The Faithfulness Of God # 3

 The Faithfulness Of God # 3

Nor must this confession be merely of our mouths, but of our hearts, also. When God smites us with the rod of chastisement, it is faithfulness which wields it. To acknowledge this means that we humble ourselves before Him, own that we fully deserve His correction, and instead of murmuring, thank Him for it. God never afflicts His redeemed people without a reason. "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you" (1 Cor. 11:30), says Paul, illustrating this principle. When His rod falls upon us let us say with Daniel, "O Lord, righteousness belongs unto You, but unto us confusion of faces." (9:7).

"I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that You in faithfulness have afflicted me." (Psalm 119:75). Trouble and affliction are not only consistent with God's pledged in the everlasting covenant, but they are parts of the administration of the same. God is not only faithful notwithstanding afflictions, but faithful in sending them. "Then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My loving-kindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail." (Psalm 89:32-33). Chastening is not only reconcilable with God's loving-kindness, but it is the effect and expression of it. It would much quiet the minds of God's people if they would remember that His covenant love binds Him to lay on them seasonable correction. Afflictions are necessary for us: "In their affliction, they will seek Me early." (Hosea 5:15).

God is faithful in glorifying His people. "Faithful is He who calls you, Who also will do it." (1 Thess. 5:24). The immediate reference here is to the saints being "preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." God deals with us not on the ground of our merits (for we have none), but for His own great name's sake. God is constant to Himself and to His own purpose of grace; "whom He called...them He also glorified." (Romans 8:30).

God gives a full demonstration of the constancy of His everlasting goodness toward His elect by effectually calling them out of darkness into His marvelous light - and this should fully assure them of the certain continuance of it. "The foundation of God stands sure." (2 Timothy 2:19). Paul was resting on the faithfulness o God when he said, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12).

The apprehension of this blessed truth will preserve us from worry. To be full of care, to view our situation with dark forebodings, to anticipate the morrow with sad anxiety - is to reflect poorly upon the faithfulness of God. He who has cared for His redeemed child through all the years, will not forsake him in old age. He who has heard your prayers in the past, will not refuse to supply your need in the present emergency. Rest on Job 5:19, "He shall deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven thee shall no evil touch you."

The apprehension of this blessed truth will check your murmurings. The Lord knows what is best for each one of us, and one effect of resting on this truth will be the silencing of our petulant complainings. God is greatly honored when, under trial and chastening - we have good thoughts of Him, vindicate His wisdom and justice, and recognize His love in His very rebukes.

The apprehension of this blessed truth will beget increasing confidence in God. "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." (1 Peter 4:19). When we trustfully resign ourselves, and all our affairs into God's hands, fully persuaded of His love and faithfulness, the sooner shall we be satisfied with His providences and realize that "He does all things well!"

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

The Faithfulness Of God # 2

 The Faithfulness Of God # 2

There are seasons in the lives of all when it is not easy, no not even for Christians, to believe that God is faithful. Our faith is sorely tried, our eyes are bedimmed with tears, and we can no longer trace the outworkings of His love. Our ears are distracted with the noises of the world, harassed by the atheistic whisperings of satan, and we can no longer hear the sweet accents of His still small voice.

Cherished plans have been thwarted, friends on whom we relied have failed us, a professed brother or sister in Christ has betrayed us. We are staggered. We sought to be faithful to God, and now a dark cloud hides Him from us. We find it difficult, yes, impossible, for carnal reason to harmonize His frowning providence with His gracious promises.

Ah, faltering soul, severely tried fellow pilgrim, seek grace to heed Isaiah 50:10, "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the Word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light - trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God."

When you are tempted to doubt the faithfulness of God, cry out, "Get hence satan." Though you cannot now harmonize God's mysterious dealings with the avowals of His love, wait on Him for more light. In His own good time, He will make it plain to you. "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (John 13:7). The sequel will yet demonstrate that God has neither forsaken nor deceived His child. "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!" (Isaiah 30:18).

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace,

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

You fearful saints, fresh courage take,

The clouds you so much dread,

Are rich with mercy, and shall break

In blessing o'er your head!"

"The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy." (Psalm 119:138). God has not only told us the best, but also He has told us the worst. He has faithfully described the ruin which the Fall has effected. He has faithfully diagnosed the terrible state which sin has produced. He has faithfully made known His inverterate hatred of evil, and that He must punish the same. He has faithfully warned us that He is "a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Not only does His Word abound in illustrations of His fidelity in fulfilling His promises, but it also records numerous examples of His faithfulness in making good His threatenings.

Every stage of Israel's history exemplifies that solemn fact. So it was with individuals: Pharaoh, Korah, Achan and a multitude of others are so many proofs. And thus it will be with you, my reader - unless you have fled or do flee to Christ for refuge, the everlasting burning of the Lake of Fire will be your sure and certain portion! God who threatens, is faithful!

God is faithful in preserving His people. "God is faithful, by Whom you were called unto the fellowship to His Son." (1 Corinthians 1:9). In the previous verse, promise was made that God would confirm His own people unto the end. The Apostle's confidence in the absolute security of believers was founded not on the strength of their resolutions or ability to persevere, but on the veracity of Him who cannot lie. Since God has promised to His Son a certain people for His inheritance, to deliver them from sin and condemnation, and to make them participants of eternal life in glory - it is certain that He will not allow any of them to perish.

God is faithful in disciplining His people. He is faithful in what He withholds - no less than in what He gives. He is faithful in sending sorrow as well - as in giving joy. The faithfulness of God is a truth to be confessed by us not only when we are at ease - but also when we are smarting under the sharpest rebuke.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 3)

Is America's Conscience Vanishing? # 2

 Is America's Conscience Vanishing? # 2

Multitudes today respond to their conscience by attempting to suppress it, overrule it, or silence it. They conclude that the real blame for their wrong behavior lies in some childhood trauma, the way their parents raised them, societal pressures, or other causes beyond their control.

Sometimes people convince themselves that their sin is a clinical problem, not a moral one - and therefore define their drunkenness, sexual perversion, immorality, or other vices as "diseases" or "conditions." To respond to the conscience with such self-excusing arguments is tantamount to telling the conscience "Shut up, Gringo!"

It is possible virtually to nullify the conscience through repeated abuse. Paul spoke of people whose consciences were so convoluted that their "glory is in their shame" (Phil. 3:19). Both the mind and the conscience can become so defiled that they cease making distinctions between what is pure and what is impure. (Titus 1:15).

After so much violation, the conscience finally falls silent. Morally, those with defiled consciences are left flying blind. The annoying warning signals may be gone, but the danger certainly is not; in fact, the danger is greater than ever.

Furthermore, even the most defiled conscience will not remain silent forever. When standing at the Judgment, every person's conscience will side with God, the righteous Judge. The worst sin-hardened evildoer will discover before the throne of God that he has a conscience that testifies against him.

The conscience, however, is not infallible. Nor is it a source of revelation about right and wrong. Its role is not to teach you moral and ethical ideals, but to hold you accountable to the highest standards of right and wrong you know.

Both tradition and truth inform the conscience, so the standards it holds you to are not necessarily biblical ones (1 Cor. 8:6-9). The conscience can be needlessly condemning in areas where there is no biblical issue, like many of today's responses to social justice and corporate guilt. In fact, it can try to hold you to the very thing the Lord is trying to release you from (Romans 14:14, 20-23).

The conscience, to operate fully and in accord with true holiness, must be informed by the Word of God. So even when guilt feelings don't have a biblical basis, they are an important spiritual distress sign. If your conscience is misfiring -sending out signals from a weak conscience - that should spur you to seek the spiritual growth that would bring your conscience more in harmony with God's Word.

The conscience functions like a skylight, not a light bulb. It lets light into the soul; it does not produce its own. Its effectiveness is determined by the amount of pure light you expose it to, and by how clean you keep it. That's why the apostle Paul spoke of the importance of a clear conscience and warned against anything that would defile or muddy the conscience (1 Cor. 8:7; Titus 1:15).

The conscience is an inextricable part of the human soul. Though it may be hardened, cauterized, or numbed into apparent dormancy, the conscience continues to store up evidence that will one day be used as a testimony to condemn the guilty soul. But for the Christian, the conscience is a tremendous asset of spiritual growth.

Take time each day to inform your conscience by reading God's Word. Never train yourself to ignore your conscience, but respond quickly to its warnings. And then cleanse your conscience through consistent confession as you seek forgiveness from those you've sinned against - whether God or others. Those things will strengthen your conscience so that you can enjoy the freedom and blessings of a clear conscience to the world.

~John MacArthur~

(The End)

The Faithfulness Of God # 1

 The Faithfulness Of God # 1

Unfaithfulness is one of the most outstanding sins of these evil days. In the business world, a man's word is, with exceedingly rare exceptions, no longer his bond. In the social world, marital infidelity abounds on every hand, the sacred bonds of wedlock being broken with as little regard as the discarding of an old garment. In the ecclesiastical realm thousands who have solemnly covenanted to preach the truth make no scruple to attack and deny it.

Nor can reader or writer claim complete immunity from this fearful sin. In how many ways have we been unfaithful to Christ, and to the light and privileges which God has entrusted to us! How refreshing, then, how unspeakably blessed, to lift our eyes above this sense of ruin, and behold One who is faithful - faithful in all things, faithful at all times.

"Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God" (Deut. 7:9). This quality is essential to His being; without it He would not be God. For God to be unfaithful would be to act contrary to His nature, which is impossible; "If we believe not, yet He abides faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). Faithfulness is one of the glorious perfections of His being. He is as it were clothed with it: "O Lord God Almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as You, Lord? Faithfulness is Your very character" (Psalm 89;8). So too when God became incarnate it was said, "Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist" (Isaiah 11:5).

What a word is that in Psalm 36:5, "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Your faithfulness reaches into the clouds." Far above all finite comprehension, is the unchanging faithfulness of God. Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word.

To every declaration of promise or prophecy the Lord has exactly adhered; every engagement of covenant or threatening He will make good, for "God is not man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak, and then not act? Does He promise, and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19). Therefore does the believer exclaim, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lam. 3:22-23).

Scripture abounds in illustrations of God's faithfulness. More than four thousand years ago He said, "While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22). Every year that comes furnishes a fresh witness to God's fulfillment of this promise. In Genesis 15 we find that Jehovah declared unto Abraham, "Your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them ... But in the fourth generation they shall come here again" (verses 13-16). Centuries ran their weary course. Abraham's descendants groaned amid the brick kilns of Egypt. Had God forgotten His promise? No, indeed. Read Exodus 12:41, "At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord's divisions left Egypt."

Through Isaiah the Lord declared, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Again centuries passed, but "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman." (Gal. 4:4).

God is true. His Word of promise is sure. In all His relations with His people, God is faithful. He may be safely relied upon. No one ever yet really trusted Him in vain. We find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the Scriptures, for His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the divine character. This is the basis of our confidence in Him. But it is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a divine truth, it is quite another to act upon it. God has given us many "exceeding great and precious promises," but are we really counting on His fulfillment of them? Are we actually expecting Him to do for us all that He has said? Are we resting with implicit assurance on these words, "He is faithful who promised" (Hebrews 10:23)?

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)

Is America's Conscience Vanishing?

 Is America's Conscience Vanishing?

How can we begin to explain the terrible, outrageous, unrelenting violence we have witnessed over the past months? It seems the more shocking and horrific this behavior becomes, the more passive and indifferent the "social justice" response. At best, the social justice solution seems to want more "dialogue" without any real answers, and doesn't ascribe feelings of guilt to genuine causes, just seeks to either assuage or indulge the feelings.

This kind of response misses the most fundamental question: What kind of person is actually capable of this level of indeterminate, ongoing death and destruction? Where is the conscience of those so disinterested in truth and order that their impulses toward violence are so entirely unrestrained? What is missing in this generation that seems to have been built-in and sufficiently present in prior generations?

Our society has intentionally, systematically deconstructed and removed all restraints to violence and destruction. And not just of cities and statues, but of ourselves. Where is our conscience? Losing our conscience was not a side-effect of the present chaos. We have intentionally repressed and denied our conscience, because we only want to have good feelings. Drugs, therapy, entertainment - they've all been used to silence our guilty conscience.

But the conscience is the key to true freedom.

In 1984 an Avianca Airlines jet crashed in Spain. Investigators studying the accident made an eerie discovery. The "black box" cockpit recorders revealed that several minutes before impact, a shrill, computer-synthesized voice from the plane's automatic warning  system told the crew repeatedly in English, "Pull up! Pull up!"

The pilot, evidently thinking the system was malfunctioning, snapped, "Shut up, Gringo!" and switched the system off. Minutes later the plane plowed into the side of a mountain. Everyone on board died.

When I saw that tragic story on the news shortly after it happened, it struck me as a perfect parable of the way modern people treat guilt - the warning messages of their conscience.

The wisdom of our age says guilt feelings are nearly always erroneous or hurtful; therefore we should switch them off. But is that good advice? What, after all, is the conscience - this sense of guilt we all seem to feel?

The conscience is generally seen by the modern world as a defect that robs people of their self-esteem. Far from being a defect or a disorder, however, your ability to sense your own guilt is a tremendous gift from God. He designed the conscience into the very framework of the human soul. It is the automatic warning system that cries, "Pull up! Pull up!" before you crash and burn!

The conscience, Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote in the seventeenth century, is the soul reflecting upon itself. Conscience is at the heart of what distinguishes the human creature. People, unlike animals, can contemplate their own actions and make moral self-evaluations. That is the very function of conscience.

The conscience has an innate ability to sense right and wrong. Everyone even the most unspiritual heathen, has a conscience.

The conscience entreats you to do what you believe is right and restrains you from doing what you believe is wrong. But don't equate the conscience with the voice of God or the law of God. It is a human faculty that judges your actions and thoughts by the light of the highest standard you perceive. When you violate your conscience, it condemns you, triggering feelings of shame, anguish, regret, consternation, anxiety, disgrace, and even fear.

Conversely, when you follow your conscience, it commends you, bringing joy, serenity, self-respect, well-being, and gladness.

The word conscience is a combination of the Latin words scire ("to know") and con ("together"). The Greek word for "conscience" is found more than thirty times in the New Testament - suneidesis, which also literally means "co-knowledge."

Conscience is knowledge together with oneself. That is to say, your conscience knows your inner motives and true thoughts. It is above reason and beyond intellect. You can rationalize, trying to justify yourself in your own mind, but a violated conscience will not be easily convinced.

The Hebrew word for conscience is "leb," usually translated "heart" in the Old Testament. The conscience is so much at the core of the human soul that the Hebrew mind did not draw a distinction between conscience and the rest of the inner person.

When Scripture speaks of a tender heart (2 Chron. 34:27), it refers to a sensitive conscience. The "upright in heart" (Psalm 7:10) are those with pure consciences. And when David prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God" (Psalm 51:10), he was seeking to have his life and his conscience cleansed.

~John MacArthur~

(continued with # 2)

The Contemplation Of God # 3 (and others)

 The Contemplation Of God # 3 (and others)

"At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward Heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of Heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him - "What have You done?" (Daniel 4:34-35).

A creature, considered as such, has no rights. He can demand nothing from his Maker; and in whatever manner he may be treated, has no right to complain. Yet, when thinking of the absolute dominion of God over all, we ought never to lose sight of His moral perfections. God is just and good, and ever does that which is right. Nevertheless, He exercises His sovereignty according to His own imperial and righteous pleasure. He assigns each creature his place as seems good in His own sight. He orders the varied circumstances of each according to His own counsels. He molds each vessel according to His own uninfluenced determination. He has mercy on whom He will, and He hardens whom He will. Wherever we are, His eye is upon us. Whoever we are, our life and everything is held at His disposal. To the Christian, He is a tender Father; to the rebellious sinner He will yet be a consuming fire. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17).

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

____________________

Are You As A Bruised Flower?

It is in times of soul abasement that the love, the tenderness, and the grace of the Holy Spirit are better known.

As a Comforter, as a Revealer of Jesus, we are, perhaps, more fully led into an acquaintance with the work of the Spirit in seasons of soul abasement than at any other time. The mode and time of His divine manifestation are thus beautifully predicted. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass - as showers that water the earth." (Psalm 72:6).

Observe the gentleness, the silence, and the sovereignty of His operation. "He shall come down as rain." How characteristic of the blessed Spirit's grace!

Then mark the occasion on which He descends. It is at the time of the soul's deep prostration the waving grace is mowed, the lovely flower is laid low, the fruitful stem is broken, that which was beautiful, fragrant, and precious is cut down ... the fairest first to fade, the loveliest first to die, the fondest first to depart.

Then, when the blessing is gone, and the spirit is bowed, when the heart is broken, the mind is dejected, and the world seems clad in wintry desolation and gloom, the Holy Spirit, in all the softening, reviving, comforting, and refreshing influence of His grace, descends, speaks of the beauty of Jesus, leads to the grace of Jesus, lifts the bowed soul, and reposes it on the bosom of Jesus!

Precious and priceless, then, beloved, are the seasons of a believer's humiliation. They tell of the soul's emptiness, of Christ's fullness; of the creatures insufficiency, of Christ's sufficiency; of the world's poverty; of Christ's affluence.

They create a necessity which Jesus supplies, a void which Jesus fills, a sorrow which Jesus soothes, a desire which Jesus satisfies.

They endure the cross of the incarnate God, they reveal the hidden glory of Christ's humiliation, they sweeten prayer, they lift the soul to God.

Are you as a bruised flower? Are you as a broken stem? Does some heavy trial now bow you in the dust? Oh, never, perhaps, were you so truly beautiful; never did your grace send forth such fragrance, or your prayers ascend with so sweet an odor, never did faith and hope and love develop their hidden glories so richly, so fully as now!

In the eyes of a wounded, a bruised, and a humbled Christ, you were never more lovely, and never more precious to His heart than now... pierced by His hand, smitten by His rod, humbled by His chastisement, laid low at His feet, condemning yourself, justifying Him, taking to yourself all the shame, and ascribing to Him all the glory!

~Octavius Winslow~

(The End)

The Contemplation Of God # 2

 The Contemplation Of God # 2

"The saints in Heaven will see God with the eye of the mind, for He will be always invisible to the bodily eye. They will see Him more clearly than they could see Him by reason and faith, and more extensively than all His works and dispensations had hitherto revealed Him. But their minds will not be so enlarged as to be capable of contemplating at once, or in detail, the whole excellence of His nature. To comprehend infinite perfection, they must become infinite themselves. Even in Heaven, their knowledge will be partial, but at the same time their happiness will be complete; because their knowledge will be perfect in this sense, that it will be adequate to the capacity of the subject, although it will not exhaust the fullness of the object. We believe that it will be progressive, and that as their views expand, their blessedness will increase. But it will never reach a limit beyond which there is nothing to be discovered, and when ages after ages have passed away, He will still be the incomprehensible God." (John Dick).

Secondly, from a review of the perfections of God, it appears that He is an all-sufficient Being. He is all-sufficient in Himself and to Himself. As the First of beings, He could receive nothing from another, nor be limited by the power of another. Being infinite, He is possessed of all possible perfection. When the Triune God existed all alone, He was all to Himself. His understanding, His love, His energies - found an adequate object in Himself. Had He stood in need of anything external He would not have been independent, and therefore He would not have been God.

He created all things, and that for Himself (Colossians 1:16) - yet it was not in order to supply a lack - but that He might communicate life and happiness to angels and men, and admit them to the vision of His glory. True, He demands the allegiance and services of His intelligent creatures - yet He derives no benefit from their offices; all the advantage rebounds to themselves (Job 22:2-3). He makes use of means and instruments to accomplish His ends - yet not from a deficiency of power, but oftentimes to more strikingly display His power through the feebleness of the instruments.

The all-sufficiency of God makes Him to be the Supreme Object which is ever to be sought unto. True happiness consists only in the enjoyment of God, His favor is life, and His loving-kindness is better than life. "The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him." (Lamentations 3:24). His love, His grace, and His glory are the chief objects of the saints desire and the springs of their highest sanctification.

"Many are asking: Who can show us any good? Let the light of Your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound." (Psalm 4:6-7).

Yes, the Christian, when in his right mind, is able to say: "Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle bars are empty - yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Thirdly, from a review of the perfections of God, it appears that He is the Supreme Sovereign of the universe. It has been rightly said: "No dominion is so absolute as that which is founded on creation. He who might not have made anything, had a right to make all things according to His own pleasure. In the exercise of His uncontrolled power, He has made some parts of the creation mere inanimate matter, of grosser or more refined texture, and distinguished by different qualities, but all inert and unconscious. He has given orgination to other parts, and made them susceptible of growth and expansion, but still without life in the proper sense of the term. To others He has given not only organization, but conscious existence, organs of sense and self-motive power. To these He has added in man the gift of reason, and an immortal spirit, by which he is allied to a higher order of beings who are placed in the superior regions. Over the world which He has created, He sways the scepter of omnipotence. (John Dick).

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 3)

The Contemplation Of God # 1

 The Contemplation Of God # 1

In the previous studies we have had in revew some of the wondrous and lovely perfections of the divine character. From this most feeble and faulty contemplation of His attributes, it should be evident to us all that God is:

First, and incomprehensible Being, and, lost in wonder at His infinite greatness, we are constrained to adopt the words of Zophar, "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens - what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave - what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea" (Job 11:7-9). When we turn our thoughts of God's eternity, His immateriality, His omnipresence, His almightiness than our minds are overwhelmed.

But the incomprehensibility of the divine nature is not a reason why we should desist from reverent inquiry and prayerful strivings to apprehend what He has so graciously revealed of Himself in His Word. Because we are unable to acquire perfect knowledge, it would be folly to say we will therefore make no efforts to attain to any degree of it. It has been well said: "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the great subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity" (Charles Spurgeon).

Let us quote a little further from the prince of preachers; "The proper study of the Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God - is the name, the nature, the person, the doings, and the existence of the great God which he calls His Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity. It is a subject so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can comprehend and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-contentment, and go on our way with the thought, "Behold I am wise." But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought - "I am but of yesterday and know nothing." (Sermon on Malachi 3:6).

Yes, the incomprehensibility of the divine nature should teach us humility, caution, and reverence. After all our searchings and meditations we have to say with Job, "Lo, these are parts of His ways; but how little a portion is heard of Him?" (Job 26:14). When Moses besought Jehovah for a sight of His glory, He answered him, "I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you" (Exodus 33:19). As another has said; "The name is the collection of His attributes." Rightly did the Puritan John Howe declare: "The notion therefore we can hence form of His glory, is only such as we may have a large volume by a brief synopsis; or of a spacious country by a little landscape. He has here given us a true report of Himself, but not a full account; such as will secure our apprehensions - being guided thereby from error, but not from ignorance. We can apply our minds to contemplate the several perfections whereby the blessed God discovers to us His being, and can in our thoughts attribute them all to Him, though we have still but low and defective conceptions of each one. Yet so far as our apprehensions can correspond to the discovery that He affords us of His several excellencies, we have a present view of His glory.

The difference is indeed great between the knowledge of God which His saints have in this life - and that which they shall have in Heaven. Yet, as the former should not be undervalued because it is imperfect, so the latter is not to be magnified about its reality. True, the Scriptures declare that we shall see "face to face" and "know" even as we are known (1 Corinthians 13:12). But to infer from this that we shall then know God as fully as He knows us, is to be misled by the mere sound of words, and to disregard the restriction of that knowledge that our finiteness necessarily requires. There is a vast difference between the saints being glorified - and their being made divine. In their glorified state, Christians will still be finite creatures, and therefore, never able to fully comprehend the infinite God.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)

The Scriptures And The Promises # 4

 The Scriptures And The Promises # 4

Thus it was with Abraham: "Who against hope believed in hope...and being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not...through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:18-20).

Thus it was with Moses: "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward" (Hebrews 11:26).

Thus it was with Paul: "I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told to me" (Acts 27:25).

Is it so with you, dear reader? Are the promises of Him who cannot lie, the resting place of your poor heart?

6. We profit from the Word when we patiently await the fulfillment of God's promises. God promised Abraham a son, but he waited many years for the performance of it. Simeon had a promise that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ (Luke 2:26), yet it was not made good until he had one foot in the grave.

There is often a long and hard winter between the sowing-time of prayer and the reaping of the answer. The Lord Jesus Himself has not yet received a full answer to the prayer He made in John chapter 17, nineteen hundred years ago. Many of God's promises to His people will not receive their richest accomplishment until they are in glory. He who has all eternity at His disposal needs not to hurry. God often makes us tarry so that patience may have "her perfect work," yet let us not distrust Him. "For the revelation awaits an appointed time, it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:3).

Various ends are accomplished by God in delaying His execution of the promises. Not only is faith put to the proof, so that its genuineness may the more clearly appear. Not only is patience developed, and hope given opportunity for exercise; but submission to the Divine will is fostered.

7. We profit from the Word when we make a right use of the promises. First, in our dealings with God Himself. When we approach unto His throne, it should be to plead one of His promises. Observe how Jacob pleaded the promise in Genesis 32:12; Moses in Exodus 32:13; David in Psalm 119:58; Solomon in 1 Kings 8:25; and you also, my Christian reader, do like wise.

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1). That is the effect they should produce in us, and will if faith really lays hold of them. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great an dprecious promises - that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4).

Now the gospel and the precious promises, being graciously bestowed and powerfully applied - have an influence on purity of heart and behavior, and teach men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Such are the powerful effects of gospel promises under the Divine influence as to make men inwardly partakers of the Divine nature and outwardly to abstain from and avoid the prevailing corruptions and vices of the times.

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

The Scriptures And The Promises # 3

 The Scriptures And The Promises # 3

4. We profit from the Word when we make a proper discrimination between the promises of God. Many of the Lord's people are frequently guilty of spiritual theft, by which we mean that they appropriate to themselves something to which they are not entitled, but which belongs to another. "Certain covenant engagements, made with the Lord Jesus Christ, as to His elect and redeemed ones, are altogether without condition so far as we are concerned; but many other wealthy words of the Lord contain stipulations which must be carefully regarded - or we shall not obtain the blessing. One part of my reader's diligent search must be directed toward this most important point. God will keep His promise to you; only see to it that the way in which He conditions His engagement is carefully observed by you. Only when we fulfill the requirements of a conditional promise, can we expect that promise to be fulfilled to us.

Many of the Divine promises are addressed to particular characters - or, more correctly speaking to particular graces. For example, in Psalm 25:9 the Lord declares that "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way." But if I am out of communion with Him, if I am following a course of self-will, if my heart is haughty - then I am not justified in taking to myself the comfort of this verse.

Again, in John 15:7, the Lord tells us, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you - then you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." But if I am not in experimental communion with Him, if His commands are not regulating my conduct - then my prayers will remain unanswered.

While God's promises proceed from pure grace, yet it ever needs to be remembered that grace reigns "through righteousness" (Romans 5:21) and never sets aside human responsibility. If I ignore the laws of health, I must not be surprised that sickness prevents me enjoying many of God's temporal mercies. In the same way, if I neglect His precepts I have only myself to blame if I fail to receive the fulfillment of many of His promises.

Let none suppose that by His promises God has obligated Himself to ignore the requirements of His holiness - He never exercises any one of His perfections at the expense of another. And let none imagine that God would be magnifying the sacrificial work of Christ, were He to bestow its fruits upon impenitent and careless souls. There is a balance of truth to be preserved here. Alas, that it is now so frequently lost, and that under the pretense of exalting Divine grace, men are really turning it into a license to sin.

How often one hears quoted, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you" (Psalm 50:15). But that verse begins with "And," and the preceding clause is "Pay your vows unto the most High!"

Again, how frequently is "I will guide you with my eye" (Psalm 32:8) seized by people who pay no attention to the context! But that is God's promise to one who has confessed his "transgression unto the Lord (verse 5).

If, then, I have unconfessed sin on my conscience, and have leaned on ar arm of flesh or sought help from my fellows, instead of waiting only on God (Psalm 62:5) - then I have no right to count upon the Lord's guiding me with His eye - which necessarily presupposed that I am walking in close communion with Him, for I cannot see the eye of another while at a distance from him.

5. We profit from the Word when we are enabled to make God's promises our support and stay. This is one reason why God has given them to us; not only to manifest His love by making known His benevolent designs - but also to comfort our hearts and develop our faith. Had God so pleased He could have bestowed His blessings without giving us notice of His purpose. The Lord might have given us all the mercies we need without pledging Himself to do so. But in that case we could not have been believers; faith without a promise would be a foot without ground to stand upon. Our tender Father planned that we should enjoy His gifts twice over: first by faith, and then by fruition. By this means He wisely weans our hearts away from things seen and perishing, and draws them onward and upward to those things which are spiritual and eternal.

If there were no promises there would not only be no faith, but no hope either. For what is hope but the expectation of the things which God has declared He will give us? Faith looks to the Word promising - and hope looks to the performance thereof.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 4)

The Scriptures And The Promises # 2

 The Scriptures And The Promises # 2

How terrible, then, is the blindness and how great is the sin of those preachers who indiscriminately apply the Divine promises to the saved and unsaved alike! They are not only taking "the children's bread" and casting it to the "dogs" - but they are "handling the Word of God deceitfully." (2 Corinthians 4:2), and beguiling immortal souls!

And those who listen to and heed them are little less guilty, for god holds all responsible to search the Scriptures for themselves, and test whatever they read or hear by the unerring standard. If they are too lazy to do so, and prefer blindly to follow their blind guides - then their blood is on their own heads. Truth has to be "bought (Proverbs 23:23), and those who are unwilling to pay the price must go without it.

2. We profit from the Word when we labor to make the promises of God our own. To do this we must first take the trouble to become really acquainted with them. It is surprising how many promises there are in Scripture which the saints know nothing about - the more so seeing that they are the peculiar treasure of believers, the substance of faith's heritage lying in them. True, Christians are already the recipients of wondrous blessings - yet the capital of their heavenly wealth and the bulk of their glorious estate, is only prospective. They have already received a "pledge," but the better part of what Christ has purchased for them lies yet in the promise of God. How diligent, then, should they be in studying His testamentary will, familiarizing themselves with the good things which the Spirit "has revealed" (1 Corinthians 2:10), and seeking to take an inventory of their spiritual treasures!

Not only must I search the Scriptures to find out what has been made over to me by the everlasting covenant, but I need also to meditate upon the promises, to turn them over and over in my mind, and cry unto the Lord for spiritual understanding of them. The bee would not extract honey from the flowers as long as he only gazed upon them. Nor will the Christian derive any real comfort and strength from the Divine promises until his faith lays hold of and penetrates to the heart of them. God has given no assurance that the slothful shall be fed, but He has declared, "the soul of the diligent shall be made fat" (Proverbs 13:4). Therefore did Christ say, "Labor not for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures unto everlasting life." (John 6:27). It is only as the promises are stored up in our minds, that the Spirit brings them to remembrance at those seasons of fainting when we most need them.

3. We profit from the Word when we recognize the blessed scope of God's promises. "A sort of affectation prevents some Christians from seeking religion, as if its sphere lay among the commonplaces of  daily life. It is to them transcendental and dreamy; rather a creation of pious fiction than a matter of fact. They believe in God, after a fashion, for things spiritual, and for the life which is to be; but they totally forget that true godliness has the promise of the life which now is, as well as that which is to come. To them it would seem almost profanation to pray about the small matters of which daily life is made up. Perhaps they will be startled if I venture to suggest that this should make them question the realoity of their faith. If it  cannot bring them help in the little troubles of life, will it support them in the greater trials of death?" (Spurgeon).

"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promises of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). Reader, do you really believe this, that the promises of God cover every aspect and particular of your daily life? Or have the dispensationalists deluded you into supposing that the Old Testament belongs only to fleshly Jews, and that "our promises" respect spiritual and not material blessings? How many a Christian has derived comfort from "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5); well, that is a quotation from Joshua 1:5! So, too, 2 Corinthians 7:1 speaks of "having these promises," yet one of them, referred to in 2 Corinthians 6:18 is taken from the book of Leviticus!

Perhaps someone asks, "But where am I to draw the line? Which of the Old Testament promises rightfully belong to me?" We answer that Psalm 84:11 declares, "The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will be withheld from those who walk uprightly." If you are really walking uprightly you are entitled to appropriate that blessed promise and count upon the Lord giving you whatever "good thing" is truly required by you. "My God shall supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" (Phil. 4:19). If then there is a promise anywhere in His Word which just fits your present case and situation - then make it your own as suited to your need. Steadfastly resist every attempt of satan to rob you of any portion of your Father's Word.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 3)

The Scriptures And The Promises # 1

 The Scriptures And The Promises # 1

The Divine promises make known the good pleasure of God's will to His people to bestow upon them the riches of His grace. They are the outward testimonies of His heart, who from all eternity loves them and fore-appointed all things for them and concerning them. In the person and work of His Son, God has made an all-sufficient provision for their complete salvation, both for time and for eternity. To the intent that they might have a true, clear and spiritual knowledge of the same, it has pleased the Lord to set it before them in the exceeding great and precious promises which are scattered up and down in the Scriptures as so many stars in the glorious firmament of grace. By these precious promises, they may be assured of the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning them, and take sanctuary in Him accordingly, and through this medium have real communion with Him in His grace and mercy at all times, no matter what their case or circumstances may be.

The Divine promises are so many declarations to bestow some good, or remove some ill. As such they are a most blessed making known and manifesting of God's love to His people. There are three steps in connection with God's love:

first, His inward purpose to exercise it; the last, the real execution of that purpose; but in between there is the gracious making known of that purpose to the beneficiaries not only show His love fully to them in due time, but in the interim He will have us informed of His benevolent designs, that we may sweetly rest in His love, and stretch ourselves comfortably upon His sure promises. Thee we are able to say, "How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them" (Psalm 139:17).

In 2 Peter 1:4 the Divine promises are spoken of as "exceedingly great and precious." As Spurgeon pointed out, "greatness and preciousness seldom go together, but in this instance they are united in an exceeding degree." When Jehovah is pleased to open His mouth and reveal His heart, He does so in a manner worthy of Himself, in words of superlative power and richness. To quote again the beloved London pastor:

"They come from a great God,

they come to great sinners, 

they work for us great results,

and deal with great matters."

While the natural intellect is capable of perceiving much of their greatness - only the renewed heart can taste their ineffable preciousness, and say with David, "How sweet are your words unto my taste! yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103).

1. We profit from the Word when we perceive to whom the promises belong. They are available only to those who are in Christ. "For all the promises of God in Him (the Lord Jesus) are yes, and in Him. Amen" (2 Corinthians 1:20). There can be no communion between the thrice holy God and sinful creatures, except through a Mediator who has satisfied Him on their behalf. Therefore must that Mediator receive from God all good for His people, and they must have it at second hand through Him. A sinner might just as well petition a tree, as call upon God for mercy while he despises and rejects Christ.

Both the promises and the things promised, are made over to the Lord Jesus and conveyed unto the saints from Him. "This is the chief and grandest promise that he has promised us, even eternal life" (1 John 2:25); and as the same epistle tells us, "This life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11).

This being so, what good can they who are not yet in Christ have by the promises? None at all. A man out of Christ is out of favor of God, yes, he is under His wrath; the Divine threatenings and not the promises, are his portion. Solemn, solemn consideration is it that those who are "without Christ" and "and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). Only "the children of God" are "the children of the promise" (Romans 9:8). Make sure, my reader, that you are one of them.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)

The Knowledge Of God # 2

 The Knowledge Of God # 2

There is no danger of the individual saint being overlooked amidst the multitude of supplicants who daily and hourly present their various petitions, for an infinite Mind is as capable of paying the same attention to millions, as if only one individual were seeking its attention.

So too, the lack of appropriate language, the inability to give expression to the deepest longing of the soul - will not jeopardize our prayers, for "It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." (Isaiah 65:24).

"Great is our Lord, and of great power! His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5). God not only knows whatever has happened in the past in every part of His vast domains, and He is not only thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now transpiring throughout the entire universe - but He is also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least to the greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to come.

God's knowledge of the future is as complete as is His knowledge of the past, and the the present - and that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself. Were it in any ways possible for something to occur apart from either the direct agency or permission of God, then that something would be independent of Him, and He would at once cease to be Supreme.

Now the divine knowledge of the future is not a mere abstraction, but something which is inseparably connected with and accompanied by His purpose. God Himself designed whatever shall yet be, and what He has designed must be effectuated. As His most sure Word affirms, "He does according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand" (Daniel 4:35). And again, "There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand" (Proverbs 19:21).

The wisdom and power of God being alike infinite, the accomplishment of whatever He has purposed is absolutely guaranteed. It is more possible for the divine counsels to fail in their execution than it would be for the thrice holy God to lie!

Nothing relating to the future is in any way uncertain so far as the actualization of God's counsels are concerned. None of His decrees are left contingent either on creatures or secondary causes. There is no future event which is only a mere possibility. "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning" (Acts 5:18). Whatever God has decreed is inexorably certain.

The perfect knowledge of God is exemplified and illustrated in every prophecy recorded in His Word. Such prophecies could only have been given by One who knew the end from the beginning.

It should be pointed out, however, that neither God's knowledge nor His cognition of the future, considered simply in themselves, are causative. Nothing has ever come to pass, or ever will, merely because God knew it. The cause of all things is the will of God. 

A word or two by way of APPLICATION. The infinite knowledge of God should fill us with amazement. How far exalted above the wisest man is the Lord! None of us knows what a day may bring forth, but all futurity is open to His omniscient gaze. The infinite knowledge of God ought to fill us with holy awe. Nothing we do, say, or even think, escapes the cognizance of Him with whom we have to do. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3).

What a curb on sin this would be unto us, did we but meditate upon it more frequently! Instead of acting recklessly, we should say with Hagar, "You God see me!" (Genesis 16:13).

The apprehension of God's infinite knowledge should fill the Christian with adoration. The whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning. He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding, yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this should bow me in wonder and worship before Him!

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

The Knowledge of God # 1

 The Knowledge of God # 1

God is omniscient, He knows everything; everything possible, everything actual; all events and all creatures, of the past, present and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in Heaven, on earth, and in hell. "He knows what is in the darkness" (Daniel 2:22). Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him. Well may we say with the Psalmist, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it" (Psalm 139:6).

God's knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never changes, never overlooks anything. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13). Yes, such is the God "with whom we have to do!"

"You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord" (Psalm 139:2-4). What a wondrous Being is the God of Scripture! Each of His glorious attributes should render Him honorable in our esteem before Him. Yet how little do we meditate upon this divine perfection! Is it because the very thought of it fills us with uneasiness?

How solemn is this fact: nothing can be concealed from God! "For I know the things that come into your mind, everyone of them" (Ezekiel 11:5). Though He is invisible to us, we are not to Him. Neither the darkness of night, the closest curtains, nor the deepest dungeon can hide any sinner from the eyes of Omniscience.

The trees of the garden were not able to conceal our first parents. No human eye beheld Cain murder his brother, but his Maker witnessed his crime. Sarah might laugh derisively in the seclusion of her tent, yet was it heard by Jehovah. Achan stole a wedge of gold and carefully hid it in the earth, but God brought it to light. David was at much pains to cover up his wickedness, but before long the all-seeing God sent one of His servants to say to him, "You are the man!" And to writer and reader is also said, "Be sure your sin will find out out!" (Numbers 32:23).

Men would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could! What a proof that "the carnal mind is enmity against God! (Romans 8:7). The wicked do as naturally hate this divine perfection, as much as theyare naturally compelled to acknowledge it. They wish there might be no Witness of their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds. They seek to banish such a God from their thoughts! "They do not consider that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before Me!" (Hosea 7:2). How solemn is Psalm 90:8! Good reason has every Christ-rejecter for trembling before it: "You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

But to the believer, the fact of God's omniscience is a truth fraught with much comfort.

In times of perplexity, he says with Job, "But He knows the way that I take." It may be profoundly mysterious to me, quite incomprehensible to my thoughts, but "He knows!"

In times of weariness and weakness believers assure themselves, "He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).

In times of doubt and suspicion they appeal to this very attribute, saying, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23, 24).

In times of sad failure, when our actions have belied our hearts, when our deeds have repudiated our devotion,and the searching question comes to us, "Do you love Me?", we say, as Peter did, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You" (John 21:17).

The omniscience of God is an encouragement to prayer. There is no cause for fearing that the petitions of the righteous will not be heard, or that their sighs and tears shall escape the notice of God - since He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)

An Appeal To Reason And Faith # 2

 An Appeal To Reason And Faith # 2

In order to calm your mind in trouble, to compose your spirits under losses and crosses, remember that God acts in infinite wisdom. His plan, according to which He governs the world, and manages the affairs of every individual - is the perfection of wisdom. It will admit of no improvement. To alter it - would be to injure it. Whatever God does - He purposes to do; and whatever God purposed to do - is infinitely wise and good.

God's motives are just and gracious. God always has a reason for what He does - though He may not reveal it. Whatever He does - is prompted by His justice and grace. He is just to all - but gloriously gracious to His own people. Whatever God has purposed to do, or permit - is worthy of Himself. We often act unworthily, and repent of doing it, feeling ashamed of it; but God never does anything, or permits anything - which is unworthy of His nature and character. We may not see this now, for His work is not finished, His plan is not fully carried out; and until it is, "it is the glory of God to conceal a thing!" But He has told us for our comfort, "You do not realize now what I am doing - but later you will understand."

The least we can do is to submit; we ought to approve and acquiesce. True, many things are very painful to flesh and blood, and are very trying to faith and patience; but we have only to give God time to explain Himself - and all will be made clear and plain. Then we shall see why it was that we were: robbed of our property, bereaved of our children, separated from our friends, deprived of our health, and persecuted by the world. "The day shall reveal it!" And we shall see what we now profess to believe, that God is too wise to err - and too good to be unkind.!

Oh, Christian, you should prefer God's wisdom, way, and work - to your own! Whatever He does - He does well! In all He does - He keeps your good and His own glory in view! And, therefore, when you are displeased with any of His dispensations, He asks you, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Unconverted sinner, God has devised and revealed a way of salvation, in which He can save you, and if you submit, He will save you - but only in His own way, which is entirely of free grace. Your own works count for nothing, neither your prayers, nor tears, nor efforts - will count at all in the matter; it is all of grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Against this, your proud heart will rise; to it, you will perhaps raise many objections - but if you do, God's question to you is, "Should it be according to your mind!" Whose will is to be consulted - the will of the Saviour - or of those who need to be saved by Him?

He has devised a way in infinite wisdom, He has determined to save in that way, though it cost Him the life of His only begotten Son, and He is willing and able to save unto the uttermost, all who come unto God by Him. Are you anxious to be saved by Him? to be delivered from the wrath to come, to be entitled to and prepared for heaven? If so, God is willing to save you, and to you He says at this moment, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ - and you shall be saved!" "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him!"

"Should I do just as you imagine - ought I to consult your whims? Should it be according to your mind?" (Job 34:33).

~James Smith~

(The End)

An Appeal to Reason and Faith # 1

 An Appeal to Reason and Faith # 1

By Elihu, God asks Job: "Should I do just as you imagine - ought I to consult your whims? Should it be according to your mind?" (Job 34:33).

Poor Job found his trial too great for his patience, and he complained, he fretted himself, he reflected badly on God's dealings with him, and stumbled at the dispensations of Divine Providence. How often, how very often - do we do the same! We complain - when we ought to be grateful; we fret - when we ought to praise. We reflect badly on God's ways - when we ought to condemn ourselves; and we stumble at divine providences - when we ought to be resting on the promises.

Complain! What can a sinner have to complain of - who is out of fhell? Fret! What can a believer have to fret about - whose heaven is secure? Reflect badly on God's dealings! What, when all His ways are mercy and truth - to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies? Stumble at divine providences! What should stumble us, who are assured that all things shall work together for our good?

With such conduct God may well be displeased! For such conduct God may well chastise us. But He condescends to reason with us. He appeals to our sense of right. He makes us reprove and correct ourselves. He asks US: "Should I do just as you imagine - ought I to consult your whims? Should it be according to your mind?

To what does this apply? To God's dealings with us as individuals. Should the Most High God consult us - before He gives, or takes, works, or suspends His operations? Are we to be consulted as to the way in which He will lead us home, or the means by which He will prepare us for the joys which are at His right hand? If the Lord promises to do us good by all things - is He to consult us as to how He shall work, or by whom, or by what He shall accomplish His purposes?

It will apply, also, to God's dealings with others. It may be our friends, or our foes; our relatives or strangers; the Church, or the world. God has taken the management of His world, and every individual in it; of the Church, and every believer that composes it - into His own hand! He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. I will work, and who shall hinder Me?" Yes, who has a right to question Him, or to find fault with Him? Do you claim such a right? From whence did you derive it? How do you vindicate it? Things may be done that baffle your reason, perplex your mind, confound your judgment, and grieve your heart - but may they not be right for all that? May they not be the wisest and the best? "Should it be according to your mind?"

But, why do you think thus?

Are you wiser than God? His wisdom is infinite. Is it possible that you can imagine yourself capable of devising a wiser plan, or of executing God's plan in a more judicious manner? But if not, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Are you kinder than God? His loving-kindness to man is declared in His Word, proved by His works, and is gloriously displayed in our salvation by His Son. His loving-kindness is great beyond conception, and tender beyond description. Kinder than God! You - kinder than God? But if not, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Are you holier than God? He is holy in His nature, and holy in His works. He does nothing but what is strictly just, perfectly right, and calculated to produce the greatest good. If you are not more holy, more just, more righteous than God, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Are you better informed than God? Do you know more of the nature, dispositions, and tendencies of His creatures than He does? Can you see the end from the beginning, and the working of all things to bring about the end, fixed by His wisdom and grace - better than He does? He knows the whole and every part, the present and the future, which you do not! Your mind is dark, confused, selfish, unsettled, and often undecided! "Should it be according to your mind?"

~James Smith~

Man's Treatment of God's People # 2

Man's Treatment of God's People # 2

Consequently, that there is salvation in none other - but Jesus; by nothing - beside the perfect work of Jesus. MAN, therefore, must be pardoned as a criminal, for another's sake; must be justified as ungodly, through another's righteousness; must be sanctified as a sinner, through another's agency; must, in a word, be saved as a pauper, wholly and altogether of grace!

Such doctrines, laying as they do, man in the dust, and exalting the Lord alone, were highly offensive to the proud and haughty heart of man, and greatly excited his animosity and disdain. It became necessary, therefore, to suffer for them - or to dilute and accommodate them to the prejudices of the carnal mind. For a time, the former course was pursued, and the preachers and professors were driven out from human society, wandering about in sheep skins, and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; or were cruelly put to death.

But while the Nazarenes suffered, their doctrines spread and prospered; and multitudes became obedient unto the faith. But at length professors began to compromise with the world, to mix the water of human ceremonies - with the wine of gospel ordinances; to mingle the doctrines of the heathen - with the doctrines of Christ; and the result was, the sword of the Spirit lost its edge, and the world gave up its opposition to what was now become another gospel; and the sect that had been spoken against everywhere, with the exception of a few, was swallowed up in a worldly church. The crown was lost, the honor was forfeited, and punishment and rejection followed.

But there were always some who had not defiled their garments, who would not mingle among the heathen, or conform to their ways. Some who cleaved to Jesus, held fast His doctrine, and sought to do Him honor. These were the objects of hatred, not to the heathen only - but to the worldly church, and these have been called to suffer for the truth, more or less.

There are still some, who, like the ancient sect of the Nazarenes, are spoken against everywhere. They will not swim with the stream. They will not compromise their Master's honor, give up their Master's truth, or change their Master's ordinances. According to the light they have - they walk; and they rejoice to exalt the Saviour, humble  the sinner, and proclaim salvation, all of grace. Spoken against they are - they will be; but while they maintain an honest conscience, enjoy the peace of God, and experience the comforts of the Holy Spirit; they can rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer shame for His dear name.

Reader, do YOU belong to this sect? Is there anything in your religion that is distasteful to the world, anything that draws forth its opposition, or excites its contempt? The carnal mind is still enmity against God, and if we are godlike, that enmity will manifest itself against us! If we believe Christ's gospel as it is to be found in His word; if we copy Christ's example, as set before us in the gospel; if we testify against the world, that the works of it are evil, and call upon it to repent, as Christ did, we shall soon be hated by the world! We shall be ranked with those who would turn the world upside down. We shall be called enthusiasts, or hypocrites, or saints, or by some name intended to express contempt.

But if we be reproached for the sake of Christ, happy are we; for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us; on their part he is evil spoken of - but on our part He is glorified. "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted!" (2 Timothy 3:12). If, therefore, our religion is palatable to the world, if it awakens no unpleasant remarks, if it calls forth no opposition, if it occasions us no loss in our reputation, or property, or social standing - there is some reason to suspect whether it be genuine and apostolic! One thing is clear, account for it how we may, we do not belong to that sect that is spoken against everywhere.

~James Smith~

(The End)

Man's Treatment of God's People # 1

Man's Treatment of God's People # 1

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you!" (John 15:18-19).

Such is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Real Christians have never been favorites of the world - and while it continues  what it is, they never can be. "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you." (1 John 3:13).

Nor can the pure and simple gospel be pleasant to the world, because it lays the sinner in the dust, and exalts God as supreme and sovereigh. Let us not be surprised then, if we hear worldlings speak against the gospel, and traduce the Lord's people; for what the Romans told Paul is in a good measure true in the present day, "For concerning this sect, we are aware that it is spoken against everywhere." A(Acts 28:22).

This sect originated with Jesus, the hated Nazarene, who came into the world for its good, and to save His people from their sins. He gathered around Him many - but they were principally the poor and unlearned. There was nothing in them, or about them, to recommend them to the proud and sensual world. They were begotten of God, born again, and made new creatures in Christ. They embraced the truth He taught, observed the precepts that He gae, and copied the example that He set. They loved His person, were concerned for His glory, and identified themselves with His interests.

There creed consisted pretty much in these facts: that man is a lost sinner, that salvation by works is impossible, and therefore it must be all of grace - or not at all. That the Lord Jesus came into the world to take the sinner's place, fulfill the law in the sinner's stead, and die as the sinner's substitute. That on account of what Jesus has done and suffered - pardon, peace, and reconciliation are preached to sinners, and whoever believes is promised everlasting life. That believers should profess faith in Christ, observe His ordinances, and make His will the rule of their lives. That they should love one another, serve one another, and if need be, die for each other. That believing in Jesus, doing His will, and seeking to glorify His name, they secure to themselves an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for them. That as Christians, they should show their conformity to Christ, by loving sinners, doing good even to their enemies, and seeking by all means their salvation. By such hopes they were animated, by such rules they walked, and at such objects they aimed - and yet they were everywhere spoken against.

They themselves were spoken against, because they were generally poor and unlearned, and because they poured contempt on the luxuries, pride, and honors of this world. They were treated as the off-scouring of all things, unfit for society, unfit to live. Everyone felt that he might reproach, revile, and speak against a "Nazarene." For them, often, there was no protection, no law but to condemn them; and they suffered the loss of all things, and multitudes of them of life itself.

And yet, like Israel in Egypt, the more they were persecuted, the more they multiplied and grew; until at length they spread not only over the Roman empire - but nearly over the world. And, had they retained the simplicity of their lives, the spirituality of their minds, and the correctness of their creed - they would no doubt have encircled the globe. But at length they were courted by royalty, loaded with wealth, and became intoxicated with worldly honors, and then their glory departed. They drank into the spirit of the world, conformed to its maxims and customs, sought its approbation and applause - and so fell from their exalted station, and lost their real dignity.

Their doctrines were spoken against. They insisted upon the fact, that there is but one God, that in the Divine nature there are three persons, and that each person is truly, naturally, and eternally God. That man has sinned, and God is bound to punish, in order to manifest His justice, and maintain the honor of His law. There there is no escaping the punishment of sin - but by an atonement, for "without shedding of blood - there is no remission of sin." That no atonement could be acceptable to God, except it were infinitely meritorious; and consequently that no sinner could atone for his ransom for him. That in order to meet the cqase, God sent His own Son into the world, who taking human nature into union with His divine nature - undertook to answer  for man's conduct, atone for man's sin, and suffer all the penal consequences of man's guilt.

~James Smith~

(continued with # 2)

The Rest of Heaven! # 3

The Rest of Heaven! # 3

But if retirement has been preceded by honorable toil, by willing self-denial, or by deeds worth living for - then not only has the power to enjoy been augmenting, but the recollections of past labors brighten  and sweeten present rest. May we not believe that this law of earth is also a law of Heaven? We would not, indeed, even hint that regret or shame can for a moment darken that world of perfect joy; but still, is it not certain that the capacity of enjoying the rest of Heaven must be very different in the man whose life has been passed in comparative indolence - and in the man whose days have been all spent in the service of God? Both may receive from the great Judge their "penny" but that penny will not be the same to both. And hence it is not without significance that the eulogy is first pronounced, "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus;" and then the assurance is added, "they shall rest from their labors, and their works follow them."

And unspeakably blessed to such is this rest. For it is as far removed as possible from mere quiescence or inglorious ease. All that is burdensome or distressing in work or warfare will be escaped from; there will be no conflict between the flesh and the spirit, no enemies to watch and repel, no scenes of misery and vice to oppose the heart, no opposition from those who have been the objects of toil and prayer, no fatigue or exhaustion from labor, no seasons of darkness or fear, of discouragement or despondency from weariness, trouble, and sin - there will be perfect, everlasting deliverance!

But this rest is by no means opposed to activity. May we not rather say that activity forms an integral part of that rest? Doom the man of energetic character to a sphere of absolute quiet, and he is as restless as the caged eagle, which frets all inaction, but in the boldest flight finds its recreation and delight.

To minds that are delivered from all distracting cares, and all the weakness of the flesh, who are surrounded by congenial society, and summoned to congenial employments - activity is rest. And such is the rest of Heaven. It is not quiescence, but satisfaction. There are grand purposes to accomplish, but no burden to cause distress or fatigue.

REST! What is our highest conception of it? Is it not this: that our nature should be restored to its original perfection; delivered from each trace of feebleness, disease, or sin; every power acting without effort; thought, purpose, desire, conduct - all spontaneously conformed to the Divine will and answering to the Divine ideal! 

Moreover that we should be placed in a world in every respect corresponding with our perfected nature... where no scene or object could jar with our sense of absolute beauty and enjoyment; where fellowship, influence, occupation, would be all on the side of holiness; and where the purity within and around would enable us to act with unconstrained freedom, and yet without danger or fear.

Finally, that we should be surrounded by circumstances in which no craving or aspiration should be unsatisfied, where intellect should discover  unalloyed, eternal truth; social affection find friends that never disappoint; the heart should exult in the presence of Jeus, and the soul be filled with the beatific vision of God!

Would not this constitute perfect satisfaction? Well, this is the blessedness of Heaven, where all is harmonious within, and all congenial without; there is ceaseless activity, and yet eternal rest!

This is the portion of the faithful dead; and this is to be our portion. This is the consummation to which our adorable Master is graciously leading us. This is the glorious outcome of our poor, feeble, fitful, unprofitable service. Who would not labor for such a Master? Who would not make light of earthly trials, in view of such a glorious eternal inheritance? Who would not toil in prospect of such a rest?

Then I heard a voice from Heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."

"Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor,for their deeds will follow them." (Revelation 14:13).

~Joshua Harrison~

The Rest of Heaven! # 2

The Rest of Heaven! # 2

Such results, he is sure, could have sprung from nothing but living faith. Possessing that faith - faith which justifies, faith which purifies - he knows that is is secure. For him death is disarmed of its terrors. Hope sheds its radiance over the darkness of the tomb, and perfect love casts out fear. While listening to the last farewell of earth, in his ear - it seems blended with the welcome of Heaven, and he exclaims, with holy exultation, "Thanks be unto God, who gives me the victory through my Lord Jesus Christ."

We always consider it a spirit-stirring spectacle when we behold a man earnestly pursuing to the end, the course which he has adopted - when his last words or acts betoken fidelity to the main purpose of his life, and show the ruling passion strong in death.

With feelings of admiration and thankfulness we behold the departing saint, whether his course has been more public or more private, steadfast even to the end - faith in Christ his only hope - the spread of the gospel the one desire of his heart - ceasing to work only when he ceases to breathe - and as he looks back upon a whole life of service, now drawing toapeaceful close, with deep humility, and yet with holy confidence, declaring, "The time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

From the heart we exclaim, "Servant of God, well done! Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord!"

They are blessed because they die, that they may rest. And to the toil worn laborer, what can be more welcome than rest? Wearied by his burden of care and anxiety; his warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil; his efforts to realize the scriptural ideal of the Christian life; his endeavors to turn men from sin's darkness to light - how joyfully does he listen to the assurance that he shall "rest from his labors!"

To the man, indeed, who has known nothing of toil or suffering - there is no charm in the prospect of rest. Let his Christianity be of the cast which lulls to sleep, rather than stimulates, forbids no luxury, demands no sacrifice, exacts no work, which seems only designed to render this world more comfortable by by taking away all fear for the future - what does he care for the promise of rest? Is he not resting already? Can ease or quiet be more profound? But let him know what it is to watch, to wait, to suffer, to labor, to struggle - and then, as the haven to the storm-tossed mariner, or home to the wounded soldier, or the Sabbath to the man of toil - such to him is the heavenly rest.

May we not with equal truth affirm that the rest when it comes, is all the sweeter because of the previous labor? As earthly things are the types of heavenly, from the one we may perhaps on this point judge of the other. Now, when a man retires from active duty, the pleasure with which he settles down in that retirement depends very much on his preceding course. If he has accomplished, or even attempted, nothing worthy of remembrance - nothing which he can look back upon with satisfaction or gratitude - his very rest lacks some of the first elements of enjoyment. He may be a statesman whose indecisive and wavering positive disgrace has missed the opportunity of doing his country service. He may be the ambassador, who has fallen into grave error, and endangered the peace of the world - or the humblest tradesman, whose one mistake has been to suppose that wealth is everything. In each of these cases the leisure which ensues is such as few would covet.

~Joshua Harrison~

(continued with # 3)

More Severe Punishment

More Severe Punishment

The gospel places us in a very solemn position. Coming as it does, as a direct message from God, we are bound to receive it, believe it, respect it, and act upon it.

Its invitations should be received, the promises should be embraced, its doctrines should be believed, its precepts should be obeyed.

It should be acted upon immediately it is heard; and if it were pardon and reconciliation to God would be sought, peace and comfort would be enjoyed, the Saviour would be prized, the atonement would be trusted, the Holy Spirit would be honored.

But, how often is the gospel trifled with - where it is not positively rejected; and by how many is it despised and disregarded. To such the solemn language of the Apostle, is directed: "Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:28-29).

Here is a comparison between sinners - and their punishment.

Sinners under the law - and sinners under the gospel.

Under the law, certain crimes were punishable with death, and he who slighted, neglected, and willfully broke the law was doomed to die. In despising the law - he despised the Sovereign, who enacted it; and he despised the rule of righteousness - which he had enacted. The punishment was death, death without pity, which was the highest punishment which man could inflict. If there were two or three witnesses of his crime, on their joint testimony he was condemned, and handed over to punishment.

Under the gospel, there is a sin unto death - and sinners may come into such a state, that for them there can be no pardon, to them can be shown no mercy. If they willfully reject the atonement of Jesus - there is no other sacrifice for sin; and without shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin. The apostle is speaking of some, who were in a dangerous position; a position, in which it is to be feared, that many are at this day!

Look at their CRIME: They trampled the Son of God under foot. That is, they treat Him with neglect and contempt. They never accept His invitations, or come to His feet, or trust in His blood, or rely on His promises, or observe His precepts. They have the gospel - but they act as though they had it not. They pretend to admit His claims, respect His authority, and rely on His glorious work - but their conduct shows that it is all pretense. They count the blood of the covenant, with which He was sanctified - an unholy or common thing. Aaron was sanctified, set apart and consecrated to the priest's office, with the blood of a young bullock - but Jesus was consecrated by His own blood. Aaron was sanctified by Moses - but Jesus sanctified Himself.

This is called the blood of the covenant, because in the covenant, Jesus agreed to shed it; and the covenant was ratified, and confirmed by it. On the ground of this blood being shed - God engaged to forgive our sins, to be reconciled to our persons, to give us all needful grace, and in the end confer on us eternal life.

They insult the Spirit of grace, that is the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit of grace, He graciously  enlightens and strives with sinners; and these characters wrong Him, for instead of yielding to Him, they resist Him, they grieve Him; and as represented by a light - they are said to quench Him as a foe instead of a friend.

Thus they sin against the Father - for instead of reverencing His Son - they trample Him under foot. They sin against the Son - for instead of prizing His blood, pleading it with God, and building their hope upon it - they treat it as if it were the blood of some inferior animal. They sin against the Holy Spirit - for instead of welcoming His approach, listening to His Word, and yielding to His influence - they resist and grieve Him.

Look we then at their PUNISHMENT: The sinners under the law died without mercy, suffering the highest degree of punishment man could inflict. But these Christ despisers will have more severe punishment, as eternal punishment must be sorer than temporal.

Heavier vengeance lies on them. Fiery indignation awaits them. Fierce wrath is their portion. Inconceivable torment is reserved for them!

They are said to be worthy of it, that is: they deserve it, they have merited it, they have worked for it, it is their just due, it is their equitable wages.

It is a righteous thing for God to inflict it. But our own consciences, our sense of right is appealed to - and we are asked to decide as to the degree of punishment a man deserves, who tramples God's Son under foot, despises the blood shed for sinners, and despitefully treats the Holy and ever gracious Spirit. 

Lost sinner, beware - do not trifle with the gospel! It is the most wondrous display of God's mercy, the greatest exhibition of the love of Christ, the most marvelous display of the grace of the Holy Spirit. By it, an everlasting salvation is presented you - reject the gospel, and you are undone forever! Let me beseech you to be wise, and not despise your soul. O then, for your soul's sake - seek mercy, confess sin, plead for pardon! Do not rest until you receive and enjoy these invaluable blessings!

~James Smith~

(The End)