony word games of the present political sphere are but a pale reflection of the unconscionable manipulation of spiritual truth within the church. We've "taken away" and "added to" until the Christ revealed in the Word by the Spirit has become the Christ of our convenience and our comfort. But we only fool ourselves; we can't "take from" or "add to" God.
As a nation, and also as the nominal church throughout the world, our time has run out. For us, as individuals only, there is time to decide what it is that we really seek. The self-gratifying image conjured up by our minds will not meet the test of reality. The world hastens hell-bent to destruction. Only a true vision of the true Christ can meet our needs. We must see Him as He is or we must perish!
The abundance of the life of Christ awaits us, not as the answer to our declarations of faith, but as a filling of the empty vessel or our lives given to Him, not because of our strength but because of our need, not because of what we are but because of what He is.
I believe God will form for Himself new people - a people whose eyes have been opened to see Him, a people who esteem all things loss for the knowledge of the Son of God, a people who seek the heavenly unmixed with any of the goals of this world's hopes, or fears, or ambitions, a people who, out of weakness and total human inadequacy, are made strong through His indwelling Spirit.
God is seeking, a people who will leave the old life with its values and priorities. A people who will put God first. A people whose eyes are not on the earthly kingdom and what it can offer them. A people whose home is in the heavenlies and whose life "dwells with Christ in God."
A time is upon us when all that can be shaken will be shaken. Those of God's people who have built on shakable things will be desolate. But those whose heart is fixed on the unshakable dimensions of God will rejoice as they see with clearer vision the beauty, the glory, and the eternal fullness of those things which remain.
The Word is still true: if we seek...we shall find.
The God we seek is the God we find. He will reveal - and in that revelation we will see the purpose of life and know its life-giving flow in our whole being.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
_______________________
It Was the Golden Link of Love
"May you have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Oh, such was Christ's transcendent love - that man's extreme misery could not abate it. The deploredness of man's condition did but heighten the holy flame of Christ's love. It is as high as heaven, who can reach it? It is as low as hell, who can understand it?
Heaven, with all its glory, could not contain Him. Neither could all hell's torments make Him refrain! Such was His perfect matchless love to fallen and miserable man. That Christ's love should extend to the ungodly, to sinners, to enemies who were in rebellion against Him; yes, not only so - but that He should hug them in His arms, lodge them in His bosom - is the highest degree of love!
It is astonishing that Christ should come from the eternal bosom of His Father - to a region of sorrow and death; that God - should be manifested in the flesh; that the Creator - should be made a creature; that He who was clothed with glory - should be wrapped with rags of flesh; that He who filled heaven - should be cradled in a feeding trough; that the God of strength - should be weary; that the Judge of all men - should be condemned; that the God of life - should be put to death.
The sharp sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, from the cradle to the Cross, does above all other things, speak out the transcendent love of Christ to poor sinners.
That wrath, that great wrath, that fierce wrath,k that pure wrath, that infinite wrath, that matchless wrath of an angry God - which was so terribly impressed upon the soul of Christ - all this wrath He patiently underwent, that sinners might be saved, and that "He might bring many souls unto glory."
It was the golden link of love, which alone fastened Christ to the Cross, and made Him die freely for us!!
Christ's love is beyond all measure, for time did not begin it, and time shall never end it; place does not bound it; sin does not exceed it; tongues cannot express it; minds cannot conceive it.
Well may we spend all our days in admiring and adoring of Christ"s wonderful love - and be always ravished with the thoughts of it.
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it" (Ephesians 3:19).
~Thomas Brooks~
We all get what we seek in the end - let me say it differently, "The God we seek, is the God we find."
This truth becomes our hope of glory - or the cause of our destruction. John says, "We shall be like him for we shall see Him" (1 John 3:2).
The church has presented an image of God, not engraved in stone, but rather engraved in words by the reasoning of man's mind and the influences of the age in which we live. The phony word games of the present political sphere are but a pale reflection of the unconscionable manipulation of spiritual truth within the church. We've "taken away" and "added to" until the Christ revealed in the Word by the Spirit has become the Christ of our convenience and our comfort. But we only fool ourselves; we can't "take from" or "add to" God.
As a nation, and also as the nominal church throughout the world, our time has run out. For us, as individuals only, there is time to decide what it is that we really seek. The self-gratifying image conjured up by our minds will not meet the test of reality. The world hastens hell-bent to destruction. Only a true vision of the true Christ can meet our needs. We must see Him as He is or we must perish!
The abundance of the life of Christ awaits us, not as the answer to our declarations of faith, but as a filling of the empty vessel or our lives given to Him, not because of our strength but because of our need, not because of what we are but because of what He is.
I believe God will form for Himself new people - a people whose eyes have been opened to see Him, a people who esteem all things loss for the knowledge of the Son of God, a people who seek the heavenly unmixed with any of the goals of this world's hopes, or fears, or ambitions, a people who, out of weakness and total human inadequacy, are made strong through His indwelling Spirit.
God is seeking, a people who will leave the old life with its values and priorities. A people who will put God first. A people whose eyes are not on the earthly kingdom and what it can offer them. A people whose home is in the heavenlies and whose life "dwells with Christ in God."
A time is upon us when all that can be shaken will be shaken. Those of God's people who have built on shakable things will be desolate. But those whose heart is fixed on the unshakable dimensions of God will rejoice as they see with clearer vision the beauty, the glory, and the eternal fullness of those things which remain.
The Word is still true: if we seek...we shall find.
The God we seek is the God we find. He will reveal - and in that revelation we will see the purpose of life and know its life-giving flow in our whole being.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
_______________________
It Was the Golden Link of Love
"May you have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Oh, such was Christ's transcendent love - that man's extreme misery could not abate it. The deploredness of man's condition did but heighten the holy flame of Christ's love. It is as high as heaven, who can reach it? It is as low as hell, who can understand it?
Heaven, with all its glory, could not contain Him. Neither could all hell's torments make Him refrain! Such was His perfect matchless love to fallen and miserable man. That Christ's love should extend to the ungodly, to sinners, to enemies who were in rebellion against Him; yes, not only so - but that He should hug them in His arms, lodge them in His bosom - is the highest degree of love!
It is astonishing that Christ should come from the eternal bosom of His Father - to a region of sorrow and death; that God - should be manifested in the flesh; that the Creator - should be made a creature; that He who was clothed with glory - should be wrapped with rags of flesh; that He who filled heaven - should be cradled in a feeding trough; that the God of strength - should be weary; that the Judge of all men - should be condemned; that the God of life - should be put to death.
The sharp sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, from the cradle to the Cross, does above all other things, speak out the transcendent love of Christ to poor sinners.
That wrath, that great wrath, that fierce wrath,k that pure wrath, that infinite wrath, that matchless wrath of an angry God - which was so terribly impressed upon the soul of Christ - all this wrath He patiently underwent, that sinners might be saved, and that "He might bring many souls unto glory."
It was the golden link of love, which alone fastened Christ to the Cross, and made Him die freely for us!!
Christ's love is beyond all measure, for time did not begin it, and time shall never end it; place does not bound it; sin does not exceed it; tongues cannot express it; minds cannot conceive it.
Well may we spend all our days in admiring and adoring of Christ"s wonderful love - and be always ravished with the thoughts of it.
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it" (Ephesians 3:19).
~Thomas Brooks~
Stumbling Stones - or Stepping Stones?
Stumbling Stones - or Stepping Stones?
Things may either be stumbling stones or stepping stones to us. They may be hindrances or helps - trials or blessings. What they prove to be, depends not so much on their nature - as upon our attitude toward them. It is not our opportunities that count - but the use we make of them. It is not how much money we possess - but the wisdom which we display in its expenditure. It is not how many obstacles we meet in life - but the manner in which we meet them. It is not the soul who has the fewest trials and difficulties which prospers most - but the one who meets them with courage and confident trust. Some are crushed down with despair - by the very things that stir others to renewed effort and courage!
What our trials are to us - depends on what we are to them. This is well illustrated in Elijah's experience. The king and queen were his bitter enemies. He feared them and fled away and lived in hiding. He was afraid, lest he should e betrayed to them. He looked to his enemies; he saw their power, he looked at himself, and saw his own impotence. And so he dwelt in fear.
But the time came when God spoke to him, and as he looked to God, he began to see God's greatness - and his soul was lifted up with courage. His own weakness and the might of his enemies faded away from his gaze. He came out boldly and challenged the idolatrous part to a test of strength. Single-handed and alone, we see him walk out before the assembled multitude, superior to them all. There is no fear in his heart now. He is not in the least daunted by his adversaries. He can look them squarely in the eyes without shrinking. His heart is full of confidence. He knows whom he is trusting. Throughout the long day while the priests of Baal are calling so earnestly upon their powerless idols - the prophet is the calmest man of all. He is looking on God's side now, and he is master of the whole situation. He even grows ironic toward his enemies.
The outcome does not surprise us, for we know the God he served. He was victorious now - but let us look at him a few days later. Under a juniper tree in the wilderness sits a man, weary and dejected. He has fled for his life - but now even his life has lost its value; and he says, "It is enough - now, O Lord, take away my life!"
Elijah has fallen from the summit of victory - to the depths of despair. What occasioned this great change? Things did not turn out as he had expected them to. Instead of the queen being humbled by the display of God's power - she was only made harder and her anger became more fierce. And when Elijah heard her threat to kill him, he lost sight of God - and saw only the anger of the queen and his own weakness and danger. So his heart was filled with fear, and he fled as a hunted animal does to the depths of the wilderness.
So long as he looked to God - he was victorious over his enemies and fearless as a lion; they could not harm him. But when he looked upon the strength of his foes and his own weakness and lost sight of God - then he was overcome with fear and fled terror-stricken!
What made the difference in his conduct? Were not his enemies the same? Was not their wrath to be feared as much one time as another? Was not God protecting and keeping him all the time? Had he need to feat them more at one time, than at another? The secret of his different behavior, was his attitude toward them. When he feared them - then they were stumbling-stones to him. When he feared them not - then their enmity became the stepping-stone by which he was raised to the lofty height of victory.
The same principle is true in our lives. If we approach a conflict or trial with fear and trembling and shrinking - then it will very likely prove a stumbling-stone to us. But if we approach it with calm confidence in God and a settled determination to overcome - then we may make it a stepping-stone upon which we may mount to higher and better things.
Sometimes things that are at first very discouraging to us - afterwards become sources of help and encouragement. It is not that the things themselves change - but merely because we see them from a different angle.
This is well illustrated by the effect of my long affliction. One of the worst thing that I had to face in the first two or three years of my debilitating illness, was the consciousness of the depressing and discouraging influence that it was having upon others, not only upon those about me - but upon many people here and there,as evidenced by numerous letters showing that the effect was wide-spread. It seemed to be a hindrance to the faith of many people. But in the last several years, I have received many letters telling me how greatly the writers had been encouraged and helped by my affliction. The affliction itself was the same - the change was in them; for that which was once a source of discouragement would have continued so - had they continued to look at it a they had formerly done. The fact that the changed attitude, changed the effect - shows that it is not so much the thing itself - as our attitude inward it that affects us.
It is so in regard to all things. We have need to learn the lesson that one sister learned. Speaking of the early months of my affliction, she writes, "At that time it was a hindrance to my faith; but it has ceased to be so, for I have learned not to ask why - but to have faith in God and wait and trust.
Learning to wait and trust is the secret. This gives God the opportunity to bring about that which is best. How could we know the virtue of patience - if no one had a trial of his patience? If we looked only at the trial - where would be the blessing? We often must look beyond the the things which first appear. We must often look as "the things which are not seen" - that we may have courage to meet the thing that are seen. It is when we do this, that our trials become blessings; our stumbling-stones become stepping-stones!
When we face things courageously and hold to our course steadily through the storm or when we bear opposition and trials patiently and hold fast our integrity through temptation - then it is then that we mount up by means of these very things to a loftier height and a broader outlook.
It is easy to go down to the valley of discouragement. It takes no effort to let a thing weigh us down. We can easily let our courage and our confidence slip. But in life it is the uphill climbing which counts. Every time you overcome - you have made progress upward. If you see a trial coming, do not shrink and do not fear. Do not say, "Oh, how shall I bear it!"
God designs that your trials shall help you - not hinder you. He could keep you from having them - if it were the wisest and best thing for you. But He sees that you need trials - yes, that you must have them, or you will never rise above your present level. Look for the good in them - count them as blessings. Meet them bravely, and you will find them in truth stepping-stones, not stumbling-stones!
~Charles Naylor~
(The End)
Things may either be stumbling stones or stepping stones to us. They may be hindrances or helps - trials or blessings. What they prove to be, depends not so much on their nature - as upon our attitude toward them. It is not our opportunities that count - but the use we make of them. It is not how much money we possess - but the wisdom which we display in its expenditure. It is not how many obstacles we meet in life - but the manner in which we meet them. It is not the soul who has the fewest trials and difficulties which prospers most - but the one who meets them with courage and confident trust. Some are crushed down with despair - by the very things that stir others to renewed effort and courage!
What our trials are to us - depends on what we are to them. This is well illustrated in Elijah's experience. The king and queen were his bitter enemies. He feared them and fled away and lived in hiding. He was afraid, lest he should e betrayed to them. He looked to his enemies; he saw their power, he looked at himself, and saw his own impotence. And so he dwelt in fear.
But the time came when God spoke to him, and as he looked to God, he began to see God's greatness - and his soul was lifted up with courage. His own weakness and the might of his enemies faded away from his gaze. He came out boldly and challenged the idolatrous part to a test of strength. Single-handed and alone, we see him walk out before the assembled multitude, superior to them all. There is no fear in his heart now. He is not in the least daunted by his adversaries. He can look them squarely in the eyes without shrinking. His heart is full of confidence. He knows whom he is trusting. Throughout the long day while the priests of Baal are calling so earnestly upon their powerless idols - the prophet is the calmest man of all. He is looking on God's side now, and he is master of the whole situation. He even grows ironic toward his enemies.
The outcome does not surprise us, for we know the God he served. He was victorious now - but let us look at him a few days later. Under a juniper tree in the wilderness sits a man, weary and dejected. He has fled for his life - but now even his life has lost its value; and he says, "It is enough - now, O Lord, take away my life!"
Elijah has fallen from the summit of victory - to the depths of despair. What occasioned this great change? Things did not turn out as he had expected them to. Instead of the queen being humbled by the display of God's power - she was only made harder and her anger became more fierce. And when Elijah heard her threat to kill him, he lost sight of God - and saw only the anger of the queen and his own weakness and danger. So his heart was filled with fear, and he fled as a hunted animal does to the depths of the wilderness.
So long as he looked to God - he was victorious over his enemies and fearless as a lion; they could not harm him. But when he looked upon the strength of his foes and his own weakness and lost sight of God - then he was overcome with fear and fled terror-stricken!
What made the difference in his conduct? Were not his enemies the same? Was not their wrath to be feared as much one time as another? Was not God protecting and keeping him all the time? Had he need to feat them more at one time, than at another? The secret of his different behavior, was his attitude toward them. When he feared them - then they were stumbling-stones to him. When he feared them not - then their enmity became the stepping-stone by which he was raised to the lofty height of victory.
The same principle is true in our lives. If we approach a conflict or trial with fear and trembling and shrinking - then it will very likely prove a stumbling-stone to us. But if we approach it with calm confidence in God and a settled determination to overcome - then we may make it a stepping-stone upon which we may mount to higher and better things.
Sometimes things that are at first very discouraging to us - afterwards become sources of help and encouragement. It is not that the things themselves change - but merely because we see them from a different angle.
This is well illustrated by the effect of my long affliction. One of the worst thing that I had to face in the first two or three years of my debilitating illness, was the consciousness of the depressing and discouraging influence that it was having upon others, not only upon those about me - but upon many people here and there,as evidenced by numerous letters showing that the effect was wide-spread. It seemed to be a hindrance to the faith of many people. But in the last several years, I have received many letters telling me how greatly the writers had been encouraged and helped by my affliction. The affliction itself was the same - the change was in them; for that which was once a source of discouragement would have continued so - had they continued to look at it a they had formerly done. The fact that the changed attitude, changed the effect - shows that it is not so much the thing itself - as our attitude inward it that affects us.
It is so in regard to all things. We have need to learn the lesson that one sister learned. Speaking of the early months of my affliction, she writes, "At that time it was a hindrance to my faith; but it has ceased to be so, for I have learned not to ask why - but to have faith in God and wait and trust.
Learning to wait and trust is the secret. This gives God the opportunity to bring about that which is best. How could we know the virtue of patience - if no one had a trial of his patience? If we looked only at the trial - where would be the blessing? We often must look beyond the the things which first appear. We must often look as "the things which are not seen" - that we may have courage to meet the thing that are seen. It is when we do this, that our trials become blessings; our stumbling-stones become stepping-stones!
When we face things courageously and hold to our course steadily through the storm or when we bear opposition and trials patiently and hold fast our integrity through temptation - then it is then that we mount up by means of these very things to a loftier height and a broader outlook.
It is easy to go down to the valley of discouragement. It takes no effort to let a thing weigh us down. We can easily let our courage and our confidence slip. But in life it is the uphill climbing which counts. Every time you overcome - you have made progress upward. If you see a trial coming, do not shrink and do not fear. Do not say, "Oh, how shall I bear it!"
God designs that your trials shall help you - not hinder you. He could keep you from having them - if it were the wisest and best thing for you. But He sees that you need trials - yes, that you must have them, or you will never rise above your present level. Look for the good in them - count them as blessings. Meet them bravely, and you will find them in truth stepping-stones, not stumbling-stones!
~Charles Naylor~
(The End)
Saturday, October 6, 2018
All For Christ # 5
All For Christ # 5
It is true, a vast, enormous debt of guilt lies at your door. It is true that every action of your life, every moment of days gone by condemns you - for when did you do one single thing for the glory of God? But there is free forgiveness. There is a righteousness in Christ which can cover all your mountain of sin. There is a full salvation through His blood, and there is a mighty power to raise you through His Spirit. Nor is it far to seek. It is very near you. Only lay aside every proud, self-confident pretension, and on the footing of a sinner deserving damnation, seek life in Christ, and it is yours. It cannot be denied you. Christ never yet rejected a sinner that sincerely came to Him, and He never will. "Christ is all," and He is enough. He gives all, He does all that the sinner needs.
Salvation to the uttermost,
a perfect justification,
grace to be holy,
strength for the journey, and
everlasting life in His kingdom -
He gives, and gives freely, to every one who
sincerely returns to Him.
2. I would add a few words of encouragement to those who desire to put God first, and who wish in everything to follow Christ. While many are contented with serving God a little -and serving the world a great deal more; while there are many double-minded ones who go two ways - your desire to have one aim - to keep a single eye, and through good report and ill report, through storm and sunshine, to serve Christ at all hazards, and under all circumstances to fulfill His commandments.
Let this ever be your object in life. Set it ever before you as the only end worth living for. When, for a moment, you have been drawn aside by some subtle form of self-pleasing, or have turned away to escape a painful cross - yet go back again to your great purpose and determination. Fall back on Christ's justifying righteousness for your acceptance - look up to the risen Saviour to give you more of the mighty power of His quickening Spirit - and pray fervently for steadfastness, perseverance, and reality.
Follow this course - be all one thing in the fear and love of God - and great shall be your reward. You shall have the consolation of God's presence and love. He will never fail His servant who thus desires to honor Him. You may look for His Spirit to rest abundantly upon you. You may feel assured that He delights in your service, and will be with you at all seasons. He is with you, with you always! All the nights, and all the days; Never failing, never frowning, With His loving-kindness crowning; Turning all your life to praise. He is with you, your own Master, Leading, loving to the end; Brightening joy, and lightening sorrow, All today, and more tomorrow, King and Saviour, Lord and Friend.
The life of her who wrote these lines, and who was, a few years ago, called to her eternal rest - was a very marked evidence of the double consolation which those enjoy who are wholly consecrated to the Lord's service. Miss Frances Havergal has been removed from us in the flesh, but she lives in many a heart by the remembrance of her bright and joyous Christian life,and her unflagging zeal and earnestness in the Saviour's cause, and in many a home by her loyal utterances for the King she loved.
Once she heard me speak on the topic of this address. Afterwards she spoke on the matter with great feeling, longing that all Christian people should thus "do all for Christ." And, doubtless, through her writings, and the fragrance of her own holy and devoted life, it will be seen hereafter that not a few have so learned to act.
Remember, the time is short! Workers in the vineyard are called away, and you and I must soon follow. You may remember the saying of a poor seamstress, hard at work with her needle in an attic: "I must make haste, for I have but one candle,and it will soon go out!"
Our one candle is burning out. Year follows year, and the stream of life quickly rolls on. Let us seize the passing hour. Let us work while we may. If it is true that in a hive of bees there are fifteen thousand workers, and only a few hundred drones - why, in the Church of Christ, should there be such a large proportion of drones who are neither building the cells nor gathering in honey? May God grant that it may not be the ease with anyone reading this.
~George Everard~
(The End)
It is true, a vast, enormous debt of guilt lies at your door. It is true that every action of your life, every moment of days gone by condemns you - for when did you do one single thing for the glory of God? But there is free forgiveness. There is a righteousness in Christ which can cover all your mountain of sin. There is a full salvation through His blood, and there is a mighty power to raise you through His Spirit. Nor is it far to seek. It is very near you. Only lay aside every proud, self-confident pretension, and on the footing of a sinner deserving damnation, seek life in Christ, and it is yours. It cannot be denied you. Christ never yet rejected a sinner that sincerely came to Him, and He never will. "Christ is all," and He is enough. He gives all, He does all that the sinner needs.
Salvation to the uttermost,
a perfect justification,
grace to be holy,
strength for the journey, and
everlasting life in His kingdom -
He gives, and gives freely, to every one who
sincerely returns to Him.
2. I would add a few words of encouragement to those who desire to put God first, and who wish in everything to follow Christ. While many are contented with serving God a little -and serving the world a great deal more; while there are many double-minded ones who go two ways - your desire to have one aim - to keep a single eye, and through good report and ill report, through storm and sunshine, to serve Christ at all hazards, and under all circumstances to fulfill His commandments.
Let this ever be your object in life. Set it ever before you as the only end worth living for. When, for a moment, you have been drawn aside by some subtle form of self-pleasing, or have turned away to escape a painful cross - yet go back again to your great purpose and determination. Fall back on Christ's justifying righteousness for your acceptance - look up to the risen Saviour to give you more of the mighty power of His quickening Spirit - and pray fervently for steadfastness, perseverance, and reality.
Follow this course - be all one thing in the fear and love of God - and great shall be your reward. You shall have the consolation of God's presence and love. He will never fail His servant who thus desires to honor Him. You may look for His Spirit to rest abundantly upon you. You may feel assured that He delights in your service, and will be with you at all seasons. He is with you, with you always! All the nights, and all the days; Never failing, never frowning, With His loving-kindness crowning; Turning all your life to praise. He is with you, your own Master, Leading, loving to the end; Brightening joy, and lightening sorrow, All today, and more tomorrow, King and Saviour, Lord and Friend.
The life of her who wrote these lines, and who was, a few years ago, called to her eternal rest - was a very marked evidence of the double consolation which those enjoy who are wholly consecrated to the Lord's service. Miss Frances Havergal has been removed from us in the flesh, but she lives in many a heart by the remembrance of her bright and joyous Christian life,and her unflagging zeal and earnestness in the Saviour's cause, and in many a home by her loyal utterances for the King she loved.
Once she heard me speak on the topic of this address. Afterwards she spoke on the matter with great feeling, longing that all Christian people should thus "do all for Christ." And, doubtless, through her writings, and the fragrance of her own holy and devoted life, it will be seen hereafter that not a few have so learned to act.
Remember, the time is short! Workers in the vineyard are called away, and you and I must soon follow. You may remember the saying of a poor seamstress, hard at work with her needle in an attic: "I must make haste, for I have but one candle,and it will soon go out!"
Our one candle is burning out. Year follows year, and the stream of life quickly rolls on. Let us seize the passing hour. Let us work while we may. If it is true that in a hive of bees there are fifteen thousand workers, and only a few hundred drones - why, in the Church of Christ, should there be such a large proportion of drones who are neither building the cells nor gathering in honey? May God grant that it may not be the ease with anyone reading this.
~George Everard~
(The End)
All For Christ # 4
All For Christ # 4
4. Anxiety and worry. Here are the thorns that too often choke the good seed. The word of life cannot grow and bear fruit in the heart, because depressing cares and worries fill the mind. Means are short, money comes in very slowly, debts are pressing, family matters do not run smoothly.
But we have the same resource. Christ's presence is a sure hiding place. His shoulder is strong enough to bear every weight of care or sorrow we have faith to lay upon it. Near to Him, and sheltered beneath His wing, we shall find all that comes to be needful discipline. We shall not repine and we shall not despair. "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" - we shall go on our way, and reach in safety the promised land.
6. Do all after the PATTERN of Christ. He is the Shepherd - and we must walk in His footsteps. He is our Model - and we must copy every lineament in His holy and spotless character. He is our Sun - and upon Him must we gaze, that a reflection of His glory may rest upon us.
If we read and study the narratives of His wondrous life, we shall find illustrations of every virtue and grace we need to put on, and types of every good work He would have us practice. Courage and meekness, zeal and gentleness, unwearied devotion, and constant well-doing to those around - tracked every footstep. Oh that every worker in the Lord's vineyard, every minister of Christ, every Christian - were more successful in His labors! A few stammering words, backed up by a very Christ-like life, will often do far more for the Redeemer's kingdom than a torrent of eloquence, where this is lacking.
It has been said that "a clergyman may preach two or three sermons a week, but a holy life is preaching a thousand sermons." It is a true witness; therefore follow the Master, and follow Him closely. "He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
7. Do all in view of Christ's second coming. Here is the final end of all service. The Lord is at hand. He comes to prove all our work. What is wood, hay, stubble - and what is gold, silver, or precious stone - will then be clearly known. What has been the pure truth according as He gave it, and His Spirit revealed it - and what has been human tradition and the vain imagination of a man's own heart. What has been done before His eye and for His glory - and what has been done for any lower motive. What has been the lasting and permanent result of work - and what only a passing emotion in the heart. What souls have been reclaimed from sin, error, unbelief, worldliness, and impenitence; what true blessing has been granted in raising Christians to a nobler life and a loftier standard - all this is hidden for the present, but well be made manifest when Christ comes.
What a day of revelation will it be! What a day of dreadful discovery to those who have been at ease in Zion, and have taken no pains to please the Master or to advance His kingdom! What a day of loss to those who have been in the main the servants of Christ, but have been building rotten materials on the true foundation! What a day of joy to true faithful Christians, who mourned over their failures, and thought they had done but little for Christ, and yet who went on humbly waiting upon Him, and sowing the heavenly seed with tears and prayers!
In our your work, think of that day! Think of the Master's "Well done!" Think of the joy of His approving glance! Think of the joy of harvest sheaves - souls gathered in safe to the garner, and that forever. Think of the great reward of the faithful follower of Christ, even where there has been apparent failure in the Lord's work.
Think of the Lord's coming, and rejoice in hope. Now is the time for labor and toll - then is the time for rest. Now we sow in tears and fears - but then the ripened grain will be our recompense. Now our faith may be dim, and the Lord may sometimes hide His face, and we may have seasons of darkness and distress - but then we shall see His face, and His name shall be on our forehead,and we shall share His glory and His kingdom. All through coming months and years, let our eye be toward the horizon, where the Sun of Righteousness will arise in His majesty. "Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
With two thoughts I will close this address.
1. If this standard be the true one, if the Christian is to do all in the name of Christ - then what multitudes of the professing people of God will be found lacking at the great day!
There are many who bear the name of Christ - who yield only a divided heart and a very partial service. You wish to be a Christian - but you have no intention of giving God your best, and doing everything as Christ bides you, and being unreservedly and entirely devoted to Him. You know perfectly well, that you are not whole-hearted in God's service. Your conduct in business tells it. Your neglect of week-day means of grace testifies to it. Your love of ease and comfort that hinders you from taking an active part in good works, your shrinking from confessing Christ in the world - all speak the same language, and prove that hitherto you have been very far from doing all "in the name of the Lord Jesus."
What a hollow, empty, worthless thing this profession of yours is! What possible good can come from a Sunday religion, from a little head knowledge of Christian truth, which leaves you so utterly unlike the Lord Jesus? Hear the Lord's own solemn words: "Not every one who says unto Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven."
Such is your religion. It has no heart about it. It has no substance. It is only a deceit and a pretense. And very soon it will be made plain to others that it is so - and that when it will be too late for a remedy. Don't make a mistake for eternity. Search your own heart. Don't beguile and deceive yourself with a name, and a shadow, and a Christian profession - when you have never given yourself really to Christ, and have nothing of His Spirit dwelling in you. Take heed in time! Turn to God now in sincerity and truth. Confess all the unreality and heartlessness of days gone by.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 5)
4. Anxiety and worry. Here are the thorns that too often choke the good seed. The word of life cannot grow and bear fruit in the heart, because depressing cares and worries fill the mind. Means are short, money comes in very slowly, debts are pressing, family matters do not run smoothly.
But we have the same resource. Christ's presence is a sure hiding place. His shoulder is strong enough to bear every weight of care or sorrow we have faith to lay upon it. Near to Him, and sheltered beneath His wing, we shall find all that comes to be needful discipline. We shall not repine and we shall not despair. "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" - we shall go on our way, and reach in safety the promised land.
6. Do all after the PATTERN of Christ. He is the Shepherd - and we must walk in His footsteps. He is our Model - and we must copy every lineament in His holy and spotless character. He is our Sun - and upon Him must we gaze, that a reflection of His glory may rest upon us.
If we read and study the narratives of His wondrous life, we shall find illustrations of every virtue and grace we need to put on, and types of every good work He would have us practice. Courage and meekness, zeal and gentleness, unwearied devotion, and constant well-doing to those around - tracked every footstep. Oh that every worker in the Lord's vineyard, every minister of Christ, every Christian - were more successful in His labors! A few stammering words, backed up by a very Christ-like life, will often do far more for the Redeemer's kingdom than a torrent of eloquence, where this is lacking.
It has been said that "a clergyman may preach two or three sermons a week, but a holy life is preaching a thousand sermons." It is a true witness; therefore follow the Master, and follow Him closely. "He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
7. Do all in view of Christ's second coming. Here is the final end of all service. The Lord is at hand. He comes to prove all our work. What is wood, hay, stubble - and what is gold, silver, or precious stone - will then be clearly known. What has been the pure truth according as He gave it, and His Spirit revealed it - and what has been human tradition and the vain imagination of a man's own heart. What has been done before His eye and for His glory - and what has been done for any lower motive. What has been the lasting and permanent result of work - and what only a passing emotion in the heart. What souls have been reclaimed from sin, error, unbelief, worldliness, and impenitence; what true blessing has been granted in raising Christians to a nobler life and a loftier standard - all this is hidden for the present, but well be made manifest when Christ comes.
What a day of revelation will it be! What a day of dreadful discovery to those who have been at ease in Zion, and have taken no pains to please the Master or to advance His kingdom! What a day of loss to those who have been in the main the servants of Christ, but have been building rotten materials on the true foundation! What a day of joy to true faithful Christians, who mourned over their failures, and thought they had done but little for Christ, and yet who went on humbly waiting upon Him, and sowing the heavenly seed with tears and prayers!
In our your work, think of that day! Think of the Master's "Well done!" Think of the joy of His approving glance! Think of the joy of harvest sheaves - souls gathered in safe to the garner, and that forever. Think of the great reward of the faithful follower of Christ, even where there has been apparent failure in the Lord's work.
Think of the Lord's coming, and rejoice in hope. Now is the time for labor and toll - then is the time for rest. Now we sow in tears and fears - but then the ripened grain will be our recompense. Now our faith may be dim, and the Lord may sometimes hide His face, and we may have seasons of darkness and distress - but then we shall see His face, and His name shall be on our forehead,and we shall share His glory and His kingdom. All through coming months and years, let our eye be toward the horizon, where the Sun of Righteousness will arise in His majesty. "Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
With two thoughts I will close this address.
1. If this standard be the true one, if the Christian is to do all in the name of Christ - then what multitudes of the professing people of God will be found lacking at the great day!
There are many who bear the name of Christ - who yield only a divided heart and a very partial service. You wish to be a Christian - but you have no intention of giving God your best, and doing everything as Christ bides you, and being unreservedly and entirely devoted to Him. You know perfectly well, that you are not whole-hearted in God's service. Your conduct in business tells it. Your neglect of week-day means of grace testifies to it. Your love of ease and comfort that hinders you from taking an active part in good works, your shrinking from confessing Christ in the world - all speak the same language, and prove that hitherto you have been very far from doing all "in the name of the Lord Jesus."
What a hollow, empty, worthless thing this profession of yours is! What possible good can come from a Sunday religion, from a little head knowledge of Christian truth, which leaves you so utterly unlike the Lord Jesus? Hear the Lord's own solemn words: "Not every one who says unto Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven."
Such is your religion. It has no heart about it. It has no substance. It is only a deceit and a pretense. And very soon it will be made plain to others that it is so - and that when it will be too late for a remedy. Don't make a mistake for eternity. Search your own heart. Don't beguile and deceive yourself with a name, and a shadow, and a Christian profession - when you have never given yourself really to Christ, and have nothing of His Spirit dwelling in you. Take heed in time! Turn to God now in sincerity and truth. Confess all the unreality and heartlessness of days gone by.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 5)
All For Christ # 3
All For Christ # 3
3. Do all for the GLORY of Christ. The passage, Colossians 3:17, "Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," is well explained by the parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 10:31: "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do - do all to the glory of God." Whatever is done, even in the commonest matters of life, the food we eat, our conduct at the table - is to be done for the glory of the Father and the Son. We must seek grace that "to live" may be "Christ, that He may be magnified in our bodies, whether by life or death." (Phil. 1:20, 21); that "the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in us" (2 Thess. 1:12).
Here is the very highest aim it is possible for man to cherish. No angel or archangel before the throne can rise to a loftier height. "To glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever," is Heaven on earth - and Heaven above. And this one desire will simplify a Christian's life, and give to it a unity and a beauty which nothing else could yield. Men are often swayed by a variety of motives, sometimes in a right direction, and sometimes the very reverse. Passion, or pleasure, or self-interest, or the desire for man's praise or favor, will actuate them in turns, so that there is no consistency about their conduct. But let a man ever set this before him: "What will most honor my Redeemer-King? What will bring glory to Him in the world? What will advance His kingdom? This I must do."
Let a man follow an object like this, and it will give a fixedness, a steadfastness to his walk, which will prove greatly in the end for his own true peace. It will at once solve many a difficulty, and direct a man in the course he should pursue. "To do all for the glory of Christ" will bring an immediate decision in most all cases. Self and ease and luxury will be sacrificed, and Christ will be honored.
4. Do all to PLEASE Christ. This is closely connected with acting for the glory of Christ; but it has a distinctness which it is well to bear in mind. Ever seek to please Christ! In once sense you ought to "please all men in all things; not seeking your own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." Whenever, for the good of others, you can deny yourself, or please them - fail not to do so. But to please Christ must be your chief desire. Though you may have to displease man, though you may have to risk hard words, unkind suspicions, ridicule, and persecution - yet if you please Christ it will be well. "Teach me to do the thing that pleases You, for You are my God!"
But how can you please Christ? Is it possible to please the Holy Saviour? Oh, yes, Christ is not hard to please! If only done in humble love, the least thing is pleasing to Him. The least gift you offer, the least upward glance of the heart, the effort to do common work as before Him, a word spoken by the way to guide a little one, to comfort a mourner - each and all is pleasing to Him when done with a single eye for His sake.
5. Do all in the PRESENCE of Christ. Nothing will help you more than this. Live ever seeing Him who is invisible. By His Spirit, He will manifest Himself to you, as He does not unto the world. "The world sees Him no more, but you see Him - and seeing Him ever near at hand, you shall better be able to please Him. To live ever as in the presence of Christ, seems to me to be the one special preservation against four great disturbers of the Christian peace.
a. The fear of man. This is ever coming in to mar our usefulness. We are afraid of following that which conscience approves. We are afraid of confessing Christ, or standing alone in the reproof of sin, or speaking a word to win a soul for the Master. But if we see Christ by our side, we shall conquer.
b. Wanderings in prayer. In church and in our chamber these enemies come in and disturb us. If, for a moment, the mind is fixed, the next instant some new imagination carries us miles away, and we are thinking of some indifferent thing. The best antidote is a more lively sense of Christ's nearness. When the soul truly sees Christ at hand, bowing down His merciful ear to catch each petition - then we speak in reality as a friend to a friend. Then, through the Holy Spirit, prayer is a comfort and a help, and we are conscious that our petitions reach the mercy-seat.
c. Evil tempters. There are few families where, in some shape, these intruders do not come. Sometimes like the thunderstorm, sometimes like the thick, depressing fog, sometimes like the drizzling rain, or the cold north wind - these enemies disturb our peace and grieve the Holy Spirit. It may be passions, or dead silence, or the perpetual monotony of complaint and bickering, or cutting satire, or the like, that does much harm to the soul of the one who indulges it, and puts no small stumbling-block in the way of others.
But realize Christ's presence, believe that He is in the room, and hears and marks each word and thought and feeling - and it will do much to enable you to overcome this sin. "Would you get into passion if I were in the room with you?" I once said to a Christian, who was complaining of his inability to overcome this snare. "Of course not," he said. "Then remember," I said, "that there is always Christ in the room with you, and this will help you." The thought was not lost on him. A year later he told me that since he had spoken to me, peace in his home had not been broken.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 4)
3. Do all for the GLORY of Christ. The passage, Colossians 3:17, "Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," is well explained by the parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 10:31: "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do - do all to the glory of God." Whatever is done, even in the commonest matters of life, the food we eat, our conduct at the table - is to be done for the glory of the Father and the Son. We must seek grace that "to live" may be "Christ, that He may be magnified in our bodies, whether by life or death." (Phil. 1:20, 21); that "the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in us" (2 Thess. 1:12).
Here is the very highest aim it is possible for man to cherish. No angel or archangel before the throne can rise to a loftier height. "To glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever," is Heaven on earth - and Heaven above. And this one desire will simplify a Christian's life, and give to it a unity and a beauty which nothing else could yield. Men are often swayed by a variety of motives, sometimes in a right direction, and sometimes the very reverse. Passion, or pleasure, or self-interest, or the desire for man's praise or favor, will actuate them in turns, so that there is no consistency about their conduct. But let a man ever set this before him: "What will most honor my Redeemer-King? What will bring glory to Him in the world? What will advance His kingdom? This I must do."
Let a man follow an object like this, and it will give a fixedness, a steadfastness to his walk, which will prove greatly in the end for his own true peace. It will at once solve many a difficulty, and direct a man in the course he should pursue. "To do all for the glory of Christ" will bring an immediate decision in most all cases. Self and ease and luxury will be sacrificed, and Christ will be honored.
4. Do all to PLEASE Christ. This is closely connected with acting for the glory of Christ; but it has a distinctness which it is well to bear in mind. Ever seek to please Christ! In once sense you ought to "please all men in all things; not seeking your own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." Whenever, for the good of others, you can deny yourself, or please them - fail not to do so. But to please Christ must be your chief desire. Though you may have to displease man, though you may have to risk hard words, unkind suspicions, ridicule, and persecution - yet if you please Christ it will be well. "Teach me to do the thing that pleases You, for You are my God!"
But how can you please Christ? Is it possible to please the Holy Saviour? Oh, yes, Christ is not hard to please! If only done in humble love, the least thing is pleasing to Him. The least gift you offer, the least upward glance of the heart, the effort to do common work as before Him, a word spoken by the way to guide a little one, to comfort a mourner - each and all is pleasing to Him when done with a single eye for His sake.
5. Do all in the PRESENCE of Christ. Nothing will help you more than this. Live ever seeing Him who is invisible. By His Spirit, He will manifest Himself to you, as He does not unto the world. "The world sees Him no more, but you see Him - and seeing Him ever near at hand, you shall better be able to please Him. To live ever as in the presence of Christ, seems to me to be the one special preservation against four great disturbers of the Christian peace.
a. The fear of man. This is ever coming in to mar our usefulness. We are afraid of following that which conscience approves. We are afraid of confessing Christ, or standing alone in the reproof of sin, or speaking a word to win a soul for the Master. But if we see Christ by our side, we shall conquer.
b. Wanderings in prayer. In church and in our chamber these enemies come in and disturb us. If, for a moment, the mind is fixed, the next instant some new imagination carries us miles away, and we are thinking of some indifferent thing. The best antidote is a more lively sense of Christ's nearness. When the soul truly sees Christ at hand, bowing down His merciful ear to catch each petition - then we speak in reality as a friend to a friend. Then, through the Holy Spirit, prayer is a comfort and a help, and we are conscious that our petitions reach the mercy-seat.
c. Evil tempters. There are few families where, in some shape, these intruders do not come. Sometimes like the thunderstorm, sometimes like the thick, depressing fog, sometimes like the drizzling rain, or the cold north wind - these enemies disturb our peace and grieve the Holy Spirit. It may be passions, or dead silence, or the perpetual monotony of complaint and bickering, or cutting satire, or the like, that does much harm to the soul of the one who indulges it, and puts no small stumbling-block in the way of others.
But realize Christ's presence, believe that He is in the room, and hears and marks each word and thought and feeling - and it will do much to enable you to overcome this sin. "Would you get into passion if I were in the room with you?" I once said to a Christian, who was complaining of his inability to overcome this snare. "Of course not," he said. "Then remember," I said, "that there is always Christ in the room with you, and this will help you." The thought was not lost on him. A year later he told me that since he had spoken to me, peace in his home had not been broken.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 4)
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