Singleness of Eye # 1
Read Luke 11:33-36
I want to preface what I have to say with a brief personal word. I think what will be said may be very testing to many of us and difficult to understand or receive, but I want to say to you that this word has been deeply searching my own heart and giving me some very serious exercise before the Lord for some days past, so much to that not until now was I sure that it was a word for others, to be passed on. I say that because I want you to understand and believe that I am not preaching at you, but that this is something which must really be a matter for our mutual exercise and concern.
The Single Eye and a Luminous Body
Having said that, let us come to this Scripture. First of all, what may seem a little technical - the endeavor to arrive at the exact meaning of these words. "When thine eye is single, thy whole body also if full of light. When it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness." The translation is not quite accurate or exact, and that would be well understood because it would be very difficult indeed to grasp the meaning of an exact translation, for here it does not mean that we possess light. The whole body full of light does not mean, and it does not say in the original, that we possess light, but it says exactly: "We are light." It does not really say "full of light," although it is so translated, but it says, "Thy whole body shall be luminous." Do you see a very fine difference? There is a difference between possessing light and being light, receiving light and being luminous, and that is exactly the meaning here. It is not subjective in the first instance, it is objective. It is not a reference to your mind, that your mind shall be enlightened, that you shall possess light in your mind. It says "your body", and the body is the objective side of us, while the mind is the subjective.
You will see that is born out by the context. You have a glance at that chapter. You will see there is a reference by the Master to "this evil generation (which) seeks after a sign", and He says, "there shall be no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah" (Luke 11:29). Now then, Jonah was a sign. Jonah's presence was a matter of illumination; his very presence, his bodily presence on the earth was a matter of illumination; that is, it was a matter testimony by his personal presence. Then the reference to the queen of Sheba and the result of the queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon was that she, by her very presence, was a testimony to that glory. I think you have got to the heart of the matter.
So it is testimony, it is effectiveness, it is intrinsic value, it is our registration in the world that is referred to here in terms of light. It is not a matter of knowledge; it is a matter of being, "Thy whole body shall be luminous." It is being. It is not having, and it is not knowing here, but what we are personally. I trust that is quite clear, and if so, we are able to go on with the further meaning of the single eye. What we have said is reached and better understood by this principle that is enunciated of the single eye.
"When thine eye is single, thy whole body also is luminous." "The lamp of thy body is thine eye." The body that is the vessel of light, of testimony, demands a lamp to make it luminous. The Master here says that that lamp is the eye, and then He says that about that luminous body in a moment. Do not get wrong ideas being present in this world; a sign. If we start with Jonah, that is perfectly clear. Jonah's death, burial and resurrection was a sign and it became a personal matter so that he was luminous as a personal testimony to resurrection, triumph over death and death's judgment, and the cause of judgment - sin. That was the full message for Nineveh. And the queen of Sheba embodies the principle. One thing you notice about the queen of Sheba was her singleness of eye. She had heard a report. She did not say, "I do not believe it, it is exaggerated." She did not put some other construction upon it. She said, "I am going to see." Singleness of eye will lead us to personal investigation into matters, whether the report be good or evil. The contrary to singleness of eye would be prejudice, suspicion, mistrust. She went, she saw, and because singleness of eye predominated with her, she became a mighty witness in the far country to the greatness of Solomon and the greatness of Solomon's God.
What Singleness of Eye Is
What is singleness of eye? How does it work? What does it mean? If we were using another phrase, we would say it is a circumcised heart, for it is just here that the whole question of the intrusion of a second consideration is found. You cannot have singleness if there are two. Singleness obviously means just one, not the intrusion of a second thing, which second thing is in the main, if not entirely, the intrusion of self-interest. Numerous and deep-rooted are its forms; deeper than our consciousness, deeper than our intention, deeper than our will that something should be, deeper than we can reach, this self-life is seated and rooted and its intrusion, consciously or unconsciously, destroys or prevents singleness of eye. Singleness of eye is the utter exclusion of all self-consideration and self-interest in any way whatever; a complete unreserved concern and abandonment to the glory of God.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Finding God's Comfort # 2
Finding God's Comfort # 2
satan was unwilling to agree that Job was such a man as God thought him. He suggested another test: "Put forth you hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face." That is probably satan's opinion of all religion. At least there are a good many people in the world who claim to believe that all religion is really selfish, based on mere self-interest and dependent on outward favor. "Every man has his price!" they say. People serve God, they say, only because He is kind to them and so long as He continues to give them favor and goodness.
We need to guard ourselves most carefully at this point. Our Lord has told us of those who begin well in their following Him - but when persecution arises because of the word, they stumble. There were disciples of His who went back and walked no more with Him, because of the severity of His teaching and of the hard requirements of discipleship. No doubt there are many professing Christians who do renounce Christ when He touches their bone and flesh. it is needful that we who begin to follow Christ, look well to our own lives that, come what may of suffering, cost or trial - we shall be faithful and steadfast.
God had His answer ready: "Behold he is in your hand, only spare his life." It is comforting to us to know that even satan with all his power, cannot break in upon a child of God whenever he pleases, and injure God's little one in any way his fiendish cruelty may choose. satan could not touch Job - until God gave him permission, and then said to Peter that dark night: "Simon, behold, satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat." We are not given the full details of Peter's case - but no doubt it was precisely as in Job's here; satan did not believe there was any reality in Simon's attachment to Christ, and asked permission to prove it. Christ permitted Simon to fall into the adversary's hands. It seems for a time a terribly hazardous thing - but it proved only a sifting. Much of Peter's professed earnestness was sifted out - but a true spiritual reality remained.
We tremble when we think of satan's terrible power, and dread lest he destroy us. But one is stronger - the "strong Son of God, immortal Love." If we are his and keep near to Him - He will shelter us, not allowing satan to touch us, only when the testing and trial will do us good, and not allowing us to be tempted above what we are able to endure.
When he had received permission from God, satan so sorely afflicted Job that his wife urged him to renounce God, expressing surprise that be still held forth his integrity. But Job answered, "What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Too often weak faith is moved from its steadfastness by trials. People say, "God cannot love me - or He would not send this affliction upon me." Job's answer, however, shows noble faith. We take good, earthly good, from God's hands. We believe that He loves us so long as He showers upon us favors and gives us pleasant things, human joys. Very well; when He changes the form of His providences and gives us troubles; when He withdraws the favors - should we conclude that He no longer loves us? We are permitted to see within the heart of God, in this case of the change in His treatment of Job, and we see that God never loved him more - than when He allowed him to suffer so sorely. It is always the same. At the close of the first trial Job said, "Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away." The same Lord that gave - took away; yes, and the same love. God knows best what we need any day and what will most advance the kingdom of Christ - and we ought to trust Him so implicitly, so unquestioningly, that whether He gives a new favor or takes one away; whether He grants us our request or withholds it; whether he bestows upon us earthly good or or causes us to suffer loss and adversity - we shall still believe and say, "God loves us - and He is blessing me."
This record of Job's misfortune goes on to say: "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." If Job had let himself murmur against God in his pain - he would have sinned with his lips. If he had lost faith and had spoken impatiently, fretfully, rebelliously - he would have sinned with his lips. We need to think seriously of this. We call lying, sinning with one's lips. We call profane swearing, words of bitter anger, sins of speech. We sometimes forget that complaining of God's ways with us, repining at God's providences, are also sins. Sweet, quiet, trustful, joyous submission to the will of God - is the kind of behavior God is pleased with in His children in time and trouble.
Afflictions Sanctified
Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zephar, heard of his sore misfortunes and came to console him. They were struck speechless at the sight of his calamity and for several days and nights they sat with him on the ground, none of them speaking a word. At length Job, moved by their presence and sympathy, broke out with a passionate cry for death. Then began a long debate between Job and his friends on the question of suffering. Eliphaz expressed wonder that Job, being righteous, should be crushed by his trouble, and that he should so murmur against heaven.
One of the choice statements made by him was, "Behold, happy is the man when God corrects." He is not happy at the time, at least, in the world's way. No affliction for the present seems to be joyous - but grievous. No one enjoys having troubles, sufferings, trials, sorrows. Therefore this statement made by Eliphaz appears very strange to some people. They cannot understand it. It is contrary to all their thoughts of happiness. Of course the word "happy" is not used here in the world's sense. The world's happiness is the pleasure that comes from the things that happen. It depends on personal comfort, on prosperous circumstances, on kindly and congenial conditions. When these are taken away, the world's happiness is destroyed. But the word here means "blessed," and the statement is that blessing comes to him who receives God's correction. To correct, is to set right that which has been wrong. Surely if a man is going in the wrong way, and God turns his feet back and sets him in the right way, a blessing has come to the man.
Afflictions are God's "corrections." They come always with a purpose of love in them. God never afflicts one of His children, without meaning His child's good in some way. So blessing is always intended by God. It is usually afterward that people begin to see and to understand that good that God sent them in their trial. "You do not understand what I am now doing" said Jesus, "but you shall understand hereafter." "No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." So when we have troubles and afflictions, we may know that God wants to do us good in some way through them.
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 3)
satan was unwilling to agree that Job was such a man as God thought him. He suggested another test: "Put forth you hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face." That is probably satan's opinion of all religion. At least there are a good many people in the world who claim to believe that all religion is really selfish, based on mere self-interest and dependent on outward favor. "Every man has his price!" they say. People serve God, they say, only because He is kind to them and so long as He continues to give them favor and goodness.
We need to guard ourselves most carefully at this point. Our Lord has told us of those who begin well in their following Him - but when persecution arises because of the word, they stumble. There were disciples of His who went back and walked no more with Him, because of the severity of His teaching and of the hard requirements of discipleship. No doubt there are many professing Christians who do renounce Christ when He touches their bone and flesh. it is needful that we who begin to follow Christ, look well to our own lives that, come what may of suffering, cost or trial - we shall be faithful and steadfast.
God had His answer ready: "Behold he is in your hand, only spare his life." It is comforting to us to know that even satan with all his power, cannot break in upon a child of God whenever he pleases, and injure God's little one in any way his fiendish cruelty may choose. satan could not touch Job - until God gave him permission, and then said to Peter that dark night: "Simon, behold, satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat." We are not given the full details of Peter's case - but no doubt it was precisely as in Job's here; satan did not believe there was any reality in Simon's attachment to Christ, and asked permission to prove it. Christ permitted Simon to fall into the adversary's hands. It seems for a time a terribly hazardous thing - but it proved only a sifting. Much of Peter's professed earnestness was sifted out - but a true spiritual reality remained.
We tremble when we think of satan's terrible power, and dread lest he destroy us. But one is stronger - the "strong Son of God, immortal Love." If we are his and keep near to Him - He will shelter us, not allowing satan to touch us, only when the testing and trial will do us good, and not allowing us to be tempted above what we are able to endure.
When he had received permission from God, satan so sorely afflicted Job that his wife urged him to renounce God, expressing surprise that be still held forth his integrity. But Job answered, "What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Too often weak faith is moved from its steadfastness by trials. People say, "God cannot love me - or He would not send this affliction upon me." Job's answer, however, shows noble faith. We take good, earthly good, from God's hands. We believe that He loves us so long as He showers upon us favors and gives us pleasant things, human joys. Very well; when He changes the form of His providences and gives us troubles; when He withdraws the favors - should we conclude that He no longer loves us? We are permitted to see within the heart of God, in this case of the change in His treatment of Job, and we see that God never loved him more - than when He allowed him to suffer so sorely. It is always the same. At the close of the first trial Job said, "Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away." The same Lord that gave - took away; yes, and the same love. God knows best what we need any day and what will most advance the kingdom of Christ - and we ought to trust Him so implicitly, so unquestioningly, that whether He gives a new favor or takes one away; whether He grants us our request or withholds it; whether he bestows upon us earthly good or or causes us to suffer loss and adversity - we shall still believe and say, "God loves us - and He is blessing me."
This record of Job's misfortune goes on to say: "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." If Job had let himself murmur against God in his pain - he would have sinned with his lips. If he had lost faith and had spoken impatiently, fretfully, rebelliously - he would have sinned with his lips. We need to think seriously of this. We call lying, sinning with one's lips. We call profane swearing, words of bitter anger, sins of speech. We sometimes forget that complaining of God's ways with us, repining at God's providences, are also sins. Sweet, quiet, trustful, joyous submission to the will of God - is the kind of behavior God is pleased with in His children in time and trouble.
Afflictions Sanctified
Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zephar, heard of his sore misfortunes and came to console him. They were struck speechless at the sight of his calamity and for several days and nights they sat with him on the ground, none of them speaking a word. At length Job, moved by their presence and sympathy, broke out with a passionate cry for death. Then began a long debate between Job and his friends on the question of suffering. Eliphaz expressed wonder that Job, being righteous, should be crushed by his trouble, and that he should so murmur against heaven.
One of the choice statements made by him was, "Behold, happy is the man when God corrects." He is not happy at the time, at least, in the world's way. No affliction for the present seems to be joyous - but grievous. No one enjoys having troubles, sufferings, trials, sorrows. Therefore this statement made by Eliphaz appears very strange to some people. They cannot understand it. It is contrary to all their thoughts of happiness. Of course the word "happy" is not used here in the world's sense. The world's happiness is the pleasure that comes from the things that happen. It depends on personal comfort, on prosperous circumstances, on kindly and congenial conditions. When these are taken away, the world's happiness is destroyed. But the word here means "blessed," and the statement is that blessing comes to him who receives God's correction. To correct, is to set right that which has been wrong. Surely if a man is going in the wrong way, and God turns his feet back and sets him in the right way, a blessing has come to the man.
Afflictions are God's "corrections." They come always with a purpose of love in them. God never afflicts one of His children, without meaning His child's good in some way. So blessing is always intended by God. It is usually afterward that people begin to see and to understand that good that God sent them in their trial. "You do not understand what I am now doing" said Jesus, "but you shall understand hereafter." "No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." So when we have troubles and afflictions, we may know that God wants to do us good in some way through them.
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Finding God's Comfort # 1
Finding God's Comfort # 1
"I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6).
1. Afflictions
2. Afflictions Sanctified
3. An Appeal to God
4. Confession and Restoration
AFFLICTIONS
There is an ancient book called Job, which takes its name from the man whose story it tells. He lived in the land of Uz. He was a man of upright life and godly character. He had a large family and was very prosperous. The home life of his family was particularly happy. His children feasted together and their father took pains with their religious life.
The unselfishness of Job's piety was questioned in the heavenly councils by satan. God asked him, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil." satan answered suspiciously: "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land."
Thereupon satan received permission to test Job, who was then stripped of all his possessions and bereft of his children. When tidings of his sore losses were brought to him he exhibited deep grief - but he made no complaint; he only said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Again, there came a day when God talked with satan. God asked satan where he had been. satan replied that he had come "from going to and fro in the earth." This was satan's account of his occupation, not say what he had been doing in this hurried going from place to place. We know the kind of enjoyment which fills his hours. We know he is never the friend of men - and never the friend of good. He never goes about to bless people. Peter confirms satan's own statement that he is ever going about - but he adds a word, lifting the veil and showing how the adversary is engaged, what he does. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So he is. He is very busy, truly - but he is busy finding ways to harm God's children.
We may take several lessons. satan's example of ceaseless activity in doing harm - should stimulate us to all manner of activities in doing good. It is a shame if the agencies of sin and evil are more diligent and earnest than the agencies of good and blessing. We should learn also not to be deceived by satan's professed interest in our lives. Though he transforms himself into the appearance of an angel of light, we know that under his shining robes - he hides the devouring lion's heart and the lion's ravenous cruelty.
As before, God asked satan if he had considered his servant Job, that "there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man." God knows when a man's life is good. His judgment never errs. We may be deceived in others. We may think they are upright and worthy, when in reality their lives are hollow. Every now and then we hear or know of a man long supposed to be honest and true, respected and trusted by his fellows, who is suddenly unmasked and seen to be only a mockery of the virtues and excellences of which he seemed so long the very embodiment. But when God passes on a man a eulogy like this on Job, it is a true judgment, for he sees the heart and knows what is in man. We need not be indifferent to the approval of men - but it matters little if we have this, if we know that God does not approve us. And if men condemn us, it need not break our peace - if we know that God approves and is pleased with us.
God had more to say about Job: "He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without a cause."
It is a noble thing to see, when a man stands steadfast and faithful to God in the midst of trials and adversities. Such a man is like a mighty rock under the beatings of the angry waves of the sea. Thus Job stood. Trial after trial came. His property was swept away by marauders and by fire, and his children were crushed by falling walls, until in a little while he was stripped of all he had and left a childless man! His heart was broken with sorrow - but his faith failed not. The Lord kept his eye upon his servant and was pleased to see how trustingly he endured his losses and sorrows.
Do we meet trials in the same way, holding fast our integrity, although the hand of God rests heavily upon us? The affliction of Job, as described here from the divine side, suggests to us what may oftimes be the cause of trouble in the lives of God's children. Job suffered to prove to a scoffing adversary the genuineness of his religion. Job did not know why these sore losses came about him. Likewise, we do not know when we are in trouble - why God sends or permits the affliction. But we should always bear ourselves so as to honor God, and prove the reality and sincerity of our faith.
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 2)
"I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6).
1. Afflictions
2. Afflictions Sanctified
3. An Appeal to God
4. Confession and Restoration
AFFLICTIONS
There is an ancient book called Job, which takes its name from the man whose story it tells. He lived in the land of Uz. He was a man of upright life and godly character. He had a large family and was very prosperous. The home life of his family was particularly happy. His children feasted together and their father took pains with their religious life.
The unselfishness of Job's piety was questioned in the heavenly councils by satan. God asked him, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil." satan answered suspiciously: "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land."
Thereupon satan received permission to test Job, who was then stripped of all his possessions and bereft of his children. When tidings of his sore losses were brought to him he exhibited deep grief - but he made no complaint; he only said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Again, there came a day when God talked with satan. God asked satan where he had been. satan replied that he had come "from going to and fro in the earth." This was satan's account of his occupation, not say what he had been doing in this hurried going from place to place. We know the kind of enjoyment which fills his hours. We know he is never the friend of men - and never the friend of good. He never goes about to bless people. Peter confirms satan's own statement that he is ever going about - but he adds a word, lifting the veil and showing how the adversary is engaged, what he does. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So he is. He is very busy, truly - but he is busy finding ways to harm God's children.
We may take several lessons. satan's example of ceaseless activity in doing harm - should stimulate us to all manner of activities in doing good. It is a shame if the agencies of sin and evil are more diligent and earnest than the agencies of good and blessing. We should learn also not to be deceived by satan's professed interest in our lives. Though he transforms himself into the appearance of an angel of light, we know that under his shining robes - he hides the devouring lion's heart and the lion's ravenous cruelty.
As before, God asked satan if he had considered his servant Job, that "there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man." God knows when a man's life is good. His judgment never errs. We may be deceived in others. We may think they are upright and worthy, when in reality their lives are hollow. Every now and then we hear or know of a man long supposed to be honest and true, respected and trusted by his fellows, who is suddenly unmasked and seen to be only a mockery of the virtues and excellences of which he seemed so long the very embodiment. But when God passes on a man a eulogy like this on Job, it is a true judgment, for he sees the heart and knows what is in man. We need not be indifferent to the approval of men - but it matters little if we have this, if we know that God does not approve us. And if men condemn us, it need not break our peace - if we know that God approves and is pleased with us.
God had more to say about Job: "He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without a cause."
It is a noble thing to see, when a man stands steadfast and faithful to God in the midst of trials and adversities. Such a man is like a mighty rock under the beatings of the angry waves of the sea. Thus Job stood. Trial after trial came. His property was swept away by marauders and by fire, and his children were crushed by falling walls, until in a little while he was stripped of all he had and left a childless man! His heart was broken with sorrow - but his faith failed not. The Lord kept his eye upon his servant and was pleased to see how trustingly he endured his losses and sorrows.
Do we meet trials in the same way, holding fast our integrity, although the hand of God rests heavily upon us? The affliction of Job, as described here from the divine side, suggests to us what may oftimes be the cause of trouble in the lives of God's children. Job suffered to prove to a scoffing adversary the genuineness of his religion. Job did not know why these sore losses came about him. Likewise, we do not know when we are in trouble - why God sends or permits the affliction. But we should always bear ourselves so as to honor God, and prove the reality and sincerity of our faith.
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 2)
The Blood of Jesus Christ # 2
The Blood of Jesus Christ # 2
Look at that young wife, waiting for the man whose name she bears, and whose face is woven in the fiber of her heart, the man she loves. She waits for him in fright and when he comes, reeking from the stench of the breaking of his marriage vows, from the arms of infamy, who suffers most? That poor, dirty, triple extract of vice and sin? You have only to be the wife of a husband like that to know whether the innocent suffers for the guilty or not. I have the sympathy of those who know right now.
This happened in Chicago in a police court. A letter was introduced as evidence for a criminal there for vagrancy. It read, "I hope you won't have to hunt long to find work. Tom is sick and baby is sick. Lucy has no shoes and we have no money for the doctor or to buy any clothes. I manage to make a little taking in washing, but we are living in one room in a basement. I hope you won't have to look long for work," and so on, just the kind of a letter a wife would write to her husband. And before it was finished men cried and policemen with hearts of adamant were crying and fled from the room. The judge wiped the tears from his eyes and said: "You see, no man lives to himself alone. If he sins others suffer. I have no alternative. I sympathize with them, as does every one of you, but I have no alternative. I must send this man to the house of correction." Who suffers most, that woman manicuring her nails over a washboard to keep the little brood together, or that drunken bum getting his just deserts from his acts? You have only to be the wife of a man like that to know whether or not the innocent suffer with the guilty.
So when you don't like the plan of redemption because the innocent suffer with the guilty, I say to you don't know what is going on. It's the plan of life everywhere.
From the fall of Adam and Eve till now it has always been the rule that the innocent suffer with the guilty. It's the plan of all and unless you are an idiot, an imbecile and a jackass, and gross flatterer at that, you'll see it.
Jesus' Atoning Blood
Jesus gave His life on the Cross for any who will believe. We're not redeemed by silver or gold. Jesus paid for it with His blood. When some one tells you that your religion is a bloody religion and the Bible is a bloody book, tell them yes, Christianity is a bloody religion; the gospel is a bloody gospel; the Bible is a bloody book; the plan of redemption is bloody. It is. You take the blood of Jesus Christ out of Christianity and that book isn't worth the paper it is written on. It would be worth no more than your body with the blood taken out. Take the blood of Jesus Christ out and it would be a meaningless jargon and jumble of words.
If it weren't for the atoning blood you might as well rip the roofs off the churches and burn them down. They aren't worth anything. But as long as the blood is on the mercy seat, the sinner can return, and by no other way. There is nothing else. It stands for the redemption. Though a man says to read good books, do good deeds, live a good life and you'll be saved, you'll be damned. That's what you will. All the books in the world won't keep you out of hell without the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ or nothing for every sinner on God's earth.
Without it not a sinner will ever be saved. Jesus has paid for your sins with His blood. The doctrine of universal salvation is a lie! I wish every one would be saved, but they won't. You will never be saved if you reject the blood.
You can be as black as tar and yet Jesus Christ can make you white as snow. "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Look at that young wife, waiting for the man whose name she bears, and whose face is woven in the fiber of her heart, the man she loves. She waits for him in fright and when he comes, reeking from the stench of the breaking of his marriage vows, from the arms of infamy, who suffers most? That poor, dirty, triple extract of vice and sin? You have only to be the wife of a husband like that to know whether the innocent suffers for the guilty or not. I have the sympathy of those who know right now.
This happened in Chicago in a police court. A letter was introduced as evidence for a criminal there for vagrancy. It read, "I hope you won't have to hunt long to find work. Tom is sick and baby is sick. Lucy has no shoes and we have no money for the doctor or to buy any clothes. I manage to make a little taking in washing, but we are living in one room in a basement. I hope you won't have to look long for work," and so on, just the kind of a letter a wife would write to her husband. And before it was finished men cried and policemen with hearts of adamant were crying and fled from the room. The judge wiped the tears from his eyes and said: "You see, no man lives to himself alone. If he sins others suffer. I have no alternative. I sympathize with them, as does every one of you, but I have no alternative. I must send this man to the house of correction." Who suffers most, that woman manicuring her nails over a washboard to keep the little brood together, or that drunken bum getting his just deserts from his acts? You have only to be the wife of a man like that to know whether or not the innocent suffer with the guilty.
So when you don't like the plan of redemption because the innocent suffer with the guilty, I say to you don't know what is going on. It's the plan of life everywhere.
From the fall of Adam and Eve till now it has always been the rule that the innocent suffer with the guilty. It's the plan of all and unless you are an idiot, an imbecile and a jackass, and gross flatterer at that, you'll see it.
Jesus' Atoning Blood
Jesus gave His life on the Cross for any who will believe. We're not redeemed by silver or gold. Jesus paid for it with His blood. When some one tells you that your religion is a bloody religion and the Bible is a bloody book, tell them yes, Christianity is a bloody religion; the gospel is a bloody gospel; the Bible is a bloody book; the plan of redemption is bloody. It is. You take the blood of Jesus Christ out of Christianity and that book isn't worth the paper it is written on. It would be worth no more than your body with the blood taken out. Take the blood of Jesus Christ out and it would be a meaningless jargon and jumble of words.
If it weren't for the atoning blood you might as well rip the roofs off the churches and burn them down. They aren't worth anything. But as long as the blood is on the mercy seat, the sinner can return, and by no other way. There is nothing else. It stands for the redemption. Though a man says to read good books, do good deeds, live a good life and you'll be saved, you'll be damned. That's what you will. All the books in the world won't keep you out of hell without the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ or nothing for every sinner on God's earth.
Without it not a sinner will ever be saved. Jesus has paid for your sins with His blood. The doctrine of universal salvation is a lie! I wish every one would be saved, but they won't. You will never be saved if you reject the blood.
You can be as black as tar and yet Jesus Christ can make you white as snow. "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Saturday, May 11, 2019
The Blood of Jesus Christ # 1
The Blood of Jesus Christ # 1
"For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh." Paul argued in his letter to the Hebrews "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:13-14).
No more of this turtle-dove business, no more offering the blood of bullocks and heifers to cleanse from sin.
The atoning blood of Jesus Christ - that is the thing about which all else centers. I believe that more logical, illogical, idiotic, religious and irreligious arguments have fought over this than all others. Now and then when a man gets a new idea of it, he goes out and starts a new denomination. He has a perfect right to do this under the thirteenth amendment, but he doesn't stop here. He makes war on all of the other denominations that do not interpret as he does. Our denominations have multiplied by this method until it would give one brain fever to try to count them all.
The atoning blood!! And as I think it over I am reminded of a man who goes to England and advertises that he will throw pictures on the screen of the Atlantic coast of America. So he gets a crowd and throws pictures on the screen of high bluffs and rocky coasts and waves dashing against them, until a man comes out of the audience and brands him a liar and says that he is obtaining money under false pretense, as he has seen America and the Atlantic coast and what the other man says that, if the people will come tomorrow, he will show them real pictures of the coast. So the audience comes back to see what he will show, and he flashes on the screen pictures of a low coast line, and palmetto trees and banana trees and tropical foliage and he apologizes to the audience, but says these are the pictures of America. The first man calls him a liar and the people don't know which to believe. What was the matter with them?
They were both right and they were both wrong, paradoxical as it may seem. They were both right as far as they went, but neither went far enough. The first showed the coast line from New England to Cape Hatteras, while the second showed the coast line from Hatteras to Yucatan. They neither could show it all in one panoramic view, for it is so varied it could not be taken in one picture.
God never intended to give you a picture of the world in one panoramic view. From the time of Adam and Eve down to the time Jesus Christ hung on the Cross He was unfolding His views. When I see Mosses leading the people out of bondage where they were for years had bared their backs to the taskmaster's lash; when I see the lowing herds and the high priest standing before the altar severing the jugular vein of the rams and the bullocks; on until Christ cried out from the Cross, "It is finished," God was preparing the picture for the consummation of it in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
A sinner has no standing with God. He forfeits his standing when he commits sin and the only way he can get back is to repent and accept the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
I have sometimes thought that Adam and Eve didn't understand as fully as we do when the Lord said; "Eat and you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). They had never seen one die. They might have thought it simply meant a separation from God. But no sooner had they eaten and seen their nakedness than they sought to cover themselves, and it is the same today. When man sees himself in his sins, uncovered, he tries to cover himself in philosophy or some fake. But God looked through the fig leaves and the foliage and God walked out in the field and slew the beasts and took their skins and wrapped them around Adam and Eve, and from that day to this when a man has been a sinner and has covered himself, it has been by and through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Every Jew covered his sins and received pardon through the blood of the rams and bullocks and the doves.
An old friend said to me once, "But I don't believe in atonement by blood. It doesn't come up to my ideas of what is right." I said, "To perdition with your ideas of what is right. Do you think God is coming down here to consult you with your great intellect and wonderful brain, and find out what you think is right before he does it?" My, but you make me sick. You think that because you don't believe it that it isn't true.
I have read a great deal - not everything, mind you, for a man would go crazy if he tried to read everything - but I have read a great deal that has been written against the atonement from the infidel standpoint - Voltaire, Huxley, Spencer, Diderot, Bradlaugh, Pain, on down to Bob Ingersoll - and I have never found an argument that would stand the test of common sense and common reasoning. And if anyone tells me he has tossed on the scrap heap the plain of atonement by blood, I say, "What have you to offer that is better?" and until he can show me something that is better I'll nail my hopes to the Cross!
Suffering for the Guilty
You say you don't believe in the innocent suffering for the guilty. Then I say to you, you haven't seen life as I have seen it up and down the country. The innocent suffer with the guilty, by the guilty and for the guilty. Look at that old mother waiting with trembling heart for the son she has brought into the world. And see him staggering in and reeling and staggering to bed while his mother prays and weeps and soaks the pillow with her tears over her godless boy. Who suffers most? The mother or that godless, maudlin (drunk) bum? You have only to be the mother of a boy like that to know who suffers most. Then you won't say anything about the plan of redemption and of Jesus Christ suffering for the guilty!
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 2)
"For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh." Paul argued in his letter to the Hebrews "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:13-14).
No more of this turtle-dove business, no more offering the blood of bullocks and heifers to cleanse from sin.
The atoning blood of Jesus Christ - that is the thing about which all else centers. I believe that more logical, illogical, idiotic, religious and irreligious arguments have fought over this than all others. Now and then when a man gets a new idea of it, he goes out and starts a new denomination. He has a perfect right to do this under the thirteenth amendment, but he doesn't stop here. He makes war on all of the other denominations that do not interpret as he does. Our denominations have multiplied by this method until it would give one brain fever to try to count them all.
The atoning blood!! And as I think it over I am reminded of a man who goes to England and advertises that he will throw pictures on the screen of the Atlantic coast of America. So he gets a crowd and throws pictures on the screen of high bluffs and rocky coasts and waves dashing against them, until a man comes out of the audience and brands him a liar and says that he is obtaining money under false pretense, as he has seen America and the Atlantic coast and what the other man says that, if the people will come tomorrow, he will show them real pictures of the coast. So the audience comes back to see what he will show, and he flashes on the screen pictures of a low coast line, and palmetto trees and banana trees and tropical foliage and he apologizes to the audience, but says these are the pictures of America. The first man calls him a liar and the people don't know which to believe. What was the matter with them?
They were both right and they were both wrong, paradoxical as it may seem. They were both right as far as they went, but neither went far enough. The first showed the coast line from New England to Cape Hatteras, while the second showed the coast line from Hatteras to Yucatan. They neither could show it all in one panoramic view, for it is so varied it could not be taken in one picture.
God never intended to give you a picture of the world in one panoramic view. From the time of Adam and Eve down to the time Jesus Christ hung on the Cross He was unfolding His views. When I see Mosses leading the people out of bondage where they were for years had bared their backs to the taskmaster's lash; when I see the lowing herds and the high priest standing before the altar severing the jugular vein of the rams and the bullocks; on until Christ cried out from the Cross, "It is finished," God was preparing the picture for the consummation of it in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
A sinner has no standing with God. He forfeits his standing when he commits sin and the only way he can get back is to repent and accept the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
I have sometimes thought that Adam and Eve didn't understand as fully as we do when the Lord said; "Eat and you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). They had never seen one die. They might have thought it simply meant a separation from God. But no sooner had they eaten and seen their nakedness than they sought to cover themselves, and it is the same today. When man sees himself in his sins, uncovered, he tries to cover himself in philosophy or some fake. But God looked through the fig leaves and the foliage and God walked out in the field and slew the beasts and took their skins and wrapped them around Adam and Eve, and from that day to this when a man has been a sinner and has covered himself, it has been by and through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Every Jew covered his sins and received pardon through the blood of the rams and bullocks and the doves.
An old friend said to me once, "But I don't believe in atonement by blood. It doesn't come up to my ideas of what is right." I said, "To perdition with your ideas of what is right. Do you think God is coming down here to consult you with your great intellect and wonderful brain, and find out what you think is right before he does it?" My, but you make me sick. You think that because you don't believe it that it isn't true.
I have read a great deal - not everything, mind you, for a man would go crazy if he tried to read everything - but I have read a great deal that has been written against the atonement from the infidel standpoint - Voltaire, Huxley, Spencer, Diderot, Bradlaugh, Pain, on down to Bob Ingersoll - and I have never found an argument that would stand the test of common sense and common reasoning. And if anyone tells me he has tossed on the scrap heap the plain of atonement by blood, I say, "What have you to offer that is better?" and until he can show me something that is better I'll nail my hopes to the Cross!
Suffering for the Guilty
You say you don't believe in the innocent suffering for the guilty. Then I say to you, you haven't seen life as I have seen it up and down the country. The innocent suffer with the guilty, by the guilty and for the guilty. Look at that old mother waiting with trembling heart for the son she has brought into the world. And see him staggering in and reeling and staggering to bed while his mother prays and weeps and soaks the pillow with her tears over her godless boy. Who suffers most? The mother or that godless, maudlin (drunk) bum? You have only to be the mother of a boy like that to know who suffers most. Then you won't say anything about the plan of redemption and of Jesus Christ suffering for the guilty!
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 2)
Miscellaneous Christian Quotes - Unknown Authors (and others)
Miscellaneous Christian Quotes - Unknown Authors (and others)
True Christians don't pretend to be what they aren't. It's a lie and God hates a liar!
_____________________
There will be no lies in heaven. There will be no pretending in heaven. There will be no gossip in heaven, no untruth in heaven. There will be absolutely no sin of any kind in heaven. Heaven is the residence of a holy God and is a holy place. Be sure of where you think you want to reside before it's too late! You would be the most miserable, unhappy, person if you went to the wrong place!
___________________
God knows what is in our hearts. He hears every word, action, thought, and deed. You can fool all of us all the time. You can fool some of us some of the time, but you can't fool God!
_____________________
If you have to hurt other people in order to feel good about yourself, you are an extremely weak individual!
________________________
"Because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them, God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-121).
____________________________
A hypocrite is someone who spends their life pretending to be more righteous than they are. Because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them, God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
________________________
Fake repentance:
1. No change.
2. No remorse.
3. Justifying your error.
4. Repeating your error.
5. Looking for others to side with.
6. Blaming the one you hurt.
It's so nice when toxic people quit talking with you. It's like the trash took itself out! Peace - sweet peace!
__________________________
They Shall Not Swoon, nor Halt, nor Turn Back
How full of encouragement is the language of the prophet Isaiah, "But those who hope in the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
This beautiful passage contains a promise of continued supplies of grace and strength to all who really desire to serve the Lord with integrity and simplicity. In the image of the eagle, the prophet alludes to the strength of wing and of vision possessed by this noble bird - whereby it ascends to a lofty height, untired and undazzled - soaring even above the gos and mists of the lower regions of the air, mounting above the very clouds, undeterred by the lightning, and floating in the pure azure above!
Thus shall all who hope in the Lord rise higher and higher, upon the mighty wings of strong devotion, and with the unblinking eye of faith - into the regions of heavenly mindedness; and shall approach nearer and nearer to God - the sun of our spiritual day.
"They will run" in the heavenly race, for the crown of immortal glory, "and not grow weary." Their strength, instead of being exhausted, shall, contrary to what occurs in bodily effort - be increased by exertion. No length nor greatness of labor shall be too much for them. God shall pour into their souls, fresh energy for every fresh effort.
"They will walk and not faint." Their pilgrimage may be arduous; the road may be long and rugged; often up steep ascents, and down into deep and rocky crags, where every step is a labor - but they shall not lose heart or hope; they shall not swoon, nor halt, nor turn back - but go forwards, sustained by a greater power than their own!
~John Angell James~
True Christians don't pretend to be what they aren't. It's a lie and God hates a liar!
_____________________
There will be no lies in heaven. There will be no pretending in heaven. There will be no gossip in heaven, no untruth in heaven. There will be absolutely no sin of any kind in heaven. Heaven is the residence of a holy God and is a holy place. Be sure of where you think you want to reside before it's too late! You would be the most miserable, unhappy, person if you went to the wrong place!
___________________
God knows what is in our hearts. He hears every word, action, thought, and deed. You can fool all of us all the time. You can fool some of us some of the time, but you can't fool God!
_____________________
If you have to hurt other people in order to feel good about yourself, you are an extremely weak individual!
________________________
"Because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them, God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-121).
____________________________
A hypocrite is someone who spends their life pretending to be more righteous than they are. Because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them, God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
________________________
Fake repentance:
1. No change.
2. No remorse.
3. Justifying your error.
4. Repeating your error.
5. Looking for others to side with.
6. Blaming the one you hurt.
It's so nice when toxic people quit talking with you. It's like the trash took itself out! Peace - sweet peace!
__________________________
They Shall Not Swoon, nor Halt, nor Turn Back
How full of encouragement is the language of the prophet Isaiah, "But those who hope in the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
This beautiful passage contains a promise of continued supplies of grace and strength to all who really desire to serve the Lord with integrity and simplicity. In the image of the eagle, the prophet alludes to the strength of wing and of vision possessed by this noble bird - whereby it ascends to a lofty height, untired and undazzled - soaring even above the gos and mists of the lower regions of the air, mounting above the very clouds, undeterred by the lightning, and floating in the pure azure above!
Thus shall all who hope in the Lord rise higher and higher, upon the mighty wings of strong devotion, and with the unblinking eye of faith - into the regions of heavenly mindedness; and shall approach nearer and nearer to God - the sun of our spiritual day.
"They will run" in the heavenly race, for the crown of immortal glory, "and not grow weary." Their strength, instead of being exhausted, shall, contrary to what occurs in bodily effort - be increased by exertion. No length nor greatness of labor shall be too much for them. God shall pour into their souls, fresh energy for every fresh effort.
"They will walk and not faint." Their pilgrimage may be arduous; the road may be long and rugged; often up steep ascents, and down into deep and rocky crags, where every step is a labor - but they shall not lose heart or hope; they shall not swoon, nor halt, nor turn back - but go forwards, sustained by a greater power than their own!
~John Angell James~
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Under the Sun # 4
Under the Sun # 4
Nothing this world can give is worthwhile, unless while living in it we can have more than is revealed by the light of the sun. Destroy the Bible and all faith in God, and we might as well eat, drink, and be merry and die. Nothing will do unless it can give us the wings of the morning and let us mount higher than the sun, for what can a mole know about the sunrise, or a man in a pit know about the beauty of the mountains? No heaven we can build for ourselves without God can be more than a little anteroom to hell. Without God and revelation and the Bible and hope of heaven, all is indeed vanity and vexation of spirit.
But at last Solomon spreads the wings of faith and gets higher than the sun, and when he does the change in his viewpoint changes the meaning of life, for now he can see with a clear eye.
Listen to this, and note how his vision has expanded, and his sight cleared up, "Surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God." There is no more talk about everything being vanity now, and the reason is because at last he has a viewpoint higher than the sun, as is always the case with even the humblest man who has faith in God. Solomon can now see that nothing good is ever lost, and that bread cast on the waters is sure to return after many days. He now sees that wisdom is better than weapons of war, the plain meaning of which in our day is that good common sense is better than protection than a slingshot. And then, to sum up, he closes the book by saying, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." And there is no vanity about anything God does.
And now let us employ our time for a little while with some of the men who have looked at life from a viewpoint higher than the sun. It was this that kept Noah working away on the ark for a hundred and twenty years, without seeing a flash of lightening or hearing a clap of thunder. Had he been living only for what he could see, it would never have been said of him that "he was a just man and perfect, and walked with God." The man who walks with God will not spend much time in thinking about the bugs that may be creeping under his feet.
Abraham was another man who had a faith that lifted him higher than the sun, when looking for "a city which had foundations, whose maker and builder was God." You never hear a word from that grand old man about all being vanity and vexation of spirit.
And then there was Moses. He had a vision that pierced the clouds and went beyond the sun, when he saw that "the reproach of Christ' would bring him greater and more lasting riches than the treasures of Egypt, that he might have had by simply folding his arms and doing nothing. But he endured as seeing Him who is invisible, and that made it easy for him to refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Neither was he looking from the low plane of "under the sun," when in bidding farewell to the army he had brought out of Egypt, he said, "The eternal God is thy refuge, an and underneath are the everlasting arms." A man must have a seep of faith reaching higher than the sun before he can say things like that.
There is not a word about "under the sun" in the chapter where grand old Joshua says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," and no such words as "vanity and vexation of spirit" ever fell from the lips of that great captain of iron courage.
Samuel was looking at things from much higher than the sun when he said, "To obey is better than sacrifice," and so was Job when he said, "I will trust Him though He slay me," and "I know that my redeemer lives."
And Paul was looking from higher than the stars, or he could never have said, "For we know that if our earthly house of the tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven."
And then still later, John a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He doth judge and make war...He had on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."
And thank God the time will surely come, when in our vision we shall not be confined to the low plane described as "under the sun," but when with Him in whom we have believed we shall be lifted "far above all principality and power, and might and dominion." and be with Him forever in heavenly places, where we shall no more see as through a glass darkly, but face to face, and when we shall know as we are known.
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Nothing this world can give is worthwhile, unless while living in it we can have more than is revealed by the light of the sun. Destroy the Bible and all faith in God, and we might as well eat, drink, and be merry and die. Nothing will do unless it can give us the wings of the morning and let us mount higher than the sun, for what can a mole know about the sunrise, or a man in a pit know about the beauty of the mountains? No heaven we can build for ourselves without God can be more than a little anteroom to hell. Without God and revelation and the Bible and hope of heaven, all is indeed vanity and vexation of spirit.
But at last Solomon spreads the wings of faith and gets higher than the sun, and when he does the change in his viewpoint changes the meaning of life, for now he can see with a clear eye.
Listen to this, and note how his vision has expanded, and his sight cleared up, "Surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God." There is no more talk about everything being vanity now, and the reason is because at last he has a viewpoint higher than the sun, as is always the case with even the humblest man who has faith in God. Solomon can now see that nothing good is ever lost, and that bread cast on the waters is sure to return after many days. He now sees that wisdom is better than weapons of war, the plain meaning of which in our day is that good common sense is better than protection than a slingshot. And then, to sum up, he closes the book by saying, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." And there is no vanity about anything God does.
And now let us employ our time for a little while with some of the men who have looked at life from a viewpoint higher than the sun. It was this that kept Noah working away on the ark for a hundred and twenty years, without seeing a flash of lightening or hearing a clap of thunder. Had he been living only for what he could see, it would never have been said of him that "he was a just man and perfect, and walked with God." The man who walks with God will not spend much time in thinking about the bugs that may be creeping under his feet.
Abraham was another man who had a faith that lifted him higher than the sun, when looking for "a city which had foundations, whose maker and builder was God." You never hear a word from that grand old man about all being vanity and vexation of spirit.
And then there was Moses. He had a vision that pierced the clouds and went beyond the sun, when he saw that "the reproach of Christ' would bring him greater and more lasting riches than the treasures of Egypt, that he might have had by simply folding his arms and doing nothing. But he endured as seeing Him who is invisible, and that made it easy for him to refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Neither was he looking from the low plane of "under the sun," when in bidding farewell to the army he had brought out of Egypt, he said, "The eternal God is thy refuge, an and underneath are the everlasting arms." A man must have a seep of faith reaching higher than the sun before he can say things like that.
There is not a word about "under the sun" in the chapter where grand old Joshua says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," and no such words as "vanity and vexation of spirit" ever fell from the lips of that great captain of iron courage.
Samuel was looking at things from much higher than the sun when he said, "To obey is better than sacrifice," and so was Job when he said, "I will trust Him though He slay me," and "I know that my redeemer lives."
And Paul was looking from higher than the stars, or he could never have said, "For we know that if our earthly house of the tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven."
And then still later, John a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He doth judge and make war...He had on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."
And thank God the time will surely come, when in our vision we shall not be confined to the low plane described as "under the sun," but when with Him in whom we have believed we shall be lifted "far above all principality and power, and might and dominion." and be with Him forever in heavenly places, where we shall no more see as through a glass darkly, but face to face, and when we shall know as we are known.
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Under The Sun # 3
Under The Sun # 3
Every man wants to be satisfied. I do. So do you. Everyone is reaching out for happiness and peace and rest. There are men before me who have tried many things in pursuit of happiness. You have climbed high and you have probed deep, and some of you have not found what you have sought. All who are here are on the verge of eternity. The past is simply a memory, the future an uncertainty. No matter how old you are; no matter if your hair is gray; no matter what your bank account may be; some of you must say, "I have not found happiness. I am a failure. My life has been a failure. All is vanity and vexation of spirit."
Why don't you be a man? Why don't you show a man's courage, and take up the cross of the Son of God? Why don't you rise to what you might be? We were all meant for better things. You were never meant for the slop and the swill barrels of the devil. Why do you let the devil control you? Why do you let him make you a pawn on the board on which he plays his game?
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? Is there any bread in rum? Ask the poor fellows who have been spending their earnings for drink during all these years. Ask their wives and their children. No bread for them. Ask the salon-keeper. There is bread in it for him, but none for those who drink what he sells.
But to go back to Solomon's doleful cry of "All is vanity!" What does it mean? Was Solomon a dyspeptic, as most millionaires are? Have you ever noticed that it takes more religion to make a dyspeptic smile than it does to make a healthy man shout? Was there something wrong with Solomon's liver, or what was the matter? Was the trouble all with Solomon, or is all creation out of joint? Is there no good to be found in any of the things with which he employed his time? Is going to school no better than wasting time in idleness? Does a keen appreciation of the beautiful carry with it a curse and not a blessing? Is there no benefit in architecture, music or sculpture? Is there nothing but evil in wealth, wisdom and high station in life? Was Solomon really starving while apparently feeding on the finest of the wheat? He said so many things that appear to contradict all he said about vanity and vexation of spirit and so what does it mean?
But wait a moment. Here is something that seems to throw light on the matter. When Solomon says, "All is vanity," he also says, "under the sun," and that shows the standpoint from which he drew his conclusions. What we see as we go through life always depends upon where we stand to look. Many a man who tries to talk as if he were standing on a mountain, shows by what he says that he is up to his eyes in the mud.
When a man tells you that the whiskey business is a good thing for the country, you know that he is looking at things through the eyes of a brewer or a saloon-keeper, and not through the eyes of a father who has a son that has become a drunkard.
When a man tells you that he doesn't believe in foreign missions, you know that he doesn't know any more about what pure and undefiled religion is than a jack rabbit knows about running for president. From what he says you know the viewpoint from which he has come to his conclusion. To know a man's viewpoint is to know why he sees the thing he claims to see, and now we know why Solomon said, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit!" It was because he was looking at things from the viewpoint of "under the sun." As if a man could tell what a rainbow was like while standing on his head in a dark cellar.
In the little book of Ecclesiastes, from which the text is taken, the expression "under the sun" occurs thirty-one times, as if Solomon wanted everyone to understand that what he said therein was said from the standpoint of low ground. The great king was looking at things from a low, sensual, materialistic plane, and from that viewpoint every word he said was true. Take away God, take away the Bible, take away inspiration and revelation, take away all hope of a better life in the world to come, destroy all thought of resurrection, and put in its place nothing but hopeless and endless night, and you have nothing left that is worth living for. The life of the greatest and wisest man is than no better than that of a fool. The best fruits of the world would then turn to ashes on the lips, and it were better to die than to live.
Blot out everything except what we can know through our senses, and keep from us all light from a source higher than the sun, and the very best this life can give is worse than nothing at all. Destroy in every man the divine spark that tells him there is a God, and that there is a beyond, and every grave would hold a suicide. Let all hope die, and despair would reign.
We have only begun to know a little about the soul when we discover that nothing under the sun can satisfy it. It was this great truth Solomon began to realize after he found nothing but disappointment in the very best the world could give him. Under the sun nothing lasts; nothing endures; nothing satisfies. No sooner do we begin to think we have a thing safe forever than it is gone. We love but to lose. Whatever we have is ours but for one brief moment, and the anguish of our loss is a wound that never heals. No happiness is possible without the hope of certainty, and the thing we feel we must have mocks us as it flies. No fountain under the sun can hold enough to satisfy an immortal spirit, and that very fact proves us to be spirits in prison while we are here.
All the gold mines in in the world have not given up treasures enough to satisfy the man who has a greed for gain. The man with a hunger for honor and distinction has never been able to get enough of it, and the same can be said of everything else for which men strive and struggle and destroy each other and themselves.
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 4)
Every man wants to be satisfied. I do. So do you. Everyone is reaching out for happiness and peace and rest. There are men before me who have tried many things in pursuit of happiness. You have climbed high and you have probed deep, and some of you have not found what you have sought. All who are here are on the verge of eternity. The past is simply a memory, the future an uncertainty. No matter how old you are; no matter if your hair is gray; no matter what your bank account may be; some of you must say, "I have not found happiness. I am a failure. My life has been a failure. All is vanity and vexation of spirit."
Why don't you be a man? Why don't you show a man's courage, and take up the cross of the Son of God? Why don't you rise to what you might be? We were all meant for better things. You were never meant for the slop and the swill barrels of the devil. Why do you let the devil control you? Why do you let him make you a pawn on the board on which he plays his game?
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? Is there any bread in rum? Ask the poor fellows who have been spending their earnings for drink during all these years. Ask their wives and their children. No bread for them. Ask the salon-keeper. There is bread in it for him, but none for those who drink what he sells.
But to go back to Solomon's doleful cry of "All is vanity!" What does it mean? Was Solomon a dyspeptic, as most millionaires are? Have you ever noticed that it takes more religion to make a dyspeptic smile than it does to make a healthy man shout? Was there something wrong with Solomon's liver, or what was the matter? Was the trouble all with Solomon, or is all creation out of joint? Is there no good to be found in any of the things with which he employed his time? Is going to school no better than wasting time in idleness? Does a keen appreciation of the beautiful carry with it a curse and not a blessing? Is there no benefit in architecture, music or sculpture? Is there nothing but evil in wealth, wisdom and high station in life? Was Solomon really starving while apparently feeding on the finest of the wheat? He said so many things that appear to contradict all he said about vanity and vexation of spirit and so what does it mean?
But wait a moment. Here is something that seems to throw light on the matter. When Solomon says, "All is vanity," he also says, "under the sun," and that shows the standpoint from which he drew his conclusions. What we see as we go through life always depends upon where we stand to look. Many a man who tries to talk as if he were standing on a mountain, shows by what he says that he is up to his eyes in the mud.
When a man tells you that the whiskey business is a good thing for the country, you know that he is looking at things through the eyes of a brewer or a saloon-keeper, and not through the eyes of a father who has a son that has become a drunkard.
When a man tells you that he doesn't believe in foreign missions, you know that he doesn't know any more about what pure and undefiled religion is than a jack rabbit knows about running for president. From what he says you know the viewpoint from which he has come to his conclusion. To know a man's viewpoint is to know why he sees the thing he claims to see, and now we know why Solomon said, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit!" It was because he was looking at things from the viewpoint of "under the sun." As if a man could tell what a rainbow was like while standing on his head in a dark cellar.
In the little book of Ecclesiastes, from which the text is taken, the expression "under the sun" occurs thirty-one times, as if Solomon wanted everyone to understand that what he said therein was said from the standpoint of low ground. The great king was looking at things from a low, sensual, materialistic plane, and from that viewpoint every word he said was true. Take away God, take away the Bible, take away inspiration and revelation, take away all hope of a better life in the world to come, destroy all thought of resurrection, and put in its place nothing but hopeless and endless night, and you have nothing left that is worth living for. The life of the greatest and wisest man is than no better than that of a fool. The best fruits of the world would then turn to ashes on the lips, and it were better to die than to live.
Blot out everything except what we can know through our senses, and keep from us all light from a source higher than the sun, and the very best this life can give is worse than nothing at all. Destroy in every man the divine spark that tells him there is a God, and that there is a beyond, and every grave would hold a suicide. Let all hope die, and despair would reign.
We have only begun to know a little about the soul when we discover that nothing under the sun can satisfy it. It was this great truth Solomon began to realize after he found nothing but disappointment in the very best the world could give him. Under the sun nothing lasts; nothing endures; nothing satisfies. No sooner do we begin to think we have a thing safe forever than it is gone. We love but to lose. Whatever we have is ours but for one brief moment, and the anguish of our loss is a wound that never heals. No happiness is possible without the hope of certainty, and the thing we feel we must have mocks us as it flies. No fountain under the sun can hold enough to satisfy an immortal spirit, and that very fact proves us to be spirits in prison while we are here.
All the gold mines in in the world have not given up treasures enough to satisfy the man who has a greed for gain. The man with a hunger for honor and distinction has never been able to get enough of it, and the same can be said of everything else for which men strive and struggle and destroy each other and themselves.
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 4)
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