And I Will Bring The Third Part Through The Fire

Zec 13:9  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

It is a mercy to be in the furnace, and it is a mercy to be brought through it.

The LORD'S promise to the third part is, that he will bring them through the fire.

They must therefore, according to his own word, be put into it, and yet not left in it.

It is "through the fire"--right through it from beginning to end, whether it be a long and slow one or short and fierce one.

The LORD knows exactly what we can bear, and it is not always the hottest fire which produces the most softening effects.

Some metals indeed are so stubborn, and the dross is so deeply engrained into them, that they seem to require a hotter fire than others.

But after the law has done its work, and the dross and tin have been purged away, the LORD does not usually bring again so hot a furnace.

It is rather one of trial, temptation, sickness, family affliction, straits in providence, persecution, deep and daily discoveries of the body of sin and death, the hidings of the LORD'S face, and denials of his presence which seem to make up that trial which tries every man's faith of what sort it is.

By these trials and exercises there is a gradual weaning from the world, a humility, meekness, and brokenness of spirit before the LORD, a greater simplicity and godly sincerity, more    willing obedience to the precepts of the gospel, and a greater desire to know the will of GOD and do it.

O that these fruits of the Spirit might abound in us and all the saints and servants of GOD!

~J. C. Philpot~

Stand Still And See The Salvation Of The LORD!

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
 
These words contain GOD'S command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties.

He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut up on the right hand and on the left; what is he now to do?

The Master’s word to him is, “Stand still.”

It will be well for him if at such times he listens only to his Master’s word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions.

Despair whispers, “Lie down and die; give it all up.”

But GOD would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in his love and faithfulness. 

Cowardice says, “Retreat; go back to the worldling’s way of action; you cannot play the Christian’s part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles.”
 
But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of GOD.

His divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course.

What, if for a while thou art called to stand still, yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time.

Precipitancy cries, “do something. Stir yourself; to stand still and wait, is sheer idleness.”
 
We must be doing something at once - we must do it so we think...instead of looking to the LORD, who will not only do something but will do everything.

Presumption boasts, “If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle.”

But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears GOD say, “Stand still,” and immovable as a rock it stands.

Stand still;...keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice;

And it will not be long ere GOD shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.”
 
~Charles Spurgeon~

To An Angel's Eye, It Must Be The Ugliest Thing On Earth!

Pro 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.  

Chrysostom has aptly called pride "the mother of Hell"...for Hell with all its horrors is its hideous offspring!

Had there been no treacherous pride, there would have been no bottomless pit! 

Perdition was prepared for the Devil and his angels - and pride prepared the Devil and his angels for perdition!

We need fear no language we can possibly use being too strong to denounce pride, for as Aristotle says, "Pride comprehends all vice!"

Is drunkenness to be condemned with unmeasured severity? Then let pride be equally so, for it is nothing less than a spiritual drunkenness.

Pride flies as wine to the brain, and produces the same result.

No wretched drunkard reeling along the road is a more pitiable or disgusting sight, than the man who is intoxicated into idiocy with the alcohol of his own accursed pride!

May the most unsparing language be employed in the denunciation of the sin of idolatry? Then let it be equally strong in the condemnation of pride, for they are one in essence.

The proud man is simply one who bends the knee and worships a more hateful idol than can ever be found in the whole catalogue of heathendom; and its name is "Self!"

God loathes pride, for "everyone that is proud is an abomination to the Lord." Proverbs 16:5. To an angel's eye, it must be the ugliest thing on earth!  

And the saint, often deploring it, hates it with a perfect hatred.

But although universally condemned - it is too generally harbored.

It is easy work to find a thousand excuses for the particular species of pride we possess, which is almost always, according to our own estimate, "only proper pride."

It is the minister's imperative duty to cry out against particular sins, and lay the axe at the root of special iniquities.

I want this evening, by GOD'S help, to strike a blow at the deadly root of pride.  

I have no doubt many things I may say will be considered too severe. I cannot help it if they are.

The language of my text is strong and unvarnished enough; the truth it contains is put in the most uncomplimentary mode, and I would be a traitor were I to attempt to smooth it down.

My work is to declare that "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

~Archibald Brown~

                                                  

Valiant For Truth

Dan 11:32  And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

The LORD is a man of war, Jehovah is his name." Those who enlist under His banner shall have a Commander who will train them for the conflict and give them both vigor and valor. 

The times of which Daniel wrote were of the very worst kind, and then it was promised that the people of GOD would come out in their best colors: they would be strong and stout to confront the powerful adversary.

Oh, that we may know our GOD: His power, His faithfulness, His immutable love, and so may be ready to risk everything in His behalf.

He is One whose character excites our enthusiasm and makes us willing to live and to die for Him.

Oh, that we may know our GOD by familiar fellowship with Him; for then we shall become like Him and shall be prepared to stand up for truth and righteousness.

He who comes forth fresh from beholding the face of GOD will never fear the face of man.

If we dwell with Him, we shall catch the heroic spirit, and to us a world of enemies will be but as the drop of a bucket.

A countless array of men, or even of devils, will seem as little to us as the nations are to GOD, and He counts them only as grasshoppers.

Oh, to be valiant for truth in this day of falsehood.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Suppose Ye That I Am Come To Give Peace On Earth?

Luke 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Luke 12:51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 

If you and I are going to be men and women of the Spirit, we are not going to have an easy time.

Hell will see to that.

At once the clash arises and it is true that the more the Holy Spirit is able to have His way in us and to lead us into all the will of GOD, the more we find this opposition, this antagonism. 

And it not only comes between us and the world, it sometimes comes in the circle of the LORD'S own people.

It is inevitable provocation. You wonder why, sometimes.

As you read the New Testament you wonder, What is the matter with these people?

Why should they be so upset and so annoyed?

And why should it be so spontaneous, this thing? And persistent; so unreasonable?" but there it is. There is the fact. It is inevitable.

You see, this thing that the LORD came to do and is doing, will not allow for any neutrality.

It is going to be one thing or the other. It is going to be for or against.

The eyes of flame (here the fire comes in again) the eyes of flame will not allow lukewarmness or anything that is of the Laodicean character.

The fire is a positive element always, and it will create positive situations.

If everything is all just nice and quiet, no disturbance, no trouble and no antagonism and opposition, you have reason to question whether the Holy Spirit is doing much, because He does aim at such a positiveness, which is a very, very costly thing.

It is either with the LORD, or not with the LORD, and there is nothing between.

It is going to come out sooner or later and be precipitated.

Now, the LORD says that is what He came to do.

This is not an accident, a chance or things having gone wrong or miscarried.

This is exactly what He came to do - to scatter fire on the earth and these are the inevitable effects of the fire. They are going to work out. 

~T. Austin Sparks~

In God, Not Out Of Trouble

Jer 45:5  And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.  

A promise given for hard places, and a promise of safety and life in the midst of tremendous pressure, a life "for a prey."

It may well adjust itself to our own times, which are growing harder as we near the end of the age, and the Tribulation times.

What is the meaning of "a life for a prey"?

It means a life snatched out of the jaws of the destroyer, as David snatched the lamb from the lion.

It means not removal from the noise of the battle and the presence of our foes; but it means a table in the midst of our enemies...

A shelter from the storm, a fortress amid the foe, a life preserved in the face of continual pressure:

Paul's healing when pressed out of measure so that he despaired of life; Paul's Divine help when the thorn remained, but the power of Christ rested upon him and the grace of Christ was sufficient.

Lord, give me my life for a prey, and in the hardest places help me today to be victorious.

~Days of Heaven upon Earth~

We often pray to be delivered from calamities; we even trust that we shall be;

But we do not pray to be made what we should be, in the very presence of the calamities;

To live amid them, as long as they last, in the consciousness that we are, held and sheltered by the Lord, and can therefore remain in the midst of them, so long as they continue, without any hurt.

For forty days and nights, the Saviour was kept in the presence of Satan in the wilderness, and that, under circumstances of special trial, His human nature being weakened by want of food and rest. 

The furnace was heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated, but the three Hebrew children were kept a season amid its flames as calm and composed in the presence of the tyrant's last appliances of torture, as they were in the presence of himself before their time of deliverance came.

And the livelong night did Daniel sit among the lions, and when he was taken up out of the den, "no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God."

They dwelt in the presence of the enemy, because they dwelt in the presence of God.

Faithful and Useful

Psa 101:6  Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.   

If David spoke thus, we may be sure that the Son of David will be of the same mind.

Jesus looks out for faithful men, and He fixes His eyes upon them, to observe them, to bring them forward, to encourage them, and to reward them.

Let no true-hearted man think that he is overlooked; the King Himself has His eye upon him.

There are two results of this royal notice. First we read, "That they may dwell with me." 

Jesus brings the faithful into His house, He sets them in His palace, He makes them His companions, He delights in their society.

We must be true to our LORD, and He will then manifest Himself to us.

When our faithfulness costs us most, it will be best rewarded; the more furiously men reject, the more joyfully will our LORD receive us.

Next, he says of the sincere man, "He shall serve me." Jesus will use for His own glory those who scorn the tricks of policy and are faithful to Himself, His Word, and His cross.

These shall be in His royal retinue, the honored servants of His Majesty.

Communion and usefulness are the wages of faithfulness. 

LORD make me faithful that I may dwell with Thee and serve Thee. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Word, Necessary Food

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

If God so willed it we could live without bread, even as Jesus did for forty days; but we could not live without His Word.

By that Word we were created, and by it alone can we be kept in being, for he sustaineth all things by the Word of His power. 

Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance.

He can work without the second cause as well as with it; and we must not tie Him down to one mode of operation.

Let us not be too eager after the visible, but let us look to the invisible God.

We have heard believers say that in deep poverty, when bread ran short, their appetites became short, too;

And to others, when common supplies failed, the LORD has sent in unexpected help.

But we must have the Word of the LORD. With this alone we can withstand the devil.

Take this from us, and our enemy will have us in his power, for we shall soon faint.

Our souls need food, and there is none for them outside of the Word of the LORD.

All the books and all the preachers in the world cannot furnish us a single meal:

It is only the Word from the mouth of God that can fill the mouth of a believer.

LORD, evermore give us this bread. We prize it above royal dainties. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Sin Of The Rich Man Was Selfishness

There was nothing sinful in his being rich--Abraham himself has been a wealthy man.

It is not hinted that the rich man of the story had made his money in unlawful ways.

He is not charged with oppression of the poor, nor with enriching himself by others' ruin.

Had you asked his boon-companions what they thought of him, they would have called him the finest fellow in town.

It was neglecting Lazarus that was his sin. His crime was the unrelieved beggar at his gate.

And he could not plead that he was ignorant of Lazarus, for he recognized him at once in Abraham's bosom.

It was not want of knowledge, then, but want of thought that was the innermost secret of his tragedy.

He was so engrossed in his own life of pleasure, that his heart was dulled to the suffering at his door;

And every day he lived he grew more selfish till at last he went to his own place.

Let the children learn how needful it is to begin doing kindly deeds when they are young.

We grow so accustomed to misery by and by, that our hearts turn callous before we are aware.

It is a priceless blessing when the sympathies of childhood are turned into the channel of activity.

Caught in their freshness, and expressed in deeds, they form those habits of help and brotherly kindness that were utterly wanting in this rich man's heart.

~George H. Morrison~

Dealing With The Past

Mat 9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

GOD deals with impossibilities. It is never too late for Him to do so, when the impossible is brought to Him, in full faith, by the one in whose life and circumstances the impossible must be accomplished if GOD is to be glorified.

If in our own life there have been rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disaster, it is never too late for GOD to deal triumphantly with these tragic facts if brought to Him in full surrender and trust.

It has often been said, and with truth, that Christianity is the only religion that can deal with man's past.

GOD can "restore the years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); and He will do this when we put the whole situation and ourselves unreservedly and believingly into His hands.

Not because of what we are but because of what He is.

GOD forgives and heals and restores. He is "the GOD of all grace." Let us praise Him and trust Him. 

~Sunday School Times~

Nothing is too hard for Jesus No man can work like Him. We have a GOD who delights in impossibilities. 

Nothing too hard for Him.

~Andrew Murray~

Their Sound Went Into All The Earth.

Now that's something for the whole world and that's something for you, there's a message for you.

Let us begin to face this fact and it is an exceedingly solemn fact... nothing profound about it, but it's an exceedingly solemn fact that the trumpet is sounding, that is, that GOD is speaking.

GOD is in the world making known His mind for you, for all men.

GOD is not silent. GOD has not stopped speaking. He is speaking very loudly today and very widely.

Some of us are wondering whether GOD is not speaking as He is today for the last time.

We believe that the LORD Jesus is coming back. We believe that His coming is drawing near.

We believe that the end of this dispensation can almost be seen.

We in this country are not so alive, sensitive to this as they are in some places.

I was saying (I think it was today, the days seem so long, I'm not sure if it was today or yesterday...) what I discovered on the other side of America only a week or two ago, is that there, right up and down that west side of the United States, a large number of houses on a day like this are up for sale and to let.

And living amongst many of them and seeing all these boards up, I asked my friend with whom I was staying, "Why? 

There is such shortage, why here in these salubrious parts are people wanting to leave their houses?"

Oh, he said, You know everybody over here are living as on the edge of a volcano.

They're scared for their lives of these atomic bombs that they believe are coming at any time and they want to get right away from populated areas, they think that they're safer out in the desert.

Anywhere, but here. And just living like that... and you feel the tension and you know that it is so and everybody speaks about it.

I don't know that it is not justified to some measure, at any rate they know over there all about it.

You see, I went out into the city of Los Angeles in a car one day and I found that my eyes were beginning to get so painful, I could hardly keep them open, and my throat becoming so dry that I couldn't understand it.

It created difficulty for speaking. And I explained this to my friend and he said, "Well, you know they exploded a bomb yesterday, it's blowing it up here."

Just a little taste, well I'm not a scaremonger, I'm not trying to scare you into anything.

But we think we see that the end is not far off and men's hearts are failing them for fear.

You find it out there, and Scripture says it, men's hearts failing them for fear of the things which are coming upon the earth.

That Scripture is verily being fulfilled and it is said to be a sign of the last times. Well, maybe. We leave it that it might be.

Supposing that time is getting short toward the end of this dispensation, people are getting nervy about it.

Supposing...May it not be that this great sovereign thing of GOD because it is sovereign, we can't see any other explanation of what is happening.

In this great campaign [?] for instance, and the main figure in this campaign there in Glasgow was here in London last year and himself said, There's nothing to account for it but GOD, and I'm no preacher.

And everybody who listens knows that.

If you're looking for a wonderful sermon well, you don't find it there, if you're looking for a great discourse on theology you don't find it there. 

It's from the very simplest. And you wonder, you wonder how that can have the effect that it has.

Certainly it's not beating the intellect, and really it's not beating the emotions for everybody says no, this is not a great emotional thing.

GOD is sovereignly doing something surely.

And how widely flung this is, we've only heard this evening of it being talked about there up in Nairobi, ungodly people talking about it, they've heard the reports of what's going on.

Is GOD sounding the trumpet for the last time? 

Is He sovereignly letting it be known that redemption is in Christ Jesus for all men?

I put it in the form of a question, but if the question is permissible, allowable, it's a very solemn thing isn't it?

You, dear friends, if you're not in Christ, are hearing the trumpet sound, are, yes verily tonight, hearing it announced that GOD has provided redemption for you in His Son Jesus Christ.

You can never before GOD in time or eternity say, "I never knew, I never heard, I never had a chance!"

Well, GOD has equally, sovereignly perhaps, brought you to hear as He has also sovereignly ordained that it is to be said. That's something to think about.

It's a very, very serious thing to have heard the Gospel of the grace of GOD, to have been told of this wonderful redemption.

We put our hearts into it this evening when we sound it. Believe it, oh sinner, believe it! 

Receive the glad message, it's true, it's true, it's true. GOD is calling you.

GOD is calling you to Himself just as those trumpets called the people to Moses, to gather together unto him.

And a greater than Moses is here, the LORD Jesus by this sounding forth of the message tonight is calling you to Himself.

Jesus is tenderly, but loudly and definitely, calling today, and the word is, "Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart...".

It is a call of love, a call of mercy, a call of entreaty, but it's a call of warning.

~T. Austin Sparks~