Meeting The Lions!

The Bible recounts some interesting stories of lions. 

They are interesting, not simply because they are stories of animals, but because there are things in connection with them from which we may draw some very striking lessons.

We all remember the story of Daniel...how he was cast into the den of lions, and how during the long watches of the night he sat there in their den unharmed.

What was expected to be the tragedy of his life proved to be his most glorious victory.

The expected triumph of his enemies was turned into their utter defeat and Daniel, stronger and more courageous than ever, came forth to continue his service to God. 

Samson too had an experience with a lion. As he was going along the road one day he met a lion, and it attacked him.

He had no weapons...yet he met it courageously.

We are told that "The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat."

Some time later he was passing that way and found that a swarm of bees had entered the dried carcass of the lion and made their abode there, and he took of the honey and went on his way.

In the thirteenth chapter of 1 Kings we find another lion story. 

Here a prophet sent of God went to Samaria and prophesied as God had commanded him, and according to the commandment he started back on his way to Judea.

God had told him not to eat or drink there, but to go back immediately by a different way from that by which he came.

He started to obey, but sat down to rest by the wayside.

While he was here, another prophet came and persuaded him to go back and dine with him.

Then, as he went upon his way, a lion met him and slew him.

The lions of these stories may be likened to our trials. 

We meet trials every now and then in life, and some of them seem very much like lions.

They seem very threatening and very dangerous. 

Sometimes we try to run away from a trial, but as surely as we do, we meet another in the pathway in which we go.

We are certain to have trials. The important thing is that we meet them properly.

Some people imagine that if they live as they should...that they will not have trials. 

But trials often come, when it is no fault of ours.

Daniel was not thrown into the lions' den because he had not lived right or because he had been unfaithful in something. 

No, it was his faithfulness that resulted in his meeting the lions.

It will be that way in our lives. 

If we are true and loyal to God, that very loyalty is sure to bring us trials sometimes.

Daniel had his choice in the matter. 

He could have been disloyal and escaped the lions...but he chose rather to be loyal and take the full consequences, whatever they might be.

God wants you and me to dare to be Daniels too. 

He does not want us to swerve an inch from the truth in order to evade any sort of trial.

If we are true, and as a result of that trueness a great trial like being thrown into a den of lions comes upon us, and every earthly hope seems shut off, and there is no help from anywhere...then what shall we do? 

Despair?

Ah, no! 

God will send his angel and shut the lion's mouth for us, just as he did for Daniel. Dare to be true. 

God will stand by you even in the most trying and desperate hour.

It was not a test of his standing true, that brought Samson face to face with the lion. 

He met the beast just by accident. 

He got into the trouble unwittingly.

He had no expectation of it whatever...but the first thing he knew, he was face to face with it.

That is just the way it happens with us sometimes...we get into a trial without any seeming reason for it; we are not expecting anything of the kind.

If the prophet in Samaria had gone in the way that God commanded him...then he would not have met the lion that slew him.

It was his disobedience that caused the trouble.

Sometimes when we are in trials, we realize that it is our own fault that we are tried. 

Sometimes we may be disobedient, sometimes we may be careless, sometimes it may be this or that...but whatever it is, we realize that it is our own fault. 

That makes the trial harder to bear.

But however trials come, whatever is their cause...we must meet them. 

We have no choice in the matter. 

The important thing is to meet them right. 

Daniel knew that he had done right and pleased God; and, furthermore, he met his trial with a calm peace and full assurance that God would take care of him, and God did take care of him, and he came through the trial. 

He was peaceful through the trial and triumphant after it, because God was his helper.

Someone has said that our trials make or mar us. This is true. 

Either we come out of them stronger than we went in or we come out of them weaker. 

We have either joy or sorrow from them. 

We should meet our trials as Samson met the lion. 

Face them boldly. 

Do not run or shrink. 

If you seem to have no adequate weapon to use against them, trust in God and meet them boldly anyway.

That is the way Samson did, and do you remember what happened? 

Why, after a while he got honey out of the carcass.

Do you want honey out of your trials? 

You would rather have that than bitterness. 

Well, you may have the honey if you will face the trial and overcome it. 

Conquer in the name of Christ. 

Do not whimper or whine. 

Do not lament or murmur. 

Do not fear or tremble. 

Face your trials boldly, and the Spirit of the Lord will come mightily upon you as it did upon Samson, and you will conquer. 

And then, ah, it is then that the sweetness will come...after you have mastered the trial, in the days that follow, sweetness will come, and you will bless God that he ever permitted you to be so severely tried.

Conflict must always precede victory. 

The lion must be killed before the bees can build the honeycomb in the carcass. 

So face your trials boldly and overcome them. 

Then you may taste the sweets of victory. 

This is the only way, and you are not too weak to take this way. 

God has promised that he will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to bear. 

If you will believe it and do your part...then God will do his, and you will triumph.

~Charles Naylor~

One King, One LORD

Zec 14:9  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Blessed prospect! 

This is no dream of an enthusiast but the declaration of the infallible Word. 

Jehovah shall be known among all people, and His gracious sway shall be acknowledged by every tribe of man. 

Today, it is far from being so. 

Where do any bow before the great King? 

How much there is of rebellion! 

What lords many and gods many there are on the earth! 

Even among professed Christians what diversities of ideas there are about Him and His gospel! 

One day there shall be one King, one Jehovah, and one name for the living God. 

O LORD, hasten it! 

We daily cry, "Thy kingdom come."

We will not discuss the question as to when this shall be lest we lose the comfort of the certainty that it shall be. 

So surely as the Holy Ghost spake by His prophets, so surely shall the whole earth be filled with the glory of the LORD. 

Jesus did not die in vain. 

The Spirit of God worketh not in vain. 

The Father's eternal purposes shall not be frustrated...

Here, where Satan triumphed, Jesus shall be crowned, and the LORD God Omnipotent shall reign. 

Let us go our way to our daily work and warfare made strong in faith. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Prayer, Thanksgiving, Praise

                                                   
No care but all prayer. 

No anxiety but much joyful communion with God. 

Carry your desires to the LORD of your life, the guardian of your soul. 

Go to Him with two portions of prayer and one of fragrant praise. 

Do not pray doubtfully but thankfully. 

Consider that you have your petitions, and therefore thank God for His grace. 

He is giving you grace; give Him thanks, Hide nothing. 

Allow no want to lie rankling in your bosom; "make known your requests."

Run not to man. 

Go only to your God, the Father of Jesus, who loves you in Him.

This shall bring you God's own peace. 

You shall not be able to understand the peace which you shall enjoy. 

It will enfold you in its infinite embrace. 

Heart and mind through Christ Jesus shall be steeped in a sea of rest. 

Come life or death, poverty, pain, slander, you shall dwell in Jesus above every rolling wind or darkening cloud. 

Will you not obey this dear command?

Yes, LORD, I do believe thee; but, I beseech thee, help mine unbelief.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Fear To Fear

Whenever fear comes in and makes us falter, we are in danger of falling into sin. 

Conceit is to be dreaded, but so is cowardice. 

Dare to be a Daniel. 

Our great Captain should be served by brave soldiers.

What a reason for bravery is here!

God is with those who are with Him. 

God will never be away when the hour of struggle comes. 

Do they threaten you? 

Who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die? 

Will you lose your situation? 

Your God whom you serve will find bread and water for His servants. 

Can you not trust Him? 

Do they pour ridicule upon you? 

Will this break your bones or your heart? 

Bear it for Christ's sake, and even rejoice because of it.

God is with the true, the just, the holy, to deliver them; and He will deliver you. 

Remember how Daniel came out of the lions' den...

And the three holy children out of the furnace. 

Yours is not so desperate a case as theirs; but if it were, the LORD would bear you through and make you more than a conqueror. 

Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. 

Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. 

Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, "I will trust, and not be afraid."

~Charles Spurgeon~

Not Left To Perish

Psa 16:10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

This word has it proper fulfillment in the LORD Jesus; but it applies also, with a variation, to all who are in Him.

Our soul shall not be left in the separate state, and our body, though it see corruption, shall rise again.

The general meaning, rather than the specific application, is that to which we would call our readers' thoughts at this particular time.

We may descend in spirit very low till we seem to be plunged in the abyss of hell; but we shall not be left there.

We may appear to be at death's door in heart, and soul, and consciousness; but we cannot remain there.

Our inward death as to joy and hope may proceed very far...

But it cannot run on to its full consequences, so as to reach the utter corruption of black despair...

We may go very low, but not lower than the LORD permits...

We may stay in the lowest dungeon of doubt for a while, but we shall not perish there.

The star of hope is still in the sky when the night is blackest.

The LORD will not forget us and hand us over to the enemy.

Let us rest in hope...

We have to deal with One whose mercy endureth forever.

Surely, out of death, and darkness, and despair we shall yet arise to life, light, and liberty.

~Charles Spurgeon~ 

Avoid The Least Contagion Of Evil

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
 
In the Christian life, Nothing is more essential than Faithfulness. 

It is that which stands foremost and distinguishes the True Christian from the False.

Without it, all other apparent signs of grace are but a sham and a pretense. 

Faithfulness is that which Christ mainly respects.

You must be true to Christ, and let nothing tempt you to seek other reward at the expense of losing His approval and His smile.

Often place yourself in His presence, and ask Him if what you do is pleasing in His sight.

Carefully must you watch against the very least thing that will cast a slur on the name of Him whom you love, or the Gospel which you profess.  

Avoid the least contagion of evil...the very touch of anything that defiles.  

Turn away from all doubtful paths. 

Let there be genuine, straightforward honesty and truth in all business transactions. 

Suffer all loss, even unto death, rather than the loss of a good conscience. 

By no means attempt to serve two masters, for nothing more surely will destroy all your peace and lead to final ruin.

To be faithful to Christ, it is also needful to use diligently for Him the talents committed to you. 

Whatever you have is but trust-money, for which the Lord will require an account.

Our gold and the silver, the years of our life, the influence we possess with others, our temporal comforts, our natural gifts, our spiritual advantages...all these are to be laid out at interest in the Lord's service.

You must be faithful also in carrying the cross, and in meeting reproach for Christ's sake, as you follow the Savior. 

But the cross will last but a little while...and then the gain will be eternal.

Faithful unto death!

Only so long will trial and temptation assail us. 

A few more days and years perhaps we may have still to battle on. 

A few more days of sorrow, mingled as He will have it, with seasons of quietness and joy...and our warfare will be accomplished and the victory won.

~George Everard~

Better Pleased If The LORD Did Not Inquire

Most Christians would be better pleased...if the Lord did not inquire into their personal affairs too closely. 

They want Him to save them...

Keep them happy...

And take them to Heaven at last...

But not to be too inquisitive about their desires or daily conduct.

But He has searched us and known us...

He knows our down sitting and our uprising and understands our thoughts afar off. 

There is no place to hide from those eyes that are as a flame of fire...

And there is no way to escape from the Judgment of those feet that are like fine brass. 

It is the part of wisdom to live with these things in mind!

~A. W. Tozer~

The Utilitarian Christ!

Our Lord forewarned us that false Christs would come.

Mostly we think of these as coming from the outside...but we should remember that they may also arise within the church itself.

We must be extremely careful that the Christ we profess to follow, is indeed the very Christ of Scripture. 

There is always danger that we may be following a Christ who is not the true Christ but one conjured up by our imagination and made in our own image.

I confess to a feeling of uneasiness about this when I observe the questionable things Christ is said to do for people these days.

He is often recommended as a wonderfully obliging, but not too discriminating, Big Brother who delights to help us to accomplish our ends...

And who further favors us by forbearing to ask any embarrassing questions about the moral and spiritual qualities of those ends.

Within the past few years, Christ has been popularized by some so-called evangelicals as one who, if a proper amount of prayer were made would help the pious prize fighter to knock another fighter unconscious in the ring.

Christ is also said to help the big league pitcher to get the proper hook on his curve.

In another instance He assists an athlete to win the high jump; and in another case, not only to come in first in a track meet  but to set a new record in the bargain.

He is said also to have helped a praying businessman to beat out a competitor in a deal. 

He is even thought to lend support to a praying movie actress while she plays a role so lewd as to bring the blood to the face of a professional prostitute!

Thus our Lord becomes the Christ of utility...a kind of Aladdin's lamp to do minor miracles in behalf of anyone who summons Him to do his bidding.

Apparently no one stops to consider that if Christ were to step into a prize ring and use His divine power to help one prize fighter to paralyze another...that He would be putting one fighter at a cruel disadvantage and violating every common instinct of fair play. 

If He were to aid one businessman to the detriment of another, He would be practicing favoritism and revealing a character wholly unlike the Bible picture of the real Christ. 

All this is too horrible to contemplate.

Theirs is a Christ of carnal convenience...not too far removed from the gods of paganism.

The whole purpose of God in redemption is to make us holy and to restore us to the image of Christ. 

To accomplish this, He disengages us from earthly ambitions and draws us away from the cheap and unworthy prizes that worldly men set their hearts upon.

A holy man would not dream of asking God to help him beat an opponent, or win over a competitor.

No man in whom the Spirit dwells, could bring himself to ask the Lord to help him knock another man unconscious, for filthy lucre or the plaudits of the vulgar spectators.

To teach that Christ will use His sacred power to further our worldly interests, is to wrong our Lord and injure our own souls.

We modern evangelicals need to learn the truths of the sovereignty of God and the lordship of Christ. 

Christ will not be manipulated by any of Adam's selfish brood!

We had better learn these things fast if this generation of young Christians is to be spared the supreme tragedy of following a Christ who is merely a Christ of convenience...and not the true Lord of glory after all!

~T. A. Sparks~

A Christian And His Money

The whole question of the believer and his money is so involved and so intimate that one hesitates to approach a consideration of it. 

Yet it is of such grave importance that one who desires to qualify as a good servant of Christ Dare Not Avoid It lest he be found wanting in the day of reckoning.
 
Someone should tackle the problem in the light of Scripture. 

God's people will have reason to thank the man who has the courage to deal with it.
 
Four considerations should govern our Christian giving...

They are: (1) That we give regularly; (2) that we give from a right motive; (3) that we give enough in proportion to what we possess, and (4) that we give to the right place or places.
 
First, we should see to it that we give of our substance to the Lord with regularity. 

It is so very easy to fall into the habit of forgetting to do this. 

We tell ourselves that we are not able to give at the moment, but that when we are better fixed financially we shall catch up on our giving.
 
Or we assure ourselves that while we do not give regularly we no doubt give far beyond our tenth, if the truth were known. 

These are sure ways to deceive ourselves. 

Spotty, unregular giving has a way of appearing far greater than it is. 

We would likely be quite shocked if we took the trouble to find out just how little we really give that way.
 
Then we must give from a right motive. 

Money paid to a church or missionary society may be for the giver money wasted unless he first makes sure that his heart is in his gift. 

Gifts that do not carry the heart with them may do the receiver some good, but it is certain that they will bring the giver no reward. "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor... and have not charity(love), it profiteth me nothing."
 
Then it is also important that we give enough in proportion to what we possess. 

The story of the widow and her two mites makes this very clear. 

The widow gave out of her "poverty," and though her gift was small it was in the sight of God a far greater treasure than all the huge sums donated by the rich "out of their abundance." 

This is a Solemn Warning and we shall do well to Heed It.
 
We humans judge "after the sight of our eyes" and so are prone to make a great deal over a large donation and pass over the small ones without comment.

By so doing we are letting ourselves in for a fearful shock in the day of Christ. 

The safest rule to appraise our giving and determine our expectations in the day of rewards is this...

Remember, my giving will be rewarded not by how much I gave but by how much I had left. 

Ministers are sometimes tempted to shy away from such doctrine as this lest they offend the important givers in their congregation. 

But it is better to Offend Men than to grieve the blessed Spirit of God which dwells in the church. 

No man ever yet killed a true church by withdrawing his gifts from it because of a personal offense.
 
The Church of the Firstborn is not dependent upon the patronage of men. 

No man has ever been able really to harm a church by boycotting it financially. 

The moment we admit that we fear the displeasure of the carnal givers in our congregations we admit also that our congregations are not of heaven but of the earth. 

A heavenly church will enjoy a heavenly and supernatural prosperity.
 
She cannot be starved out. 

The Lord Will Supply her needs.
 
That we place our gifts intelligently is also of vital importance if we would please our Heavenly Father and save those gifts from the fate of "wood, hay and stubble" at the coming of our Lord.

The matter of where to give is a large one, and one that we had all better settle while we can. 

Careless, unintelligent and prejudiced giving is wasting millions of consecrated dollars among evangelical Christians. 

Many believers toss their gifts around as if they did not expect to give an account of them to the Lord. 

They have not found the mind of the Lord on the question of their own giving, so they become the prey of anyone who happens along with an interesting story.

In this way innumerable religious rackets are enabled to flourish which should Never Receive One Cent from serious-minded and God-honoring people.
 
Now, we are quite aware that the reply to the above could be a polite request that we stay in our own back yard and let people put their own money where they please; after all it is theirs, and what they do with it is their own affair.

But it is not that simple.

If we must Give Account of every idle word, surely we must also Give Account of every idle dollar. 

Spotty, prayerless and whimsical giving will come under the just scrutiny of God in the day when He judges every work of men. 

We can do something about this whole thing now. 

Very soon it will be too late.

~A. W. Tozer~

God Routs Fear

Num 23:23  Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

How this should cut up root and branch all silly, superstitious fears!

Even if there were any truth in witchcraft and omens, they could not affect the people of the LORD. 

Those whom God blessed, devils cannot curse.
 
Ungodly men, like Balaam, may cunningly plot the overthrow of the LORD's Israel; but with all their secrecy and policy they are doomed to fail.

Their powder is damp; the edge of their sword is blunted. 

They gather together; but as the LORD is not with them, they gather together in vain. 

We may sit still and let them weave their nets, for we shall not be taken in them.

Though they call in the aid of Beelzebub and employ all his serpentine craft, it will avail them nothing...

The spells will not work, the divination will deceive them. 

What a blessing this is! 

How it quiets the heart! 

God's Jacobs wrestle with God, but none shall wrestle with them and prevail. 

God's Israels have to prevail against them. 

We need not fear the fiend himself, nor any of those secret enemies whose words are full of deceit and whose plans are deep and unfathomable.

They cannot hurt those who trust in the living God. 

We defy the devil and all his legions.

~Charles Spurgeon~

A Fervent Hatred

A good Christian is a good hater. "You who love the Lord...hate evil." 

This is an age of toleration. 

Almost any false doctrine may be preached while many of the religious teachers of so-called orthodoxy, plod on their way indifferently. 

Error thrives, a multitude of souls are deceived, but many seem but little concerned.

Evil raises its head everywhere and sneers at the Christian people. 

Dens of vice, gambling-houses, lewd picture-shows, and a hundred other forms of evil are tolerated and even looked upon as "necessary evils" by religious professors. 

But he who really loves God,,,just as truly hates ALL evil. 

He so hates it in himself, that he will give it no place in his heart or life. 

He hates it in others. 

He sees no pleasant thing in it. 

To him it is foul, vile, and revolting! 

Sin is his enemy and he is its bitter foe. 

The measure of his love for good, is the measure of his hatred for evil. 

We cannot love the good, more than we hate the evil. 

The two exactly balance in our lives.

A burning love, a burning zeal, and a burning hatred will make your life as a beacon-light to the world. 

If you would be a true example of what God means men to be...you must have this fervency in your life. 

It alone can keep you from coldness. 

It alone can make you a prosperous, victorious Christian!

~Charles Naylor~

A Furnace And A Torch

Gen 15:17  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
     
Fire is the chosen emblem of God; and as these fire-emblems passed slowly between the divided carcasses it was as though God accommodated Himself to the methods of human oath-taking, and solemnly bound Himself. 

But in all His dealings with us He is prepared to be both a furnace and a torch.
     
God as a Furnace. 

Take up a piece of iron ore, and see how the metal is scattered amid commoner substances. 

How can it be disintegrated? 

The chisel cannot do it, but fire will. 

Plunge it now into the fire; let it fall in the heart of the glowing furnace, and presently the stream of liquid metal will issue forth, pure and beautiful.

It is thus that God deals with human hearts; the blood makes propitiation, but the fire cleanses.

The love of God, the purity of God, the spirituality of God brought home to us by the Holy Ghost, search and try us to the innermost fibre of our being, and burn out of us the evils which had long held empire.
     
Refining Fire, go through my heart, Illuminate my soul; Scatter thy life through every part, And sanctify the whole.
     
God as a flaming Torch. 

The torch guides the footsteps through the dark; and God's Spirit waits to shed light on many dark and hidden things, and to guide us into all the truth. 

It is one thing to comprehend by the intellect; it is altogether another to apprehend by the heart. 

There is no such teacher as God...

And the mistake of our modern religious life is to receive so much from man, instead of waiting in rapt silence until God Himself communicates His truth to us. 

The conditions are purity of desire, cleanness of heart, and willingness to obey.

~F. B. Meyer~

There Is A Division Between Light And Darkness

Gen 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Light might well be good for the very reason that it sprang from the goodness of God who said, “Let there be light.”

We who enjoy it should be more grateful for it than we are, and see more of God in it and by it.

Physical light is wonderful, but the light of the Gospel is infinitely more precious...

For it reveals eternal things and ministers to our immortal natures. 

When the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual light and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,...

We begin to see sin in its true colors and ourselves in our true condition...

We see everything more from God’s perspective.

O Lord, thank You for the light You give...

And give us more of Yourself, the true light.

Now whenever there is something good in the world, a division becomes necessary. 

Light and darkness have nothing in common...

God has divided them, so we should never confuse them. 

Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. 

The children of the day must be sober, honest, and bold in their Lord’s work, leaving the works of darkness to those who will live in it forever. 

Our Churches should divide the light from the darkness through discipline...

And we should by our distinct separation from the world do the same.

In every area of life, we must discern between the precious and the vile,...

And maintain the great distinction that the Lord made upon the world’s first day.

O Lord Jesus, be our light today, for Your light is the light of men.

~Charles Spurgeon~

We Are A NEW Creation

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

The Word teaches us very clearly that Christ has been taken right out of this old creation and set at God's right hand in the heavenlies. 

On the other hand, it shows us that His being there, and our being in spiritual union with Him, means that for all spiritual purposes and resources, we also are in the heavenlies in Christ....

Let us ask the Lord to give us a real, spiritual, quick, living apprehension of this great truth concerning our Lord Jesus...

The great realm of the new creation into which we are brought...

And let us apply it...

Practice it...

Put it into operation from day to day.

You may have to go into a place where there is not much spiritual wealth on the outside...

Not much upon which to feed. 

Remember you have Christ, the whole Land, lying before you. 

You may have to go into scenes where there is anything but rest, spiritual rest;...

Where all is fret, care, drive, strain. 

Remember that you are in the Land...

You are in Christ...

You have Him as your Rest.

You may have to go into the conflict...

Into the battle...

Into the tremendous activities of the enemy to overthrow you.

Remember you are in Christ, Who is Victory, complete, final victory. 

That remains true, whatever the enemy may say about it. 

Christ is all that we need for a life which is glorifying to Him.

It is what Christ is, what we have in the new creation.

~T. Austin Sparks~