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

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Absolute Assurance

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Several times in the Scriptures the LORD hath said this. 

He has often repeated it to make our assurance doubly sure.

Let us never harbor a doubt about it. 

In itself the promise is specially emphatic. 

In the Greek it has five negatives, each one definitely shutting out the possibility of the LORD's ever leaving one of His people so that he can justly feel forsaken of his God. 

This priceless Scripture does not promise us exemption from trouble, but it does secure us against desertion.

We may be called to traverse strange ways, but we shall always have our LORD's company, assistance, and provision. 

We need not covet money, for we shall always have our God, and God is better than gold; His favor is better than fortune.

We ought surely to be content with such things as we have, for he who has God has more than all the world besides. 

What can we have beyond the Infinite? 

What more can we desire than almighty Goodness. 

Come, my heart; if God says He will never leave thee nor forsake thee, be thou much in prayer for grace that thou mayest never leave thy LORD, nor even for a moment forsake His ways. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Stand Still

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 upon 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~
     
 Be quiet! why this anxious heed About thy tangled ways?
 

God knows them all. He giveth speed And He allows delays.

Tis good for thee to walk by faith And not by sight.

Take it on trust a little while. 

Soon shalt thou read the mystery aright In the full sunshine of His smile.

In times of uncertainty, wait. 

Always, if you have any doubt, wait. 

Do not force yourself to any action. 

If you have a restraint in your spirit, wait until all is clear, and do not go against it.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Christmas Is Coming!


Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

Christmas is coming! Quite so-but what is "Christmas?"

Does not the very term itself denote it's source, "Christ-mass." 

It is of Roman origin, brought over from paganism.

But, says someone, "Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Savior's birth."


It is?

And who authorized such commemoration?

Certainly God did not.

The Redeemer bade His disciples to "remember" Him in His death...

But there is not a word in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth

Moreover, who knows when, in what month, He was born?

The Bible is silent thereon.

And WHO is it that celebrates "Christmas?" 


The whole "civilized world." 

Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of the Lamb, who "despise and reject Him". 

We would ask: Is it fitting that Christ's friends should unite with His enemies in a worldly round of fleshly gratification? 

Does any true believer really think that He whom the world cast out, is either pleased or glorified by such participation in the world's joys?

Truly, the customs of the people are vain! It is written, "You shall not follow a multitude to do evil." Exodus 23:2

Some will argue for the "keeping of Christmas" on the ground of "giving the kiddies a good time." 


But why do this under the cloak of honoring the Savior's birth?

Why is it necessary to drag in His holy name in connection with what takes place at that season of carnal jollification?

There are those who do abstain from some of the grosser carnalities of the "festive season"--yet are they nevertheless in cruel bondage to the prevailing custom of "Christmas".

In the sight of God, the circus and the theater are far less obnoxious than the "Christmas celebration" of Romish and Protestant "churches."


Why? Because the latter are done under the cover of the holy name of Christ-the former are not.

You shall not follow a multitude to do evil.


Ah, it is an easy thing to float with the tide of popular opinion...

But it takes much grace, diligently sought from God, to swim against it. 

Yet that is what the heir of Heaven is called on to do: "Do not be conformed to this world"...to deny self, take up the cross, and follow a rejected Christ.

Our final word is to the pastors...


To you the Word of the Lord is, "You should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12). 

Is it not true, that the most corrupt "churches" you know of, where almost every fundamental of the faith is denied--will have their "Christmas celebrations?"

Will you imitate them?

Seek grace to firmly but lovingly set God's truth on this subject before your people, and announce that you can have no part in following Pagan, Romish, and worldly customs!

~Arthur Pink~

Monday, December 18, 2017

And Then He TurnsThe Picture!

He told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.

He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops!' 

Then he said, This is what I will do.

I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to myself: You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. 

Take life easy-eat, drink and be merry!
 

But God said to him, You fool!

This very night your life will be demanded from you. 

Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
 

This is how it will be with anyone who stores up treasure for himself-but is not rich toward God. Luke 12:16-21

Let us mark in these verses-what a withering exposure our Lord makes of the folly of worldly-mindedness.


He draws the picture of a rich man of the world, whose mind is wholly set on earthly things. 

He paints him scheming and planning about his property, as if he was master of his own life, and had but to say, "I will do a thing"-and it would be done.

And then He turns the picture
-and shows us God requiring the worldling's soul, and asking the heart-searching question, "You fool!...


This very night your life will be demanded from you. 

Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?

Folly, he bids us to learn-nothing less than folly, is the right word by which to describe the conduct of the man who thinks of nothing but his money. 


The man who "stores up treasure for himself-but is not rich toward God"...is the man whom God declares to be a fool!

It is a solemn thought, that the character which Jesus brings before us in this parable, is far from being uncommon. 


Thousands in every age of the world have lived continually doing the very things which are here condemned! 

Thousands are doing them at this very day! 

They are laying up treasure upon earth-and thinking of nothing but how to increase it.

They are continually adding to their hoards, as if they were to enjoy them forever-and as if there was no death, no judgment, and no world to come!

And yet these are the men who are called clever, and prudent and wise!


These are the men who are commended, and flattered and held up to admiration!

Truly the Lord does not see, as man sees! 

The Lord declares that rich men who live only for this world, are utter fools!

Let us pray for rich men. Their souls are in great danger!

Heaven, said a great man on his death-bed, "is a place to which few kings and rich men come."

Even when converted, the rich carry a great weight, and run the race to Heaven under great disadvantages. 


The possession of money has a most hardening effect upon the conscience. 

We never know what we may do-if we were to become rich. 

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Poverty has many disadvantages-but riches destroy far more souls than poverty!

~J. C. Ryle~

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Do Men Make Their Own Gods?

One great besetting sin of ancient Israel was idolatry...

And we who are the spiritual Israel are vexed with a tendency to the same folly! 

We no longer bow down to sticks and stones but Mammon still intrudes his golden calf...

And the shrines of pride are not forsaken.  

SELF in various forms, struggles to subdue the chosen ones under its dominion...

And the flesh sets up its altars wherever it can find space for them.

Children are often the cause of much sin in believers.

The Lord is grieved when He sees us doting upon them above measure...

They will live to be as great a curse to us as Absalom was to David, or they will be taken from us to leave our homes desolate.

If Christians desire to grow thorns to stuff their sleepless pillows...let them dote on their children! 

It is truly said that "they are not gods," for the objects of our foolish devotion are very doubtful blessings...

The solace which they yield us now is dangerous...

And the help which they can give us in the hour of trouble is little indeed.

Why, then, are we so bewitched with vanities?

We pity the poor heathen who adore a god of stone and yet worship a god of gold! 

Where is the vast superiority between a god of wood and one of flesh? 

The principle, the sin, the folly is the same in either case...

Only that in our case the crime is more aggravated because we have more light...

And sin in the face of it.

The heathen bows to a false deity but he has never known the true God.

But we commit two evils, inasmuch as we forsake the living God and turn unto idols!

May the Lord purge us all from this grievous iniquity!

The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be; Help me to tear it from Thy throne, And worship only Thee!

~Charles Spurgeon~

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Have You Got A Heart For The LORD?


Mat 13:51  Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
 
Mat 13:52  Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

Have you got a heart for the Lord?

Have you got a heart for the Kingdom of God?

Really, is this a heart matter?

The Lord says that if you really have a heart, that is going to mean spiritual understanding.... 

There are people whose good hearts are not rebellious to the Lord. 

They are not the people who say, "I will not have the Lord's Words." 

They make a response to the Lord, and it comes from their hearts. 

But some good people have reservations. 

Some very good people say, "Now if I go all out for the Lord, you know what my friends will think of me? 

Do you know what the people in my church would say about me?

And you know, perhaps my position in business will be interfered with. 

I must be very careful. 

I must not lose my influence with others. 

I must think about what other people will think and say. 

Now, my committee expects this of me. 

If I really go all out for the Lord, my committee will be very angry.

Perhaps they will ask me to resign.

Do you see what I mean?

Very good people, but they are influenced by policy. 

I was talking to a man once, and as I talked to him, he saw what I was meaning. 

And when I was finished, this is what he said...

Yes, Mr. Sparks, you are quite right. I quite agree with you...

But if I was to go the way that you are going, I should offend all my friends. 

And in my work for the Lord, people would begin to withdraw their support with money. 

So I must think about my people and about the Lord's work.

Very good people, very devoted to the Lord. 

There is no doubt about it that they love the Lord, but you see these reservations. 

It says about Caleb of the Old Testament, that he had another spirit, and he wholly followed the Lord....

I say to you: have you understood all these things? 

I have much more to say to you about spiritual understanding. 

But, oh, how important it is that I should have eyes to see, to see behind the things that are said and done, and see the meaning of the Lord. 

These people only heard His Words, and saw His works, but they did not understand the meaning. 

And they lost so much. 

Ask the Lord to give you spiritual understanding.

And if you don't understand, don't say, I don't understand....

Go to the Lord and say, "Lord, make me understand. Open the eyes of my heart."

That will show that you mean business with the Lord...

And if you mean business with the Lord...

The Lord will mean business with you.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Peace Whatever Exposure

It is the height of grace that Jehovah should be in covenant with man, a feeble, sinful, and dying creature. 

Yet the LORD has solemnly entered into a faithful compact with us...

And from that covenant He will never turn aside. 

In virtue of this covenant we are safe. 

As lions and wolves are driven off by shepherds, so shall all noxious influences be chased away. 

The LORD will give us rest from disturbers and destroyers.

The evil beasts shall cease out of the land. 

O LORD, make this Thy promise good even now!

The LORD's people are to enjoy security in places of the greatest exposure...

Wilderness and woods are to be as pastures and folds to the flock of Christ.

If the LORD does not change the place for the better, He will make us the better in the place.

The wilderness is not a place to dwell in, but the LORD can make it so...

In the woods one feels bound to watch rather than to sleep, and yet the LORD giveth His beloved sleep even there.

Nothing without or within should cause any fear to the child of God. 

By faith the wilderness can become the suburbs of heaven and the woods the vestibule of glory.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Thursday, November 30, 2017

God Is In The Front Line

                                                    
In the presence of a great work or a great warfare, here is a text which should help us to buckle on our harness.

If Jehovah Himself goes before us, it must be safe to follow. 

Who can obstruct our progress if the LORD Himself is in the van?

Come, brother soldiers, let us make a prompt advance! 

Why do we hesitate to pass on to victory?

Nor is the LORD before us only...

He is with us.

Above, beneath, around, within is the omnipotent, omnipresent One. 

In all time, even to eternity, He will be with us even as He has been. 

How this should nerve our arm! 

Dash at it boldly, ye soldiers of the cross, for the LORD of hosts is with us!

Being before us and with us, He will never withdraw His help. 

He cannot fail in Himself, and He will not fail toward us.

He will continue to help us according to our need, even to the end. 

As He cannot fail us, so He will not forsake us. 

He will always be both able and willing to grant us strength and succor till fighting days are gone.

Let us not fear nor be dismayed...

For the LORD of hosts will go down to the battle with us...

Will bear the brunt of the fight...

And give us the victory. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Monday, November 27, 2017

There Is No Such Thing As "Chance," "Luck," Or "Accident" In The Christian's Journey Through This World!

Luke 12:4  And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

Luke 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Luke 12:6  Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

Luke 12:7  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

The last thing that demands our attention in these verses, is Christ's encouragement to persecuted believers. 

He reminds them of God's providential care over the least of His creatures: 

Not one sparrow is forgotten by God!

He goes on to assure them that the same Fatherly care is engaged on behalf of each one of themselves: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered!" 

The providential government of God over everything in this world is a truth of which the Greek and Roman philosophers had no conception.

It is a truth which is especially revealed to us in the Word of God. 

Just as the telescope and microscope show us that there is order and design in all the works of God's hand, from the greatest planet down to the least insect...

So does the Bible teach us that there is wisdom, order, and design in all the events of our daily life.  

There is no such thing as "chance," "luck," or "accident" in the Christian's journey through this world!

If we profess to be believers in Jesus Christ...then all is arranged and appointed by God. 

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Let us seek to have an abiding sense of God's hand in all that befalls us

Let us strive to realize that our Father's hand is measuring out our daily portion...

And that our every step is ordered by Him.
 

A daily practical faith of this kind, is one grand secret of happiness and a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent!

We should try to feel in the day of trial and disappointment--that all is right, and that all is well done

We should try to feel on the bed of sickness that there must be a "needs be" for it. 

We should say to ourselves, "God could keep these afflictions away from me...if He thought fit."

But He does not do so, and therefore they must be for my advantage.

I will lie still, and bear them patiently. 

Whatever pleases God- shall please me!

Nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to a believer without God's ordering and permission.

~J. C. Ryle~

Friday, November 24, 2017

A Subtle Leaven Which The Heart Is Always Ready To Receive!

Luke 12:1  In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Luke 12:2  For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

The first thing that demands our attention in these verses, is Christ's warning against hypocrisy.

This is a warning of which the importance can never be overrated. 

It was delivered by our Lord more than once, during His earthly ministry.

It was intended to be a standing caution to His whole church in every age, and in every part of the world.

It was meant to remind us that the principles of the Pharisees are deeply ingrained in human nature--and that Christians should be always on their guard against them.

Hypocrisy is a subtle leaven which the heart is always ready to receive! 

It is a leaven which once received into the heart, infects the whole character of a man's Christianity. 

Of this leaven, says our Lord, in words that should often ring in our ears-...of this leaven, Beware!

Let us ever nail this caution in our memories, and bind it on our hearts. 

The plague is around us on every side! 

The danger is at all times.

What is the essence of Romanism, and formalism, and ceremonialism?

What is it all, but the leaven of the Pharisees under one shape or another? 

The Pharisees are not extinct!  

Pharisaism lives still.

If we would not become Pharisees--then let us cultivate a 'heart religion'.

Let us realize daily that the God with whom we have to do, looks far below the outward surface of our profession, and that He measures us by the state of our hearts. 

Let us be real and true in our Christianity.

Let us abhor all part-acting, and affectation, and semblance of devotion--put on for public occasions, but not really felt within.

Our hypocrisy may deceive man, and get us the reputation of being very religious--but it cannot deceive God.

For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be made known.

Whatever we are in religion--let us never wear a cloak or a mask of religion.

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

~J. C. Ryle~

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

“Grieve Not The Holy Spirit.”

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
 

All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. 

Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit.

Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant except he worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure.
 

Do you desire to speak for Jesus...how can you unless the Holy Ghost touch your tongue?
 

Do you desire to pray? Alas! what dull work it is unless the Spirit maketh intercession for you! 

Do you desire to subdue sin? 

Would you be holy? 

Would you imitate your Master?

Do you desire to rise to superlative heights of spirituality?

Are you wanting to be made like the angels of God, full of zeal and ardor for the Master’s cause? 

You cannot without the Spirit..."Without me ye can do nothing."

O branch of the vine, thou canst have no fruit without the sap! 

O child of God, thou hast no life within thee apart from the life which God gives thee through his Spirit! 

Then let us not grieve him or provoke him to anger by our sin.

Let us not quench him in one of his faintest motions in our soul; 

Let us foster every suggestion, and be ready to obey every prompting.

If the Holy Spirit be indeed so mighty, let us attempt nothing without him;

Let us begin no project, and carry on no enterprise, and conclude no transaction, without imploring his blessing.

Let us do him the due homage of feeling our entire weakness apart from him...

And then depending alone upon him, having this for our prayer, “Open thou my heart and my whole being to thine incoming, and uphold me with thy free Spirit when I shall have received that Spirit in my inward parts.”

~Charles Spurgeon

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Weapons Doomed To Fail

                                               
There is great clatter in the forges and smithies of the enemy. 

They are making weapons wherewith to smite the saints. 

They could not even do as much as this if the LORD of saints did not allow them...

For He has created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire. 

But see how busily they labor!

How many swords and spears they fashion!

It matters Nothing, for on the blade of every weapon you may read this inscription: "It Shall Not Prosper". 

But now listen to another noise: It is the Strife Of Tongues. 

Tongues are more Terrible Instruments than can be made with hammers and anvils...

And the evil which they inflict cuts deeper and spreads wider. 

What will become of us now?

Slander, falsehood, insinuation, ridicule-these are Poisoned arrows; how can we meet them?

The LORD God promises us that, if we cannot silence them, we shall, at least, escape from being ruined by them. 

They condemn us for the moment, but we shall condemn them at last and Forever. 

The mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped...

And their falsehoods shall be turned to the honor of those good men who suffered by them.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Lie Still and Trust

Psa 27:13  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

FAINT NOT!

How great is the temptation at this point!

How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering.

I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence. 

What shall I do?

God tells me not to faint. 

But what can one do when he is fainting?

What do you do when you are about to faint physically? 

You cannot do anything. 

You cease from your own doings.

In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one.

You lean hard. 

You rest. 

You lie still and trust.

It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction.

God's message to us is not, "Be strong and of good courage," for He knows our strength and courage have fled away.

But it is that sweet word, "Be still, and know that I am God."

Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray.

I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust.

This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust.

He said He will hide thee Beneath His wing;

And sweetly there in safety Thou mayest sing.

~Selected~

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Daily Fellowship With GOD

                                                                              
1. The first and chief need of our Christian life is, Fellowship with God.

The Divine life within us comes from God, and is entirely dependent upon Him.

As I need every moment afresh the air to breathe, as the sun every moment afresh sends down its light, so it is only in direct living communication with God that my soul can be strong.

The manna of one day was corrupt when the next day came.

I must every day have fresh grace from heaven, and I obtain it only in direct waiting upon God Himself. 

Begin each day by tarrying before God, and letting Him touch you. 

Take time to meet God.

2. To this end, let your first act in your devotion be a setting yourself still before God.

In prayer, or worship, everything depends upon God taking the chief place.

I must bow quietly before Him in humble faith and adoration, speaking thus within my heart: God is. God is near. 

God is love, longing to communicate Himself to me. 

God the Almighty One, Who worketh all in all, is even now waiting to work in me, and make Himself known.

Take time, till you know God is very near.

3. When you have given God His place of honor, glory, and power, take your place of deepest lowliness, and seek to be filled with the Spirit of humility.

As a creature it is your blessedness to be nothing, that God may be all in you. 

As a sinner you are not worthy to look up to God; bow in self abasement. 

As a saint, let God's love overwhelm you, and bow you still lower down. 

Sink down before Him in humility, meekness, patience, and surrender to His goodness and mercy.

He will exalt you. Oh! take time, to get very low before God.

4. Then accept and value your place in Christ Jesus.

God delights in nothing but His beloved Son, and can be satisfied with nothing else in those who draw nigh to Him. 

Enter deep into God's holy presence in the boldness which the blood gives, and in the assurance that in Christ you are most well-pleasing.

In Christ you are within the veil.

You have access into the very heart and love of the Father.

This is the great object of fellowship with God, that I may have more of God in my life, and that God may see Christ formed in me. 

Be silent before God and let Him bless you.

5. This Christ is a living Person. He loves you with a personal love, and He looks every day for the personal response of your love.

Look into His face with trust, till His love really shines into your heart.

Make His heart glad by telling Him that you do love Him.

He offers Himself to you as a personal Saviour and Keeper from the power of sin. 

Do not ask, can I be kept from sinning, if I keep close to Him? but ask, can I be kept from sinning, if He always keeps close to me? and you see at once how safe it is to trust Him.

6. We have not only Christ's life in us as a power, and His presence with us as a person, but we have His likeness to be wrought into us.

He is to be formed in us, so that His form or figure, His likeness, can be seen in us. 

Bow before God until you get some sense of the greatness and blessedness of the work to be carried on by God in you this day. 

Say to God, Father, here am I for Thee to give as much in me of Christ's likeness as I can receive.

And wait to hear Him say, My child, I give thee as much of Christ as thy heart is open to receive.

The God who revealed Jesus in the flesh, will reveal Him in thee and perfect thee in Him.

The Father loves the Son, and delights to work out His image and likeness in thee.

Count upon it that this blessed work will be done in thee as thou waitest on thy God, and holdest fellowship with Him.

7. The likeness to Christ consists chiefly in two things-the likeness of His death and resurrection, (Rom 6:5). 

The death of Christ was the consummation of His humility and obedience, the entire giving up of His life to God.

In Him we are dead to sin.

As we sink down in humility and dependence and entire surrender to God, the power of His death works in us, and we are made conformable to His death. 

And so we know Him in the power of His resurrection, in the victory over sin, and all the joy and power of the risen life. 

Therefore every morning, present yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. 

He will maintain the life He gave, and bestow the grace to live as risen ones.

8. All this can only be in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. 

Count upon Him to glorify Christ in you. 

Count upon Christ to increase in you the inflowing of His Spirit. 

As you wait before God to realize His presence, remember that the Spirit is in you to reveal the things of God. 

Seek in God's presence to have the anointing of the Spirit of Christ so truly that your whole life may every moment be spiritual.

9. As you meditate on this wondrous salvation and seek full fellowship with the great and Holy God, and wait on Him to reveal Christ in you, you will feel how needful the giving up of all is to receive Him. 

Seek grace to know what it means to live as wholly for God as Christ did.

Only the Holy Spirit Himself can teach you what an entire yielding of the whole life to God can mean.

Wait on God to show you in this what you do not know.

Let every approach to God, and every request for fellowship with Him be accompanied by a new, very definite, and entire surrender to Him to work in you.

10. By faith must here, as through all Scripture, and all the spiritual life, be the keynote.

As you tarry before God, let it be in a deep quiet faith in Him, the Invisible One, who is so near, so holy, so mighty, so loving. 

In a deep, restful faith too, that all the blessings and powers of the heavenly life are around you, and in you.

Just yield yourself in the faith of a perfect trust to the Ever Blessed Holy Trinity to work out all God's purpose in you. 

Begin each day thus in fellowship with God, and God will be all in all to you.

~Andrew Murray~

Monday, November 6, 2017

What Does The Arm Of The Lord Imply?




We all want to have His support, His upholding, His strength.

To have the Lord with us, alongside of us, with all His gracious and infinite power exercised on our behalf, is, after all, the most important thing in life...

Not only for us as Christians individually, but for the Church, and for the whole work of the Lord.

But have we really thought as to what we mean by this?

What do we expect?

Is it just the bare support of the Lord, to get us through, to carry us over, to see that we do not collapse on the way?

When we see somebody standing fearfully by the side of the road, afraid to step out and cross, we sometimes offer an arm:

We say, 'Let me give you an arm and see you over' - an arm!

Well, the arm is a support; it helps to the other side.

Is that all we want from the Lord?

We do not always speak about the Arm of the Lord; we often express it in other ways.

We ask for grace; we ask for sufficiency; we ask for many other things;

But it is all included in the Arm of the Lord. 

What is it that we are really seeking?

Now, what does the Word of God show to be the meaning of this support, this Arm of the Lord? 

Before I answer that question, let me pause to say that this is a matter of the most far-reaching importance and application.

I am not at this time at all concerned with merely giving Bible studies.

There is a very great practical background to all that is presented here.

There is coming daily into one's life an almost continuous, unbroken demand for help in the problems of Christian lives...

The problems of churches, the problems of Christian relationships; sometimes it seems almost day and night, without cessation.

And letters are continually coming...sometimes very long letters from assemblies of God's people in different places...

Telling of the deplorable conditions in those assemblies, with all their frustration, limitation, disappointment, even deadlock and defeat, and asking for counsel and advice as to what is to be done.

It is over against this background of real and urgent need that these messages are presented.

I want to stress that there is something very practical in this.

For after all, it just amounts to one thing: Where is the Lord?

Just that: Where is the Lord?

Where shall we find the Lord?

How are we going to know the Lord is unreservedly with us?

And that contains this further serious question: 

How far is the Lord able to support this and that...to come in and undertake, to show His power, show Himself mighty?

That really is the heart of the whole matter.

Is there a limitation upon the Lord, that He cannot do these things, because of certain obstacles?

It is of supreme importance, then, that we should know and understand the ground on which the Lord will show His mighty Arm in these days...

On behalf of His people...

On behalf of His Church...

On behalf of His work...

When, therefore, we ask the question: What does it really mean for the Arm of the Lord to be revealed?

We find in the Word of God two or three things, holding a very large place there, in many forms of expression, which answer that question.

But first may l pause again to say, in parenthesis, that the message of Isaiah 53 is the answer to everything!

Perhaps we think we know Isaiah 53; perhaps we could even recite it.

I venture to suggest that we know very little about that chapter.

It is the most comprehensive chapter in the whole Bible.

If we were able to read it with real spiritual comprehension, we should find that, in that one chapter, all our questions are answered; all our needs are met; all our problems are solved! 

The Bible is comprehended by Isaiah 53, and in what follows I am keeping within the compass of that chapter. 

~T. Austin Sparks~