The Troubled Soul # 2 (and others)

The Troubled Soul # 2 (and others)

It is strange how the people were affected by this miracle. Jesus had come among them to bless them. He would have gone on, working other miracles, if they had been willing. But the loss of their swine was too much for them. There always are people who hate Christ's religion, because it interferes with their wrong business and cuts off the source of their sinful gain. Saloon keepers oppose revivals, because when the devil is cast out of men they do not patronize the saloons any more!

But it is always a perilous thing to ask Jesus to go away. He did now as these people asked Him to do - He would not stay where He was not wanted. He went away; carrying with Him the blessings He had brought and meant to leave. So the sick remained unhealed, the lame still continued lame, demoniacs remained demon-possessed. We must be careful never to ask Christ to go away from us. We see Jesus sailing away from this coast, to come back again no more. May He not do the same if we ask Him to leave us?

He knows where He wants His saved ones to witness for Him. This ex-demoniac wished to go with Him - but there was other work for him to do. There are different ways of serving Christ. Some of His disciples, He asks to leave home and friends to follow Him into distant lands. Others He wants to stay at home and bear witness among those who have known them to the grace and love of God. Each one of us may be sure that if we truly put our life into the hands of Christ - He will give us our work where it will do the greatest good.

If He wants one young minister to go to the foreign field as a missionary, he must go. But he must not blame his classmate who does not go to the foreign mission field - but enters the mission field at home. The home mission service is just as honorable as the foreign one. The only question with anyone should be, "What does Christ want me to do? Where does He want me to work for Him?" We serve Christ best - when we serve in the place and in the manner in which He directs us!


~J. R. Miller~

(The End)
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Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God! (Acts 7:56 ISV)

One, perhaps supreme, factor in the significance of Stephen was what he saw at the end and said with almost his last breath: "Behold, I see the heavens opened; and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). Here we have the central and basic reality of true New Testament Christianity, of the Church and the churches – Jesus on the right hand of God. The government, the authority, the headquarters, vested in the ascended Lord, and centered in heaven; not in Jerusalem, nor anywhere else on earth.... The Jewish rulers and Stephen's accusers were quick and shrewd enough to recognize the implications, for they had no less and no other import than that the "Temple made with hands" was finished; the dispensation of the Law was ended. There was an implicit call to the Church of Jesus to leave the Temple and all that went with it and to move into the greater, the fuller, and the abiding reality.

The tragedy is that, with [the book of] "Hebrews" in their hands, responsible leaders of the Church can still adhere to a system and form which is but the extension or carry-over of the Old Testament, with certain changes of phraseology. The immensity of the change and gap has certainly not been apprehended. Some of the most terrible things in the whole Bible are contained in that letter in relation to the crisis and the two ways and realms. The issue is no less than that of Life and death. All this has much to say regarding the true nature of the Church and the churches. He that hath eyes to see, let him see!

~T. Austin-Sparks~
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The Power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:4-8

Have you ever felt inadequate to live the Christian life? If so, then you are exactly where God wants you to be, because you have discovered a vital truth: No one has the power in him- or herself to live a holy life. We are all in the same boat, but there is someone else with us who has the power we need—the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus gave His disciples the task of preaching the gospel to the entire world, they had absolutely no ability to carry it out. That’s why He told them to wait until the Holy Spirit came. In the same way, if we hope to accomplish what God desires in our life, we need to live with full dependence on the third Person of the Godhead.

The power of the Spirit is God’s divine energy and authority released in believers’ lives for the purpose of righteous living and fruitful service. When we walk in the Spirit, we’re relying on His strength to accomplish God’s will. As a result, we experience the following benefits:

• We may get tired, but we won’t burn out.
• We’ll trust God instead of trying to manipulate our circumstances.
• We may experience distress, but we won’t become desperate.
• We won’t become overwhelmed with discouragement or obstacles, knowing the Spirit within us will enable us to do what He’s called us to accomplish.

When we do God’s work by His strength, in His way, and with His wisdom, we’ll be blessed no matter what goes on around us. Walking in the Spirit doesn’t mean life will be easy—but we never have to walk through it alone, because our Helper is always with us.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

A Troubled Soul # 1

A Troubled Soul # 1

"When Jesus got out of the boat - a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet Him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones!"

In this demoniac, we have a sample of the work of satan - when he gets full control in a man. He destroys every beautiful thing in the life, and leaves only ruin! No chains could bind this demoniac. When sin is on the throne, all other influences and constraints become like spiders' threads in comparison! No chain is strong enough to bind the man - who has yielded himself to the sway of the evil one! The love of a godly mother is a strong bond - but many a child tears off this holy chain and rushes into wayward and evil paths! Home ties are strong - but these too are broken asunder, by the victim of satan's ungodly rule.

One feature of this case, was that the demoniac cut and gashed himself with stones. This illustrates what in many ways satan's captives always do. They may not literally go about cutting their flesh with knives or bruising their bodies with stones; but they do gash and bruise their souls! Sin always wounds the life - and one of its fearful consequences is the self-destruction it works. Every sin one commits leaves an ugly scar! We grieve God by our wrongdoing, and we harm others when we sin against them; but we always injure ourselves - by every evil word we speak, by every wrong act we commit, even by the evil thoughts we think in our hearts. The self-hurt of sin is one of its saddest consequences!

Demons are afraid of Christ. "Swear to God that you won't torture me!" The torment this demon dreaded, was in being deprived of the opportunity of tormenting the man of whom he had possession. Demons find their pleasure in working mischief, in destroying the beautiful work of God's hands, and in ruining lives. Godly men count that day lost - in which they have done no act of kindness to another. Demons count the day lost - in which they have stained no pure soul or led no one into sin!

We ought to tear off satan's mask and show him as he is! Evil comes to us pretending to be a friend. It holds flowers in its hands and whispers entrancing words, promising rich rewards: "Only do this - and it will bring you pleasure, honor, wealth and joy!" That is the way sin talks. But this is all false. Sin is never a friend to man. It never does good to anyone - but always harm. However plausibly satan may present his temptations, under the guise of pleasure - his secret aim is to destroy the soul he tempts. Nothing gives the evil one so much pleasure - as to see a fair and beautiful life - stained and debauched!

It is most comforting to us, to find that Christ is able to dislodge even the most obdurate and persistent demon! No one could bind this demoniac, nor resist his superhuman strength. But at His word - the foul spirit was compelled to leave the man he had possessed for so long. No human hand can break the chains of sinful habits. No mere resolution can free one from satan's bondage. Only Christ can set the devil's captives free! Those who have long been trying in vain to reform, to break away from evil practises - see in Christ the Friend who alone can deliver them and save them. No demon-power can resist His command. Only Christ can free the poor slaves of satan! He alone can free them, drive out their enemy, and save them from his terrible sway!

"Jesus gave them permission. So the evil spirits came out of the
man and entered the swine. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned!" (Mark 5:13).

In the swine, under demoniac possession, rushing down the steep cliff and perishing in the lake - we have another illustration of the end of all satan's ruinous work. It is with men - as it was here with the swine. It never yet has been known that satan impelled anyone upward to a better life or to anything noble and lofty; he always drives down steep ways into choking floods. God's ways lead upward - it is always uphill to Christ and to heaven. Every divine impulse is toward something higher and better. Christ never yet sent a man downhill. But the devil always drives downward. These poor swine, demon-possessed, rushed down the steep bank, into the lake - and perished. Just so do human souls, demon-possessed, rush down sin's precipitous course and perish! It would be well to keep this dreadful picture in our mind when we are tempted in any way by the devil; for if we follow him - this is the way it will surely end with us!

~J. R. Miller~

(continued with # 2)

The Great Giver # 3

The Great Giver # 3

The word "freely" not only signifies that God is under no constraint, but also means that He makes no charge for His gifts, He places no price on His blessings. God is no retailer of mercies or barterer of good things; if He were, justice would require Him to charge exactly what each blessing was worth, and then who among the children of Adam could find the payment? No, blessed be His name, God's gifts are "without money and without price" - unmerited and unearned.

Finally, rejoice over the comprehensiveness of His promise: "How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" The Holy Spirit would here regale us with the extent of God's wondrous grant. What is it you need, fellow Christian? Is it pardon? Then has He not said, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)? Is it grace? Then has He not said, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8)? Is it a thorn in the flesh? This too will be given "there was given to me a thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7). Is it rest? Then heed the Saviour's invitation, "Come unto Me...and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). Is it comfort? Is He not the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3)?"

"How shall he not with Him also freely give us all things?" Is it temporal mercies that the reader is in need of? Are your circumstances adverse so that you are filled with dismal forebodings? Does your cruse of oil and barrel of meal look as though they will soon be quite empty? Then spread your need before God, and do it in simple childlike faith. Do you think that He will bestow the greater blessings of grace - and deny the lesser ones of Providence? No! "My God shall supply all your need" (Phil. 4:19). True, He has not promised to give all you ask, for we often ask amiss." Mark the qualifying clause: "How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" We often desire things which would come in between us and Christ if they were granted, therefore does God in His faithfulness withhold them.

Here then are four things which should bring comfort to every renewed heart.

The Father's costly sacrifice. Our God is a giving God and no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

The Father's gracious design. It was for us that Christ was delivered up; it was our highest and eternal interests that he had at heart.

The Spirit's infallible inference. The greater includes the less; the unspeakable Gift guarantees the bestowment of all other needed favors.

The comforting promise. Its sure foundation, its present and future scope, its blessed extent - are for the assuring of our hearts and the peace of our minds.

May the Lord add His blessing to this little meditation.

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

The Great Giver # 2

The Great Giver # 2

Yes, for you fellow Christian, who are sometimes tempted to interpret your afflictions as tokens of God's hardness; who regard your poverty as a mark of His neglect, and your seasons of darkness as evidences of His desertion, O, confess to Him now the wickedness of such dishonoring doubtings, and never again question the love of Him who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.

Faithfulness demands that I should point out the qualifying pronoun in our text. It is not God "delivered him up for all," but "for us all." This is definitely defined in the verses which immediately precede. In v. 31 the question is asked, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" In v. 30 this "us" is defined as those whom God did predestinate and has "called" and "justified." The "us" are the high favorites of heaven, the objects of sovereign grace. God's elect. And yet in themselves they are, by nature and practice, deserving of nothing but wrath. But yet, thank God, it is "us all" - the worst as well as the best, the five hundred pounds debtor, equally as much as the five pence debtor.

3. The Spirit's Blessed Inference.

Ponder well this glorious "conclusion" which the Spirit of God here draws from the wondrous fact stated in the first part of our text, "He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things." How conclusive and how comforting is the inspired reasoning of the apostle. Arguing from the greater to the lesser, he proceeds to assure the believer of God's readiness to also freely bestow all needed blessings. The gift of His own Son, so ungrudgingly and unreservedly bestowed, is the pledge of every other needed mercy.

Here is the unfailing guaranty and pledge of perpetual reassurance to the drooping spirit of the tried believer. If God has done the greater - will He leave the less undone? Infinite love can never change. That love which spared not Christ - cannot fail its objects nor begrudge any needed blessings. The sad thing is that our hearts dwell upon what we have not - instead of upon what we do have. Therefore the Spirit of God would here still our restless self-communings and quiet the repinings of ignorance with a soul-satisfying knowledge of the truth, by reminding us not only of the reality of our interest in the love of God, but also of the extent of that blessing which flows therefrom.

Weigh well what is involved in the logic of this verse. First, the great Gift was given unasked; will He not bestow others for the asking? None of us supplicated God to send forth His beloved; yet He sent Him! Now, we may come to the throne of grace and  there present our requests in the virtuous and all-efficacious name of Christ.

Second, the one great Gift cost Him much; will He not then bestow the lesser gifts which cost Him nothing but the delight of giving! If a friend were to give me a valuable picture, would he begrudge the necessary paper and string to wrap it in? Of if a loved one made me a present of a precious jewel, would he refuse a little box to carry it in? How much less will He who spared not His own Son, withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly.

Third, the one Gift was bestowed when we were enemies; will not then God be gracious to us now that we have been reconciled and are His friends? If He had designs of mercy for us while we were yet in our sins, how much more will He regard us favorably now that we have been cleansed from all sin by the precious blood of His Son!

4. The Comforting Promise

Observe the tense that is used here. It is not "how has he not with him also freely given us all things," though this is also true, for even now are we "heirs of God" (Romans 8:17). But our text goes further than this: "How shall he not with Him also freely give us all things?" The second half of this wondrous verse contains something more than a record of the past; it supplies reassuring confidence both for the present and for the future. No time limits are to be set upon this "shall." Both now in the present and forever and ever in the future God shall manifest Himself as the great Giver. Nothing for His glory and for our good, will He withhold. The same God who delivered up Christ for us all "does not change like shifting shadows."

Mark the manner in which God gives: "How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" God does not have to be coaxed; there is no reluctance in Him for us to overcome. He is ever more willing to give than we are to receive. Again, He is under no obligations to any; if He were, He would bestow of necessity, instead of giving "freely." Ever remember that He has a perfect right to do with His own as He pleases. He is free to give to whom He wills.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 3)