Be Strong In Adversities And Storms!

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

The Lord Does Not Put Us In Glass Houses to Grow us, to be His Trees...

The Lord Does Not Protect Us From The Storms, The Adversities...

He Exposes us to the Bitter Winds and the Scorching Suns of Adversity and Trial.

The Lord is Working In Us that which is According To His Own Nature...Eternity, The Enduring, The Everlasting God...

That which will not be Easily or Hardly carried away.

He Is Putting Substance In You.

Oh, today we fear that the Appeal to become Christians is so often in terms of having an Easy or a Good time...

Being happy and enjoying yourself...

Well, thank God for ALL Divine Joy...

But this is True to the House, to the City...

That the First Thing the Lord is Working Toward...

And Seeking To Work Into His People is that Substantial, Steadfast, Enduring Faithfulness that is according to His Own Nature.

Substantial!

Oh For Substantial Christians That Don’t Need Coddling And Nursing And Running After All The Time...

Being Pandered To Get Them To Go On Or Stand Up.

Men And Women Like Cedars Of Lebanon...

Like The Hewn Stones...

Weighty, Accountable, and Responsible to Carry Weight...

And all that is meant by Strength.

I can only remind you again of what a Large Place that has in the Word of God...

Be Strong, Be Strong in the Lord in the Strength of His Might...

Be Strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Think again...

Want to Understand Why the winds are Allowed to blow so Fiercely...the storms?

To Get Us Away From That Natural, Easy-going-ness or Cheapness, Lightness, Frivolousness...

And To Make Us People Of Weight.

Strength Through Testing, Through Adversity...

Strength To Endure Throughout All Ages.

There is much which is going to be Carried Away in the Last Great Testing...

And if, therefore, Trial and Adversity is the Only Way to Deepen us, to Put Caliber into us...

I Suppose We Must Expect More Of It As The Time Shortens.

~T. Austin Sparks

In THAT Time BEFORE All Time!

 

Meditate, dear friends, upon the Whole Range Of God's Works in Creation and Providence.

There was a period when God dwelt alone, and creatures were not.

In that time before all time, when there was No day but "The Ancient Of Days,"...

When Matter and Created Mind were alike Unborn, and even space Was Not...

God, The Great I AM, was as Perfect, Glorious, and as Blessed as He is now.

There was No sun, and yet Jehovah Dwelt In ineffable Light.

There was No earth, and yet His throne Stood Fast and Firm.

There were No heavens, and yet His Glory Was Unbounded.

God inhabited eternity in the infinite Majesty and Happiness of His Self-Contained Greatness.

If the Lord, thus abiding in Solemn Solitude, should Choose To Create Anything--the first thought and idea Must come from Him... for there was no other to think or suggest.

All things must be of Him in design.

With whom can He take counsel?

Who shall instruct Him?

There existed no other to come into His council-chamber, even if such an assistance could be supposable with the Most High.

In the beginning of His Way, before His works of old, Eternal wisdom brought forth from its own mind the perfect plan of future creations...

And every Line and Mark therein must Clearly have been of the Lord Alone.

He Ordained the pathway of every planet, and fixed the abode of every star.

He Poured forth the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and girt Orion with its bands.

He Appointed the bounds of the sea, and settled the course of the winds.

As to the earth, the Lord Alone Planned Its Foundations, and Stretched His Line Upon It.

He Formed in His own mind, the mold of all His creatures, and found for them a dwelling and a service.

He Appointed the degree of strength with which He would endow each creature...

Settled its months of life...

Its hour of death...

Its coming and its going.

Divine Wisdom Mapped This Earth...

Its Flowing rivers and Foaming seas, the Towering mountains, and the Laughing valleys.

The Divine Architect Fixed The Gates Of The Morning...

And The Doors Of The Shadow Of Death.

Nothing could have been suggested by any other, for there was no other to suggest.

It was in His Power to have made a universe very different from this-if He had so pleased.

That He has made it what it is, must have been merely because in His Wisdom and Prudence, He Saw Fit To Do So.

Rev 4:11  Thou Art Worthy, O Lord, to Receive Glory and Honour and Power: for thou hast Created All Things, and for Thy Pleasure they are and were created.

~Charles Spurgeon

From Groaning To Glory

Rom 8:17  And IF children, then Heirs; Heirs of God, and Joint-Heirs with Christ; IF so be that we Suffer with him, that we may be also Glorified together.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us.

What Grace is this, that those who were once Rebels and Enemies of God, are now called His Children. 

Not merely Pardoned, not only Adopted-but made heirs of God Himself and co-heirs with Christ. 

This is a staggering truth, and one far beyond human merit or imagination. 

It is God's sovereign grace on display, lifting the ruined sons of Adam into the royal family of Heaven.

To be a Child of God is the Highest Privilege known to man. 

It is not something earned, but Granted by Divine Grace to those who are United to Christ by faith. 

And with Sonship comes Inheritance, not merely an inheritance from God, but God Himself as our portion. 

We are Heirs of God, and Joint-Heirs with Christ.

But there is a Condition, "IF indeed we Share in His sufferings." 

This is not a condition of merit, but of Identity. 

To Belong to Christ is to Walk The Path He Walked. 

There Can Be No Crown Without The Cross; No Glory Without The Grief. 

This World That Hated Him, Will Not Embrace His Followers. 

And while our afflictions may differ in kind and degree-Every True Believer will in some form, Share in the Fellowship of His Sufferings.

How can that be? Because the Weight of Glory is Infinite. 

The Suffering is Momentary, yet the Glory is Eternal. 

The Trials are Temporal-yet the Inheritance is Incorruptible, Undefiled, and Unfading. 

IF we are to Reign with Christ, we Must Be Content to Suffer with Him. 

The Cross Is The Stepping-Stone To The Crown. 

The Cross we Bear today, is but the Prelude to a Crown of Righteousness that Christ Himself Will Place upon our heads.

Believer, are you Weary under the Burden of Sorrow, Temptation or Persecution? 

Are you Misunderstood, Slandered or Lonely in your walk with Christ?

Take Heart. These Are The Marks Of Sonship. 

Do not look merely at what is Seen. Fix your gaze on what is Eternal. 

You are an Heir of God. You are a Co-Heir with the Risen, Reigning Christ. 

Every tear shall be Wiped Away. Every groan shall be turned to praise. 

Every Trial is Preparing you for a Glory that shall be Revealed in you-a Glory that is nothing less than Full Conformity to Christ, and Everlasting Communion with Him.

Yet even in the midst of these afflictions, the Spirit testifies of something far greater--the Glory that will be Revealed in us. 

This is not a hope based on feelings or fantasies. 

It is the Spirit-Wrought Assurance that suffering is Not the end, but the Appointed Path to Everlasting Glory.

Paul, a man well acquainted with agony and loss, weighs both suffering and glory in the scales of eternity-and declares that our sufferings are not even worthy of comparison.

Our sufferings, though real, are Fleeting Shadows. 

The Glory that awaits is Full, Eternal and Transforming. 

It shall be revealed IN us, not merely before us, or around us, but WITHIN us. 

The Glory of Christ shall Shine in and through all the Redeemed, when we are made like Him and be with Him Forever.

Believer, when the burden is heavy and the path is dark, let your heart Anchor itself to this truth-you are an Heir of Glory! 

You may  Groan today, but you will be  Glorified tomorrow. 

These light and momentary afflictions, are Preparing You for an Eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all. 

Keep Your Eyes On The Unseen. 

The Sorrow is Passing-the Glory is Everlasting.

Father, Help us to Endure the Sufferings of this present time with Hope and Perseverance. 

Fix our eyes on the Glory that is to come, and let the Promise of our Inheritance in Christ Sustain us through every trial. 

May we Rejoice, not in the ease of our path, but in the Certainty of our Destination. In Jesus' name, Amen.

~Charles Spurgeon

The Absolute Sovereignty Of GOD!

The Absolute Sovereignty of God extends to All things, including Wars, Disasters and Plagues. 

Scripture testifies that these events are neither random nor outside of His Control. 

God Ordains All things, including calamities. 

Nothing happens outside His Sovereign decree. 

Yet, while God Decrees and Governs all things, He remains perfectly Holy and Unstained by sin.

Psa 46:8  Come, behold the Works of the LORD, what Desolations he hath made in the earth.

From the Decimating Earthquake, to the Devouring Fire; From the Devastating Tsunami, to the Deadly Plague; From the Volcanic Eruption, to the Destructive Hurricane

The Bible clearly teaches that all what we call "natural disasters" fall under the Sovereign decree of Almighty God. 

He governs all of His creation according to His Decreed Will--yet He remains Unstained by sin, executing His Sovereign purposes in Justice, Wisdom and Righteousness.

"Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Amos 3:6)

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil(affliction,calamity) in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

When the earth quakes beneath us, let us not attribute it to chance, or accident, or laws of nature--but to Him Who Alone Shakes The Pillars thereof. 

Storms at sea, Earthquakes on land, and Tempests in the sky--are but the outstretched rod of Jehovah, Calling men to Repentance and reminding them that He alone is God!

Though God ordains all these events, He remains holy and without sin. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5). 

1Jn 1:5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

He does not do evil, nor can He be accused of injustice. God's purposes are always just and righteous. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" (Genesis 18:25).

Let us, therefore acknowledge God's Sovereign hand in all things, and Bow in Reverence!

~Charles Spurgeon

Two Gates, Two Ways, Two Ends!

There Are Only Two GATES:

One of them is Wide. Its name is Self...
 
My Own desires, my Own proud thoughts, my Own righteousness, my Own beloved and darling sins, my Own plans and pleasures.

The other gate is Narrow. Its name is Christ...

Christ sought with Repentance and Godly sorrow, Christ followed at any hazard.

It is the gate of the Crucifixion of Self!

There are Only two WAYS:

One of them is Broad, Easy, Pleasant, Comfortable, Pleasing to the Flesh, Thronged with Multitudes...

A Primrose path, but always tending downward, and bringing Disastrous consequences.

The other way is Difficult and Narrow, as it were through a gorge between craggy cliffs which nearly meet...

Haunted by Dangers and Enemies, chosen by comparatively Few.

The Christian's Toilsome pilgrimage and Dangerous journey...

Ah, how the road climbs up and up!

There are Only two ENDS:

One of them is Destruction...

Dark, Hopeless, Irretrievable, the Death of peace, the Death of hope, the Death of every good impulse,  the Death of the soul!

The other end is Life...

Life at its Fullest, Sublimest, Sweetest, Life Without sin and Without Sorrow...

Life in the land of Life and Glory, Life in the Presence of Christ For All Eternity!

Consciously, Deliberately, Unequivocally, may I Seek...

The Narrow gate, the Difficult way, the end which is Everlasting Life!

~Alexander Smellie
 

GOD'S Enemies SHALL BOW!

Exo 7:5  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

The ungodly world is hard to teach. Egypt Does Not Know Jehovah and therefore dares to set up its idols and even ventures to ask, "Who is the LORD?" 

Yet the LORD means to Break Proud Hearts, whether they will or not. 

When His judgments Thunder over their heads, Darken their skies, Destroy their harvests, and Slay their sons, they Begin To Discern somewhat of Jehovah's Power. 

There Will Yet Be Such Things Done In The Earth as shall bring skeptics To Their Knees. 

Let us not be dismayed because of their blasphemies, for the LORD can take care of His own name, and He Will Do So in a Very Effectual Manner.

The salvation of His own people was another potent means of making Egypt know that the GOD of Israel was Jehovah, the Living and True GOD. 

No Israelite died by any one of the Ten plagues. 

None of the Chosen Seed were drowned in the Red Sea. 

Even so, the salvation of the elect and the sure glorification of all True believers will make the most obstinate of GOD'S enemies Acknowledge that Jehovah, He Is GOD.

Oh, that His Convincing Power would go forth by His Holy Spirit in the preaching of the gospel, till all nations Shall Bow at the name of Jesus and call Him LORD!

Invitation To Pray

Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

God encourages us to pray. 

They tell us that prayer is a pious exercise which has no influence except upon the mind engaged in it. 

We know better. 

Our experience gives the lie a thousand times over to this infidel assertion. 

Here Jehovah, the Living GOD, distinctly promises to Answer the prayer of His servant. 

Let us Call Upon Him again and Admit No Doubt upon the question of His Hearing us and Answering us. 

He that Made The Ear, shall He not Hear? 

He that gave parents a love to their children, will He not listen to the Cries of His Own Sons and Daughters!

God will Answer His pleading people in their anguish. 

He has Wonders in store for them. 

What they have Never seen, Heard of, or Dreamed of, He Will Do for them. 

He will invent New blessings if needful. 

He will ransack sea and land to Feed them: 

He will send every angel out of heaven To Succor them if their distress requires it. 

He will Astound us with His Grace and make us feel that it was never before done in this fashion.

All He asks of us is that we will Call Upon Him. 

He cannot ask less of us. 

Let us cheerfully Render Him Our Prayers At Once. 

~Charles Spurgeon