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

Saturday, June 28, 2014

As A True Believer There Should Be An Influence From Our Lives Which Will Be Eternal

Rom 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

If it is true that you and I have been anointed of the Holy Spirit, as we ought to be, our presence in this world ought to register something positive for God.

It ought to be impossible for us to come into this world, and go out of it, without having registered something upon it.

People in this world ought to feel something when we are near them.

The devil himself ought to take notice that, because we are here under the Holy Spirit, Jesus is here.

It is impossible for Jesus to be anywhere without something happening, and now Jesus is here by the Holy Spirit in believers.

Therefore there ought to be nothing neutral about any Christian....

The Holy Spirit is positive, and not negative, and if the Holy Spirit is really Lord in our lives, our lives will count for something.

There will be an influence from our lives which will be eternal.

Thank God for the Holy Spirit! Let us be sure to ask the Lord that the anointing shall have a free way in our lives. 

The effect of the Holy Spirit may be to condemn some people, and it may be to redeem others, but He cannot be neutral, and if the anointing is upon you and upon me, the devil will take account of it.

May the Lord help us to see that that may not be a bad thing! Do you want the devil to say: "Oh, that man, that woman, does not matter.

You need not bother about him, or her!" I had a friend once who, whenever we were parting and going our different ways, took hold of my hand and said: "Goodbye, old man. The Lord make you a nuisance to the devil!"

Well, that is how it will be if the Holy Spirit is really upon us, for that is how it was with the Lord Jesus.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Doom Of The Hypocrite Professor


Isa 14:10  All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?  

What must be the apostate professor's doom when his naked soul appears before God? 

How will he bear that voice, "Depart, ye cursed; thou hast rejected me, and I reject thee; thou hast played the harlot, and departed from Me: I also have banished thee for ever from my presence, and will not have mercy upon thee." 

What will be this wretch's shame at the last great day when, before assembled multitudes, the apostate shall be unmasked?

See the profane, and sinners who never professed religion, lifting themselves up from their beds of fire to point at him. There he is, says one, "will he preach the gospel in hell?" 

There he is, says another, "he rebuked me for cursing, and was a hypocrite himself!" 

Aha! says another, "here comes a psalm-singing Methodist--one who was always at his meeting; he is the man who boasted of his being sure of everlasting life; and here he is!" 

No greater eagerness will ever be seen among Satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the hypocrite's soul down to perdition. 

Bunyan pictures this with massive but awful grandeur of poetry when he speaks of the back-way to hell. 

Seven devils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged him from the road to heaven, in which he had professed to walk, and thrust him through the back-door into hell. 

Mind that back-way to hell, professors! "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." Look well to your state; see whether you be in Christ or not. 

It is the easiest thing in the world to give a lenient verdict when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just and true here. Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. 

Remember if it be not a rock on which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the fall of it. 

O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Get Down Out Of The Boat

Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 
(Matthew 14:29–30)
 

John Bunyan said that Peter did have a little faith, even in the
midst of his doubts. In spite of crying out in fear, it was by getting out of the boat and walking that he got to Jesus.
 

In this passage of Scripture, we see that Peter’s sight was actually a hindrance. 

Once he had stepped out of the boat, the waves were none of his business. 

His only concern should have been the path of light shining across the darkness from Christ Himself.
 

Even the glow of a kingdom ten times brighter than that
of ancient Egypt should not have diverted Peter’s eyes.
 

When the Lord calls you to come across the water, step out
with confidence and joy. And never glance away from Him for
even a moment.


You will not prevail by measuring the waves or grow strong by gauging the wind. 

Attempting to survey the danger may actually cause you to fall before it. 

Pausing at the difficulties will result in the waves breaking over your head.

Lift up [your] eyes to the hills (Ps. 121:1) and go forward. There is no other way.
 

Do you fear to launch away? Faith lets go to swim!
 

Never will He let you go; It’s by trusting you will know
Fellowship with Him.


~Charles Spurgeon~

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Things Shaken Are Removed~Things Not Shaken Remain

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

We have many things in our possession at the present moment which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. 


Yet, we have certain “things which cannot be shaken,” and I invite you this evening to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain. 

Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation. 

You are standing at the foot of his cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus’ precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. 

Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. 

No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. 

Although by losses brought to poverty, and stripped bare, you can say, He is my Father still. 

In my Father’s house are many mansions; therefore will I not be troubled.” You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. 

He who is God and Man loves you with all the strength of his affectionate nature...nothing can affect that. 

The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may cease from the field, it matters not to the man who can sing, “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.

Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose. 

Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting state of time. 

Our country is Immanuel’s land, our hope is above the sky, and therefore, calm as the summer’s ocean; we will see the wreck of everything earthborn, and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation

~Charles Spurgeon~

Friday, June 20, 2014

Grain Must Be Ground To Make Bread

Grain must be ground to make bread. (Isaiah 28:28)

Many of us cannot be used as food for the world’s hunger, because we have yet to be broken in Christ’s hands. 

Grain must be ground to make bread, and being a blessing of His often requires sorrow on our part.  

Yet even sorrow is not too high a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with Christ’s blessings. 

The things that are most precious to us today have come to us through tears and pain. 

~J. R. Miller~

God has made me as bread for His chosen ones, and if it is
necessary for me to “be ground” in the teeth of lions in order
to feed His children, then blessed be the name of the Lord.

~Ignatius~

To burn brightly our lives must first experience the flame.

In other words, we cease to bless others when we cease to bleed.

Poverty, hardship, and misfortune have propelled many a life to moral heroism and spiritual greatness. 

Difficulties challenge our energy and our perseverance but bring the strongest qualities of the soul to life. 

It is the weights on the old grandfather clock that keep it running. 

And many a sailor has faced a strong head wind yet used it to make it to port. 

God has chosen opposition as a catalyst to our faith and holy service.

The most prominent characters of the Bible were broken, threshed, and ground into bread for the hungry.

Because he stood at the head of the class, enduring affliction
while remaining obedient, Abraham’s diploma is now inscribed with these words: “The Father of Faith.”

Jacob, like wheat, suffered severe threshing and grinding.

Joseph was beaten and bruised, and was forced to endure Potiphar’s kitchen and Egypt’s prison before coming to his throne.

David, hunted like an animal of prey through the mountains was bruised,weary, and footsore, and thereby ground
into bread for a kingdom. 

Paul could never have been bread for Caesar’s household if he had not endured the bruising of being whipped and stoned. He was ground into fine flour for the Roman royal family. 

Combat comes before victory. If God has chosen special trials
for you to endure, be assured He has kept a very special place
in His heart just for you. A badly bruised soul is one who is
chosen.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Be Still Just Now Be Still!

Eze 1:25  And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.

What is the significance of these words: “They stood with lowered wings”? 


People often ask,“How can I hear the voice of the Lord? ”This is the secret: these “living creatures” (v. 5) heard the voice when they stood with lowered wings.
 

We have all seen a bird flutter its wings while standing in place. But in this verse, we are told that “there came a voice...as they stood with lowered wings.”
 

Do you ever sit, or even kneel, before the Lord and yet are
conscious of a fluttering in your spirit? If so, you are not exhibiting a sense of genuine stillness while in His presence.
 

A dear person told me of this very thing a few days ago.“I
prayed about a certain thing,” she said, “but I did not wait for
the answer to come.” 


She did not get still enough to hear God speak but instead went away and followed her own thinking in the matter. The result proved disastrous, and she was forced to retrace her steps.
 

Oh, how much energy we waste! How much time we lose
by refusing to lower the wings of our spirit and become totally
quiet before Him!


Imagine the calm, the rest, and the peace that will come as we wait in His presence until we hear from Him

Then, and only then, we too may speed “back and forth like flashes of lightning” (v.14), going directly to “wherever the spirit would go” (v. 20).
 

Be still! Just now be still!
 

Something your soul has never heard, Something unknown to any song of bird, Something unknown to any wind, or wave, or star,
 

A message from the Father’s land afar, That with sweet joy the homesick soul will thrill, And comes to you only when you’re still.
 

Be still! Just now be still!
 

There comes a presence very mild and sweet; White are the sandals of His noiseless feet.
 

It is the Comforter whom Jesus sent To teach you what the words He uttered meant.
 

The willing, waiting spirit, He does fill. If you would hear His message, Dear soul, be still!


                                                                            

Saturday, June 14, 2014

The TALEBEARER Is A MURDERER!

A slandering tongue is called a triple tongue with the Jews because, as they say, it kills three persons; him that carries the slander, him that receives it, and him of whom it is related;  

Lev 19:16  Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. 


Jer 9:5  And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. 


Eze 22:9  In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.    

Pro 11:13  A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
 
Pro 18:8  The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. 
 
Pro_20:19  He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
 
Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
 
Mat 12:35  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.   

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle(useless) word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 
 
Mat 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
 
Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
 
Pro 18:7  A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
 
Pro 29:20  Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

Pro 21:23  Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

 
Psa 101:4  A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
 
 
Psa 101:5  Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. 
 
Pro 26:20  Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
                                                                               

Friday, June 13, 2014

Dwelling Safely Apart

Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew (Deuteronomy 33:28).

The more we dwell alone, the more safe shall we be. God would have His people separate from sinners, His call to them is, "Come ye out from among them.". 


A worldly Christian is spiritually diseased. 

Those who compromise with Christ's enemies may be reckoned with them.

Our safety lies, not in making terms with the enemy, but in dwelling alone with our Best Friend. If we do this, we shall dwell in safety despite the sarcasms, the slanders, and the sneers of the world. 


We shall be safe from the baleful influence of its unbelief, its pride, its vanity, its filthiness.

God also will make us dwell in safety alone in that day when sin shall be visited on the nations by wars and famines. 


The LORD brought Abram from Ur of the Chaldees, but Abram stopped halfway. He had no blessing till, having set out to go to the land of Canaan, to the land of Canaan he came, He was safe alone even in the midst of foes. 

Lot was not safe in Sodom though in a circle of friends. Our safety is in dwelling apart with God.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Monday, June 9, 2014

Am I Like Jesus...Or Not?

John 13:4-5  He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Serving is not an easy lesson to learn. But it is a lesson which we must learn if ever we would become like our Master.

Jesus did not come to be served but to serve. He served to the uttermost, just as He loved to the uttermost.

Any service that needed to be done for another He did as naturally and as simply as He breathed!

He loved people, and was interested in them and was ready always to be helpful to them. 

It never mattered what the service was, whether it was the saving of a soul, the curing of a grievous sickness, or washing feet-He did the least service as graciously and as divinely as the greatest!

The washing of feet was the lowliest service any man could do for another. It was the work of the lowliest slave. Yet Jesus without hesitation, did this service for His own disciples.

Thus He taught them that nothing anyone may ever need to have done by another is unfit for the holiest hands. 

We begin to be like Christ only when we begin to love others enough to serve them, regardless of the lowliness of the particular service.

One day a stranger entered an artist's studio in Milan. The artist was working on a painting of the head of Christ and appeared to take no notice of the stranger. At last he broke the silence, looked at the man and asked, "Sir, does it look like Jesus or not?"

There is no surer test of the genuineness of Christian life than in this matter of serving others.

In serving others, we should inquire, "Am I like Jesus or not?

We are too careful of our dignity. When we see the Son of God washing His disciples' feet we should be ashamed ever to ask whether anything another may need to have done is too menial for us to do.

A king may do the lowliest kindness to the poorest peasant in his realm and his honor will only be enhanced by it.

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet you also should wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do, just as I have done for you." John 13:14, 15

~J. R. Miller~

Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Letter Kills But The Spirit Gives Life


If you want to know the mind of the Spirit about anything, you will know it by quickening, by Life in that direction.                                        

If you want to know what the Spirit is against, you will know it because there is death in that direction in your spirit, you have no Life, you say, in that direction.

All right, that means you know the Lord, you know the Spirit, you know what it is to move on the basis of the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ.

The Father governed Him by that law. He governs us by exactly the same law when we are joined to the Lord, one spirit.

Guidance, direction, is a matter of Life in the Spirit, Life by the Spirit. The Lord Jesus had His life ordered, governed, conducted, arranged in every detail by the quickening Spirit; the Spirit of Life in Christ.

These Jews came along and said: "Here is the Scripture, and the Scripture says You ought not to do certain things, and You are doing them; You are all wrong because the Scripture says this!"

When Christ so acted was He violating the Scripture? Or was He giving God's meaning to the Scripture?

When God gave that law, did He not have a fuller meaning than what men see just on the surface?

Was there not a spiritual interpretation? Was it not pointing on to something, which when it came was to supersede – I do not mean break, but transcend – simply because higher, fuller, deeper meaning was reached?

Christ is God's Sabbath. It is in Christ that God comes to rest in all His works; His new creation. 

But they said, "You must abide by the letter!" We put it in that way to show the difference between taking the letter and having the Holy Spirit's illumination of the letter.

Life and the letter are often contrasted in the Word. The letter killeth, the Spirit maketh alive.

~T. Austin Sparks~

A Condition In Chastisement

"If need be" I Peter 1:6-Three gracious words! Not one of all my tears has been shed for nothing! Not one stroke of the rod has been unneeded, or that might have been spared! 

Your heavenly Father loves you too much, and too tenderly, to bestow harsher correction than your case requires!

Is it loss of health, or loss of wealth, or loss of beloved friends? Be still! there was a needs be. We are no judges of what that needs be is; often through aching hearts we are forced to exclaim, "Your judgments are a great deep!"

But God here pledges Himself, that there will not be one unnecessary thorn in the believer's crown of suffering. No burden too heavy will be laid on him; and no sacrifice too great exacted from him.

He will "temper the wind to the shorn lamb." Whenever the need be has accomplished its end, then the rod is removed~the chastisement suspended~the furnace quenched.

If need be! Oh! what a pillow on which to rest your aching head~that there is not a drop in all your bitter cup but what a God of love saw to be absolutely necessary!


Will you not trust His heart, even though you cannot trace the mystery of His dealings? Not too curiously prying into the "Why it is?" or "How it is?" but satisfied that "So it is," and, therefore, that all must be well!

Although you say you cannot see Him, yet judgment is before Him, therefore trust in Him!

~John Macduff~

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The Afflictions The LORD Sends On His People

Psa 88:7  Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

Jesus was a man of sufferings a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And His people, in their measure, must have the same. The Lord has appointed it should be so.

He has chosen His Zion in the furnace of affliction. There is no escape. 

The afflictions the Lord sends on His people are of varied kinds. The Lord sees necessary to send afflictions suitable to the case, state and condition of each. What might be an affliction to one, might not be so to another. 

Each must carry his own affliction. Each must bear his own load and each endure his own appointed lot.

Our wise God sees exactly what affliction to lay on each and all~when it shall come~where it shall come~why it shall come~how it shall come~how it shall work~what it shall work~how long it shall endure~when it shall be put on~and when taken off. In these matters, the Lord acts as a sovereign. 

We did not choose of what parents we would be born~nor our situation in life~nor had we any choice of our stature or skin color.

The Lord appointed all our afflictions for us and when He puts them on no human arm can take them off. He knows our constitution and troubles our characteristics and the minutest things relating to our situation in life.

The Lord knows all our concerns. Therefore He lays on each individual the very affliction He sees that individual needs~no greater, no less~exactly the very affliction which shall bring about the very appointed purpose intended by God to be brought about which shall be for the soul's good and God's own glory!

~J. C. Philpot~

Monday, June 2, 2014

Causes Of Heart Wanderings-Presumption

Another cause of backsliding is presumption---the taking it for granted that the soul stands so well with God that He will make great allowance for it, and that the guardian angel will take extra trouble to extricate the disobedient heart.

Satan tells you that you are the Lord's pet; that He thinks more of you than He does of most of His children; that He will make excuses for you that He does not make for others.

This was the temptation that came to Solomon. He had been assured of his high standing with God, and of his unparalleled wisdom and knowledge; and Satan played his tune of temptation on the strings of presumption, until the wisest of men mourned in the dust and cried, "vanity of vanities!" 

This was the temptation which the Devil presented to Jesus, when he urged Him to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple---that He was so highly favored of God that the angels would catch Him ere He struck the pavement.

This principle can have innumerable applications. 

God is as impartial in His chastisements as in His love. If He will show His love to the vilest wretch on earth who repents, so He will chastise the highest saint on earth---even a Moses, who talks face to face with Him.

Presumption is the sin that made the Devil, and one that Satan presents in a thousand varied forms to decoy the child of God.

~G. D. Watson~