The Vain Self-Flatteries of the Sinner # 3
6. Some hope by their strivings to obtain salvation of themselves. They have a secret hope, that they shall, by degrees, work in themselves - true repentance of sin, and love towards God and Jesus Christ. They are striving to do themselves - that which is the work of God. Many who are now seeking, have this vain hope - and labor, pray, hear sermons and go to private meetings - with the view of making themselves holy.
7. Some sinners flatter themselves that they are already converted. They sit down and rest in a false hope, persuading themselves that all their sins are pardoned; that God loves them; that they shall go to heaven when they die; and that they need trouble themselves no more. (Rev. 3:17), "You say, I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!" And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."
III. Sinners very generally go on flattering themselves in some or other of these ways, until their punishment actually overtakes them. These are the "baits" by which satan catches souls - and draws them into his snare! Such self flatteries as these - keep men from seeing what danger they are in, and that make them go securely on in their false hopes, "like a bird darting into a snare - little knowing it will cost him his life!"
Those that flatter themselves with hopes of living a great while longer in the world, and very commonly continue to do so - until death comes! They did not think of dying at that time, nor at anytime near it. And so that thought goes along with them as long as they live, or until they are just about to die.
Men often have a dependence on their own righteousness, and as long as they live, are never brought off from it. Multitudes uphold themselves with their own intentions, until all their prospects are dashed in pieces by death. There are many also that hold a false hope, a persuasion that they belong to God; and they never will be persuaded to let go their vain hope until it is torn from them by death. Thus men commonly uphold themselves, and make themselves easy - until hell fire makes them uneasy! Everlasting ruin comes upon them as a snare, and all their hopes are at once cut off, and turned into everlasting despair! (1 Thess. 5:3). "When they shall say, peace and safety," then destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a woman, and they will not escape."
APPLICATION
1. Hence we learn one reason why there are but few saved, and why so many perish from under the gospel. All men know they must die, and all who sit under the light of the gospel have been told many a time, that after this life - there is another world; that there are but two states in that other world, a state of eternal happiness, and a state of eternal misery; that there is but one way of escaping the misery, and obtaining the blessedness of eternity - which is by obtaining a saving interest in Christ, through faith in Him; and that this life is the only opportunity of obtaining a saving interest in Christ. Yet men are so much given to flatter themselves in those ways which we have mentioned, that there are but few who take care of their salvation. Indeed they cannot but be in some measure concerned about their souls; yet they flatter themselves with one thing or another, so that they are kept steadily and uninterruptedly going on in the broad way to destruction.
2. Hence we learn the reason why the awakening truths of scripture, and awakening sermons, make no more impression upon men. It is in itself an astonishing and surprising thing, that God's denunciations of eternal misery, and threatenings of casting sinners into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone forever and ever - does not affect them, does not startle them. But the truth is, they flatter themselves, by such means as we have mentioned, that this dreadful misery is not for them; that they shall escape it, though multitudes of others are involved in it. They do not take these threatenings to themselves; they seem to think that they do not belong to them.
How many are there in this congregation, who, for all the awakening sermons they have heard - are yet secure in sin! And who, although they are sensible that they are in a Christless condition, and are still going on in sin - yet intend to go to heaven, and expect that by some means or another, that they shall arrive there. They are often told, that God is very angry with them; yet they think God is a very merciful God, and they shall be able to pacify Him. If they be told how uncertain life is, that does not awaken them, because they flatter themselves with long life. If they be told how dangerous it is to delay the business of religion, they promise themselves, that they will hereafter engage in it with more earnestness than others - and so obtain the end, the salvation of their souls. Others, when they are told that many shall seek - who shall not be able to obtain, think surely, that they, having done so much for salvation, shall not be denied.
~Jonathan Edwards~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, November 24, 2018
The Vain Self-Flatteries Of The Sinner # 2
The Vain Self-Flatteries of the Sinner # 2
II. I shall mention some of the various ways, wherein sinners flatter themselves in their own eyes.
1. Some flatter themselves with a secret hope - that there is no such thing as another world. They hear a great deal of preaching, and a great deal of talk about hell, and about eternal judgment; but those things do not seem to them to be real. They never saw any of these things: they never saw hell, never saw the devils and damned spirits; and therefore are ready to say with themselves, "How do I know that there is any such thing as another world? When animals die - that is an end of them - so perhaps it will be the same with me? Perhaps all these warnings of Scripture, are nothing but the inventions of men, nothing but cunningly devised fables.
Such thoughts are apt to rise in the minds of sinners, and the devil seeks to enforce them. Such thoughts are a great comfort to them; therefore they wish they were true, and this makes them the more ready to think that they are indeed true. So that they become hardened in the way of sin - by their infidelity and atheistic thoughts. Psalm 14:1, "The fool has said in his heart - There is no God." Psalm 94:6, 7, "They kill the widow and the foreigner and murder the fatherless. They say - The Lord doesn't see it. The God of Jacob doesn't pay attention!'
2. Some flatter themselves that death is a great way off - and that they shall hereafter have much opportunity to seek salvation; and they think if they earnestly seek it, though it be a great while hence, they shall obtain it. Although they see no reason to conclude that they shall live long, and perhaps they do not positively conclude that they shall long - yet it does not come into their minds, that their lives are really uncertain, and that there is no certainty that they will live another year. Such a thought as this does not take any hold of them. And although they do not absolutely determine that they shall live to old age or to middle age - yet they secretly flatter themselves with such a vain imagination. They are disposed to believe so, and do so far believe it - that they act upon it and run the venture of it.
Men will believe that things will be - as they choose to have them, without reason, and sometimes without the appearance of reason, as is most apparent in this case in Psalm 49:11, "Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to endless generations."
The inclinations and desires of men to have it so, is the principle thing which makes them believe so. However, there are several other things which they use as arguments to flatter themselves. Perhaps they think that since they are at present in health, or in youth, or that since they are useful men, do a great deal of good, and both themselves and others pray for the continuance of the their lives; they are not likely to be removed by death very soon.
3. Some flatter themselves that they lead moral and decent lives - and therefore think that they shall not be damned. They think that they do not live in any open vice - that they are careful to wrong no man - that they are just and honest in their dealings - that they are not addicted to strong drinking, or to impurity, or to filthy language - that they are constant attendants on the public worship, and maintain the worship of God in their families. Therefore they hope that God will not cast them into hell. They do not see why God should be so angry with them - seeing they are so moral and upright in their walk. They do not see that they have done enough to anger him to that degree. And if they have angered Him, they imagine they have also done a great deal to pacify Him.
If they are not as yet converted - they hope that their moral and strict lives will move God to give them converting grace. They hope that surely God will not send to hell those who live as moral as they do. Thus they flatter themselves, as those we read of Luke 18:9, "That trusted in themselves - that they were righteous."
4. Some make the advantages under which they live - an occasion of self flattery. They flatter themselves, that they live in a place where the gospel is powerfully preached, and among a religious people, where many have been converted - and they think it will be much easier for them to be saved on that account. Thus they abuse the grace of God to their destruction; they do that which the Scriptures call despising the riches of God's kindness. (Romans 2:4. "Do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience - not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"
Some flatter themselves, because they are born of godly parents, who are dead to God, who have often and earnestly prayed for them. They hope that their prayers will be heard - and this encourages them to go on in the way of neglecting their souls. The Jews had great dependence upon this - that they were the children of Abraham: (John 8:33). They made their boast, "We are Abraham's descendants!" And in verse 39, "Abraham is our father!"
5. There are some who flatter themselves, that they do and have done - a great deal for their salvation, and therefore hope they shall obtain it - when indeed they neither do what they ought to do, nor what they might do in their present state of unregeneracy; nor are they in any likely way to be converted. They think they are striving - when they neglect many commanded Scriptural duties; nor do they exert themselves as if it were for their lives; they are not violent for the kingdom of heaven.
~Jonathan Edwards~
(continued with # 3)
II. I shall mention some of the various ways, wherein sinners flatter themselves in their own eyes.
1. Some flatter themselves with a secret hope - that there is no such thing as another world. They hear a great deal of preaching, and a great deal of talk about hell, and about eternal judgment; but those things do not seem to them to be real. They never saw any of these things: they never saw hell, never saw the devils and damned spirits; and therefore are ready to say with themselves, "How do I know that there is any such thing as another world? When animals die - that is an end of them - so perhaps it will be the same with me? Perhaps all these warnings of Scripture, are nothing but the inventions of men, nothing but cunningly devised fables.
Such thoughts are apt to rise in the minds of sinners, and the devil seeks to enforce them. Such thoughts are a great comfort to them; therefore they wish they were true, and this makes them the more ready to think that they are indeed true. So that they become hardened in the way of sin - by their infidelity and atheistic thoughts. Psalm 14:1, "The fool has said in his heart - There is no God." Psalm 94:6, 7, "They kill the widow and the foreigner and murder the fatherless. They say - The Lord doesn't see it. The God of Jacob doesn't pay attention!'
2. Some flatter themselves that death is a great way off - and that they shall hereafter have much opportunity to seek salvation; and they think if they earnestly seek it, though it be a great while hence, they shall obtain it. Although they see no reason to conclude that they shall live long, and perhaps they do not positively conclude that they shall long - yet it does not come into their minds, that their lives are really uncertain, and that there is no certainty that they will live another year. Such a thought as this does not take any hold of them. And although they do not absolutely determine that they shall live to old age or to middle age - yet they secretly flatter themselves with such a vain imagination. They are disposed to believe so, and do so far believe it - that they act upon it and run the venture of it.
Men will believe that things will be - as they choose to have them, without reason, and sometimes without the appearance of reason, as is most apparent in this case in Psalm 49:11, "Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to endless generations."
The inclinations and desires of men to have it so, is the principle thing which makes them believe so. However, there are several other things which they use as arguments to flatter themselves. Perhaps they think that since they are at present in health, or in youth, or that since they are useful men, do a great deal of good, and both themselves and others pray for the continuance of the their lives; they are not likely to be removed by death very soon.
3. Some flatter themselves that they lead moral and decent lives - and therefore think that they shall not be damned. They think that they do not live in any open vice - that they are careful to wrong no man - that they are just and honest in their dealings - that they are not addicted to strong drinking, or to impurity, or to filthy language - that they are constant attendants on the public worship, and maintain the worship of God in their families. Therefore they hope that God will not cast them into hell. They do not see why God should be so angry with them - seeing they are so moral and upright in their walk. They do not see that they have done enough to anger him to that degree. And if they have angered Him, they imagine they have also done a great deal to pacify Him.
If they are not as yet converted - they hope that their moral and strict lives will move God to give them converting grace. They hope that surely God will not send to hell those who live as moral as they do. Thus they flatter themselves, as those we read of Luke 18:9, "That trusted in themselves - that they were righteous."
4. Some make the advantages under which they live - an occasion of self flattery. They flatter themselves, that they live in a place where the gospel is powerfully preached, and among a religious people, where many have been converted - and they think it will be much easier for them to be saved on that account. Thus they abuse the grace of God to their destruction; they do that which the Scriptures call despising the riches of God's kindness. (Romans 2:4. "Do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience - not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"
Some flatter themselves, because they are born of godly parents, who are dead to God, who have often and earnestly prayed for them. They hope that their prayers will be heard - and this encourages them to go on in the way of neglecting their souls. The Jews had great dependence upon this - that they were the children of Abraham: (John 8:33). They made their boast, "We are Abraham's descendants!" And in verse 39, "Abraham is our father!"
5. There are some who flatter themselves, that they do and have done - a great deal for their salvation, and therefore hope they shall obtain it - when indeed they neither do what they ought to do, nor what they might do in their present state of unregeneracy; nor are they in any likely way to be converted. They think they are striving - when they neglect many commanded Scriptural duties; nor do they exert themselves as if it were for their lives; they are not violent for the kingdom of heaven.
~Jonathan Edwards~
(continued with # 3)
The Vain Self-Flatteries of the Sinner # 1
The Vain Self-Flatteries of the Sinner # 1
"Foe he flatters himself in his own eyes - until his iniquity is found to be hateful" (Psalm 36:2).
In the foregoing verse, David says, "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes." That is, when David saw that the wicked went on in sin, in an allowed way of wickedness, it convinced him, that they were not afraid of those terrible judgments, and of that wrath with which God has threatened sinners. If they were afraid of these things - they could never go on so securely in sin, as they did.
In our text David gives the reason why the wicked did not fear. It was a strange thing that men, who enjoyed such light as they did in the land of Israel, who read and heard those many dreadful threatenings which were written in the book of the law - should not be afraid to go on in sin. But says the Psalmist, "They flatter themselves in their own eyes!" That is - they have something or other which they make a foundation of encouragement, whereby they persuade themselves that they shall escape those judgments; and which makes them put that day of judgment far away from themselves.
In this manner he proceeds, until his iniquity is found to be hateful. That is - until he finds by experience that it is a more dreadful thing to sin against God, and break his holy commands, than he imagined. He thinks sin to be sweet - and hides it as a sweet morsel under his tongue! He loves it, and flatters himself in it, until at length he finds, by experience - that it is as bitter as gall and wormwood! Though he thinks the commission of sin to be lovely - yet he will find the fruit of it to be hateful, and what he cannot endure. "As last it will bite like a serpent - and sting like an adder!" (Proverbs 23:32).
Here observe three things:
1. The subject spoken of, is the WICKED MAN, of whom the Psalmist had been speaking in the foregoing verse.
2. His action in flattering himself in his own eyes. That is - he makes himself and his case to appear to himself, or in his own eyes, better than it is.
3. How long he continues so to do - until his iniquity is found to be hateful. Which may be taken for his sin itself - the wicked will see how odious sin is to God - when he shall feel the effects of God's hatred! He will find his iniquity to be hateful, as he will find the hatefulness and feel the terribleness of the FRUIT of his iniquity.
DOCTRINE:
Wicked men generally flatter themselves with hopes of escaping eternal punishment, until it actually comes upon them!
There are but few sinners who despair, who give up the cause and conclude with themselves, that they shall go to hell. Yet there are but few who do not go to hell. It is to be feared that men go to hell every day out of this country - yet very few of them allow themselves to believe, that they are in any great danger of that dreadful punishment. They go on sinning and traveling in the direct road to the bottomless pit - yet by one means or another, they persuade themselves that they shall never fall into it!
In my present discourse, I shall:
1. Mention some things in confirmation of the doctrine - that sinners flatter themselves with the hope of sinning with impunity.
2. Mention some of the various ways wherein sinners flatter themselves in that false hope.
3. Show that sinners generally go on flattering themselves, until eternal punishment actually overtakes them.
I. I am to mention some things in confirmation of the doctrine, that sinners flatter themselves with the hope of sinning with impunity.
1. We are so taught in the word of God. Beside our text, you may see, Deuteronomy 29:18, 19. "The LORD made this covenant with you so that no man, woman, family, or tribe among you would turn away from the LORD our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you would bear bitter and poisonous fruit. Let none of those who hear the warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking, 'I will be safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This would lead to utter ruin!" Where it is supposed that they whose hearts turn away from God, and are roots that bear gall and wormwood, generally bless themselves in their hearts, saying, "I will be safe!"
See also Psalm 49:17, 18. "He will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lives, he counted himself blessed." And Psalm 50:21. "These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face!"
2. It is very evident, that sinners flatter themselves that they shall escape punishment, by this - that otherwise they would be in dreadful and continual distress. Otherwise, as long as they are in sin - they could never live and go about so cheerfully as they now do! Their lives would be filled with sorrow and mourning, and they would be in continual uneasiness and distress; as much as those that are exercised with some violent pain of body. But it is evident that it is not in fact so; it is apparent that men are careless and secure; that they are not much concerned about future punishment, and that they cheerfully pursue their business and recreations. Therefore they undoubtedly flatter themselves - that they shall not be eternally miserable in hell, as they are threatened in the Word of God.
3. It is evident that they flatter themselves with hopes that they shall escape punishment, as otherwise they would certainly be restrained at least from many of those sins in which they now live - and they would not proceed in wilful courses of sin. This sinfulness of the wicked convinced the Psalmist, and is enough to convince everyone - that there is no fear of God before his eyes, and that he flatters himself in his own eyes. It would be impossible for men allowedly from day to day to do those very things, which they know are threatened with everlasting destruction, if they did not some way encourage themselves, they would nevertheless escape that destruction.
~Jonathan Edwards~
(continued with # 2)
"Foe he flatters himself in his own eyes - until his iniquity is found to be hateful" (Psalm 36:2).
In the foregoing verse, David says, "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes." That is, when David saw that the wicked went on in sin, in an allowed way of wickedness, it convinced him, that they were not afraid of those terrible judgments, and of that wrath with which God has threatened sinners. If they were afraid of these things - they could never go on so securely in sin, as they did.
In our text David gives the reason why the wicked did not fear. It was a strange thing that men, who enjoyed such light as they did in the land of Israel, who read and heard those many dreadful threatenings which were written in the book of the law - should not be afraid to go on in sin. But says the Psalmist, "They flatter themselves in their own eyes!" That is - they have something or other which they make a foundation of encouragement, whereby they persuade themselves that they shall escape those judgments; and which makes them put that day of judgment far away from themselves.
In this manner he proceeds, until his iniquity is found to be hateful. That is - until he finds by experience that it is a more dreadful thing to sin against God, and break his holy commands, than he imagined. He thinks sin to be sweet - and hides it as a sweet morsel under his tongue! He loves it, and flatters himself in it, until at length he finds, by experience - that it is as bitter as gall and wormwood! Though he thinks the commission of sin to be lovely - yet he will find the fruit of it to be hateful, and what he cannot endure. "As last it will bite like a serpent - and sting like an adder!" (Proverbs 23:32).
Here observe three things:
1. The subject spoken of, is the WICKED MAN, of whom the Psalmist had been speaking in the foregoing verse.
2. His action in flattering himself in his own eyes. That is - he makes himself and his case to appear to himself, or in his own eyes, better than it is.
3. How long he continues so to do - until his iniquity is found to be hateful. Which may be taken for his sin itself - the wicked will see how odious sin is to God - when he shall feel the effects of God's hatred! He will find his iniquity to be hateful, as he will find the hatefulness and feel the terribleness of the FRUIT of his iniquity.
DOCTRINE:
Wicked men generally flatter themselves with hopes of escaping eternal punishment, until it actually comes upon them!
There are but few sinners who despair, who give up the cause and conclude with themselves, that they shall go to hell. Yet there are but few who do not go to hell. It is to be feared that men go to hell every day out of this country - yet very few of them allow themselves to believe, that they are in any great danger of that dreadful punishment. They go on sinning and traveling in the direct road to the bottomless pit - yet by one means or another, they persuade themselves that they shall never fall into it!
In my present discourse, I shall:
1. Mention some things in confirmation of the doctrine - that sinners flatter themselves with the hope of sinning with impunity.
2. Mention some of the various ways wherein sinners flatter themselves in that false hope.
3. Show that sinners generally go on flattering themselves, until eternal punishment actually overtakes them.
I. I am to mention some things in confirmation of the doctrine, that sinners flatter themselves with the hope of sinning with impunity.
1. We are so taught in the word of God. Beside our text, you may see, Deuteronomy 29:18, 19. "The LORD made this covenant with you so that no man, woman, family, or tribe among you would turn away from the LORD our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you would bear bitter and poisonous fruit. Let none of those who hear the warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking, 'I will be safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This would lead to utter ruin!" Where it is supposed that they whose hearts turn away from God, and are roots that bear gall and wormwood, generally bless themselves in their hearts, saying, "I will be safe!"
See also Psalm 49:17, 18. "He will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lives, he counted himself blessed." And Psalm 50:21. "These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face!"
2. It is very evident, that sinners flatter themselves that they shall escape punishment, by this - that otherwise they would be in dreadful and continual distress. Otherwise, as long as they are in sin - they could never live and go about so cheerfully as they now do! Their lives would be filled with sorrow and mourning, and they would be in continual uneasiness and distress; as much as those that are exercised with some violent pain of body. But it is evident that it is not in fact so; it is apparent that men are careless and secure; that they are not much concerned about future punishment, and that they cheerfully pursue their business and recreations. Therefore they undoubtedly flatter themselves - that they shall not be eternally miserable in hell, as they are threatened in the Word of God.
3. It is evident that they flatter themselves with hopes that they shall escape punishment, as otherwise they would certainly be restrained at least from many of those sins in which they now live - and they would not proceed in wilful courses of sin. This sinfulness of the wicked convinced the Psalmist, and is enough to convince everyone - that there is no fear of God before his eyes, and that he flatters himself in his own eyes. It would be impossible for men allowedly from day to day to do those very things, which they know are threatened with everlasting destruction, if they did not some way encourage themselves, they would nevertheless escape that destruction.
~Jonathan Edwards~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Anne Dutton's Letters On Spiritual Subjects
Ann Dutton's Letters On Spiritual Subjects
Dear Sir:
As pride is a sin that abides and works in all Christians in this world, let us all then, as the servants of Christ, trusting in Him - our victorious, sin-pardoning, sin-subduing and grace-giving Master - watch and oppose the enemy whenever attacked fiercely.
1. The sin of pride is the child of unbelief. Pride springs from a disbelief of God to be what He is, in His immense and essential glory, in His infinite, underived, all-comprehending, incomprehensible self-sufficiency; and from a vain conceit of the creature's being that which indeed it is not - that the creature is something independent of God. Whereas, without His all-supporting and all-supplying hand, it would soon sink into its first nothing, and be, as in and of itself it is, a mere vacuity, less than nothing, and vanity.
2. The sin of pride which turned myriads of angels of light into legions of black devils, and that for this they were hurled down from heaven to the bottomless pit of hell.
3. Pride was the sin which cast down Adam, and in him all his posterity, even to the last, from the height of created, natural, and princely excellency, into an unsearchable depth of spiritual slavery, and the just desert of eternal misery.
4. Pride is a sin by which the whole law of God, in each of its ten commandments, is broken.
5. This sin of pride, as it springs from gospel-unbelief, is directly opposite to the gospel of Christ. Pride rejects the Saviour, in whole or in part, and would rival it, in extreme vanity, with the Lord of glory. Pride would rob the Saviour of His invaluable crown, who died in the sinner's room, to raise him from death to that eternal life of a seat with Him of His high and everlasting throne. Yes, pride is directly contrary to the great design of God the Father in the gospel, which is, to make Himself an everlasting name, to display the exceeding riches of His free grace, in the whole and in every part of a sinner's salvation and bliss, to the eternal praise of His own glory.
But pride - horrid pride - will not endure that the Lord should have the entire glory of His saving grace, of His free, rich, boundless grace, but sets up wretched self in Jehovah's place, to nullify, as much as in it lies, the sinner-saving, the God-glorifying, project of eternity! Pride sets up the creature as a co-partner with the Creator; a creature of time, a mere nothing, upon a level with the eternal I AM! Yes, pride excludes God - the everlasting God - and takes to a man, Jehovah's essential, eternal throne, and in the height of insolence, says, "I Am! And there is none besides me!"
6. Pride renders the creature, man, though new-created in Christ, after the image of His purity, and as such, bearing upon him a fresh impress of divine glory, the most unlike to the Holy Jesus, who, by way of eminence, and to an all-surpassing excellence, was meek and lowly!
7. Pride makes a member of Christ to bear upon him the horrid image of the devil! Nothing gives such a hellish visage to a spirit of heavenly extraction as the sin of pride, the spawn of the old serpent, the infernal abomination!
8. This sin of pride, the first-born of unbelief, as springing from it, and living in it as a branch from and in the life of the root, is a pregnant monster that contains in itself, and is fertile to bring forth, a fullness of sin.
This horrid sin of pride will make the Lord's friends to behave as His enemies, yes, to fight against Him with His own mercies. This monster, pride - this hellish sin -will excite a man to render hatred to God for His greatest love, to wound His honor, to pierce His heart, to stab to death His infinite life, by those choicest favors which it turns into the keenest daggers, which, in his immense bounty, he bestows upon the most unworthy, and with which he crowns, unto life and immortal glory, the most rebellious subjects, who, for renewed acts of enmity, deserve to die-continually and eternally.
Then, if pride is so great a sin, and has in it such a fullness of malignity against God and man, no wonder that the people of God are tempted to it by satan, who hates God, who hates us. Hence we may learn to admire the infinite wisdom and love of God, which devised and provided a way, by and through the death of His only Son, to save His people from this abominable sin - to save them from its dominion here, by grace - and from its very being hereafter in glory!
We hence admire the invincible strength of Jehovah's favor. We learn the infinite merit of the Redeemer's blood which atoned for this sin of an infinite guilt, and reconciled such "children of pride", to an infinitely holy God, and which cleanses us continually from the filthy stains of this deep iniquity. And let endless wonder strike our hearts unto rising praises at and for the Omnipotent grace of the Holy Spirit - Who has begun in us pride's destruction, and will perform it to our soul's perfection, and full and everlasting joy and glory.
Pride is such a great iniquity, let us bewail it bitterly; humble ourselves before God, on account of it, deeply; and entreat forgiving and subduing grace constantly. Let us set ourselves against price with all our might to oppose it and destroy it. Let us be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
The good will of Him that dwelt in the bush be with you, and prosper you exceedingly, until time fades into eternal glory.
Anne Dutton~
(The End)
Dear Sir:
As pride is a sin that abides and works in all Christians in this world, let us all then, as the servants of Christ, trusting in Him - our victorious, sin-pardoning, sin-subduing and grace-giving Master - watch and oppose the enemy whenever attacked fiercely.
1. The sin of pride is the child of unbelief. Pride springs from a disbelief of God to be what He is, in His immense and essential glory, in His infinite, underived, all-comprehending, incomprehensible self-sufficiency; and from a vain conceit of the creature's being that which indeed it is not - that the creature is something independent of God. Whereas, without His all-supporting and all-supplying hand, it would soon sink into its first nothing, and be, as in and of itself it is, a mere vacuity, less than nothing, and vanity.
2. The sin of pride which turned myriads of angels of light into legions of black devils, and that for this they were hurled down from heaven to the bottomless pit of hell.
3. Pride was the sin which cast down Adam, and in him all his posterity, even to the last, from the height of created, natural, and princely excellency, into an unsearchable depth of spiritual slavery, and the just desert of eternal misery.
4. Pride is a sin by which the whole law of God, in each of its ten commandments, is broken.
5. This sin of pride, as it springs from gospel-unbelief, is directly opposite to the gospel of Christ. Pride rejects the Saviour, in whole or in part, and would rival it, in extreme vanity, with the Lord of glory. Pride would rob the Saviour of His invaluable crown, who died in the sinner's room, to raise him from death to that eternal life of a seat with Him of His high and everlasting throne. Yes, pride is directly contrary to the great design of God the Father in the gospel, which is, to make Himself an everlasting name, to display the exceeding riches of His free grace, in the whole and in every part of a sinner's salvation and bliss, to the eternal praise of His own glory.
But pride - horrid pride - will not endure that the Lord should have the entire glory of His saving grace, of His free, rich, boundless grace, but sets up wretched self in Jehovah's place, to nullify, as much as in it lies, the sinner-saving, the God-glorifying, project of eternity! Pride sets up the creature as a co-partner with the Creator; a creature of time, a mere nothing, upon a level with the eternal I AM! Yes, pride excludes God - the everlasting God - and takes to a man, Jehovah's essential, eternal throne, and in the height of insolence, says, "I Am! And there is none besides me!"
6. Pride renders the creature, man, though new-created in Christ, after the image of His purity, and as such, bearing upon him a fresh impress of divine glory, the most unlike to the Holy Jesus, who, by way of eminence, and to an all-surpassing excellence, was meek and lowly!
7. Pride makes a member of Christ to bear upon him the horrid image of the devil! Nothing gives such a hellish visage to a spirit of heavenly extraction as the sin of pride, the spawn of the old serpent, the infernal abomination!
8. This sin of pride, the first-born of unbelief, as springing from it, and living in it as a branch from and in the life of the root, is a pregnant monster that contains in itself, and is fertile to bring forth, a fullness of sin.
This horrid sin of pride will make the Lord's friends to behave as His enemies, yes, to fight against Him with His own mercies. This monster, pride - this hellish sin -will excite a man to render hatred to God for His greatest love, to wound His honor, to pierce His heart, to stab to death His infinite life, by those choicest favors which it turns into the keenest daggers, which, in his immense bounty, he bestows upon the most unworthy, and with which he crowns, unto life and immortal glory, the most rebellious subjects, who, for renewed acts of enmity, deserve to die-continually and eternally.
Then, if pride is so great a sin, and has in it such a fullness of malignity against God and man, no wonder that the people of God are tempted to it by satan, who hates God, who hates us. Hence we may learn to admire the infinite wisdom and love of God, which devised and provided a way, by and through the death of His only Son, to save His people from this abominable sin - to save them from its dominion here, by grace - and from its very being hereafter in glory!
We hence admire the invincible strength of Jehovah's favor. We learn the infinite merit of the Redeemer's blood which atoned for this sin of an infinite guilt, and reconciled such "children of pride", to an infinitely holy God, and which cleanses us continually from the filthy stains of this deep iniquity. And let endless wonder strike our hearts unto rising praises at and for the Omnipotent grace of the Holy Spirit - Who has begun in us pride's destruction, and will perform it to our soul's perfection, and full and everlasting joy and glory.
Pride is such a great iniquity, let us bewail it bitterly; humble ourselves before God, on account of it, deeply; and entreat forgiving and subduing grace constantly. Let us set ourselves against price with all our might to oppose it and destroy it. Let us be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
The good will of Him that dwelt in the bush be with you, and prosper you exceedingly, until time fades into eternal glory.
Anne Dutton~
(The End)
Sunday, November 11, 2018
The God of Contemporary Christianity (and others)
The God of Contemporary Christianity (and others)
"These things you have done, and I kept silent. You thought that I was altogether like you! But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face!" (Psalm 50:21).
The God of Contemporary Christianity is only slightly superior to the pagan gods of ancient Greece and Rome - if indeed He is not inferior to them, in that He is weak and helpless - while they at least had some imagined power.
Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry; for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is - in itself a monstrous sin - and substitutes for the true God, one made after its own likeness. Always this god will conform to the image of the one who created it - and will be base or pure, cruel or kind, according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges.
The essence of idolatry, is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry imagines things about God - and acts as if they were true.
If we insist upon trying to imagine Him - we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts. And an idol of the mind, is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand!
Before a Christian Church goes into a decline, there must first be a corrupting of her Scriptural thoughts of God. She simply gives a wrong answer to the question, "What is God like?" - and goes downhill from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed - her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is - and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind!!
The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God, until it is once more worthy of Him - and of her!
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
The Work of the Holy Spirit
I love to meditate on the work of the Holy Spirit, from whom we receive such great and invaluable blessings, and to whom we are so much indebted. To Him, I feel that I am indebted for every good thought, and for every good work. How wonderful His patience - that He should bear with me so long; and how wonderful His loving-kindness - that He should confer on me so much! O that I was more deeply sensible of my obligations!
It was the Holy Spirit who quickened me when I was dead in trespasses and sins...imparting a new life, infusing new thoughts, and producing new desires in my soul.
Having quickened me, He conquered me, subduing the enmity of my heart, the obstinacy of my will, the worldliness of my affections, and bringing every thought into subjection to the obedience of Christ.
Having quickened and conquered me, He comforted me, assuring me of a saving interest in the love of God, the perfect work of Jesus, the precious promises of the Word, and the eternal rest which remains for the people of God.
Having quickened, conquered, and comforted me, He sanctified me by separating me from the world, and setting me apart for my Redeemer's glory and praise.
As my Sanctifier, He became my Guide, leading me into the truth, conducting me out of the paths of danger, and directing me into the everlasting way.
Not only my guide, but He became my Guard, preserving me from danger, protecting me from foes, and becoming a wall of fire around about me.
Whenever I wander - He reproves me; when I willfully go astray - He corrects me, and makes me smart for my folly.
The work He began so long ago - He carries on; nor will He withdraw His hand from it, until it is perfected, and I am fully fitted for glory.
Dear Reader; what do you experimentally know of the work of the Holy Spirit? Has He quickened you? Has He conquered you? Does He comfort you? Are you sanctified by His presence, power, and operation in your heart? Does He guide you by His counsel, guard you by His power, and correct you for your follies?
The work of the Spirit within us - is as necessary as the work of Jesus for us! For if the atonement of Christ entitles us to glory - it is the work of the Holy Spirit that prepares us to possess and enjoy it. We must be washed, justified, and sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God - or we cannot be saved!
~James Smith~
"These things you have done, and I kept silent. You thought that I was altogether like you! But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face!" (Psalm 50:21).
The God of Contemporary Christianity is only slightly superior to the pagan gods of ancient Greece and Rome - if indeed He is not inferior to them, in that He is weak and helpless - while they at least had some imagined power.
Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry; for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is - in itself a monstrous sin - and substitutes for the true God, one made after its own likeness. Always this god will conform to the image of the one who created it - and will be base or pure, cruel or kind, according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges.
The essence of idolatry, is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry imagines things about God - and acts as if they were true.
If we insist upon trying to imagine Him - we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts. And an idol of the mind, is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand!
Before a Christian Church goes into a decline, there must first be a corrupting of her Scriptural thoughts of God. She simply gives a wrong answer to the question, "What is God like?" - and goes downhill from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed - her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is - and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind!!
The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God, until it is once more worthy of Him - and of her!
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
The Work of the Holy Spirit
I love to meditate on the work of the Holy Spirit, from whom we receive such great and invaluable blessings, and to whom we are so much indebted. To Him, I feel that I am indebted for every good thought, and for every good work. How wonderful His patience - that He should bear with me so long; and how wonderful His loving-kindness - that He should confer on me so much! O that I was more deeply sensible of my obligations!
It was the Holy Spirit who quickened me when I was dead in trespasses and sins...imparting a new life, infusing new thoughts, and producing new desires in my soul.
Having quickened me, He conquered me, subduing the enmity of my heart, the obstinacy of my will, the worldliness of my affections, and bringing every thought into subjection to the obedience of Christ.
Having quickened and conquered me, He comforted me, assuring me of a saving interest in the love of God, the perfect work of Jesus, the precious promises of the Word, and the eternal rest which remains for the people of God.
Having quickened, conquered, and comforted me, He sanctified me by separating me from the world, and setting me apart for my Redeemer's glory and praise.
As my Sanctifier, He became my Guide, leading me into the truth, conducting me out of the paths of danger, and directing me into the everlasting way.
Not only my guide, but He became my Guard, preserving me from danger, protecting me from foes, and becoming a wall of fire around about me.
Whenever I wander - He reproves me; when I willfully go astray - He corrects me, and makes me smart for my folly.
The work He began so long ago - He carries on; nor will He withdraw His hand from it, until it is perfected, and I am fully fitted for glory.
Dear Reader; what do you experimentally know of the work of the Holy Spirit? Has He quickened you? Has He conquered you? Does He comfort you? Are you sanctified by His presence, power, and operation in your heart? Does He guide you by His counsel, guard you by His power, and correct you for your follies?
The work of the Spirit within us - is as necessary as the work of Jesus for us! For if the atonement of Christ entitles us to glory - it is the work of the Holy Spirit that prepares us to possess and enjoy it. We must be washed, justified, and sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God - or we cannot be saved!
~James Smith~
Behold Your God! (and others)
Behold Your God! (and others)
The more we have to do with man - the more his littleness, fickleness, and emptiness appear.
But the more we read, think, or have to do with God - the more His greatness, majesty, and infinite sufficiency is discovered! He proclaims Himself, "The Great and Mighty God, the Lord Almighty is His name - great in counsel and mighty in work!" Infinite, omnipotence, and eternity - find a home and a center only in Him.
"His Greatness is unsearchable!" There is more in the works of His hands - than even the angels have ever discovered! There is more in the words of His mouth - than mortals ever conceived. His glory is great unto and above the heavens. "Behold your God." (Isaiah 40:9).
Look at His goodness - it runs an endless circuit supplying millions and supporting all created existences. O how great is His goodness!
Look at His grace - saving innumerable multitudes from hell; saving them at the greatest expense - in the freest possible way; saving them to the highest honor and greatest glory! O the exceeding riches of His grace!
Look at His judgments - He sweeps the ancient world with His broom of destruction! He makes the cities of the plain into a hell on earth! He overthrows Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea! He encaverns Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their households in the belly of the earth!
O if we could look into hell, or listen for a moment at the door of the bottomless pit - how dreadful would His judgment appear! We cannot fathom them - but we must exclaim with the apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
Look at His power. He speaks a world into existence, sustains it, supports every creature upon it - and perhaps millions of worlds beside it. All these things are alike easy for Him. Difficulty is with man - not with God. "Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the Heaven and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You!"
Look at His wisdom. It is infinite. Read it in creation's ponderous folio! Then turn to the glorious plan of grace. Here is a display of "the manifold wisdom of God." Angels are learning it - and we can scarcely make out its alphabet at present! But we have God for our teacher, eternity for our duration, and Heaven for the place where we shall fully learn the greatness of the wisdom of God.
Look at His holiness. It is so bright that no mortal eye has seen, or can see it - in its unveiled glory! "Now we see but a poor reflection!" We have but some faint discoveries - for He is glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, constantly doing wonders!
Look at His mercy. It is a boundless ocean - without bottom, bank or shore! The manifestations of His mercy are innumerable! The proofs of His mercy are like mountains piled on mountains, reaching to the heavens! The overflowing of His mercy has supplied the needs of unnumbered multitudes.
"Who is so great a God as our God?~
He is a mighty and awesome God - yet so glorious and kind that the feeblest petitioner need not fear!
~James Smith~
_______________________________
The Omnipresence of God
"Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7).
The omnipresence of God! How baffling to any finite comprehension! To think that above us, and around us, and within us - there is Deity - the invisible footprints of an Omniscient, Omnipresent One! "His Eyes are in every place!" On rolling planets - and tiny atoms; on the bright seraph - and the lowly worm; roaming in searching scrutiny through the tracks of immensity - and reading the dark and hidden page of my heart! "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!"
O God! shall this Your Omnipresence appall me? No! In my seasons of sadness and sorrow and loneliness - when other comforts and comforters have failed - when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in vain I have sought repose - how sweet to think, "My God is here! I am not alone! The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike - is hovering over my sleepless pillow!" O my Unsetting Sun, it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness - where You are. There can be no night to the soul which has been cheered with Your glorious radiance!
"Surely, I am with you always!" How precious, blessed Jesus, is this. Your legacy of parting love! Present with each of Your people until the end of time - ever present, omnipresent. The true "Pillar of cloud" by day - and "Pillar of fire" by night, preceding and encamping by us in every step of our wilderness journey. My soul! think of Him at this moment - as present with every member of the family that He has redeemed with His blood! Yes, and as much present with every individual soul, as if He had none other to care for - but as if that one engrossed all His affection and love!
The Great Builder; the Great shepherd; the Great High Priest. Jesus! Your perpetual and all-pervading presence turns darkness into day! The omnipresence of God - gracious antidote to every earthly sorrow!
"I have set the Lord always before me!" Even now, as night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my closing prayer, "Blessed Saviour! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent!" Under the shadowing wings of Your presence and love, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me live in safety!" (Psalm 4:8).
~John McDuff~
The more we have to do with man - the more his littleness, fickleness, and emptiness appear.
But the more we read, think, or have to do with God - the more His greatness, majesty, and infinite sufficiency is discovered! He proclaims Himself, "The Great and Mighty God, the Lord Almighty is His name - great in counsel and mighty in work!" Infinite, omnipotence, and eternity - find a home and a center only in Him.
"His Greatness is unsearchable!" There is more in the works of His hands - than even the angels have ever discovered! There is more in the words of His mouth - than mortals ever conceived. His glory is great unto and above the heavens. "Behold your God." (Isaiah 40:9).
Look at His goodness - it runs an endless circuit supplying millions and supporting all created existences. O how great is His goodness!
Look at His grace - saving innumerable multitudes from hell; saving them at the greatest expense - in the freest possible way; saving them to the highest honor and greatest glory! O the exceeding riches of His grace!
Look at His judgments - He sweeps the ancient world with His broom of destruction! He makes the cities of the plain into a hell on earth! He overthrows Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea! He encaverns Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their households in the belly of the earth!
O if we could look into hell, or listen for a moment at the door of the bottomless pit - how dreadful would His judgment appear! We cannot fathom them - but we must exclaim with the apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
Look at His power. He speaks a world into existence, sustains it, supports every creature upon it - and perhaps millions of worlds beside it. All these things are alike easy for Him. Difficulty is with man - not with God. "Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the Heaven and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You!"
Look at His wisdom. It is infinite. Read it in creation's ponderous folio! Then turn to the glorious plan of grace. Here is a display of "the manifold wisdom of God." Angels are learning it - and we can scarcely make out its alphabet at present! But we have God for our teacher, eternity for our duration, and Heaven for the place where we shall fully learn the greatness of the wisdom of God.
Look at His holiness. It is so bright that no mortal eye has seen, or can see it - in its unveiled glory! "Now we see but a poor reflection!" We have but some faint discoveries - for He is glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, constantly doing wonders!
Look at His mercy. It is a boundless ocean - without bottom, bank or shore! The manifestations of His mercy are innumerable! The proofs of His mercy are like mountains piled on mountains, reaching to the heavens! The overflowing of His mercy has supplied the needs of unnumbered multitudes.
"Who is so great a God as our God?~
He is a mighty and awesome God - yet so glorious and kind that the feeblest petitioner need not fear!
~James Smith~
_______________________________
The Omnipresence of God
"Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7).
The omnipresence of God! How baffling to any finite comprehension! To think that above us, and around us, and within us - there is Deity - the invisible footprints of an Omniscient, Omnipresent One! "His Eyes are in every place!" On rolling planets - and tiny atoms; on the bright seraph - and the lowly worm; roaming in searching scrutiny through the tracks of immensity - and reading the dark and hidden page of my heart! "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!"
O God! shall this Your Omnipresence appall me? No! In my seasons of sadness and sorrow and loneliness - when other comforts and comforters have failed - when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in vain I have sought repose - how sweet to think, "My God is here! I am not alone! The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike - is hovering over my sleepless pillow!" O my Unsetting Sun, it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness - where You are. There can be no night to the soul which has been cheered with Your glorious radiance!
"Surely, I am with you always!" How precious, blessed Jesus, is this. Your legacy of parting love! Present with each of Your people until the end of time - ever present, omnipresent. The true "Pillar of cloud" by day - and "Pillar of fire" by night, preceding and encamping by us in every step of our wilderness journey. My soul! think of Him at this moment - as present with every member of the family that He has redeemed with His blood! Yes, and as much present with every individual soul, as if He had none other to care for - but as if that one engrossed all His affection and love!
The Great Builder; the Great shepherd; the Great High Priest. Jesus! Your perpetual and all-pervading presence turns darkness into day! The omnipresence of God - gracious antidote to every earthly sorrow!
"I have set the Lord always before me!" Even now, as night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my closing prayer, "Blessed Saviour! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent!" Under the shadowing wings of Your presence and love, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me live in safety!" (Psalm 4:8).
~John McDuff~
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Quotes From Classic Christian Ministers
Quotes From Classic Christian Ministers
What are the marks of a true shepherd?
(Arthur Pink)
"Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
How diligently should those who think of entering the ministry, scrutinize their motives; for thousands have abused this Divine institution through love of ease, desire for authority and fame, or love of money--and brought upon themselves "greater condemnation" (James 3:1). Thousands have invaded the pastoral office in an unauthorized manner--to fleece sheep rather than feed them--robbing Christ of His honor and starving His people.
Solemn beyond words is it to observe how sternly our Lord denounced these false shepherds of His day. (Matthew 23). As Ryle rightly said, "Nothing seemed so offensive to Christ as a false shepherd. Nothing ought to be so much feared by the Church, and be so plainly rebuked, opposed and exposed."
What are the marks of a true shepherd? How are God's people to identify those called and qualified by Him to minister unto His people?
First, the genuine pastor has the doctrine of Christ on his LIPS. The ministers of the new covenant are described as those who had "renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness." Christendom today is infested with men who are full of deceit and hypocrisy, trimming their sails according to whatever direction the breeze of public opinion is blowing.
"We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God." (2 Corinthians 4:2). The true servant of Christ holds back nothing which is profitable, no matter how unpalatable it may be unto his hearers. He is one who magnifies not himself, nor his denomination, but Christ--His wondrous Person, His atoning blood, His exacting claims.
Second, the genuine pastor has the Spirit of Christ in his HEART. It is the Spirit who opens to him the mysteries of the Gospel, so that he is "the faithful and wise servant" (Matthew 24:45). It is the Spirit of Christ who gives him a love for His sheep, so that it is his greatest delight to lead them into the green pastures of His Word. It is the Spirit of Christ who enables him to use "great boldness of speech" (2 Corinthians 3:12), so that he shuns not to declare all the counsel of God. It is the Spirit of Christ who makes him to be "prepared in season and out of season; to correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:2). It is the Spirit of Christ who gives efficacy to his ministry, making it fruitful according to the sovereign pleasure of God.
Third, the genuine pastor has the example of Christ in his LIFE, which is a conforming of him to the image of his Master. It is true, sadly true, that there is not one of them who does not fall far short both of the inward and outward image of Christ. Yet there are some faint tracings of His image visible in all His true servants. The image of Christ is seen in their words, spirit, and actions; otherwise we have no warrant to receive them as God's servants.
Find a man (no easy task today!) who has . . .
the doctrine of Christ on his lips,
the Spirit of Christ in his heart,
the example of Christ in his life,
and you find one of His genuine ministers. All others are but thieves and robbers!
The Consequences of Drifting
Spiritual drifting—the gradual wandering away from God and His will—takes place when a believer ceases to steer toward the Lord. Like a boat without oars that is set loose upon the waters, he or she makes a slow and lazy glide away from good practices like obedience, regular Bible study, prayer, and assembling with fellow Christians. And there are consequences for slipping into uncharted, dangerous waters.
A life adrift is outside of God’s will and therefore in sin. The Holy Spirit pricks the conscience to send a message when a believer is off course, but a drifter is prone to ignore such warnings. If a Christian continually excuses his wandering ways and denies sin, his conscience gradually gets numbed. A person who becomes desensitized to wrongdoing has paved the way for more sinful behavior with less guilt. Can you imagine a more dangerous situation?
As the drifting believer’s conscience becomes anesthetized, his spiritual ears are also deadened—truth cannot gain entrance, because he has invited wrong attitudes and philosophies into his thinking process. What’s more, his heart hardens to the things of God. Shrinking away from testimonies about divine power, grace, and mercy, he avoids situations that might reawaken the conscience and stir his spirit to repentance.
People drift from God in search of more—more freedom, choices, and pleasure. But since the consequences are a hard heart, a numb conscience, and dead ears, what they end up with is less. The drifting believer sacrifices the victorious life in Christ for an existence devoid of permanent satisfaction.
~Rev. Charles F. Stanley~
__________________________________
What are the marks of a true shepherd?
(Arthur Pink)
"Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
How diligently should those who think of entering the ministry, scrutinize their motives; for thousands have abused this Divine institution through love of ease, desire for authority and fame, or love of money--and brought upon themselves "greater condemnation" (James 3:1). Thousands have invaded the pastoral office in an unauthorized manner--to fleece sheep rather than feed them--robbing Christ of His honor and starving His people.
Solemn beyond words is it to observe how sternly our Lord denounced these false shepherds of His day. (Matthew 23). As Ryle rightly said, "Nothing seemed so offensive to Christ as a false shepherd. Nothing ought to be so much feared by the Church, and be so plainly rebuked, opposed and exposed."
What are the marks of a true shepherd? How are God's people to identify those called and qualified by Him to minister unto His people?
First, the genuine pastor has the doctrine of Christ on his LIPS. The ministers of the new covenant are described as those who had "renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness." Christendom today is infested with men who are full of deceit and hypocrisy, trimming their sails according to whatever direction the breeze of public opinion is blowing.
"We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God." (2 Corinthians 4:2). The true servant of Christ holds back nothing which is profitable, no matter how unpalatable it may be unto his hearers. He is one who magnifies not himself, nor his denomination, but Christ--His wondrous Person, His atoning blood, His exacting claims.
Second, the genuine pastor has the Spirit of Christ in his HEART. It is the Spirit who opens to him the mysteries of the Gospel, so that he is "the faithful and wise servant" (Matthew 24:45). It is the Spirit of Christ who gives him a love for His sheep, so that it is his greatest delight to lead them into the green pastures of His Word. It is the Spirit of Christ who enables him to use "great boldness of speech" (2 Corinthians 3:12), so that he shuns not to declare all the counsel of God. It is the Spirit of Christ who makes him to be "prepared in season and out of season; to correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:2). It is the Spirit of Christ who gives efficacy to his ministry, making it fruitful according to the sovereign pleasure of God.
Third, the genuine pastor has the example of Christ in his LIFE, which is a conforming of him to the image of his Master. It is true, sadly true, that there is not one of them who does not fall far short both of the inward and outward image of Christ. Yet there are some faint tracings of His image visible in all His true servants. The image of Christ is seen in their words, spirit, and actions; otherwise we have no warrant to receive them as God's servants.
Find a man (no easy task today!) who has . . .
the doctrine of Christ on his lips,
the Spirit of Christ in his heart,
the example of Christ in his life,
and you find one of His genuine ministers. All others are but thieves and robbers!
______________________________
The Slippery Spiritual Slope
The slippery slope to spiritual decline is one that is almost imperceptible. One day you are on fire for God, and then before you know it, you are dull and lethargic.
How does spiritual decline happen? I think there are at least four ways:
1. Through neglect. If you neglect a garden, the weeds grow. If you don't water the garden, it will eventually dry up. Sometimes we get into a state where we need to be revived due to neglect.
2. Through the storms of life. Life can sometimes beat you up. Some people have been so beaten up that they are just worn down; and when you couple that with neglect, it is a recipe for spiritual disaster.
3. Through the influence of wrong company or wrong relationships. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. ." And the very next word is awake. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin. Do not be deceived. Evil company, bad company, corrupts good habits.
4. Through willful disobedience. I don't know anyone who hasn't been guilty at one time or another of willful disobedience. And when that is not repented of, when it is not taken care of, it brings us into a state of spiritual decline that can be very dangerous.
So what do you do if you find yourself in spiritual decline? Let me leave you with this verse, Hosea 6:1,
Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
The same Spirit that convicts also comforts. If you are convicted, repent. Repentance is an inward change of heart resulting in an outward change of direction. Return to the Lord and let Him heal you and bind you up.
~Bayless Conley~
_____________________________
Bring nothing but your sins and miseries!
(Thomas Wilcox)
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Philippians 3:8-9
When you come to Christ--you must leave behind you:
all your own righteousness,
all your own holiness,
all your own sanctification,
all your own duties,
all your own tears,
all your own repentings, etc.
Oh, this is hard!
You must bring nothing but your sins and miseries to Him. Otherwise, Christ is not fit for you--nor you for Christ!
(Thomas Wilcox)
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Philippians 3:8-9
When you come to Christ--you must leave behind you:
all your own righteousness,
all your own holiness,
all your own sanctification,
all your own duties,
all your own tears,
all your own repentings, etc.
Oh, this is hard!
You must bring nothing but your sins and miseries to Him. Otherwise, Christ is not fit for you--nor you for Christ!
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