Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Small Foothold

James tells us, “If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:14-16).

Take note of whom James is addressing here. In verse 13 he says, Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? He is telling us, “You may have great spiritual wisdom and knowledge. But if there is bitterness in your home, strife in your heart, envy at your workplace, don’t think you are spiritual at all. You are under a lying delusion.”

When James speaks of strife and bitterness, he is talking about arguing and faultfinding. And he says all of it is devilish, sensual, works of evil.

In short, anyone who holds on to bitterness causes strife—and worse, he opens his heart to demonic possession.

Do you know people whose bitterness has led to satanic possession?

Over time, their outer person begins to manifest the darkness they have held inside.

Eventually their body begins to break down, becoming diseased and shriveled, and they suffer mental imbalances. 

Whenever the devil is given such ground, he works utter destruction.

So, go ahead, hold your grudge. Keep your bitterness. Continue stirring up strife.  

If you do, you will be in total rebellion against God and His Word and you’ll open yourself up to Satan. You will become spiritually blind and hardened in heart.

On the other hand, if you are spiritual—willingly obedient to God’s Word***then no matter how injured you are, you’ll show the peaceable wisdom of gentleness by forgiving.

On a trip to Jerusalem, I saw a powerful example of how Satan can get a demonic foothold in even the smallest patch of ground. 

As I looked down over the Holy City from the Mount of Olives, I saw the land where the Muslim Dome of the Rock temple sits.

That tiny piece of ground is perhaps only part of an acre. Yet somehow Satan got his hands on it and built a temple to himself.

The devil has managed to focus his powers in the very midst of God’s once-chosen people, Israel. And it all happened because he got just a small foothold. This is a vivid picture of what Satan does when he gains even the smallest piece of ground.

~David Wilkerson~

Monday, April 28, 2014

When A Man's Tongue Is Extensively Wrong

                                                   
Let it be a settled principle again in our religion, that when a man's general conversation is ungodly—his heart is graceless and unconverted.

Let us not give way to the foolish notion, that no one can know anything of the state of another's heart, and that although men are living wickedly—they have good hearts at the bottom.

Such notions are flatly contradictory to our Lord's teaching. Is the general tone of a man's speech carnal, worldly, godless or profane? Then let us understand, that this is the state of his heart!

When a man's tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that his heart is right!

No good tree bears bad fruit; nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart; and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks!" Luke 6:43-45

J. C. Ryle

Friday, April 25, 2014

EARTHQUAKE!

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

Of all the judgments which the righteous God inflicts on sinners here in this world***the most dreadful and destructive is an earthquake. This He has lately brought on our part of the earth, and thereby alarmed our fears, and bid us to prepare to meet our God!

Earthquakes are the works of the Lord, and He alone brings this destruction upon the earth. 


That God is Himself the Author of earthquakes, and sin the moral cause of earthquakes, (whatever the natural cause may be,) cannot be denied by any who believe the Scriptures. Earthquakes are set forth by the inspired writers as God's proper judicial act for the punishment of sin.

Job 9:5-6  Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

Psa 104:32  He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

Psa 18:7  Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

Nah 1:5-6 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Sin is the cause of God's anger***earthquakes the effect of His anger!

Isa 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Isa 13:13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

Isa 24:19  The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

Isa 29:6  Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Nothing can be more express than these Scripture testimonies, which determine both the cause and author of this terrible calamity. We cannot conceive that the universe would have been disturbed by these furious disasters, before sin entered. Therefore reason, as well as Scripture, sufficiently assure us that earthquakes are God's works of judgment***the proper effect and punishment of sin.

Nothing can be so affecting as this judgment of an earthquake, when it comes unexpectedly as a thief in the night, when there is no time to flee, or method to escape, or possibility to resist; when no sanctuary or refuge remains; when the earth opens suddenly, and becomes the grave of whole families, towns, and cities — either sending out a flood of waters to drown them, or vomiting out flames of fire to consume them, or closing over them; when parents and children, husbands and wives, and all people, without distinction, in the midst of health, and peace, and business are buried in a common ruin, and pass all together into the eternal world; and there is only the difference of a few hours or minutes between a famous city and none at all!

Now, if war is a terrible evil then how much more an earthquake, which, in the midst of peace, brings a worse evil than the extremity of war!

If a raging pestilence is dreadful, which sweeps away thousands in a day, and ten thousands in a night; if a consuming fire is an amazing judgment then how much more astonishing is an earthquake, whereby houses, and inhabitants, towns, and cities, and countries, are all destroyed at one stroke in a few minutes!

For a man to feel the earth, which hangs upon nothing, (as some vast ball in the midst of a thin air,) totter under him must fill him with astonishing fright and confusion!

History informs us of the fearful effects of earthquakes in all ages; where you may see rocks torn in pieces; mountains not cast down only, but removed; hills raised, not out of valleys only, but out of seas; fires breaking out of waters; stones and cinders belched up; rivers changed; seas dislodged; earth opening; towns swallowed up; and many such-like hideous events! 


Of all divine judgments, there is none more horrid, more inescapable, than an earthquake! For where can we think to escape danger, if the most solid thing in all the world shakes!
 

With what horror are men struck when they hear the earth groan, and feel it trembling beneath them; when houses are loosened from their foundations; when the roofs fall upon their heads, and the pavement sinks under their feet!

In other evils there is some way to escape; but an earthquake encloses what it overthrows, and wages war with whole provinces; and sometimes leaves nothing behind it to inform posterity of its outrages. More insolent than the fire which spares rocks; more cruel than the conqueror who leaves walls; more greedy than the sea — which vomits up shipwrecks***the earthquake swallows and devours whatever it overturns!

Therefore, fear God even that God who can in a moment cast both body and soul into hell!
 

Jer 5:22  Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

Will you not fear Him who can open the windows of heaven above, or break up the fountains of the deep below, and pour forth whole floods of vengeance when He pleases!

 

Psa 11:6  Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

Will you not fear Him who can kindle those earthquakes in the caverns of the earth, and make them force their way to the destruction of towns, cities, and countries!

Will you not fear Him who can thus suddenly turn a fruitful land into a barren wilderness***an amazing spectacle of desolation and ruin!
 

O that His fear might this moment fall upon all you who read these words; constraining every one of you to cry out, Psa 119:120  My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

O that all might see that His hand is now lifted up, as in act to strike! It is stretched out still and He shakes His rod over a guilty land, a people fitted for destruction!
 

God will never lack ways and means to punish impenitent sinners. He has a thousand other judgments in reserve; and if the earth should not open its mouth yet you shall surely at last be swallowed up in the bottomless pit of Hell Truly, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!" Hebrews 10:31

If the earth just now were to open its mouth and swallow you up what would become of you? Where would you be?
 

~Charles Wesley~

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

I Will Uphold You With My Righteous Right Hand!

Isa 41:10  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

What a precious promise this is for all God's feeble children, who are daily fearing that they shall fall or be crushed under the weight of their troubles and trials!

O believer, what comfort is here! This promise is confirmed to you in Jesus, by His death. Yes, it is yours as much so as if it was spoken to you directly by the mouth of God!

Oh, what a mercy! God says that He will uphold you. He will put strength into you; He will enable you to bear your afflictions and will bring you safely through all your troubles.

Satan may say,"I will trip you up."
God says,"I will uphold you"!

Unbelief may say,"You will one day fall and perish."          
God says,"I will uphold you!"

Your flesh may cry out,"I can never bear up under this cross."
God says,"I will uphold you!"

Your feeble heart may say,"How can I endure such privations,such bereavements, such buffetings of Satan,such temptations,such losses,such fiery trials?"
God says,"I will uphold you!"

The Bible testifies that all believers "go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion" Psalm 84:7

In weakness the Lord strengthens them;
In poverty the Lord supplies their needs;
In sickness the Lord sustains them; and
In death the Lord gives them the final victory!

O Father, I am weak but You are strong. Give me of Your strength so that I may serve You and walk with You all the days of my life on this earth.

Psa 37:23-24 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 


~James Smith~
    

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Jesus Christ The Basis For Everything

John 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Let us remember that this way is a way that is a constant offense to the flesh, to the natural man. 

The Jews strove with one another, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"

But not only did Jews, the religious people in their religious self-satisfaction, strive together, but it is also written, "Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?"

Even disciples could not go on sometimes.  

When they came face to face with the implications of such a saying, they were no longer willing to be associated with Him on a basis of that kind.

The flesh loves to have it in itself to be doing, to be laying the plans, arranging the programs, organizing the work, superintending it, and getting it going.

The flesh revels in that, and when you come and say to that whole order of things, "The way of God is the way of utter dependence and faith, with the Holy Spirit in entire charge.

And you must keep your hands off and be willing to do only what the Lord tells you and no more," (that which is meant by the declaration, I can do nothing out from Myself") it is an offense to the natural man, even in religious matters.

We come up against that constantly, do we not? It is the difference between meeting together as they did at Antioch to pray things out and get the Lord's witness as to His will, and having a committee meeting to discuss a proposal and make plans.

If the natural man is not doing the whole thing, and arranging it, and ordering it, and running it all, he cannot think that progress can be made at all. 

Unless you come out with your plans, and announce your programs, and declare what you are doing, and present your statistics, the naturally minded Christian thinks that nothing is being done.

It is possible to have wonderful things done without any of that kind of activity. 

We cite such a thing purely as an illustration. Application can be extended in many directions, but this is just to help out the thought.

The whole accomplishment of God in Christ is on the basis of Divine Life mediated through faith. 

That is another way of saying that Christ has to be the basis of everything in a spiritual way.

This is an offense to the flesh, but a satisfaction to the Spirit.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Thursday, April 17, 2014

These Poor Swine!

Mar 5:2-5 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.  

In this demoniac, we have a sample of the work of Satan when he gets full control in a man. He destroys every beautiful thing in the life, and leaves only ruin!

No chains could bind this demoniac. When sin is on the throne, all other influences and constraints become like spiders' threads in comparison! 

No chain is strong enough to bind the man who has yielded himself to the sway of the Evil One! 

The love of a godly mother is a strong bond but many a child tears off this holy chain and rushes into wayward and evil paths! Home ties are strong but these too are broken asunder, by the victim of Satan's ungodly rule.

We see that the demoniac cut and gashed himself with stones. This illustrates what in many ways, Satan's captives do. They may not literally go about cutting their flesh with knives or bruising their bodies with stones; but they do gash and bruise their souls! 

Sin always wounds the life and one of its fearful consequences is the self-destruction it works.  

Every sin one commits leaves an ugly scar! 

We grieve God by our wrongdoing, and we harm others when we sin against them; but we always injure ourselves by every evil word we speak, by every wrong act we commit, even by the evil thoughts we think in our hearts. The self-hurt of sin is one of its saddest consequences!

Demons find their pleasure in working mischief, and in ruining lives. Godly men count that day lost in which they have done no act of kindness to another. Demons count the day lost in which they have stained no pure soul or led no one into sin! 

We ought to tear off Satan's mask and show him as he is! 

Evil comes to us pretending to be a friend. It holds flowers in its hands and whispers entrancing words, promising rich rewards: Only do this and it will bring you pleasure, honor, wealth and joy! That is the way sin talks. But this is all false. 

Sin is never a friend to man. It never does good to anyone but always harm.

However plausibly Satan may present his temptations under the guise of pleasure his secret aim is to destroy the soul he tempts. Nothing gives the Evil One so much pleasure as to see a fair and beautiful life stained and debauched!

It is most comforting to us, to find that Christ is able to dislodge even the most obdurate and persistent demon!

No one could bind this demoniac, nor resist his superhuman strength. But at His word the foul spirit was compelled to leave the man he had possessed for so long.

No human hand can break the chains of sinful habits. No mere resolution can free one from Satan's bondage. 

Only Christ can set the devil's captives free!  

Those who have long been trying in vain to reform, to break away from evil practices — see in Christ, the Friend who alone can deliver them and save them. No demon-power can resist His command. Only Christ can free the poor slaves of Satan, and save them from his terrible sway!
 
Mar 5:13  And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.  

In the swine, under demoniac possession, rushing down the steep cliff and perishing in the lake we have another illustration of the end of all Satan's ruinous work. It is with men as it was here with the swine.

It never yet has been known that Satan impelled anyone upward to a better life or to anything noble and lofty; he always drives down sin's steep ways into choking floods. 

God's ways leads upward, it is always uphill to Christ and to heaven. But the devil always drives downward. These poor swine, demon-possessed, rushed down the steep bank, into the lake and perished. Just so do human souls, demon-possessed, rush down sin's precipitous course and perish!

It would be well to keep this dreadful picture in our mind when we are tempted in any way by the devil; for if we follow him this is the way it will surely end with us! 

~J. R. Miller~

Monday, April 14, 2014

My Choice Is His Choice

Psa 47:4  He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

Our enemies would allot us a very dreary portion, but we are not left in their hands. 

The LORD will cause us to stand in our lot, and our place is appointed by His infinite wisdom. 

A wiser mind than our own arranges our destiny, The ordaining of all things is with God, and we are glad to have it so; we choose that God should choose for us.

If we might have our own way we would wish to let all things go in God's way.

Being conscious of our own folly, we would not desire to rule our own destinies. 


We feel safer and more at ease when the LORD steers our vessel than we could possibly be if we could direct it according to our own judgment. 

Joyfully we leave the painful present and the unknown future with our Father, our Savior, our Comforter.

O my soul, this day lay down thy wishes at Jesus' feet! If thou hast of late been somewhat wayward and willful, eager to be and to do after thine own mind, now dismiss thy foolish self, and place the reins in the LORD's hands. 


Say, "He shall choose." If others dispute the sovereignty of the LORD and glory in the free will of man, do thou answer them, "He shall choose for me." 

It is my freest choice to let Him choose. As a free agent, I elect that He should have absolute sway. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Saturday, April 12, 2014

The Hidden Foes

Our LORD always leads us to the secret, innermost roots of things.

He does not concern Himself with symptoms, but with causes. 

He does not begin with the molten lava flowing down the fair mountain slope and destroying the vineyards. He begins with the central fires in which the lava is born.

He does not begin with uncleanness. He begins with the thoughts which produce it. 

He does not begin with murder, but with the anger which causes it.

He pierces to the secret fires!

Now, all anger is not of sin. The Apostle Paul enjoins his readers to “be angry, and sin not.” To be altogether incapable of anger would be to offer no antagonism to the wrongs and oppressions of the world. 

Who is made to stumble, and I burn not? cries the Apostle Paul. If wrong stalked abroad with heedless feet he burned with holy passion. There is anger which is like clean flame, clear and pure, as “the sea of glass mingled with fire.

And there is anger which is like a smoky bonfire, and it pollutes while it destroys.

It is the unclean anger which is of sin. It seeks revenge, not righteousness. 

It seeks “to get its own back,” not to get the wrong-doer back to God. It follows wrong with further wrong. It spreads the devil’s fire.

~John Henry Jowett~

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Speak Unto Us Smooth Things

                                                         
A man recently wrote the following to our ministry: “I don’t know who put me on your mailing list, but please remove my name immediately. I can’t stand your gloomy gospel and your hammering against sin. None of us is perfect, not even you. I’ve had it with your King James gospel of doom.”

Isaiah spoke of this kind of response: “This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way” (Isaiah 30:9-11).

The word “smooth” in this verse means “nice, flattery.”  

The people of Israel were saying, in short, “Don't tell us any more bad stuff. Describe how we’re going to prosper, how great things lie ahead of us. If not, then get out of our faces.”

No believer who hides sin in his heart ever wants to hear a holy, sin-exposing word.


That person will always flee the Holy Spirit’s voice of truth. And he’ll turn to some preacher who is soft on sin, offering smooth talk and flattering prophecies.

So, you ask, what hard message did God’s voice deliver to His people on Mount Sinai? He said simply this: “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image. . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them”

(Deuteronomy 5:6-9).

Here was the pure, unadulterated word of the Lord, coming directly from His mouth. It should have sent the people flying to their tents to smash their graven images. It should have stirred their hearts and brought them to their knees. But instead they cried, “No more thunder, fire, shaking. No more audible voice speaking to us. Give us a spokesman who is like us, and let him speak to us. Then we’ll hear and obey.”


~David Wilkerson~
 





Tuesday, April 8, 2014

A Great Company Of People Followed Him And Bewailed And Lamented Him

Amid the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to his doom, there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations—fit music to accompany that march of woe.

When my soul can, in imagination, see the Saviour bearing his cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with them; for, indeed, there is true cause for grief—cause lying deeper than those mourning women thought.

They bewailed innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, meekness about to die; but my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn.

My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows: my sins cried “Crucify him! crucify him!” and laid the cross upon his gracious shoulders.

His being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity: but my having been his murderer, is more, infinitely more, grief than one poor fountain of tears can express.
 

Why those women loved and wept it were not hard to guess: but they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has.

Nain’s widow saw her son restored—but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter’s wife’s mother was cured of
the fever—but I of the greater plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast—but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were favoured with visits—but he dwells with me. His mother bare his body—but he is formed in me the hope of glory. 


In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not be behind them in gratitude or sorrow.“Love and grief my heart dividing, With my tears his feet I'll lave~Constant still in heart abiding, Weep for him who died to save.”

~Charles Spurgeon~

Monday, April 7, 2014

Don't Bring Upon Yourselves The Wrath Of GOD

Among other interpretations of this suggestive question, the following is full of teaching:

If the innocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will be done when the sinner himself—the dry tree—shall fall into the hands of an angry God?

When God saw Jesus in the sinner’s place, he did not spare him; and when he finds the unregenerate without Christ, he will not spare them. 

O sinner, Jesus was led away by his enemies: so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Jesus was deserted of God; and if he, who was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be?

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? what an awful shriek! But what shall be your cry when you shall say, “O God! O God! why hast thou forsaken me?

And the answer shall come back, Because ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.

If God spared not his own Son, how much less will he spare you! What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience shall smite you with all its terrors. 

Ye richest, ye merriest, ye most self-righteous sinners who would stand in your place when God shall say, “Awake, O sword, against the man that rejected me; smite him, and let him feel the smart forever”?

Jesus was spit upon: sinner, what shame will be yours!  

We cannot sum up in one word all the mass of sorrows which met upon the head of Jesus who died for us; therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you now are.

You may die so, you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by his wounds and by his blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Friday, April 4, 2014

LORD Open Our Eyes That We May See

2Ki 6:17  And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and one another: “Lord, open our eyes so we may see.


We are surrounded, just as the prophet Elisha was, by God’s horses and chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:17), waiting to transport us to places of glorious victory.
 

Once our eyes are opened by God, we will see all the events of our lives, whether great or small, joyful or sad, as a “chariot” for our souls.

Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such. 

On the other hand, even the smallest trial may become an object crushing everything in its path into misery and despair if we allow it.
 

The difference then becomes a choice we make. 

It all depends not on the events themselves but on how we view them. If we simply lie down, allowing them to roll over and crush us, they become an uncontrollable car of destruction. 

Yet if we climb into them, as riding in a car of victory, they become the chariots of God to triumphantly take us onward and upward. 

~Hannah Whitall Smith~
 

There is not much the Lord can do with a crushed soul.That is why the Adversary attempts to push God’s people toward despair and hopelessness over their condition or the condition of the church. 

It has often been said that a discouraged army enters a battle with the certainty of defeat. 

I recently heard a missionary say she had returned home sick and disheartened because her spirit had lost its courage, which led to the consequence of an unhealthy body.
 

We need to better understand these attacks of the Enemy on our spirit and how to resist them. 

If he can dislodge us from our proper position, he then seeks to wear out the saints of the most High (Dan.7:25 KJV) through a prolonged siege, until we finally, out of sheer weakness, surrender all hope of victory.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Secretly, Quietly, Insidiously, Plausibly

Watch out for false prophets! They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves!

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light! 

False doctrine does not meet us face to face, and proclaim that it is false. It does not blow a trumpet before it, and endeavor openly to turn us away from the truth as it is in Jesus.

It does not come before us in broad day, and summon us to surrender. It approaches us secretly, quietly, insidiously, plausibly, and in such a way as to disarm our suspicion, and throw us off our guard.

It is the wolf in sheep's clothing, and Satan in the garb of an angel of light—who have always proved the most dangerous foes of the church of Christ. 

Let us be on our guard against the "insidiousness" of false doctrine. Like the fruit of which Eve and Adam ate—at first sight it looks pleasant and good, and a thing to be desired.  

Poison is not written upon it, and so people are not afraid. Like counterfeit coin, it is not stamped "bad." It passes for the real thing, because of the very likeness it bears to the truth.

Let us be on our guard against the "very small beginnings" of false doctrine. Every heresy began at one time, with some little departure from the truth. 

There is only "a little seed of error" needed to create "a great tree of heresy!" 

It is the little stones, which make up the mighty building. It was the little pieces of lumber, which made the great ark that carried Noah and his family over a deluged world.

It is the little leaven, which infiltrated the whole lump. It is the little flaw in one link of the chain cable, which wrecks the gallant ship, and drowns the crew.

It is the omission or addition of one little item in the doctor's prescription, which spoils the whole medicine, and turns it into poison! 

Let us never allow a little false doctrine to ruin us, by thinking it is "but a little one," and can do us no harm. 

There are three things which we never ought to trifle with: a little poison, a little sin, an a little false doctrine.
 

Let us read the Bible regularly, daily, and with fervent prayer. Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing which is not in the Bible.

Let our rule of faith, our touchstone of all teaching be the written Word of God. 

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20

~J. C. Ryle~