Spiritual Joy # 3
Limited knowledge of the scheme of redemption, and the great truths of the gospel, is a common hindrance to spiritual joy. As the source of spiritual comfort is in the truth, we can receive that comfort only in proportion as the truth is understood and believed. In the minds of many godly people there is much confusion of thought; much mixture of law and gospel; a lack of clear discrimination between justification and sanctification; and an equal lack, of course, of discrimination between grace in God and merit in man. They are ever looking for marks and evidences in themselves, instead of looking to Christ; and find more to distress and harass them in the least ascertainable imperfections in themselves, or in a single dull season of prayer - than in all the fullness of grace in the Saviour to comfort them! By thus dwelling continually upon himself in the way of gloomy despondency, the Christian is apt to acquire a sickly, feeble, morbid mold of piety. It is not humility, penitence, and an aim at something better, (of which the believer cannot have too much), but discontent wretchedness, and a hopeless sorrow. Christians, study as well as read the gospel. Labor to comprehend the system of salvation by grace through faith. Penetrate to the bottom, as far as possible, of that wondrous word grace; and especially grow in the knowledge of that glorious union between justice and mercy, which is established by the death of Christ!
Christians are kept back from joy, sometimes, by being afraid to let their religion make them happy. Even though they do not deny in words that they have some right and reason to rejoice, and that it would be no presumption in them to be glad in the Lord; yet they seem afraid to go to high degree of spiritual delight, lest it should "exalt them above measure." There are times when most Christians have a more vivid and delightful sense of Divine truth, when there is an unusual transparency of the soul's atmosphere, through which the 'eye of faith' discerns spiritual objects with particular clearness, and when the soul seems instinctively to exult. The note of praise is struck with new strength, and the heart is beginning to swell into a fullness of delight. At that moment a surmise creeps over the soul, "I must restrain these feelings - they will endanger my humility, inflate me with pride, and expose me to satan's temptations!" All spiritual joy is now checked - and the mind which was invited to soar, cowers down, and dooms itself to creep!
SIN damps spiritual joy - and ought to do so! I do not now mean immorality, for this puts it quite out; bu the lesser workings of our corruption - the sins of the heart, the sins of the tongue, the sins of the character. Sins known only to God and conscience. Sins of omission and of defect. Sins that do not unchristianize us, any more than they excommunicate us from the church. Such sins unopposed, unmortified - do, and must, prevent or diminish our joy. They may not put out the light of our piety altogether - but they surround it with an impure atmosphere, a thick fog, which prevents its light from shining upon the heart.
And then connected with this, I may observe, that the piety of many is too feeble altogether; they are too worldly, too lukewarm, live too far from God, to derive much joy and peace from their piety. Spiritual joy, is joy in God, in Christ, in holiness, in heaven! And when the professor who lives so little in the closet, communes so little with his Bible, attends so little to the frame of his own mind, and lives so far from God, that he doubts himself, and others doubt for him, whether he loves God or not - it can be no wonder that his religion does not make him happy.
The religion of some people is just enough to make them miserable. It spoils them for the world, without fitting them for the church. Their religious profession is an encumbrance upon them, and is in the way of their worldly enjoyment. These are the men who are so taken up with the world, that they do not desire the joy of true religion, and are unwilling to cast out a single earthly care of enjoyment, though it were to make way for all the consolations of the Spirit.
My dear friends, let me now entreat you to avoid these hindrances, and to seek after more of that heavenly, holy, happy frame of mind. Pray for it, for it is a fruit of the Spirit. Be much in converse with your Bibles, for it comes in the way of understanding, believing, and feeling the truth. Find some time for private, silent meditation, for the truth will not be seen, so as to affect the heart, by a hasty glance. seek to have your faith strengthened, for your joy must ever be in proportion to your faith. Cultivate all the branches of holiness; for holiness is happiness. True religion is life; and it is a vigorous life - not sickly, declining life. True religion is light, and you know a mere spark will not enliven a room, but a flame. True religion is water to the thirsty, and it is not a drop, bu a draught, that will please and satisfy. Be diligent, yes, give all diligence to make your calling and election sure.
Do you need MOTIVES for this?
Think of your own happiness. You are not to be indifferent to this. God wills you to be happy, and has most abundantly provided means to make you so. You must enter into his design and strive to be joyful. God loves to see His children happy, and does not allow them to be indifferent to their own peace.
Think of the aid your joy will afford you in reference to all your other duties. It will shed an influence upon everything. It is this that will make you hail the Sabbath with delight, that will draw you to the throne of grace with boldness, enable you to read the Scriptures with pleasure, and render your sacramental seasons times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. The sanctuary, the closet, the Bible, and the Lord's table - will all be in shadow, and appear gloomy - if joy is absent. But spiritual joy will shed light upon all of these means of grace - and place them in sunshine.
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Spiritual Joy # 2
Spiritual Joy # 2
I shall now inquire into the reasons why so little of this joy is experienced by the majority of Christian professors. I assume that the multitude have far less than they might or should have. Look at the prosperous among them, and whence does their joy arise? From their religion? Or from their good spirits, their health, their family, their friends, their success, and home enjoyment? Look at the afflicted - how oppressed with care; how tortured with anxiety; how overwhelmed with sorrow; how cheerless for the present, and how hopeless for the future, do they seem to be! How few appear to have the peace that passes all understanding, the joy which is unspeakable and full of glory! The Bible tells the world that the springs of true happiness gush out from the hill of Zion, at the foot of the Cross - and so they do - but how little do many who profess to have drank the living water, appear as if they had been at the crystal stream, and were satisfied with it?
Why is this? Is there in reality, not enough in the objects of spiritual truth to yield this joy? Yes, for they have comforted millions in the valley of tears, in every variety and degree of human woe; they are the rejoicing of spirits made perfect; the bliss of angels, and the joy of God's own heart. Is it that the sources are inaccessible to them? No - they are open to every child of God. Is it that God is unwilling to impart this joy to them; that in a way of sovereignty He has withdrawn it? No - it is a mistake to suppose that God, by any positive act of His own, hinders our peace, or extinguishes it; that in a way of sovereignty, and not as a chastisement for sin, but for the purpose of trying and exercising the graces of His people, He withdraws from them what is usually denominated sensible comfort, and causes them to experience darkness and despondency. "This view," says Wardlaw, "has long appeared to me not a little hazardous. It is too much calculated to make believers well pleased and satisfied with themselves, in circumstances which ought to excite them to self-jealousy, and searching of heart. It seems to me at once more safe, and more spiritual, to regard the lack of peace and joy as arising invariably (except where there is a physical cause in a nervous constitution) from, and indicating something wrong in - the spiritual temperament of our minds - some sin, or some defect in ourselves. It is of essential consequence for us to be impressed with the conviction that if we are destitute of peace and joy, the cause is in ourselves - uniformly and exclusively in ourselves. It is not that God has withdrawn from us - but that we have withdrawn from God."
The true causes of the lack of spiritual joy in professors, are the following -
Some are professors only, and though they have a name to live, are dead; and being destitute of faith,are destitute, of course, of all joy and peace in believing. Let the joyless professor search himself, and ask if he is anything more than "a Christian in name."
Many do not desire this joy, at least they do not greatly covet it. They certainly would have some kind of enjoyment; they desire to be gratified; but it is only the joy of friendship, of health, of success in business, of a comfortable home, and a quiet fire-side that they long for; not the peace of believing, not the pleasure of communing with God, not the delight of holiness and hope, not the felicity of a sense of pardoned sin, and the gratification arising from the exercises of devotion. They never go to God in prayer, saying, "Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their grain and their wine increased; for with you is the fountain of life - in your light shall I see light."
Great mistakes are made by many in reference to spiritual joy. Some imagine it is only a privilege to be hoped, waited for, and expected in a way of sovereign favor; but not a duty to be performed. That it is a duty is evident from the frequency with which it is enjoined, as well as promised. We are commanded to "rejoice in the Lord," and nothing hinders us but our lack of faith. It it is our duty to believe, it is equally our duty to rejoice. It is a sin to be cheerless, as well as to be morose. True, joy is a work of the Spirit, a gift of God; but so is faith, and love, and holiness.
Some imagine that though it is both a duty and a privilege for others - yet it is not for them. Why not? The source of joy is in the promise, not in yourselves, and it is to be drawn out by faith. And is not the promise as much to you as anyone? Some are waiting for what, perhaps, they will never have; a degree of rapture, of which their frame is scarcely susceptible. They are supposing that spiritual joy means something mystic, ecstatic, almost seraphic; some enrapt emotion frame which leaves them at a loss to determine whether in the body or out of the body. They are not contented with the calm, sweet, serene enjoyment of peace. Some have not attained to the full assurance of hope, have not received the witness of the Spirit, and because they have not the joy of assurance, reject that of faith; or because they have not the joy of a strong faith, spurn that of a weak one.
Some are waiting to rejoice until they have attained a sinless perfection, forgetting that if they are never to rejoice until then, they will never have peace until they get to heaven; and thus show by such a delay that they are rather looking to rejoice in themselves, than in the Lord. Oh! how numerous are the machinations of satan to keep God's people from being happy, when he cannot keep them from being holy - how numerous and how subtle are the methods by which he causes the children of light to walk in darkness!
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 3)
I shall now inquire into the reasons why so little of this joy is experienced by the majority of Christian professors. I assume that the multitude have far less than they might or should have. Look at the prosperous among them, and whence does their joy arise? From their religion? Or from their good spirits, their health, their family, their friends, their success, and home enjoyment? Look at the afflicted - how oppressed with care; how tortured with anxiety; how overwhelmed with sorrow; how cheerless for the present, and how hopeless for the future, do they seem to be! How few appear to have the peace that passes all understanding, the joy which is unspeakable and full of glory! The Bible tells the world that the springs of true happiness gush out from the hill of Zion, at the foot of the Cross - and so they do - but how little do many who profess to have drank the living water, appear as if they had been at the crystal stream, and were satisfied with it?
Why is this? Is there in reality, not enough in the objects of spiritual truth to yield this joy? Yes, for they have comforted millions in the valley of tears, in every variety and degree of human woe; they are the rejoicing of spirits made perfect; the bliss of angels, and the joy of God's own heart. Is it that the sources are inaccessible to them? No - they are open to every child of God. Is it that God is unwilling to impart this joy to them; that in a way of sovereignty He has withdrawn it? No - it is a mistake to suppose that God, by any positive act of His own, hinders our peace, or extinguishes it; that in a way of sovereignty, and not as a chastisement for sin, but for the purpose of trying and exercising the graces of His people, He withdraws from them what is usually denominated sensible comfort, and causes them to experience darkness and despondency. "This view," says Wardlaw, "has long appeared to me not a little hazardous. It is too much calculated to make believers well pleased and satisfied with themselves, in circumstances which ought to excite them to self-jealousy, and searching of heart. It seems to me at once more safe, and more spiritual, to regard the lack of peace and joy as arising invariably (except where there is a physical cause in a nervous constitution) from, and indicating something wrong in - the spiritual temperament of our minds - some sin, or some defect in ourselves. It is of essential consequence for us to be impressed with the conviction that if we are destitute of peace and joy, the cause is in ourselves - uniformly and exclusively in ourselves. It is not that God has withdrawn from us - but that we have withdrawn from God."
The true causes of the lack of spiritual joy in professors, are the following -
Some are professors only, and though they have a name to live, are dead; and being destitute of faith,are destitute, of course, of all joy and peace in believing. Let the joyless professor search himself, and ask if he is anything more than "a Christian in name."
Many do not desire this joy, at least they do not greatly covet it. They certainly would have some kind of enjoyment; they desire to be gratified; but it is only the joy of friendship, of health, of success in business, of a comfortable home, and a quiet fire-side that they long for; not the peace of believing, not the pleasure of communing with God, not the delight of holiness and hope, not the felicity of a sense of pardoned sin, and the gratification arising from the exercises of devotion. They never go to God in prayer, saying, "Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their grain and their wine increased; for with you is the fountain of life - in your light shall I see light."
Great mistakes are made by many in reference to spiritual joy. Some imagine it is only a privilege to be hoped, waited for, and expected in a way of sovereign favor; but not a duty to be performed. That it is a duty is evident from the frequency with which it is enjoined, as well as promised. We are commanded to "rejoice in the Lord," and nothing hinders us but our lack of faith. It it is our duty to believe, it is equally our duty to rejoice. It is a sin to be cheerless, as well as to be morose. True, joy is a work of the Spirit, a gift of God; but so is faith, and love, and holiness.
Some imagine that though it is both a duty and a privilege for others - yet it is not for them. Why not? The source of joy is in the promise, not in yourselves, and it is to be drawn out by faith. And is not the promise as much to you as anyone? Some are waiting for what, perhaps, they will never have; a degree of rapture, of which their frame is scarcely susceptible. They are supposing that spiritual joy means something mystic, ecstatic, almost seraphic; some enrapt emotion frame which leaves them at a loss to determine whether in the body or out of the body. They are not contented with the calm, sweet, serene enjoyment of peace. Some have not attained to the full assurance of hope, have not received the witness of the Spirit, and because they have not the joy of assurance, reject that of faith; or because they have not the joy of a strong faith, spurn that of a weak one.
Some are waiting to rejoice until they have attained a sinless perfection, forgetting that if they are never to rejoice until then, they will never have peace until they get to heaven; and thus show by such a delay that they are rather looking to rejoice in themselves, than in the Lord. Oh! how numerous are the machinations of satan to keep God's people from being happy, when he cannot keep them from being holy - how numerous and how subtle are the methods by which he causes the children of light to walk in darkness!
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 3)
Spiritual Joy # 1
Spiritual Joy # 1
I devote this address to the consideration of a topic intimately connected with your present happiness as Christians; I mean, "spiritual joy," which follows justification; for "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Before justification, we have no right to joy; and after it, we have no reason for misery. The spirit of true religion is essentially a spirit of pure and elevated joy, and it is thus distinguished from superstition, which is essentially a spirit of gloom, and fear, and abject sorrow. Situated as the believer is between one paradise lost by sin, and another restored by grace - he may be expected to combine in his experience, the seemingly opposing states of mind described by the apostle, where he says, "sorrowful - yet always rejoicing," and the tears which he sheds for his transgressions, however numerous and penitential, should still be irradiated with a predominant smile of delight, and appear like dew-drops sparkling in the sun.
The most superficial acquaintance with the Bible must teach us that it is a book to make us happy - as well as holy. The two Testaments are like two ministering angels sent down from heaven to conduct the child of sin and sorrow - to the fountain of peace! Even the older economy contains innumerable exhortations to the people of God, to rejoice and be glad; yes, 'to cry out, and shout for joy." And if a believer when placed amidst the clouds and shadows of the Jewish dispensation, where he could not but be awed by the thunders of Sinai, and pressed in no small measure with the spirit of bondage, was called upon to rejoice, how much more may such a frame of mind be expected in the Christian, on whom the Sun of righteousness has risen, and poured the noon-tide brightness of his glory!
The Christian, then, ought to be both a joyful, as well as a righteous man. His religion should not only adorn his character with the beauties of holiness, but array his countenance with the smile of peace. Yet how few seem to rise to this privilege. If we look into the Bible, we might expect to see all who really believe it, and live under its influence, as so many happy spirits, carrying about with them the springs of their own felicity, independent alike of the joys and sorrows of morality; neither greatly elevated by the one, nor much depressed by the other - and yet when we look at the great bulk of professors of religion, we are sadly disappointed, and even in reference to their happiness as well as to their conduct, are led to ask, "What do you have, more than others?"
By spiritual joy, I do not mean simply the joy of pious people, for all their joy does not answer to this description. But I mean - the joy produced by true religion. It is that holy peace which is the result of Divine truth - understood, believed, and contemplated. It is not mere exhilaration of the animal spirits, the joyousness produced by good health, worldly prosperity, friendship, or gratification of taste. Much of the Christian's enjoyment upon earth is produced by those susceptibilities and possessions which belong to him as a man - and this portion of his gratification is perfectly innocent; but this is not properly speaking spiritual joy. True it is that his spiritual delight may blend itself, and does, with his more common pleasures, sweetening, sanctifying, and elevating them all; and may indeed itself be somewhat modified by them - but still it is of a different kind. It is the joy of faith, of hope, of love - it is joy in God, in Christ, in holiness, in heaven.
It begins when the trembling sinner, after a season of unrelieved anxiety and oppression on account of his sin, loses the burden of his guilt at the Cross - and in that case it is altogether the joy of faith; it continues to increase as he advances in holiness, and is then the joy of love, united with that of faith; it is sustained amidst all the the trials of earth, by the prospect of heaven, and then it is swelled by hope, adding its influence to that of faith and love. This is spiritual joy, that agreeable and comfortable state of mind, which is produced by the believing contemplation of the great object of revealed truth of God, in His nature, attributes, providence, and covenant relations to his people of Christ - in His person, work, faithfulness, and grace - of the promises of Scripture; and all this strengthened by the joy resulting from the testimony of a good conscience, the consciousness of growing holiness, and the assurance of hope.
Such is spiritual joy - not necessarily a state of great excitement. Occasionally, indeed, it does rise into a strong and elevated emotion; it is more than peace, it is delight; more than delight, it is ecstasy. The saints have sometimes soared on the wing of rapture into the element of devotion so highly as to be far above the ordinary attitude of religious experience. But the physical nature of some scarcely admits of this excitement at all, nor can any bear it long. It should be recollected that the differences of our mental temperament and constitutional susceptibility will much modify even our spiritual feelings. The joy of some believers, as to the emotion itself, will be much stronger than that of others, without supposing there may be any clearer understanding of the objects that produce it, any stronger faith in them, or any greater practical influence of them; but simply because there is a stronger physical susceptibility of excited emotion.
Hence the necessity of suggesting the remark - that emotion alone is a very equivocal and deceptive test of personal piety. Spiritual joy is ordinarily a calm, unruffled feeling; a composed and serene state of mind. It is usually denominated peace, and though unspeakable and full of glory, because it is produced in part by the hope of celestial bliss, it is still a tranquil river, and not a torrent, that flows through the soul, noiseless in proportion as it is deep. Or, changing the metaphor, it is a sweet rest, diffusing a feeling of joyous repose over the heart, rather than filling it with the tumultuous exhilaration of a festival. "It is that peace of which the Saviour spoke, when being about to leave the world, and wishing to comfort his sorrowing disciples, he said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you;" His peace, the sweet serenity of mind which He enjoyed Himself, and in the enjoyment of which He went forward in the performance of every duty, and met with such calm dignity, such entire self-command, such cheerful resignation to the Divine will, the overwhelming trials He had to endure."
From all this it must be evident that spiritual joy is a very different thing from what some people would wish to represent it, who, imagining that religion has been disparaged, as it certainly has been, by the gloom and sourness of some of its professors, oscillate to the opposite extreme, and attempt to justify a lamentable degree of frivolity, merriment, and lightness, by the excuse, "that pious people ought to be cheerful; and that this is the way to win the people of the world to piety." So indeed they should be cheerful; but then it should be by the joy of their religion. Nothing spectral in appearance, nor sepulchral in tone, nor ascetic in habit, nor cynical in spirit, should characterize a Christian; he is a child of light, and should live, and act, and speak as such; he should be like one of the sons of the morning dropped from paradise, and bending his way back to it again, and bearing the trials of earth, with the recollection of his happy destiny, and the prospect of his future glory - he should have something of the bliss of heaven, but withal much of its seriousness too.
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 2)
I devote this address to the consideration of a topic intimately connected with your present happiness as Christians; I mean, "spiritual joy," which follows justification; for "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Before justification, we have no right to joy; and after it, we have no reason for misery. The spirit of true religion is essentially a spirit of pure and elevated joy, and it is thus distinguished from superstition, which is essentially a spirit of gloom, and fear, and abject sorrow. Situated as the believer is between one paradise lost by sin, and another restored by grace - he may be expected to combine in his experience, the seemingly opposing states of mind described by the apostle, where he says, "sorrowful - yet always rejoicing," and the tears which he sheds for his transgressions, however numerous and penitential, should still be irradiated with a predominant smile of delight, and appear like dew-drops sparkling in the sun.
The most superficial acquaintance with the Bible must teach us that it is a book to make us happy - as well as holy. The two Testaments are like two ministering angels sent down from heaven to conduct the child of sin and sorrow - to the fountain of peace! Even the older economy contains innumerable exhortations to the people of God, to rejoice and be glad; yes, 'to cry out, and shout for joy." And if a believer when placed amidst the clouds and shadows of the Jewish dispensation, where he could not but be awed by the thunders of Sinai, and pressed in no small measure with the spirit of bondage, was called upon to rejoice, how much more may such a frame of mind be expected in the Christian, on whom the Sun of righteousness has risen, and poured the noon-tide brightness of his glory!
The Christian, then, ought to be both a joyful, as well as a righteous man. His religion should not only adorn his character with the beauties of holiness, but array his countenance with the smile of peace. Yet how few seem to rise to this privilege. If we look into the Bible, we might expect to see all who really believe it, and live under its influence, as so many happy spirits, carrying about with them the springs of their own felicity, independent alike of the joys and sorrows of morality; neither greatly elevated by the one, nor much depressed by the other - and yet when we look at the great bulk of professors of religion, we are sadly disappointed, and even in reference to their happiness as well as to their conduct, are led to ask, "What do you have, more than others?"
By spiritual joy, I do not mean simply the joy of pious people, for all their joy does not answer to this description. But I mean - the joy produced by true religion. It is that holy peace which is the result of Divine truth - understood, believed, and contemplated. It is not mere exhilaration of the animal spirits, the joyousness produced by good health, worldly prosperity, friendship, or gratification of taste. Much of the Christian's enjoyment upon earth is produced by those susceptibilities and possessions which belong to him as a man - and this portion of his gratification is perfectly innocent; but this is not properly speaking spiritual joy. True it is that his spiritual delight may blend itself, and does, with his more common pleasures, sweetening, sanctifying, and elevating them all; and may indeed itself be somewhat modified by them - but still it is of a different kind. It is the joy of faith, of hope, of love - it is joy in God, in Christ, in holiness, in heaven.
It begins when the trembling sinner, after a season of unrelieved anxiety and oppression on account of his sin, loses the burden of his guilt at the Cross - and in that case it is altogether the joy of faith; it continues to increase as he advances in holiness, and is then the joy of love, united with that of faith; it is sustained amidst all the the trials of earth, by the prospect of heaven, and then it is swelled by hope, adding its influence to that of faith and love. This is spiritual joy, that agreeable and comfortable state of mind, which is produced by the believing contemplation of the great object of revealed truth of God, in His nature, attributes, providence, and covenant relations to his people of Christ - in His person, work, faithfulness, and grace - of the promises of Scripture; and all this strengthened by the joy resulting from the testimony of a good conscience, the consciousness of growing holiness, and the assurance of hope.
Such is spiritual joy - not necessarily a state of great excitement. Occasionally, indeed, it does rise into a strong and elevated emotion; it is more than peace, it is delight; more than delight, it is ecstasy. The saints have sometimes soared on the wing of rapture into the element of devotion so highly as to be far above the ordinary attitude of religious experience. But the physical nature of some scarcely admits of this excitement at all, nor can any bear it long. It should be recollected that the differences of our mental temperament and constitutional susceptibility will much modify even our spiritual feelings. The joy of some believers, as to the emotion itself, will be much stronger than that of others, without supposing there may be any clearer understanding of the objects that produce it, any stronger faith in them, or any greater practical influence of them; but simply because there is a stronger physical susceptibility of excited emotion.
Hence the necessity of suggesting the remark - that emotion alone is a very equivocal and deceptive test of personal piety. Spiritual joy is ordinarily a calm, unruffled feeling; a composed and serene state of mind. It is usually denominated peace, and though unspeakable and full of glory, because it is produced in part by the hope of celestial bliss, it is still a tranquil river, and not a torrent, that flows through the soul, noiseless in proportion as it is deep. Or, changing the metaphor, it is a sweet rest, diffusing a feeling of joyous repose over the heart, rather than filling it with the tumultuous exhilaration of a festival. "It is that peace of which the Saviour spoke, when being about to leave the world, and wishing to comfort his sorrowing disciples, he said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you;" His peace, the sweet serenity of mind which He enjoyed Himself, and in the enjoyment of which He went forward in the performance of every duty, and met with such calm dignity, such entire self-command, such cheerful resignation to the Divine will, the overwhelming trials He had to endure."
From all this it must be evident that spiritual joy is a very different thing from what some people would wish to represent it, who, imagining that religion has been disparaged, as it certainly has been, by the gloom and sourness of some of its professors, oscillate to the opposite extreme, and attempt to justify a lamentable degree of frivolity, merriment, and lightness, by the excuse, "that pious people ought to be cheerful; and that this is the way to win the people of the world to piety." So indeed they should be cheerful; but then it should be by the joy of their religion. Nothing spectral in appearance, nor sepulchral in tone, nor ascetic in habit, nor cynical in spirit, should characterize a Christian; he is a child of light, and should live, and act, and speak as such; he should be like one of the sons of the morning dropped from paradise, and bending his way back to it again, and bearing the trials of earth, with the recollection of his happy destiny, and the prospect of his future glory - he should have something of the bliss of heaven, but withal much of its seriousness too.
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 2)
The True Church # 4
The True Church # 4
1. My first word of application shall be a question. What shall that question be? How shall I approach you? What shall I ask? I ask you, whether you are a member of the one true Church of Christ? Are you a member of the Church built upon the rock. Have you received the Holy Spirit? Does the Spirit witness with your spirit, that you are one with Christ, and Christ with you? I beseech you, in the name of God, to lay to heart this question, and to ponder it well. Take heed to yourselves, dear brethren, if you cannot give a satisfactory answer to my inquiry. Take heed that you do not make shipwreck of faith.
2. My second word of application shall be in invitation. I address it to all who are not yet true believers. Come and join the one true Church without delay. Come and join yourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ in an everlasting covenant not to be forgotten. Come to Christ and be saved. Come to my Master, Jesus Christ. Mercy is ready for you, heaven is ready for you, angels are ready to rejoice over you, Christ is ready to receive you. He will receive you gladly, and welcome you among His children. The old world will soon break into pieces! The world is but a wreck stuck on the sandbar. The night is far spent. But the life-boat is launched, and we, the ministers of the Gospel, beseech you to come into the life-boat and be saved.
Do you ask - How can I come, my sins are so many? Hear the words of that beautiful hymn: "Just as I am: without one plea. But that Your blood was shed for me, And that you bid me come to Thee, O Lamb of God I come." That is the way to come to Christ. "His that comes" to Christ, He "will not cast out." Oh! come to Jesus Christ!
3. Last of all, let me give a word of EXHORTATION to my believing hearers. Live a holy life, my brethren. Walk worthy of the Church to which you belong. Live like citizens of heaven. Let your light shine before men, so that the world may profit by your conduct. Let them know whose you are, and whom you serve. Be epistles of Christ, known and read by all men; written in such clear letters, that none can say - we do not know whether he is a member of Christ or not. Live a courageous life, my brethren. Confess Christ before men. Whatever station you occupy, in that station confess Christ. Why should you be ashamed of Him? He was not ashamed of you on the Cross. He is ready to confess you now before His Father in heaven. Why should you be ashamed of Him? Be bold. Be very bold. The true believers ought never to be ashamed of Christ.
Live a joyful life. Live like men who look for that blessed hope - the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the prospect to which we should all look forward. It is not so much the thought of going to heaven, as of heaven coming to us, which should fill our minds. There is a good time coming for all the people of God - a good time for all the Church of Christ - a good time for all believers. But there is a bad time coming for the impenitent and unbelieving - a bad time for those who serve their own lusts, and turn their backs on the Lord - but a good time for true Christians. For that good time, let us wait, and watch, and pray. The Saviour and the saved shall rejoice together. The whole universe shall acknowledge, that in the building of Christ's Church all was well done!
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
1. My first word of application shall be a question. What shall that question be? How shall I approach you? What shall I ask? I ask you, whether you are a member of the one true Church of Christ? Are you a member of the Church built upon the rock. Have you received the Holy Spirit? Does the Spirit witness with your spirit, that you are one with Christ, and Christ with you? I beseech you, in the name of God, to lay to heart this question, and to ponder it well. Take heed to yourselves, dear brethren, if you cannot give a satisfactory answer to my inquiry. Take heed that you do not make shipwreck of faith.
2. My second word of application shall be in invitation. I address it to all who are not yet true believers. Come and join the one true Church without delay. Come and join yourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ in an everlasting covenant not to be forgotten. Come to Christ and be saved. Come to my Master, Jesus Christ. Mercy is ready for you, heaven is ready for you, angels are ready to rejoice over you, Christ is ready to receive you. He will receive you gladly, and welcome you among His children. The old world will soon break into pieces! The world is but a wreck stuck on the sandbar. The night is far spent. But the life-boat is launched, and we, the ministers of the Gospel, beseech you to come into the life-boat and be saved.
Do you ask - How can I come, my sins are so many? Hear the words of that beautiful hymn: "Just as I am: without one plea. But that Your blood was shed for me, And that you bid me come to Thee, O Lamb of God I come." That is the way to come to Christ. "His that comes" to Christ, He "will not cast out." Oh! come to Jesus Christ!
3. Last of all, let me give a word of EXHORTATION to my believing hearers. Live a holy life, my brethren. Walk worthy of the Church to which you belong. Live like citizens of heaven. Let your light shine before men, so that the world may profit by your conduct. Let them know whose you are, and whom you serve. Be epistles of Christ, known and read by all men; written in such clear letters, that none can say - we do not know whether he is a member of Christ or not. Live a courageous life, my brethren. Confess Christ before men. Whatever station you occupy, in that station confess Christ. Why should you be ashamed of Him? He was not ashamed of you on the Cross. He is ready to confess you now before His Father in heaven. Why should you be ashamed of Him? Be bold. Be very bold. The true believers ought never to be ashamed of Christ.
Live a joyful life. Live like men who look for that blessed hope - the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the prospect to which we should all look forward. It is not so much the thought of going to heaven, as of heaven coming to us, which should fill our minds. There is a good time coming for all the people of God - a good time for all the Church of Christ - a good time for all believers. But there is a bad time coming for the impenitent and unbelieving - a bad time for those who serve their own lusts, and turn their backs on the Lord - but a good time for true Christians. For that good time, let us wait, and watch, and pray. The Saviour and the saved shall rejoice together. The whole universe shall acknowledge, that in the building of Christ's Church all was well done!
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
The True Church # 3
The True Church # 3
Look to your foundation, my beloved brethren, if you would know whether or not you are members of the one true Church. It is a point that may be known to yourselves. You public worship we can we - but we cannot see whether you are personally built upon the rock. Your attendance at the Lord's table we can see - but we cannot see whether you are joined to Christ, and one with Christ, and Christ in you. But all shall come to light one day. The secrets of all hearts shall be exposed. Perhaps you go to church regularly and you pray faithfully. All this is right and good, so far as it goes. But see that you make no mistakes about your own personal salvation. See that your own soul is on the rock. Without this, all else is nothing. Without this, you will never stand in the day of judgment. Better a thousand times in that day to be found in a poor cottage on the rock, than in a stately palace on the sand! I proceed in the fourth place, to speak of -
4. The implied TRIALS of the Church, to which our text refers. There is mention made of "the gates of hell." By that expression we are to understand the power of the devil! The history of Christ's true Church has always been one of conflict and war. It has been constantly assailed by a deadly enemy, satan, the prince of this world. The devil hates the true Church of Christ with an undying hatred. He is ever stirring up opposition against all its members. He is ever urging the children of this world to do his will, and injure and harass the people of God. If he cannot bruise the head, he will bruise the heel. If he cannot rob believers of heaven, he will aggravate them as they travel the road to heaven. For thousands of years this hostility has gone on. Millions of the ungodly have been the devil's agents, and done the devil's work, though they did not know it. The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Neros, the Julians, the Diocletians, the bloody Marys - were satan's tools, when they persecuted the disciples of Jesus Christ. Warfare with the powers of hell has been the experience of the whole body of Christ. It has always been a bush burning, though not consumed - a woman fleeing into the wilderness, but not swallowed up. The visible Churches have their times of prosperity and seasons of peace, but never has there been a time of peace for the true Church. Its conflict is perpetual! Its battle never ends.
Men and brethren, we who preach the Gospel can hold out to all who come to Christ, exceeding great and precious promises. We can offer boldly to you in our Master's name, the peace of God which passes all understanding. Mercy, free grace, and full salvation, are offered to everyone who will come to Christ, and believe on Him. But we promise you no peace with the world, or with the devil. Hell is behind you. Heaven is before you. Home lies on the other side of a troubled sea.
Thousands, tens of thousands have crossed these stormy waters, and in spite of all opposition, have reached the haven where they would be. Hell has assailed them, but has not prevailed. Go forward, beloved brethren and fear not the adversary. Only abide in Christ, and the victory is sure! The world hated Christ, and the world will hate true Christians, as long as the earth stands.
Do not be cast down by the hatred of hell. The warfare of the true child of God is as much a mark of grace as the inward peace which he enjoys. No cross, no crown! No conflict, no saving Christianity! "Blessed are you," said our Lord Jesus Christ, "when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." There remains one thing more to be considered -
5. The SECURITY of the true Church of Christ. There is a glorious promise given by the mighty Builder, "The gates of Hades will not overcome it." He who cannot lie, has pledged His royal word, that all the powers of hell shall never overthrow His Church. It shall continue, and stand, in spite of every assault. It shall never be overcome!
All other created things perish and pass away, but not the Church of Christ. The earliest visible Churches have in many cases decayed and perished. Where is the Church of Ephesus and the Church of Antioch? Where are all the Corinthian and Philippian, and Thessalonian Churches? They departed from the Word of God. They were proud of their bishops, and ceremonies, and learning, and antiquity. They did not glory in the true cross of Christ. They did not hold fast the gospel. They did not give Jesus His rightful office, or faith its rightful place. They are now among the things that have been. Their candlestick has been taken away. But all this time the true Church has lived on.
Weak as this true Church may appear to the eye of man, it is an anvil which has broken many a hammer in times past, and perhaps will break many more before the end. He who lays hands on it, is touching the apple of God's eye!
The promise of our text is true of the whole body of the true Church. Christ will never be without a witness in the world. He has had people in the worst of times. He had seven thousand in Israel even in the days of Ahab. The devil may rage horribly. The Church may in some countries be brought exceedingly low. But the gates of hell shall never entirely prevail. The promise of our text is true of every individual member of the true Church.
The true Church is Christ's body. Not one bone in that mystical body shall ever be broken. The true Church is Christ's bride. They whom God has joined in everlasting covenant, shall never be put asunder. The true Church is Christ's flock. When the lion came and took a lamb out of David's flock, David arose and delivered the lamb from his mouth. Christ will do the same. Not a single sick lamb in Christ's flock shall perish! He will say to His Father in the last day, "I have not lost one of those you gave me!" The true Church is the wheat of the earth. It may be sifted, winnowed, buffeted, tossed to and fro. But not one grain will be lost. The tares and chaff shall be burned. The wheat shall be gathered into the barn.
Fear not for the Church of Christ, my brethren, when ministers die, and saints are taken away. Christ can ever maintain His own cause, He will raise up better and brighter stars! Leave off all anxious thought about the future. Cease to be cast down by the measures of statesmen, or the plots of wolves in sheep's clothing. Christ will ever provide for His Own Church! All is going on well - though our eyes may not see it. The kingdoms of this world shall yet become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ.
Allow me to say a few words of PRACTICAL APPLICATION of this sermon. I speak to many, whom I speak to for the first time, I speak, perhaps, to many whom I speak for the the last time. Let not this service conclude without an effort to press home the sermon on each heart.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 4)
Look to your foundation, my beloved brethren, if you would know whether or not you are members of the one true Church. It is a point that may be known to yourselves. You public worship we can we - but we cannot see whether you are personally built upon the rock. Your attendance at the Lord's table we can see - but we cannot see whether you are joined to Christ, and one with Christ, and Christ in you. But all shall come to light one day. The secrets of all hearts shall be exposed. Perhaps you go to church regularly and you pray faithfully. All this is right and good, so far as it goes. But see that you make no mistakes about your own personal salvation. See that your own soul is on the rock. Without this, all else is nothing. Without this, you will never stand in the day of judgment. Better a thousand times in that day to be found in a poor cottage on the rock, than in a stately palace on the sand! I proceed in the fourth place, to speak of -
4. The implied TRIALS of the Church, to which our text refers. There is mention made of "the gates of hell." By that expression we are to understand the power of the devil! The history of Christ's true Church has always been one of conflict and war. It has been constantly assailed by a deadly enemy, satan, the prince of this world. The devil hates the true Church of Christ with an undying hatred. He is ever stirring up opposition against all its members. He is ever urging the children of this world to do his will, and injure and harass the people of God. If he cannot bruise the head, he will bruise the heel. If he cannot rob believers of heaven, he will aggravate them as they travel the road to heaven. For thousands of years this hostility has gone on. Millions of the ungodly have been the devil's agents, and done the devil's work, though they did not know it. The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Neros, the Julians, the Diocletians, the bloody Marys - were satan's tools, when they persecuted the disciples of Jesus Christ. Warfare with the powers of hell has been the experience of the whole body of Christ. It has always been a bush burning, though not consumed - a woman fleeing into the wilderness, but not swallowed up. The visible Churches have their times of prosperity and seasons of peace, but never has there been a time of peace for the true Church. Its conflict is perpetual! Its battle never ends.
Men and brethren, we who preach the Gospel can hold out to all who come to Christ, exceeding great and precious promises. We can offer boldly to you in our Master's name, the peace of God which passes all understanding. Mercy, free grace, and full salvation, are offered to everyone who will come to Christ, and believe on Him. But we promise you no peace with the world, or with the devil. Hell is behind you. Heaven is before you. Home lies on the other side of a troubled sea.
Thousands, tens of thousands have crossed these stormy waters, and in spite of all opposition, have reached the haven where they would be. Hell has assailed them, but has not prevailed. Go forward, beloved brethren and fear not the adversary. Only abide in Christ, and the victory is sure! The world hated Christ, and the world will hate true Christians, as long as the earth stands.
Do not be cast down by the hatred of hell. The warfare of the true child of God is as much a mark of grace as the inward peace which he enjoys. No cross, no crown! No conflict, no saving Christianity! "Blessed are you," said our Lord Jesus Christ, "when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." There remains one thing more to be considered -
5. The SECURITY of the true Church of Christ. There is a glorious promise given by the mighty Builder, "The gates of Hades will not overcome it." He who cannot lie, has pledged His royal word, that all the powers of hell shall never overthrow His Church. It shall continue, and stand, in spite of every assault. It shall never be overcome!
All other created things perish and pass away, but not the Church of Christ. The earliest visible Churches have in many cases decayed and perished. Where is the Church of Ephesus and the Church of Antioch? Where are all the Corinthian and Philippian, and Thessalonian Churches? They departed from the Word of God. They were proud of their bishops, and ceremonies, and learning, and antiquity. They did not glory in the true cross of Christ. They did not hold fast the gospel. They did not give Jesus His rightful office, or faith its rightful place. They are now among the things that have been. Their candlestick has been taken away. But all this time the true Church has lived on.
Weak as this true Church may appear to the eye of man, it is an anvil which has broken many a hammer in times past, and perhaps will break many more before the end. He who lays hands on it, is touching the apple of God's eye!
The promise of our text is true of the whole body of the true Church. Christ will never be without a witness in the world. He has had people in the worst of times. He had seven thousand in Israel even in the days of Ahab. The devil may rage horribly. The Church may in some countries be brought exceedingly low. But the gates of hell shall never entirely prevail. The promise of our text is true of every individual member of the true Church.
The true Church is Christ's body. Not one bone in that mystical body shall ever be broken. The true Church is Christ's bride. They whom God has joined in everlasting covenant, shall never be put asunder. The true Church is Christ's flock. When the lion came and took a lamb out of David's flock, David arose and delivered the lamb from his mouth. Christ will do the same. Not a single sick lamb in Christ's flock shall perish! He will say to His Father in the last day, "I have not lost one of those you gave me!" The true Church is the wheat of the earth. It may be sifted, winnowed, buffeted, tossed to and fro. But not one grain will be lost. The tares and chaff shall be burned. The wheat shall be gathered into the barn.
Fear not for the Church of Christ, my brethren, when ministers die, and saints are taken away. Christ can ever maintain His own cause, He will raise up better and brighter stars! Leave off all anxious thought about the future. Cease to be cast down by the measures of statesmen, or the plots of wolves in sheep's clothing. Christ will ever provide for His Own Church! All is going on well - though our eyes may not see it. The kingdoms of this world shall yet become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ.
Allow me to say a few words of PRACTICAL APPLICATION of this sermon. I speak to many, whom I speak to for the first time, I speak, perhaps, to many whom I speak for the the last time. Let not this service conclude without an effort to press home the sermon on each heart.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, July 21, 2018
A Quote Very Important to Understand
A quote Very Important to Understand
[I am reading an article entitled "Union with Christ" and the below brief passage really enlightened my understanding to the point that I felt compelled to share it with my readers. I pray that it helps all to fully understand the importance, necessity of, and blessedness of our precious Lord and Saviour!]
_________________________
The Idea or Nature of All Things
Further, Christ is the Idea or Nature of all things. I think here we only need two brief quotations. "Whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). The Nature of all things is expressed in those words, "the image of His Son." The other passage which is from Ephesians 4:10, I think bears that out. The object of His ascending up on high was "that He might fill all things." Those two complementary statements answer this Idea or Nature of all things. What is the Idea behind, what is the Divinely intended Nature of all things? Well, just the image of His Son. Of course, that embraces the whole of that comprehensive teaching of the New Testament of likeness to Christ. It is a far-reaching and all-governing idea in the New Testament, likeness to Christ, or, as it has often been put, Christ-likeness. That is the Idea of the existence of all things; that is the Nature of the being of all things; to be filled with Him and conformed to His image. You never will be conformed to His image unless you are filled with Christ. How much New Testament teaching you can put into that. It is everywhere.
The Final Test Of All Things
Lastly, Christ is the Final Test of all things. In Acts 17:31 we have these words: "He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." The literal rendering is not, by a man, but "IN a man whom He hath ordained." The word "ordained" means horizoned. God has made His Son the horizon of everything. Everything has to come within the horizon of this man and be judged according to Him. You see the point. Christ is the criterion, Christ is the standard; Christ is the measure of that great judgment of the world which God has fixed, the final test of all things.
That means that the judgment of the world will be according to how it measures up to Christ, its standing in the light of Christ, as to its attitude toward or relationship with Christ. God will NOT judge on any other ground. That is a very simple formula for judgment. If God had to take us one by one and judge us on the numerous things which belong to us by our inheritance, our birth, our upbringing, by the fortunes or misfortunes of our lives, well, He would have His hands full, speaking after the manner of men, and it would be something that would require a standard of righteousness so infinitesimal, so exhaustive, as to be almost unthinkable. God is NOT going to judge us upon the number of our sins, whether few or many, or upon our temperaments, or upon anything like that at all that comes down to us in the bloodstream. His one simple solution is: What is your attitude toward My Son? How do you stand here in the horizon of Christ, not just as a person, but in relationship with Him as a kind, what He means in Himself? What is your attitude, relationship, and measure where the Son is concerned? On that all judgment will be based.
And notice, that is a very righteous judgment. It says "He will judge the world in righteousness." Thank God! That takes in the very thing that so many complain of through their lives, the disadvantages of their inheritance, of heredity, of early training and so on. My dear friends, take heart from this, that on none of those matters is God going to judge at all, it would be unrighteous. He brings us all down to the one issue of our relationship to His Son. Where do you stand with Him? What have you done with Him? What are you making of Him? How are you progressing in your conformity to His image? That is the basis of judgment, and the only one. Christ is the criterion, the final test of all things.
[well, I will stop here, but I felt that this brief article would be a blessing for everyone to read and devour!! This is why it is so important that we grow, progress, in our faith; why it is so important that we do indeed become more Christ-like, why (when God looks down upon us) He sees only His Son in us!! And have we stopped to think that this is the way creation was created in the first place - before Adam and Eve sinned? (Don't forget, Christ was BEFORE creation began.) Oh! I could go on and on about this but I won't - not now!!]
~T. Austin Sparks~
[I am reading an article entitled "Union with Christ" and the below brief passage really enlightened my understanding to the point that I felt compelled to share it with my readers. I pray that it helps all to fully understand the importance, necessity of, and blessedness of our precious Lord and Saviour!]
_________________________
The Idea or Nature of All Things
Further, Christ is the Idea or Nature of all things. I think here we only need two brief quotations. "Whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). The Nature of all things is expressed in those words, "the image of His Son." The other passage which is from Ephesians 4:10, I think bears that out. The object of His ascending up on high was "that He might fill all things." Those two complementary statements answer this Idea or Nature of all things. What is the Idea behind, what is the Divinely intended Nature of all things? Well, just the image of His Son. Of course, that embraces the whole of that comprehensive teaching of the New Testament of likeness to Christ. It is a far-reaching and all-governing idea in the New Testament, likeness to Christ, or, as it has often been put, Christ-likeness. That is the Idea of the existence of all things; that is the Nature of the being of all things; to be filled with Him and conformed to His image. You never will be conformed to His image unless you are filled with Christ. How much New Testament teaching you can put into that. It is everywhere.
The Final Test Of All Things
Lastly, Christ is the Final Test of all things. In Acts 17:31 we have these words: "He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." The literal rendering is not, by a man, but "IN a man whom He hath ordained." The word "ordained" means horizoned. God has made His Son the horizon of everything. Everything has to come within the horizon of this man and be judged according to Him. You see the point. Christ is the criterion, Christ is the standard; Christ is the measure of that great judgment of the world which God has fixed, the final test of all things.
That means that the judgment of the world will be according to how it measures up to Christ, its standing in the light of Christ, as to its attitude toward or relationship with Christ. God will NOT judge on any other ground. That is a very simple formula for judgment. If God had to take us one by one and judge us on the numerous things which belong to us by our inheritance, our birth, our upbringing, by the fortunes or misfortunes of our lives, well, He would have His hands full, speaking after the manner of men, and it would be something that would require a standard of righteousness so infinitesimal, so exhaustive, as to be almost unthinkable. God is NOT going to judge us upon the number of our sins, whether few or many, or upon our temperaments, or upon anything like that at all that comes down to us in the bloodstream. His one simple solution is: What is your attitude toward My Son? How do you stand here in the horizon of Christ, not just as a person, but in relationship with Him as a kind, what He means in Himself? What is your attitude, relationship, and measure where the Son is concerned? On that all judgment will be based.
And notice, that is a very righteous judgment. It says "He will judge the world in righteousness." Thank God! That takes in the very thing that so many complain of through their lives, the disadvantages of their inheritance, of heredity, of early training and so on. My dear friends, take heart from this, that on none of those matters is God going to judge at all, it would be unrighteous. He brings us all down to the one issue of our relationship to His Son. Where do you stand with Him? What have you done with Him? What are you making of Him? How are you progressing in your conformity to His image? That is the basis of judgment, and the only one. Christ is the criterion, the final test of all things.
[well, I will stop here, but I felt that this brief article would be a blessing for everyone to read and devour!! This is why it is so important that we grow, progress, in our faith; why it is so important that we do indeed become more Christ-like, why (when God looks down upon us) He sees only His Son in us!! And have we stopped to think that this is the way creation was created in the first place - before Adam and Eve sinned? (Don't forget, Christ was BEFORE creation began.) Oh! I could go on and on about this but I won't - not now!!]
~T. Austin Sparks~
The True Church # 2
The True Church # 2
The mighty agent by whom the Lord Jesus Christ carries out this work in the number of His Churches, is, without doubt, the Holy Spirit. He it is who applies Christ and His benefits to the soul. He it is who is ever renewing, awakening, convincing, leading to the Cross, transforming, taking out of the world, stone after stone, and adding it to the mystical building. But the great Chief Builder, who has undertaken to execute the work of redemption and bring it to completion, is the Son of God - the Word who was made flesh. It is Jesus Christ who "builds."
In building the true Church, the Lord Jesus condescends to use many subordinate instruments. The ministry of the Gospel, the circulation of the Scriptures, the friendly rebuke, the word spoken in season, the drawing influence of afflictions - all, all are means and methods by which His work is carried on. But Christ is the great superintending architect, ordering, guiding, directing all that is done. What the sun is to the whole solar system - that Christ is to all the members of the true Church. "Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God gives the increase." Ministers may preach, and writers may write, but the Lord Jesus Christ alone can build. And except He builds, the work stand still.
Great is the wisdom with which the Lord Jesus builds His Church. All is done at the right time, and in the right way. Each stone in its turn is put in the right place. Sometimes He chooses great stones, and sometimes He chooses small stones. Sometimes the work moves fast, and sometimes it moves slowly. Man is frequently impatient, and thinks that nothing is happening. But man's time is not God's time. A thousand years in His sight are but as a single day. The great Builder makes no mistakes. He knows what He is doing. He sees the end from the beginning. He works by a perfect, unalterable and certain plan. The mightist conceptions of architects, like Michaelangelo are mere insignificant child's play, in comparison with Christ's wise counsels respecting His Church.
Great is the condescension and mercy, which Christ exhibits in building His Church. He often chooses the most unlikely and roughest stones, and fits them into a most excellent work. He despises no one, and rejects none - on account of former sins and past transgressions. He delights to show mercy. He often takes the most thoughtless and ungodly, and transforms them into polished corners of His spiritual temple.
Great is the power which Christ displays in building His Church. He carries on His work in spite of opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. In storm, in chaos, through troublesome times - silently, quietly, without noise, without stir, without excitement - the building progresses. "i will work," He declares, "and none shall hinder it." Brethren, the children of this world take no interest in the building of this Church, theycare nothing for the conversion of souls. What are broken spirits and penitent hearts to them? It is all foolishness in their eyes. But while the children of this world care nothing, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God. For the preserving of that Church, the laws of nature have oftentimes been suspended. For the good of that Church, all the providential dealings of God in this world are ordered and arranged. For the elect's sake, wars are brought to an end, and peace is given to a nation. Statesmen, rulers, emperors, kings, preseidents, heads of governments, have their schemes and plans, and think them of vast importance.
But there is another work going on of infinitely greater significance, for which they are all but as the axes and saws in God's hands. That work is the gathering in of living stones into the one true Church. How little are we told in God's Word about unconverted men, compared with what we are told about believers! The history of Nimrod, the mighty hunter, is dismissed in a few words. The history of Abraham, the father of the faithful, occupies several chapters. Nothing in Scripture is so important as the concerns of the true Church. The world makes up little of God's Word. The Church and its story make up much.
Forever let us thank God, my beloved brethren, that the building of the one true Church is laid on the shoulders of One who is mighty. Let us bless God that it does not rest upon man. Let us bless God that it does not depend on missionaries, ministers, or committees. Christ is the almighty Builder. He will carry on His work, though nations and visible Churches do not know their duty. Christ will never fail. That which He has undertaken He will certainly accomplish! I pass on to the third point, which I proposed to consider -
3. The FOUNDATION upon which this Church is built. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us, "On this rock I will build My Church." What did the Lord Jesus Christ mean, when He spoke of this foundation? Did He mean the Apostle Peter, to whom He was speaking? I think assuredly not. I can see no reason, if he meant Peter, why did He not say "On you" will I build My Church. If He had meant Peter, He would have said, I will build My Church on you, as plainly as He said, "I will give you the keys." No! it was not the person of the Apostle Peter, but the good confession which the Apostle had just made. It was not Peter, the erring, unstable man; but the mighty truth which the Father had revealed to Peter. It was the truth concerning Jesus Christ Himself, which was the Rock. It was Christ's Mediatorship, and Christ's Messiahship. It was the blessed truth, that Jesus was the promised Saviour, the real Intercessor between God and man. This was the Rock, and this was the foundation on which the Church of Christ was to be built.
My brethren, this foundation was laid at a mighty cost. It was necessary that the Son of God should take our nature upon Him, and in that nature live, suffer, and die, not for His own sins, but for ours. It was necessary that in that nature Christ should go to the grave, and rise again. It was necessary that in that nature Christ should go up to heaven, to sit at the right hand of God, having obtained eternal redemption for all His people. No other foundation but this could have borne the wieght of that Church of which our text speaks. No other foundation could have met the necessities of a world of sinners!
That foundation once obtained, is very strong. It an bear the weight of the sin of all the world. It has borne the weight of all the sins of all the believers who have built on it. Sins of thought, sins of the imagination,sins of the heart,sins of the head, sins which everyone has seen, and sins which no man knows, sins against God, and sins against man, sins of all kinds and descriptions - that mighty Rock can bear the weight of all these sins, and not give way. The mediatorial office of Christ is a suficient remedy for all the sins of all the world.
To this one foundation every member of Christ's true Church is joined. In many things believers are disunited and disagreed. In the matter of their soul's foundation they are all of one mind. They are all build on the Rock. Ask where they get their peace, and hope, and joyful expectation of good things to come. You would find that it all flows from that one mighty truth - Christ the Mediator between God and man, and the office that Christ holds, as the High Priest and Promise of sinners.
Here is the point which demands our personal attention. Are we on the Rock? Are we really joined to the one Foundation? What does that godly man, Leighton say? "God has laid this precious stone for this very purpose - that weary sinners may rest upon it. The multitude of imaginary believers lie all around it, but they are not any better for that, any more than stones that lie loose in heaps, hear the foundation. but not joined to it. There is no benefit to us by Christ, without union with Him.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
The mighty agent by whom the Lord Jesus Christ carries out this work in the number of His Churches, is, without doubt, the Holy Spirit. He it is who applies Christ and His benefits to the soul. He it is who is ever renewing, awakening, convincing, leading to the Cross, transforming, taking out of the world, stone after stone, and adding it to the mystical building. But the great Chief Builder, who has undertaken to execute the work of redemption and bring it to completion, is the Son of God - the Word who was made flesh. It is Jesus Christ who "builds."
In building the true Church, the Lord Jesus condescends to use many subordinate instruments. The ministry of the Gospel, the circulation of the Scriptures, the friendly rebuke, the word spoken in season, the drawing influence of afflictions - all, all are means and methods by which His work is carried on. But Christ is the great superintending architect, ordering, guiding, directing all that is done. What the sun is to the whole solar system - that Christ is to all the members of the true Church. "Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God gives the increase." Ministers may preach, and writers may write, but the Lord Jesus Christ alone can build. And except He builds, the work stand still.
Great is the wisdom with which the Lord Jesus builds His Church. All is done at the right time, and in the right way. Each stone in its turn is put in the right place. Sometimes He chooses great stones, and sometimes He chooses small stones. Sometimes the work moves fast, and sometimes it moves slowly. Man is frequently impatient, and thinks that nothing is happening. But man's time is not God's time. A thousand years in His sight are but as a single day. The great Builder makes no mistakes. He knows what He is doing. He sees the end from the beginning. He works by a perfect, unalterable and certain plan. The mightist conceptions of architects, like Michaelangelo are mere insignificant child's play, in comparison with Christ's wise counsels respecting His Church.
Great is the condescension and mercy, which Christ exhibits in building His Church. He often chooses the most unlikely and roughest stones, and fits them into a most excellent work. He despises no one, and rejects none - on account of former sins and past transgressions. He delights to show mercy. He often takes the most thoughtless and ungodly, and transforms them into polished corners of His spiritual temple.
Great is the power which Christ displays in building His Church. He carries on His work in spite of opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. In storm, in chaos, through troublesome times - silently, quietly, without noise, without stir, without excitement - the building progresses. "i will work," He declares, "and none shall hinder it." Brethren, the children of this world take no interest in the building of this Church, theycare nothing for the conversion of souls. What are broken spirits and penitent hearts to them? It is all foolishness in their eyes. But while the children of this world care nothing, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God. For the preserving of that Church, the laws of nature have oftentimes been suspended. For the good of that Church, all the providential dealings of God in this world are ordered and arranged. For the elect's sake, wars are brought to an end, and peace is given to a nation. Statesmen, rulers, emperors, kings, preseidents, heads of governments, have their schemes and plans, and think them of vast importance.
But there is another work going on of infinitely greater significance, for which they are all but as the axes and saws in God's hands. That work is the gathering in of living stones into the one true Church. How little are we told in God's Word about unconverted men, compared with what we are told about believers! The history of Nimrod, the mighty hunter, is dismissed in a few words. The history of Abraham, the father of the faithful, occupies several chapters. Nothing in Scripture is so important as the concerns of the true Church. The world makes up little of God's Word. The Church and its story make up much.
Forever let us thank God, my beloved brethren, that the building of the one true Church is laid on the shoulders of One who is mighty. Let us bless God that it does not rest upon man. Let us bless God that it does not depend on missionaries, ministers, or committees. Christ is the almighty Builder. He will carry on His work, though nations and visible Churches do not know their duty. Christ will never fail. That which He has undertaken He will certainly accomplish! I pass on to the third point, which I proposed to consider -
3. The FOUNDATION upon which this Church is built. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us, "On this rock I will build My Church." What did the Lord Jesus Christ mean, when He spoke of this foundation? Did He mean the Apostle Peter, to whom He was speaking? I think assuredly not. I can see no reason, if he meant Peter, why did He not say "On you" will I build My Church. If He had meant Peter, He would have said, I will build My Church on you, as plainly as He said, "I will give you the keys." No! it was not the person of the Apostle Peter, but the good confession which the Apostle had just made. It was not Peter, the erring, unstable man; but the mighty truth which the Father had revealed to Peter. It was the truth concerning Jesus Christ Himself, which was the Rock. It was Christ's Mediatorship, and Christ's Messiahship. It was the blessed truth, that Jesus was the promised Saviour, the real Intercessor between God and man. This was the Rock, and this was the foundation on which the Church of Christ was to be built.
My brethren, this foundation was laid at a mighty cost. It was necessary that the Son of God should take our nature upon Him, and in that nature live, suffer, and die, not for His own sins, but for ours. It was necessary that in that nature Christ should go to the grave, and rise again. It was necessary that in that nature Christ should go up to heaven, to sit at the right hand of God, having obtained eternal redemption for all His people. No other foundation but this could have borne the wieght of that Church of which our text speaks. No other foundation could have met the necessities of a world of sinners!
That foundation once obtained, is very strong. It an bear the weight of the sin of all the world. It has borne the weight of all the sins of all the believers who have built on it. Sins of thought, sins of the imagination,sins of the heart,sins of the head, sins which everyone has seen, and sins which no man knows, sins against God, and sins against man, sins of all kinds and descriptions - that mighty Rock can bear the weight of all these sins, and not give way. The mediatorial office of Christ is a suficient remedy for all the sins of all the world.
To this one foundation every member of Christ's true Church is joined. In many things believers are disunited and disagreed. In the matter of their soul's foundation they are all of one mind. They are all build on the Rock. Ask where they get their peace, and hope, and joyful expectation of good things to come. You would find that it all flows from that one mighty truth - Christ the Mediator between God and man, and the office that Christ holds, as the High Priest and Promise of sinners.
Here is the point which demands our personal attention. Are we on the Rock? Are we really joined to the one Foundation? What does that godly man, Leighton say? "God has laid this precious stone for this very purpose - that weary sinners may rest upon it. The multitude of imaginary believers lie all around it, but they are not any better for that, any more than stones that lie loose in heaps, hear the foundation. but not joined to it. There is no benefit to us by Christ, without union with Him.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
The True Church # 1
The True Church # 1
"On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18).
We live in a world in which all things are passing away, kingdoms, empires,cities, institutions,families - all are liable to change and corruption. One universal law seems to prevail everywhere - in all created things there is a tendency to decay. There is something sad and depressing in this. What profit has a man, in the labor of his hands? Is there nothing that shall stand? Is there nothing that shall last? Is there nothing that shall endure? Is there nothing of which we can say - This shall continue forever?
We have the answer to these questions in the words of our text. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of something which shall continue, and not pass away. There is one created thing which is an exception to the universal rule to which I have referred. There is one thing which shall never perish and pass away. That thing is building founded upon the rock - the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. He declares, in the words you have heard tonight: "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it." There are five things in these words which demand your attention:
1. A Building: "My Church."
2. A Builder: Christ says, "I will build My Church."
3. A Foundation: "On this rock I will build My Church."
4. Perils Implied: "The gates of hell."
5. Security Asserted: "The gates of hell will not overcome it."
May God bless the words that shall be spoken. May we all search our own hearts tonight, and know whether or not we belong to this one Church. May we all go home to reflect and to pray!
1. First, you have a "Building" mentioned in the text. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks of "My Church." Now what is this Church? Few inquiries can be made of more importance than this. For lack of due attention to this subject, the errors that have crept into the Church, and into the world, are neither few nor small. The Church of our text is no material building. It is no temple made with hands, of wood, or brick, or stone, or marble. It is a company of men and women. It is no particular visible Church on earth. The Church of our text is one that makes far less show in the eyes of man, but is of far more importance in the eyes of God.
The Church of our text is made up of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It comprehends all who have repented of sin, and fled to Christ by faith, and been made new creatures in Him. It comprises all God's elect, all who have received God's grace, all who have been washed in Christ's blood, all who have been clothed in Christ's righteousness, all who have been born again and sanctified by Christ's Spirit. All such, of every nation, and people, and tongue, compose the Church of our text. This is the body of Christ. This is the flock of Christ. This is the bride. This is the Lamb's wife. This is the church on the rock.
The members of this Church do not all worship God in the same way, or use the same form of government. Our own 34th Article declares, "It is not necessary that ceremonies should be in all places one and alike." But they all worship with one heart. They are all led by one Spirit. They are all really and truly holy. They can all say "Hallelujah," and they can all reply "Amen". This is that Church, to which all visible Churches on earth are servants. Whether they are Episcopalian, Independent, or Presbyterian, they all serve the interests of the one true Church. They are the scaffolding, behind which the great building is carried on. They are the husk, under which the living kernel grows.
They have their various degrees of usefulness. The best and worthiest of them, is that which trains up most members for Christ's true Church. But no visible Church has any right to say, "We are the only true church. We are the men, and truth shall die with us." No visible Church should ever dare to say, "We shall stand forever. The gates of hell will not overcome us." This is that Church to which belong the Lord's precious promises of preservation, continuance, protection, and final glory. "Whatever," says Hooker, "we read in Scripture, concerning the endless love and saving mercy which God shows towards His Churches, the only proper subject is this Church, which we properly term the mystical body of Christ." Small and despised as the true Church may be in this world, it is precious and honorable in the sight of God. The temple of Solomon in all its glory was nothing in comparison with that Church which is built upon a rock.
Men and brethren, see that you hold sound doctrine on the subject of "the Church." A mistake here may lead to dangerous and soul-ruining errors. The Church which is made up of true believers, is the Church for which we, who are ministers, are specially ordained to preach. The Church which comprises all who repent and believe the Gospel, is the Church to which we desire you to belong. Our work is not done, and our hearts are not satisfied, until you are made new creatures, and are members of the one true Church. Outside of this Church, there can be no salvation. I pass on to the second point, to which I proposed to call you attention.
2. Our text contains not merely a building, but a "BUILDER." The Lord Jesus Christ declares, "I will build My Church." The true Church of Christ is tenderly cared for by all the three persons of the blessed Trinity. In the economy of redemption, beyond all doubt, God the Father chooses, and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies, every member of Christ's mystical body. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God, cooperate for the salvation of every saved soul. This is truth, which ought never to be forgotten. Nevertheless, there is a peculiar sense in which the help of the Church is laid on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is peculiarly and preeminently the Redeemer and the Saviour. Therefore it is, that we find Him saying in our text, "I will build - the work of building is My special work." It is Christ who calls the members of the Church in due time. They are "the called of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:6). It is Christ who gives them life. "The Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it" (John 5:21). It is Christ who washes away their sins. He "who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood" (Revelation 1:5). It is Christ who gives them peace. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you" (John 14:27). It is Christ who gives them eternal life. "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish" (John 10:28). It is Christ who grants them repentance. "God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Saviour, that He might give repentance" (Acts 5:31). It is Christ who enables them to become God's children. "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). It is Christ who carries on the work within them, when it is begun. "Because I live, you also will live" (John 14:19).
In short, "God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ}" (Colossians 1:19). He is the author and finisher of faith. From Him every joint and member of the mystical body of Christians is supplied. Through Him they are strengthened for duty. By Him they are kept from falling. He shall preserve them to the end, and present them faultless before the Father's throne with exceeding great joy. He is all things, and all in all to believers.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
"On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18).
We live in a world in which all things are passing away, kingdoms, empires,cities, institutions,families - all are liable to change and corruption. One universal law seems to prevail everywhere - in all created things there is a tendency to decay. There is something sad and depressing in this. What profit has a man, in the labor of his hands? Is there nothing that shall stand? Is there nothing that shall last? Is there nothing that shall endure? Is there nothing of which we can say - This shall continue forever?
We have the answer to these questions in the words of our text. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of something which shall continue, and not pass away. There is one created thing which is an exception to the universal rule to which I have referred. There is one thing which shall never perish and pass away. That thing is building founded upon the rock - the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. He declares, in the words you have heard tonight: "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it." There are five things in these words which demand your attention:
1. A Building: "My Church."
2. A Builder: Christ says, "I will build My Church."
3. A Foundation: "On this rock I will build My Church."
4. Perils Implied: "The gates of hell."
5. Security Asserted: "The gates of hell will not overcome it."
May God bless the words that shall be spoken. May we all search our own hearts tonight, and know whether or not we belong to this one Church. May we all go home to reflect and to pray!
1. First, you have a "Building" mentioned in the text. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks of "My Church." Now what is this Church? Few inquiries can be made of more importance than this. For lack of due attention to this subject, the errors that have crept into the Church, and into the world, are neither few nor small. The Church of our text is no material building. It is no temple made with hands, of wood, or brick, or stone, or marble. It is a company of men and women. It is no particular visible Church on earth. The Church of our text is one that makes far less show in the eyes of man, but is of far more importance in the eyes of God.
The Church of our text is made up of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It comprehends all who have repented of sin, and fled to Christ by faith, and been made new creatures in Him. It comprises all God's elect, all who have received God's grace, all who have been washed in Christ's blood, all who have been clothed in Christ's righteousness, all who have been born again and sanctified by Christ's Spirit. All such, of every nation, and people, and tongue, compose the Church of our text. This is the body of Christ. This is the flock of Christ. This is the bride. This is the Lamb's wife. This is the church on the rock.
The members of this Church do not all worship God in the same way, or use the same form of government. Our own 34th Article declares, "It is not necessary that ceremonies should be in all places one and alike." But they all worship with one heart. They are all led by one Spirit. They are all really and truly holy. They can all say "Hallelujah," and they can all reply "Amen". This is that Church, to which all visible Churches on earth are servants. Whether they are Episcopalian, Independent, or Presbyterian, they all serve the interests of the one true Church. They are the scaffolding, behind which the great building is carried on. They are the husk, under which the living kernel grows.
They have their various degrees of usefulness. The best and worthiest of them, is that which trains up most members for Christ's true Church. But no visible Church has any right to say, "We are the only true church. We are the men, and truth shall die with us." No visible Church should ever dare to say, "We shall stand forever. The gates of hell will not overcome us." This is that Church to which belong the Lord's precious promises of preservation, continuance, protection, and final glory. "Whatever," says Hooker, "we read in Scripture, concerning the endless love and saving mercy which God shows towards His Churches, the only proper subject is this Church, which we properly term the mystical body of Christ." Small and despised as the true Church may be in this world, it is precious and honorable in the sight of God. The temple of Solomon in all its glory was nothing in comparison with that Church which is built upon a rock.
Men and brethren, see that you hold sound doctrine on the subject of "the Church." A mistake here may lead to dangerous and soul-ruining errors. The Church which is made up of true believers, is the Church for which we, who are ministers, are specially ordained to preach. The Church which comprises all who repent and believe the Gospel, is the Church to which we desire you to belong. Our work is not done, and our hearts are not satisfied, until you are made new creatures, and are members of the one true Church. Outside of this Church, there can be no salvation. I pass on to the second point, to which I proposed to call you attention.
2. Our text contains not merely a building, but a "BUILDER." The Lord Jesus Christ declares, "I will build My Church." The true Church of Christ is tenderly cared for by all the three persons of the blessed Trinity. In the economy of redemption, beyond all doubt, God the Father chooses, and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies, every member of Christ's mystical body. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God, cooperate for the salvation of every saved soul. This is truth, which ought never to be forgotten. Nevertheless, there is a peculiar sense in which the help of the Church is laid on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is peculiarly and preeminently the Redeemer and the Saviour. Therefore it is, that we find Him saying in our text, "I will build - the work of building is My special work." It is Christ who calls the members of the Church in due time. They are "the called of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:6). It is Christ who gives them life. "The Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it" (John 5:21). It is Christ who washes away their sins. He "who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood" (Revelation 1:5). It is Christ who gives them peace. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you" (John 14:27). It is Christ who gives them eternal life. "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish" (John 10:28). It is Christ who grants them repentance. "God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Saviour, that He might give repentance" (Acts 5:31). It is Christ who enables them to become God's children. "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). It is Christ who carries on the work within them, when it is begun. "Because I live, you also will live" (John 14:19).
In short, "God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ}" (Colossians 1:19). He is the author and finisher of faith. From Him every joint and member of the mystical body of Christians is supplied. Through Him they are strengthened for duty. By Him they are kept from falling. He shall preserve them to the end, and present them faultless before the Father's throne with exceeding great joy. He is all things, and all in all to believers.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
I Bequeath My Pastor's Soul to the devil
I Bequeath My Pastor's Soul to the devil!
"Covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5).
Covetousness is explicit idolatry. Covetousness is the darling sin of our nation. Covetousness being idolatry - is highly provoking to God. This leprosy has infected all sorts and ranks of men.
Whatever a man loves most and best - that is his god! The covetous man looks upon the riches of the world as his heaven - his happiness - his great ALL. His heart is most upon the world, his thoughts are most upon the world, his affections are most upon the world, his discourse is most about the world.
He who has his mind taken up with the world, and chiefly delighted with the world's music - he has also his tongue tuned to the same key, and takes his joy and comfort in speaking of the world and worldly things. If the world is in his heart - it will break out at the lips. A worldly-minded man speaks mostly of worldly things. "They are of the world, therefore they speak of the world," (John 4:5). The love of this world oils the tongue for worldly discourses, and makes men...
forget God,
neglect Christ,
despise holiness,
forfeit heaven.
Ah! the time, the thoughts, the strength, the efforts - which are spent upon the world, and the things of the world - while sinners' souls lie bleeding, and eternity is hastening upon them!
I have read of a greedy banker, who was always best when he was most in talking of money and the world. Being near his death, he was much pressed to make his WILL. Finally he dictates:
First, I bequeath my own soul to the devil - for being go greedy for the muck of this world!
Second, I bequeath my wife's soul to the devil - for persuading me to this worldly course of life.
Thirdly, I bequeath my pastor's soul to the devil - because he did not show me the danger I lived in, nor reprove me for it!
"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction!" (1 Timothy 6:9).
~Thomas Brooks~
_____________________________
The One Who Profits Me the Most!
"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).
I will name some of the criteria by which I measure the helpfulness of a preacher or writer to my own soul.
The one who profits me the most, is the man whose ministry brings the most awe of a holy and sovereign God into my heart, who reveals my sinfulness and failures to me, who conveys the most light on my path of duty, who makes Christ most precious to me, who encourages me to press forward along the narrow way.
"Watch your life and doctrine closely" (1 Timothy 4:16).
~A. W. Pink~
___________________________
That Irresponsible, Amusement-mad Paganized Pseudo-religion!!
In many churches, the Gospel has been watered down until the solution is so weak, that if it were poison - it would not hurt anyone; and if it were medicine - it would not cure anyone!
We must have a new reformation! There must come a violent break with that irresponsible, amusement-mad, paganized pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their unspiritual ends!
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________
Your Life Preaches All the Week
Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two - your life all the week. If satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating - he has ruined his ministry.
Give your self to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be success.
It is not great talents God blesses, so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awesome weapon in the hand of God!
~Robert Murray M'Cheyne~
_____________________________
Souls Are Perishing - And Ministers are Amusing Them!
"But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them - that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die!' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways - that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood!" (Ezekiel 33:6-8).
We behold this same evil affecting many of the pulpits to today's churches. Mere morality is taking the place of regeneration, and the atonement by blood is a slighted subject. Instead of beseeching men to be reconciled to God - we find ministers wasting their time in giving Sunday lectures about all kinds of subjects. Rome is burning - and Nero is playing his fiddle! Souls are perishing - and ministers are amusing them!
~Archibald Brown~
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Saving Faith # 2
Saving Faith # 2
Consider, I ask you, this incomprehensible goodness! Do not many in this world think it no harm to remember injuries, and sometimes to resent them? Do we not find it hard to love those who have given us some slight offence? or if we do profess to love them, do we make any endeavor to promote their happiness? Such, alas! is too seldom our practice; there is but little real affection in these hard hearts. But we are not dealt with according to our own ways, for the God of holiness has loved the sinful world, which has continually dishonored and denied Him. Oh! beloved, let us dwell much on such expressions as these, for they are more precious than rubies; let us bear them continually in mind, for they will not fail us in the day of trial, when temptation is strong and faith weak; let us write them on our hearts and in our memories, and we shall find them a strong consolation in the hour of death and on the bed of sickness. God is indeed love - and God loved the world.
3. The gift of His Son. Let us next inquire in what way it pleased God to manifest this love. We had all sinned. Who then could put away this sin and present us clean and spotless before His throne? We had all failed utter of keeping His holy laws. How then could we be clothed for the wedding-feast of our Master? Beloved, here is wisdom! This is the very point which the learned of this world could never understand. How, they have asked, can perfect justice and perfect mercy be reconciled? How can God justify His sinful creature, and yet be that Holy One whose law must needs be fulfilled? But all is explained in this simple verse, if you can receive it; and thus it was, "He gave His only-begotten Son."
Observe the magnitude of this gift, "His only-begotten Son." Can anything give you a more tender idea of God's love? Observe again the expression "He gave" - not because we had merited anything, for it was a free gift; not for our deservings, for it was all of grace. "By grace you are saved," says Paul to the Ephesians. "The gift of God is eternal life," says the same apostle to the Romans.
And for what purpose was His Son given? Beloved, He was given to atone for our guilt, by the sacrifice and death of Himself, as a lamb without spot and blemish; and by so doing He made a full, perfect, and sufficient oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. He was given to bear our iniquities and carry our transgressions upon the accursed tree, the Cross; for being innocent Himself He was for our sakes accounted guilty, that we for His sake might be accounted pure. Nor is this all: He was given to fulfill the demands of that law which we have broken; and He did fulfill them. He "was tempted in all points," says Paul, "like as we are, and yet without sin." The prince of this world had nothing in Him, and thus He brought in an everlasting righteousness, which like a pure white raiment is unto all and upon all those who believe. (2 Cor. 5:21).
It would be easy to dwell upon this delightful branch of our subject, beloved - but we must pass on.
4. The means whereby we enjoy this gift. How then are the benefits of this gift made our own? What are the means through which it is applied to our souls? What is the hand by which we lay hold on this remedy?
Here again our text supplies an answer It is FAITH. Whoever believes (not with the head, remember - but with the heart), and believing comes to Christ with a confession of his own unrighteousness, and receives Him as his only hope of salvation - is saved by FAITH.
Consider now the beautiful simplicity of this way of life. We do not see written on the gate - Whoever has prepared himself by long repentance - whoever has begun to lead a new life - whoever has done so many good works - whoever has attended church so many times - whoever has given so much in charity - these shall enter into heaven, and no others. No, dear friends, such announcements would frighten many a weary sinner, and these are fruits you will thankfully bring forth a hundredfold after you have entered.
But the only thing required of those who seek admission is faith, and he who approaches in simple childlike faith shall never be rejected. Hear how Paul speaks on this point (Rom. 10:5-10). And, lest anyone should suppose that God is a respecter of people, that there is one way for the rich and another for the poor, one for the learned, another for the unlearned, he adds these comfortable words: "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." But remember also - and I solemnly warn everyone of this - there is no other way to heaven - than the way of faith. God has not left each man to choose his own road to heaven - or his own path for coming unto Christ - but He has appointed one way and no more, and no man shall enter into life, except by this.
"If you believe not," says our Lord, "that I am He, you shall die in your sins!" And hence we may learn this most important lesson, that although God so loved the world, that He gave for it His only-begotten Son, still the benefits of that gift can never be obtained by those who will not believe.
5. And the promise attached to those who believe. It remains for us in the last place to consider the promises and consequences which our text holds forth to the faithful. We read that "whoever believes shall not perish - but have everlasting life." And is not this a promise the most acceptable to our nature that a gracious God could have devised? We know there is nothing the unconverted fear so much as death: people of the highest courage, who would shrink from no danger and encounter any difficulty, have been seen to tremble and turn pale at the approach of some pain or complaint which seems likely to bring their frail bodies to the grave. And why should this be so? - pain is not very bitter, and life with its cares and anxieties is not so very sweet as to account for it!
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
Consider, I ask you, this incomprehensible goodness! Do not many in this world think it no harm to remember injuries, and sometimes to resent them? Do we not find it hard to love those who have given us some slight offence? or if we do profess to love them, do we make any endeavor to promote their happiness? Such, alas! is too seldom our practice; there is but little real affection in these hard hearts. But we are not dealt with according to our own ways, for the God of holiness has loved the sinful world, which has continually dishonored and denied Him. Oh! beloved, let us dwell much on such expressions as these, for they are more precious than rubies; let us bear them continually in mind, for they will not fail us in the day of trial, when temptation is strong and faith weak; let us write them on our hearts and in our memories, and we shall find them a strong consolation in the hour of death and on the bed of sickness. God is indeed love - and God loved the world.
3. The gift of His Son. Let us next inquire in what way it pleased God to manifest this love. We had all sinned. Who then could put away this sin and present us clean and spotless before His throne? We had all failed utter of keeping His holy laws. How then could we be clothed for the wedding-feast of our Master? Beloved, here is wisdom! This is the very point which the learned of this world could never understand. How, they have asked, can perfect justice and perfect mercy be reconciled? How can God justify His sinful creature, and yet be that Holy One whose law must needs be fulfilled? But all is explained in this simple verse, if you can receive it; and thus it was, "He gave His only-begotten Son."
Observe the magnitude of this gift, "His only-begotten Son." Can anything give you a more tender idea of God's love? Observe again the expression "He gave" - not because we had merited anything, for it was a free gift; not for our deservings, for it was all of grace. "By grace you are saved," says Paul to the Ephesians. "The gift of God is eternal life," says the same apostle to the Romans.
And for what purpose was His Son given? Beloved, He was given to atone for our guilt, by the sacrifice and death of Himself, as a lamb without spot and blemish; and by so doing He made a full, perfect, and sufficient oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. He was given to bear our iniquities and carry our transgressions upon the accursed tree, the Cross; for being innocent Himself He was for our sakes accounted guilty, that we for His sake might be accounted pure. Nor is this all: He was given to fulfill the demands of that law which we have broken; and He did fulfill them. He "was tempted in all points," says Paul, "like as we are, and yet without sin." The prince of this world had nothing in Him, and thus He brought in an everlasting righteousness, which like a pure white raiment is unto all and upon all those who believe. (2 Cor. 5:21).
It would be easy to dwell upon this delightful branch of our subject, beloved - but we must pass on.
4. The means whereby we enjoy this gift. How then are the benefits of this gift made our own? What are the means through which it is applied to our souls? What is the hand by which we lay hold on this remedy?
Here again our text supplies an answer It is FAITH. Whoever believes (not with the head, remember - but with the heart), and believing comes to Christ with a confession of his own unrighteousness, and receives Him as his only hope of salvation - is saved by FAITH.
Consider now the beautiful simplicity of this way of life. We do not see written on the gate - Whoever has prepared himself by long repentance - whoever has begun to lead a new life - whoever has done so many good works - whoever has attended church so many times - whoever has given so much in charity - these shall enter into heaven, and no others. No, dear friends, such announcements would frighten many a weary sinner, and these are fruits you will thankfully bring forth a hundredfold after you have entered.
But the only thing required of those who seek admission is faith, and he who approaches in simple childlike faith shall never be rejected. Hear how Paul speaks on this point (Rom. 10:5-10). And, lest anyone should suppose that God is a respecter of people, that there is one way for the rich and another for the poor, one for the learned, another for the unlearned, he adds these comfortable words: "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." But remember also - and I solemnly warn everyone of this - there is no other way to heaven - than the way of faith. God has not left each man to choose his own road to heaven - or his own path for coming unto Christ - but He has appointed one way and no more, and no man shall enter into life, except by this.
"If you believe not," says our Lord, "that I am He, you shall die in your sins!" And hence we may learn this most important lesson, that although God so loved the world, that He gave for it His only-begotten Son, still the benefits of that gift can never be obtained by those who will not believe.
5. And the promise attached to those who believe. It remains for us in the last place to consider the promises and consequences which our text holds forth to the faithful. We read that "whoever believes shall not perish - but have everlasting life." And is not this a promise the most acceptable to our nature that a gracious God could have devised? We know there is nothing the unconverted fear so much as death: people of the highest courage, who would shrink from no danger and encounter any difficulty, have been seen to tremble and turn pale at the approach of some pain or complaint which seems likely to bring their frail bodies to the grave. And why should this be so? - pain is not very bitter, and life with its cares and anxieties is not so very sweet as to account for it!
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Saving Faith # 1
Saving Faith # 1
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish - but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
In this verse, beloved, we have one of those "heavenly things," which our Lord had just spoken of to Nicodemus. Blessed indeed are the lips which spoke it, and blessed are the hearts which can receive it! In this verse we find a treasury of the most precious truth, a mine of inexhaustible matter, a well of ever-flowing waters; and when we consider the simple words in which our Lord has here brought together the whole body of divinity, we must willingly confess, with those who heard Him preach, "Never any man ever spoke like this man!"
Listen, I beg you, once more, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish - but have everlasting life." There is hardly an expression that a child could not easily explain, and yet there are doctrines here which the wisest upon earth must humbly receive, if they would enter into the kingdom of heaven and sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We learn in it, what philosophers of old could never clear up - the history of God's dealing with mankind, and the terms which He offers for their acceptance. Here is life, and here is death; here you have the deserts of man, and here you have the free grace of God; here you see what all may expect who follow their own course; and here also the way, the truth, and the life is directly pointed out.
And at this particular season of the year, when we are about so soon to commemorate the mysterious birth of Him who in mercy to our sins consented to take our nature on Him and be born of a virgin, even Christ Jesus, we cannot do better than examine the things which are herein contained. May the Eternal Spirit, through whom He offered Himself, the great Teacher whom He promised to send, be among us: may He arouse the careless; fix the inattentive; and make the subject profitable to all.
Now I conceive the chief things to be noticed in this verse are:
1. The state of the world, that is - of all mankind.
2. The love of God.
3. The gift of the Son.
4. The means whereby we enjoy this gift.
5. And the promise attached to those who believe.
1. First, then, let us inquire what the Word of God has taught us respecting the world and the world's character. Now, the testimony of Scripture upon this head is so clear and explicit, that he who runs may read, "The whole world," says John, "lies in wickedness." Our first father, Adam, was indeed created in the image of God, pure and sinless - but in one day he fell from his high estate by eating the forbidden fruit, he broke God's express command and became at once a sinful creature; and now all we his children have inherited from him - a wicked and a corrupt nature, a nature which clings to us from the moment of our birth, and which we show daily in our lives and conversation. In a word, we learn that from the hour of the fall our character has been established - that we are a sinful, a very sinful world.
Beloved, does this appear a hard saying? Do you think such a statement too strong? Away with the flattering thought! We see it proved in Scripture, for every book of the Old Testament history tells the melancholy story of man's disobedience and man's unbelief in things pertaining to God. We read there of fearful judgments, such as the flood and the destruction of Sodom - yet men disregarded them. We read of gracious mercies, such as the calling and protection of Israel - but men soon forgot them. We read of inspired teachers and revelations from heaven, such as the law of Moses - and men did not obey them. We read of special warnings, such as the voice of the prophets - and yet men did not believe them. Yes, beloved, we are a sinful world!
Think not to say within yourselves, "It may be so - but this happened in days of old; the world is better now." It will not avail you. We have read it in Scripture - but we see it also around us, and you will find at this time, even under your own eyes, convincing proof that the charge is literally true. Let any, for instance, examine the columns of a country newspaper, and he will see there within a month enough to make his ears tingle. I speak as unto wise men - you judge what I say. Will he not see accounts of nearly every sin which is abominable in the sight of God? Will he not read of anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, theft, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, emulations, variance, strife, seditions, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: "of the which," says the apostle (Gal. 5:21), "I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." And if such things take place in a land which is blessed with so much light and knowledge as our own, how much more should be find in countries where there is neither one nor the other!
Can you still doubt? I will go further. We see proof in ourselves. Let the best among you search his own heart; let him honestly cast up the number of evil thoughts and unholy ideas which pass through his imagination even in one single day - thoughts, I mean, which are known only to himself and the all-seeing God - and let him tell us whether it be not a most humiliating and soul- condemning calculation. Yes, dear friends, whether you will receive it or not - we are indeed a sinful world. It may be a humbling truth - but Scripture says it, and experience confirms it; and therefore we tell you that the world spoken of in our text is a world which lies in wickedness, a corrupt world, a world which our great Maker and Preserver might have left to deserved destruction, and in so doing would have acted with perfect justice; because He has given us laws and they have been broken, promises and they have been despised, warnings and they have not been believed.
2. The love of God. Such is the world of which we form a part, and such is its character. And now let us hear what the feeling is with which God has been pleased to regard His guilty creatures. We were all under condemnation, without hope, without excuse; and what could stay the execution of the sentence? It was the love of God! "God," says our text, "so loved the world." He might have poured on us the vials of His wrath, as He did on the angels who kept not their first estate - but no! He spared us, "God so loved the world!" Justice demanded our punishment, holiness required we should be swept off the earth - but "God loved the world!" Praised be His Name, we had nothing to do with man's judgment, which may not show mercy, when a crime is proved. We were in the hands of One whose ways are not as our ways, and whose thoughts are not as our thoughts - and hence, "God so loved the world." May we not well say with the Apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Rom. 11:33).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish - but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
In this verse, beloved, we have one of those "heavenly things," which our Lord had just spoken of to Nicodemus. Blessed indeed are the lips which spoke it, and blessed are the hearts which can receive it! In this verse we find a treasury of the most precious truth, a mine of inexhaustible matter, a well of ever-flowing waters; and when we consider the simple words in which our Lord has here brought together the whole body of divinity, we must willingly confess, with those who heard Him preach, "Never any man ever spoke like this man!"
Listen, I beg you, once more, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish - but have everlasting life." There is hardly an expression that a child could not easily explain, and yet there are doctrines here which the wisest upon earth must humbly receive, if they would enter into the kingdom of heaven and sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We learn in it, what philosophers of old could never clear up - the history of God's dealing with mankind, and the terms which He offers for their acceptance. Here is life, and here is death; here you have the deserts of man, and here you have the free grace of God; here you see what all may expect who follow their own course; and here also the way, the truth, and the life is directly pointed out.
And at this particular season of the year, when we are about so soon to commemorate the mysterious birth of Him who in mercy to our sins consented to take our nature on Him and be born of a virgin, even Christ Jesus, we cannot do better than examine the things which are herein contained. May the Eternal Spirit, through whom He offered Himself, the great Teacher whom He promised to send, be among us: may He arouse the careless; fix the inattentive; and make the subject profitable to all.
Now I conceive the chief things to be noticed in this verse are:
1. The state of the world, that is - of all mankind.
2. The love of God.
3. The gift of the Son.
4. The means whereby we enjoy this gift.
5. And the promise attached to those who believe.
1. First, then, let us inquire what the Word of God has taught us respecting the world and the world's character. Now, the testimony of Scripture upon this head is so clear and explicit, that he who runs may read, "The whole world," says John, "lies in wickedness." Our first father, Adam, was indeed created in the image of God, pure and sinless - but in one day he fell from his high estate by eating the forbidden fruit, he broke God's express command and became at once a sinful creature; and now all we his children have inherited from him - a wicked and a corrupt nature, a nature which clings to us from the moment of our birth, and which we show daily in our lives and conversation. In a word, we learn that from the hour of the fall our character has been established - that we are a sinful, a very sinful world.
Beloved, does this appear a hard saying? Do you think such a statement too strong? Away with the flattering thought! We see it proved in Scripture, for every book of the Old Testament history tells the melancholy story of man's disobedience and man's unbelief in things pertaining to God. We read there of fearful judgments, such as the flood and the destruction of Sodom - yet men disregarded them. We read of gracious mercies, such as the calling and protection of Israel - but men soon forgot them. We read of inspired teachers and revelations from heaven, such as the law of Moses - and men did not obey them. We read of special warnings, such as the voice of the prophets - and yet men did not believe them. Yes, beloved, we are a sinful world!
Think not to say within yourselves, "It may be so - but this happened in days of old; the world is better now." It will not avail you. We have read it in Scripture - but we see it also around us, and you will find at this time, even under your own eyes, convincing proof that the charge is literally true. Let any, for instance, examine the columns of a country newspaper, and he will see there within a month enough to make his ears tingle. I speak as unto wise men - you judge what I say. Will he not see accounts of nearly every sin which is abominable in the sight of God? Will he not read of anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, theft, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, emulations, variance, strife, seditions, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: "of the which," says the apostle (Gal. 5:21), "I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." And if such things take place in a land which is blessed with so much light and knowledge as our own, how much more should be find in countries where there is neither one nor the other!
Can you still doubt? I will go further. We see proof in ourselves. Let the best among you search his own heart; let him honestly cast up the number of evil thoughts and unholy ideas which pass through his imagination even in one single day - thoughts, I mean, which are known only to himself and the all-seeing God - and let him tell us whether it be not a most humiliating and soul- condemning calculation. Yes, dear friends, whether you will receive it or not - we are indeed a sinful world. It may be a humbling truth - but Scripture says it, and experience confirms it; and therefore we tell you that the world spoken of in our text is a world which lies in wickedness, a corrupt world, a world which our great Maker and Preserver might have left to deserved destruction, and in so doing would have acted with perfect justice; because He has given us laws and they have been broken, promises and they have been despised, warnings and they have not been believed.
2. The love of God. Such is the world of which we form a part, and such is its character. And now let us hear what the feeling is with which God has been pleased to regard His guilty creatures. We were all under condemnation, without hope, without excuse; and what could stay the execution of the sentence? It was the love of God! "God," says our text, "so loved the world." He might have poured on us the vials of His wrath, as He did on the angels who kept not their first estate - but no! He spared us, "God so loved the world!" Justice demanded our punishment, holiness required we should be swept off the earth - but "God loved the world!" Praised be His Name, we had nothing to do with man's judgment, which may not show mercy, when a crime is proved. We were in the hands of One whose ways are not as our ways, and whose thoughts are not as our thoughts - and hence, "God so loved the world." May we not well say with the Apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Rom. 11:33).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
Living In Preparation of Christ's Appearing # 4
Living in Preparation of Christ's Appearing # 4
But we must not let the mention of these details of Christian holiness, lead us to imagine that it consists of various independent duties or virtues. There is a unity in the Christian life. The apostle prays that "the spirit and soul and body may be preserved entire." It is all one great principle and life. Touch one part - and you injure the whole. Your life is not to be as a patched coat, partly old and partly new. It is not to be as a vine, with some branches living and some dead; or as a human body maimed by accident or weakened by disease. Nay, the whole must be one. The new garment, the fair clothing of conformity to the will of God, must not be marred by the remnants of any willful disobedience. Every part of the soul is to be instinct with the life of the Spirit. Every virtue and grace is to find its the manifestation in your daily walk.
And what is the principle and life? It is neither more nor less than this - Christ taking possession of the whole man - Christ exercising supreme dominion over the conscience, the will, the affections, the temper, the words and actions of every day. It is Christ living over again in your soul, His own life in the world. It is Christ!
speaking through your life,
thinking through your thoughts,
working through your hands,
going hither and thither in the world by your feet,
and thus through you, manifesting Himself to those around you.
Oh, what a high and noble life this is!! Would that Christian people were more perpetually living it out, and thus showing the mighty power of Christ to sanctify and save!!
And by what means may it be so? There is one point I have not yet named, but which answers this question. It is in proportion to a Christian's faith - he can thus live.
By faith you must be sanctified - as well as justified. By faith it is that Christ must ever dwell in your heart, and thus influence your whole life.
But you must be careful here. You must be sanctified by faith,but by faith in what? There are some who seem to think they must have faith in sanctified self. They mistake the meaning of Scripture, and speak of the possession of a sinless heart, or of having been able to live so long without sin. They put their attainments forth, as if they must believe that God has already cleansed their nature from all defilement - instead of regarding the final aim of God's dealings with them, that now self and the evil principle within should be daily mortified and kept under control - and then when Christ appears, they should be like Him, for they shall see Him as He is.
To myself, any view of the kind seems a most dangerous and deadly error! It must lead to spiritual pride! It must lead to self-glorifying! It must hinder that daily confession of sin and humiliation before God, which is so precious in His sight.
The more we see of God and His law and His holiness - the more shall we discover the treachery, the remaining deadness, coldness, unbelief, and worldliness of our own nature. The more shall we see how far we come below the standard of our Lord's life. The more shall we discern in our wandering thoughts when at prayer, in our unwillingness to bear the cross, in our many failures and shortcomings - that from first to last we can only hope to be saved as sinners washed in the blood of Christ, and having no righteousness or perfection of any kind except as we stand in Him, the holy and the sinless Redeemer.
Nevertheless, the great truth of sanctification by faith is not to be withheld because sometimes it is perverted and mistaken. You must never glory in self, but you must always glory in Christ, for power as well as for pardon and peace. You must continually, by the aid of the Spirit, stir up your faith in Christ and expect Him to do great things for you. You must look to Him, to keep the serpent in you chained and harmless. You must look to Him day by day, to keep you from the least willful outbreak of your own evil heart. You must look to Him to strengthen and raise up in you the new man, and to make every grace vigorous and active. You must look to Him for more light to know what the will of God is in everything - and then for the will and the power to act in accordance with it. If you wish to be holy, live upon Christ, lean upon Christ perpetually. Make Him the first to whom you go in the morning, and the last to whom you speak at night.
Remember His presence as being always near you.
Remember His love as being ever the same.
Remember Him as your Shepherd, your Advocate, your Guardian and your Guide.
Remember His faithful promises, and rest upon them.
Remember His loving care, and depend upon it.
Remembering Jesus, trusting in Jesus, glorying in Jesus, while ever remembering your own exceeding unworthiness and sinfulness - you will grow in grace and be preserved without blame until He comes.
The last point I would urge is this: Nothing is more helpful in holy living, than a vivid and constant recollection that Christ will soon return. It is not needful that you should be able clearly to see the sequence of events at His appearing. You may have many difficulties about the millennium and other theological concerns; but let one thought stand out clearly before you: Christ is returning in His glory, and I shall see Him and shall be like Him and with Him forever!!
Cherish this hope amidst life's troubles and temptations. Let your soul be animated by the inspiring conviction that amidst all the confusion and evil and error that abound, Christ will come and put an end to all the sin under which the world groans!
Be assured that to every true Christian, the brightness and gladness of that day will be altogether beyond his utmost thoughts. Be assured that on that day, you will see the numberless answers to your prayers as you have never seen them before here; and that all that has been dark and sorrowful and trying - will be manifested as among the all things that work together for your good.
"Oh quickly come, Great King of all,
Reign all around us and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthrall,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin:
Oh, quickly come, for grief and pain,
Can never cloud Your glorious reign!"
~John Angell James~
(The End)
But we must not let the mention of these details of Christian holiness, lead us to imagine that it consists of various independent duties or virtues. There is a unity in the Christian life. The apostle prays that "the spirit and soul and body may be preserved entire." It is all one great principle and life. Touch one part - and you injure the whole. Your life is not to be as a patched coat, partly old and partly new. It is not to be as a vine, with some branches living and some dead; or as a human body maimed by accident or weakened by disease. Nay, the whole must be one. The new garment, the fair clothing of conformity to the will of God, must not be marred by the remnants of any willful disobedience. Every part of the soul is to be instinct with the life of the Spirit. Every virtue and grace is to find its the manifestation in your daily walk.
And what is the principle and life? It is neither more nor less than this - Christ taking possession of the whole man - Christ exercising supreme dominion over the conscience, the will, the affections, the temper, the words and actions of every day. It is Christ living over again in your soul, His own life in the world. It is Christ!
speaking through your life,
thinking through your thoughts,
working through your hands,
going hither and thither in the world by your feet,
and thus through you, manifesting Himself to those around you.
Oh, what a high and noble life this is!! Would that Christian people were more perpetually living it out, and thus showing the mighty power of Christ to sanctify and save!!
And by what means may it be so? There is one point I have not yet named, but which answers this question. It is in proportion to a Christian's faith - he can thus live.
By faith you must be sanctified - as well as justified. By faith it is that Christ must ever dwell in your heart, and thus influence your whole life.
But you must be careful here. You must be sanctified by faith,but by faith in what? There are some who seem to think they must have faith in sanctified self. They mistake the meaning of Scripture, and speak of the possession of a sinless heart, or of having been able to live so long without sin. They put their attainments forth, as if they must believe that God has already cleansed their nature from all defilement - instead of regarding the final aim of God's dealings with them, that now self and the evil principle within should be daily mortified and kept under control - and then when Christ appears, they should be like Him, for they shall see Him as He is.
To myself, any view of the kind seems a most dangerous and deadly error! It must lead to spiritual pride! It must lead to self-glorifying! It must hinder that daily confession of sin and humiliation before God, which is so precious in His sight.
The more we see of God and His law and His holiness - the more shall we discover the treachery, the remaining deadness, coldness, unbelief, and worldliness of our own nature. The more shall we see how far we come below the standard of our Lord's life. The more shall we discern in our wandering thoughts when at prayer, in our unwillingness to bear the cross, in our many failures and shortcomings - that from first to last we can only hope to be saved as sinners washed in the blood of Christ, and having no righteousness or perfection of any kind except as we stand in Him, the holy and the sinless Redeemer.
Nevertheless, the great truth of sanctification by faith is not to be withheld because sometimes it is perverted and mistaken. You must never glory in self, but you must always glory in Christ, for power as well as for pardon and peace. You must continually, by the aid of the Spirit, stir up your faith in Christ and expect Him to do great things for you. You must look to Him, to keep the serpent in you chained and harmless. You must look to Him day by day, to keep you from the least willful outbreak of your own evil heart. You must look to Him to strengthen and raise up in you the new man, and to make every grace vigorous and active. You must look to Him for more light to know what the will of God is in everything - and then for the will and the power to act in accordance with it. If you wish to be holy, live upon Christ, lean upon Christ perpetually. Make Him the first to whom you go in the morning, and the last to whom you speak at night.
Remember His presence as being always near you.
Remember His love as being ever the same.
Remember Him as your Shepherd, your Advocate, your Guardian and your Guide.
Remember His faithful promises, and rest upon them.
Remember His loving care, and depend upon it.
Remembering Jesus, trusting in Jesus, glorying in Jesus, while ever remembering your own exceeding unworthiness and sinfulness - you will grow in grace and be preserved without blame until He comes.
The last point I would urge is this: Nothing is more helpful in holy living, than a vivid and constant recollection that Christ will soon return. It is not needful that you should be able clearly to see the sequence of events at His appearing. You may have many difficulties about the millennium and other theological concerns; but let one thought stand out clearly before you: Christ is returning in His glory, and I shall see Him and shall be like Him and with Him forever!!
Cherish this hope amidst life's troubles and temptations. Let your soul be animated by the inspiring conviction that amidst all the confusion and evil and error that abound, Christ will come and put an end to all the sin under which the world groans!
Be assured that to every true Christian, the brightness and gladness of that day will be altogether beyond his utmost thoughts. Be assured that on that day, you will see the numberless answers to your prayers as you have never seen them before here; and that all that has been dark and sorrowful and trying - will be manifested as among the all things that work together for your good.
"Oh quickly come, Great King of all,
Reign all around us and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthrall,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin:
Oh, quickly come, for grief and pain,
Can never cloud Your glorious reign!"
~John Angell James~
(The End)
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