The Most Healthy State of a Christian

"I am poor and needy--come quickly to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer. O Lord, do not delay!" Psalm 70:5

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness--which is a very beneficial lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us blessings without constraining us to pray for them--we would never know how poor we are. 

But a true prayer is . . . 

  an inventory of our needs,
  a catalog of our necessities,
  a revelation of our hidden poverty. 

While prayer is an application to divine wealth--it is also a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian, is to be . . .
  always empty in SELF and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies;
  always poor in SELF--and rich in Jesus;
  as weak as water personally--but mighty through God to do great exploits. 

And hence prayer, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be--in the very dust!

Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise; so for the great race of life, we acquire energy by the hallowed labor of prayer. Prayer plumes the wings of God's young eaglets--that they may learn to soar above the clouds! Prayer sends God's warriors forth to combat--with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader comes out of his closet, even as the sun arises from the chambers of the east--rejoicing like a strong man to run his race.

Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses--which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua. Prayer . . .

  girds human weakness with divine strength,
  turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and
  gives the peace of God to troubled mortals.

We have no idea what prayer can do! 

We thank you, great God, for the mercy-seat--a choice proof of Your marvelous loving-kindness. Help us to use it aright throughout this day!

  

~Charles Spurgeon~

Crucifixion # 4

Four Spans in the Bridge of Salvation

Would He voluntarily offer Himself as the sinner's Substitute and thereby assume all responsibility for the removal of the penalty, the power and the presence of sin in man knowing as He did that the penalty of sin was death, that the power of sin meant anguish of suffering consummating in crucifixion, and that the presence of sin involved even separation from God? Would He who never knew sin willingly be made sin on the sinner's behalf knowing full well that all the wrath of a holy God against sin would be spent on Him?


Yes, He would do it. For the very purpose of becoming the sinner's Substitute the eternal Son had become the incarnate Son. But have we not discovered in this truth the secret of His dread of that "hour," His shrinking from the "cup"? It was not death He dreaded but the death of the Cross which was "the wages of sin." What else could the thrice repeated pleading to the Father to remove "the cup" mean but that, in the death He was about to die as the sinner's Substitute, all the sin of the whole race of sinners with all its stain and stench would be upon Him? It is no wonder that the soul of the sinless Son of God cried out in an agony of suffering at the thought!

But the weight and wickedness of the world's sin was not all the "cup". Sin separates from God. God cannot stay in the presence of sin even when that sin is upon His own beloved Son. The Son of Man in the garden faces this awful consequence of Saviourhood. Could He assume this consequence of sin for the sinner's sake? Could He, who through all eternity in glory had rested in the intimate fellowship of the Father's bosom and who in His life on earth had enjoyed the vivid consciousness of His Father's abiding presence, consent to the inevitable even though momentary separation from His Father which the presence of the world's sin on Him would cause? Death is separation from God and separation from God is hell (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

This, then, is the "cup" He could not drink were there any other possible way for the Father's will in man's salvation to be accomplished. This is "the cup" that caused the agony of soul in Gethsemane - an agony so terrible that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground; an agony so awful it took Him back three times to the Father to cry out for release; an agony so intense that an heaven-sent angel appeared to strengthen Him. This is "the cup" that caused the intolerable anguish of spirit, which wrung from the sufferer upon Calvary that heart-breaking cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Could He drink that "cup"? Yet, even that if it were the Father's will and there were no other way in which sin could be dealt with to God's satisfaction and man's salvation. He who had been obedient to the will of His Father every moment of His earthly life would be "obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross."

There evidently was no other way for "while He yet spake, lo, Judas one of the twelve came and with him a great multitude with sword and staves." In quick succession follow the betrayal, arrest and trial of the Lord Jesus and then - the crucifixion of the Lord of glory.

The "hour" had come. The event foretold and foreshadowed for centuries had taken place; "the most stupendous event in the history of man, the only event in the history of God." The noon hour not only of time but of eternity had come; indeed it was the pivotal hour in the life both of heaven and of earth. "The Son of God has died by the hands of men. This astounding fact is the moral center of all things. A bygone eternity knew no other future; an eternity to come shall know no other past. That death was this world's crisis."

The death of Jesus Christ is the pivotal fact in Christianity. It is its very heart-beat; its life's blood. Without it Christianity would not be. His worth lay not in the life He lived but in the death He died. His death was not so much the culmination of the victorious, obedient, holy life as its coronation. His incarnation was but paving the way for death; His death was the goal of incarnation.

It is not merely the fact that Christ died that is vital but that He died the death of the Cross. The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 foretold a bruising and it was in the bruising of the heel of the woman's seed that the promise of the sinner's salvation was to be found. The Old Testament sacrifices made for the sake of sins year by year required the blood of goats and calves. These sacrifices and this blood-shedding were the foreshadowing of the one perfect sacrifice of the Son of God as He poured out His life's blood on Calvary for the salvation of sinners. While the prophets of old did tell us something of the circumstances that would attend the birth of Jesus Christ yet the burden of their message was of One who would be "wounded," "bruised," "scourged," "oppressed," "afflicted." By the mouth of all the prophets God foretold that Christ should suffer. Over and over again the Lord Jesus told the disciples that He "must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and be raised again." On the way to Emmaus as He walked and talked with the two disciples who were recounting to Him the tragedy of His crucifixion said unto them,

Luke 24:26, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 5)

Answered Prayer

Isaiah 30:18

Therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you.

 

 

God often DELAYS IN ANSWERING PRAYER. We have several instances of this in sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the dawn of day-he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of Syrophenicia was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord thrice that "the thorn in the flesh" might be taken from him, and he received no assurance that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a promise that God's grace should be sufficient for him. If thou hast been knocking at the gate of mercy, and hast received no answer, shall I tell thee why the mighty Maker hath not opened the door and let thee in? Our Father has reasons peculiar to Himself for thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show His power and His sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. More frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art perhaps kept waiting in order that thy desires may be more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if He keeps thee waiting thou wilt see thy necessity more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly; and that thou wilt prize the mercy all the more for its long tarrying. There may also be something wrong in thee which has need to be removed, before the joy of the Lord is given. Perhaps thy views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou mayest be placing some little reliance on thyself, instead of trusting simply and entirely to the Lord Jesus. Or, God makes thee tarry awhile that He may the more fully display the riches of His grace to thee at last. Thy prayers are all filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while shall be fulfilled to thy delight and satisfaction. Let not despair make thee silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Crucifixion # 3

Four Spans In the Bridge of Salvation

But another question must surely press in upon one who has beheld the Son as He is mirrored in the pages of the four Gospels and who has entered into a study of His matchless, pure life with any degree of spiritual appreciation and apprehension. The question is "Why need Jesus Christ die?" Scripture is very clear in its statement of what death is and who dies.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death."

Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men."

Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul sinneth, it shall die."

Death is the consequence of sin: it is the sinner who dies. And Jesus Christ died! The irresistible logic of these facts places before one two alternatives. Either Jesus was a sinner as all other men are and His death like theirs was the wages of His own sin, or else He died a death different from the death of all other men and for a reason entirely outside of His own life.

Was Jesus Christ a sinner? Did death come to Him as the penalty of His own sin? Even His bitterest enemies in the time in which He lived and in all succeeding ages have NEVER accused Him of sin. He said once to a group who were opposing and denying Him, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" But not one word of accusation did they being against Him. Even Pilate said he could find no fault in Him. God testified to the absolute sinlessness and holiness of His life even before His birth in saying through the angel to Mary, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." After living in a world where He was continuously environed by sin and defilement God again testified through those who knew His character and conduct under all circumstances that He "did no sin" (1 Peter 2:22); "In him is no sin" (1 John 3:5); He "knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21). In His character, conversation and conduct He was the holy One of God "without blemish and without spot." If then death is the wages of sin, it has NO claim upon Jesus Christ.

Why then did Jesus Christ die? How foolish and futile to look anywhere else for the answer to such a question but to God's divine revelation. There an absolutely sufficient and altogether satisfying answer is given.

1 Corinthians 15:3, "For I delivers unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture."

Isaiah 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ."

Isaiah 53:4, 5, "Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

1 Peter 2:24, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed."

In every one of these passages "death" and "sin" are shown to have an inextricable relationship to each other but it is invariably the death of Christ and the sin of men.

Words could not make it clearer that Jesus Christ died not because of anything in Himself, but because of something in us; that it was not the wages of His sin but of ours that He paid on the Cross. It was our sin He put away; our sins that He bore; our iniquities which were laid upon Him.  Death had no claim on Him; then the death He died was for the sake of others and to accomplish something for them which they were unable to accomplish for themselves. The death of Christ was obviously for the purpose of taking up the sin question and dealing with it in such a way as to bring salvation to mankind.

But would it also deal with it in such a way as to bring satisfaction to God? God has an unalterable, irrevocable attitude toward sin which is most clearly revealed in His judgment upon it. "The wages of sin is death." Death is the expression of God's implacable condemnation of sin. "Death is the man's liability in relation to sin." Did the death of Christ deal with this divine judgment upon sin in a way that was satisfactory to God? God says it did.

2 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ constraineth  us, because we thus judge, that one died for all therefore all died;  And he died for all that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him, who for their sakes died and rose again."

The sinner's twofold relationship to God, the divine Judge and God, the gracious Saviour, may be stated as follows,

"The wages of sin is death,"

"All have sinned,"

"So death passed upon all men."

BUT

"One died for all,"

"Therefore all died."

Death is the racial doom. In Adam all die because in Adam all sinned. Death is God's judgment upon sin and it rests equally upon all men. From the execution of this divine judgment there is no escape because it is the decree of a holy God and is therefore unalterable. Sin and death are inextricably interwoven: the sinner must die.

But the holy God is also a loving God. While He cannot change His attitude toward sin and His judgment upon it without denying His own nature yet His love with perfect consistency can make some escape for the sinner providing whatever He does maintains unity in His own divine being. This necessitates meeting in full the requirement of His holy law.

What, then, would that requirement be? That an adequate Substitute able to meet the full penalty of the law should voluntarily offer to take the sinner's place and die the sinner's death.

But where could such an adequate substitute be found? Only "a lamb without spot and blemish" could be accepted as an offering for sin. Only an absolutely sinless one could be the sinner's Substitute. It would require one who himself had fulfilled every demand of God's holy law to pay the sinner's penalty for a broken law. There was but one who had ever lived such a life on earth and He was the incarnate Son of God.

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 4)

Today’s Reading: Daniel 8-10; 3 John

Today’s Thoughts: Being Double Minded 

"he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." - James 1:8 (Part 2)

After we ask for His wisdom, we may still be apprehensive to step forward in faith. We might need to look for further confirmation on the matter. Now, we need to make sure that we are sensitive to His confirmation, assuring His Will over our own will. We are instructed in Matthew 18:16 that at the testimony of two or more witnesses, every Word may be established. He will confirm His Will to you. God can use various means to confirm His message to our hearts; always start in His Word then continue to ask Him to bring things to your mind. When you have received the same message several times and you know in your spirit that the Lord is impressing His Word upon your heart, then rest in His counsel and have confidence in knowing that He is speaking to you, to guide you in His ways.

But we still have the choice to choose His ways or not. James 1:5-8 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

If we know how God is leading and we still chose to wrestle, struggle, doubt, worry and fret—we become double-minded. It would have been better to just make your own decision and live with the consequences. Instead, ask for wisdom, believe He gives it without reproach and receive His answers in faith.

Let's say something goes terribly wrong after going through this process. I have seen this happen also. We need to remember that God rewards those who diligently seek Him and God rewards faith. If you went through this process of seeking His will over your own, and you stepped out in faith, then rest with the results. Those results are now God's burden and we all know that His burden is easy. Always remember: God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Oh Lord, thank You for allowing me to find You when I search for You with all my heart. Please give me wisdom, knowledge and discernment as I desire to do Your will over my own. And I will trust You with the results.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

Crucifixion # 2

Spans in the Bridge of Salvation

Three times in John seven this expression is used. The Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand and the Lord Jesus was conscious of the plot on the part of the Jews to kill Him, so He says to the disciples,

John 7:8, "Go up to the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come."

How significant are those words "full come." The shadow of the Cross had already fallen over His life. From that time on He would walk in its ever deepening darkness.

At this feast the Lord Jesus was brought into open conflict with the Jews over the question of the authoritative origin of His doctrine. Again He made claims for Himself which so incensed them that we read,

John 7:30, "Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come."

The same thing was repeated as the Lord Jesus taught in the temple (John 8:20). Jesus grew in popularity with the people. He makes even more daring claims to Deity and Messiahship and proved the truth of His words by the wonder of His works. The man born blind is given sight. Lazarus is raised from the dead. The religious leaders of the day are compelled to acknowledge the uniqueness of His power and they fear its influence upon the people. They frankly confess that "the world is gone after him" and openly declare that the thing must be stopped immediately. The hour draws nearer.

Just at this time when the Jews are most fiercely censuring and opposing Him a very significant thing happens. A deputation of Greeks, Gentiles, came to worship Him. Everything converges to show Christ that "the hour" He has so long anticipated is now near at hand. So when Andrew and Philip bring the message of the Greeks to Him, with majestic calmness and kingly control He replies, "The hour is come."

Up to this time He has not explained what He means by the oft repeated words "my hour." Several times He has foretold His death and resurrection but the disciples did not grasp His meaning. On this occasion, however, He speaks more explicitly.

John 12:23, 24, "And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."

John 12:27, 31-33, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die."

The interval now was very short. Not a single event of that last week takes the Lord Jesus by surprise. He knows that His hour has come. In His last conversation and prayer with His disciples He anticipates His exodus from this world and His return to His Father in Heaven.

John 16:28, "I cam froth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."

John 17:1, "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son man also glorify thee."

When the Lord had spoken these words He went forth with His disciples unto a place called Gethsemane. There His soul began to be very sorrowful and oppressed, so much so that He left the companionship of the disciples and went alone with His Father to pray. Falling upon His face He cried,

Matthew 26:39, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Returning unto His disciples and finding them asleep, He, still overborne with sorrow, went away a second time and prayed.

Matthew 26:42, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done."

Again He came to the disciples and found them sleeping and again He left them to pray. Then He returned to them for the last time and said,

Matthew 26:45, "Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners."

Never in the history of man was such anguish of spirit and agony of soul endured as that of the Son of Man as He went to Calvary by way of the garden of Gethsemane. Heaven mercifully veiled the Sufferer from the gaze of men and left us only the thrice-repeated pleadings of His prayer to indicate the nature and the depth of the suffering.

Two utterances in His prayer take us to the very heart of His anguish. "Let this cup pass from me" and, "Behold the hour is at hand." Surely the two bear some intimate relationship to each other. But what is the dreaded "cup" that must be drunk? What is the inevitable "hour" so long anticipated and now at hand? Did He not interpret the meaning of this oft used expression when He said "The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners" ? From this and the events that follow in quick succession "the hour" could be none other than the hour of His death.

But why should He dread that or shrink from its approach? But an hour or two before He had said "Now I go my way to him that sent me." Would not death be to Him an hour of glorious release from a life environed by sin, suffering and sorrow? Would it not be the hour of reinvestment with all His kingly majesty and glory? Above all would it not be a return to the blessedness of immediate, intimate fellowship with His Father? Had He died a death such as other men die then it would indeed have been just such a glorious release. Had death for Him been merely the culminating event in a life of unsullied perfection then it would have been such a gracious coronation. Some adequate explanation must be found for His dread of the approach of that "hour" that meant the drinking of a bitter "cup."

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 3)

Rely on God, Not Self

"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow" (Isa. 50:11).

 

What a solemn warning to those who walk in darkness and yet who try to help themselves out into the light. They are represented as kindling a fire, and compassing themselves with sparks. What does this mean?

 

Why, it means that when we are in darkness the temptation is to find a way without trusting in the Lord and relying upon Him. Instead of letting Him help us out, we try to help ourselves out. We seek the light of nature, and get the advice of our friends. We try the conclusions of our reason, and might almost be tempted to accept a way of deliverance which would not be of God at all.

 

All these are fires of our own kindling; rushlights that will surely lead us onto the shoals. And God will let us walk in the light of those sparks, but the end will be sorrow.

 

Beloved, do not try to get out of a dark place, except, in God's time and in God's way. The time of trouble is meant to teach you lessons that you sorely need.

 

Premature deliverance may frustrate God's work of grace in your life. Just commit the whole situation to Him. Be willing to abide in darkness so long as you have His presence. Remember that it is better to walk in the dark with God than to walk alone in the light.  --The Still Small Voice

 

***

 

Cease meddling with God's plans and will. You touch anything of His, and you mar the work. You may move the hands of a clock to suit you, but you do not change the time; so you may hurry the unfolding of God's will, but you harm and do not help the work. You can open a rosebud but you spoil the flower. Leave all to Him. Hands down. Thy will, not mine.  --Stephen Merritt

 

***

 

HIS WAY

 

God bade me go when I would stay

('Twas cool within the wood);

I did not know the reason why.

I heard a boulder crashing by

Across the path where I stood.

 

He bade me stay when I would go;

"Thy will be done," I said.

They found one day at early dawn,

Across the way I would have gone,

A serpent with a mangled head.

 

No more I ask the reason why,

Although I may not see

The path ahead, His way I go;

For though I know not, He doth know,

And He will choose safe paths for me.

--The Sunday School Times

~L. B. Cowman~