Saturday, July 13, 2019
The Devil's Boomerangs ! 1
The devil's Boomerangs # 1
"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment" (Ecc. 11:9).
You can always get the truth out of the Bible.
Of course you can always find truth elsewhere, but never from so clear a source. Nothing was ever printed more true than "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap."
God will not coerce and attempt to force any man to be a Christian. When he dies, however, he will be judged for his sins. He must face the day of judgment.
Do as you please. Lie, steal, booze, fight, prostitute. God won't stop you. Do as you please until the undertaker comes and puts you in a coffin and then the Lord will have His way. Lives of pleasure shall have an end, the wicked shall not live half their days.
If I sat in the pew and you were up here preaching there are four questions I would ask that you answer satisfactorily before you could win me.
First, Are you kindly disposed to me? Second: Do you want to help me? Third: Do you know what you are talking about? Fourth: Do you practice what you preach?
No man can say I am not kindly disposed to him. I do want to help every man and woman. I have read and studied and everything I preach comes from the Bible. What I say this afternoon is based on indisputable facts. I have no ambition except to alleviate the misery and suffering that comes through sin. I'll not pump you full of hot air, and what I preach I'll practice. If I didn't practice what I preach I'd leave this platform and never try to speak to an audience again.
If sin wasn't so deceitful it would not be so attractive.
The devil doesn't let a man stop to think what he is doing, that in every added indulgence in a drink he grows weaker. Some people think that to be a Christian means to be a weakling sort of a sissified individual. When I played baseball and was serving the devil, I circled the bases in fourteen second from a standing point, and I believe I can do it now. No man has ever beaten that. Han Lobert and some of the rest may have equaled it, but none have ever beaten it. I used to be handy with my dukes, too, before I became a Christian, and I can go so fast now for five rounds you can't see me for dust.
When I was with the Chicago Y.M.C.A, I did the saloon route for a time handing out invitations to men's meetings in Farwell Hall. One day I met a young man I had known in Iowa. He was half drunk and a broken down, drunken bum came along. I told my friend that if he persisted in drinking he would become a bum. He laughed and said he would never be a drunkard. One year later he was down and out, his job gone and his home wrecked.
No man ever started out with the intention of becoming a drunkard. Line up all the drunkards on earth and ask them and they will all tell you they never intended to be drunkards. They all started as moderate drinkers.
Christianity is capital and capital is character. Your character is what you do business with and there's a big difference between character and reputation. Reputation is what people think about you, and character is what God, your wife and the angel's know about you.
For a man to preach and practice the gospel of Jesus Christ makes him trustworthy. There was a time when people wouldn't trust me to hold a yellow dog fifteen minutes.
Many men live only for money. They care for nothing else, but I believe they are in the minority. You cannot measure a man's success by the rattle of the cash register. All some men have is money. Subtract $50,000, booze and women from some men and you have nothing left.
I haven't a word to say against the rich man who got his wealth honestly and is trying to do good with it. The Bible doesn't have a thing in it against a man because he's rich. Look at Solomon. He was worth about $6,000,000,000, according to our standard of gold and silver. Yet he was a Godly man.
But there's a lot of good-for-nothing lobsters who think they are called by God to go up and down the country harping for a limitation of wealth and cussing and damning the rich man for every dollar he has, while they sit around and cuss and damn and never work.
If you want to use your genius and ability to get all you can and use the surplus over your own needs for the good of humanity, I hope you all will be millionaires. If you want to get all you can, and can all you get, I hope you'll all go to the poorhouse.
When Commodore Vanderbilt who was worth $200,000,000, died, he called in a minister and asked him to sing for him that old song Vanderbilt's mother used to sing in Moravia, "Come ye sinners, poor and needy!"
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 2)
The Lamb of God # 1
The Lamb of God # 1
"The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
"The sin of the world!" Sin? What is sin? Do you see that holy law? Radiant with God's own purity and bright with a divine benignity, it stands on earth a pillar of light and glory, a specimen of God to tell us that He Himself is holy, just and good. Sin defaces that monument, dilapidates it, and cast filth on what it cannot destroy.
Do you see that God of love? Bending over the earth fresh fashioned and beaming on it those looks of delight which hallow while they bless; and behold Him concentrating those regards of love and joy on His own image, man, which was hailed, "Very good" - and presently see man shaking the fist of defiance and darting the glance of estrangement and hostility at the God of love, and you see another aspect of sin.
Look at this man - made up of divers lusts and passions! Pride, ambition, envy, vanity, resentment, anger, covetousness, license, cruelty - these and many evil appetites and emotions besides, flow through all his nature in fierce and malignant currents, and are his very being's poisoned blood and fevered pulse! They break out in oaths and curses, in fightings and violence, in debauchery and orgy; in spoken falsehood and acted lies, in words of lewdness and deeds of shame; in the sanctuary forsaken, the Bible tossed aside, and prayer neglected or shammed over.
When, goaded by conscience, he makes an effort to amend - when, to clear the cloud from affection's brow or reconcile him to himself, he makes a desperate struggle and seeks to rend off some besetting sin - he finds he cannot. This evil habit, he cannot tear away; for like the poisoned mantle, it has grown into himself, and to tear it off is to tear fibers and nerves asunder and to lacerate the quivering flesh. This guilty affection he cannot pluck out, for his heart is at its roots, and nature could not stand the self-mortification. In this pervasive canker, this virulent and festering plague - you see sin in its malignity!
And look to this pure region, this holy paradise of radiant Heaven. And what is this blot on the brightness, this shadow on the splendor? What is it which attracts so many eyes in wonder, and repels them again in horror? What is it that they are expelling in amazement and disgust? Rather, what is it which, from under Jehovah's burning eye, dark and dastardly, slinks away to its own place? What is it which, when confronted with infinite sanctity, would gladly seek refuge in the deepest cavern of the pit - and from a region of light and elevation would gladly flee to hide its hideousness and pollution in the dungeon of despair? Words cannot paint it. It is only in the light of the great white throne or by the flames of hell or in the revealing light of the Holy Spirit - that anyone can see the real character of sin. Sin is the enemy of God, the transgressor of His law, the great soul-poison and heart-plague, the only thing which really defiles man, pollution, misery, guilt, incipient hell, the only thing to which we can give, in its fullest sense, the emphatic name of EVIL!
But just as sin is earth's great burden and humanity's deforming blot, the design of the incarnation was to do away with this mighty evil for a goodly number. For this end the Son of God was manifest, that He might destroy the works of the devil; and in the case of a multitude whom no man can number, the Saviour finished transgression and made an end of sin. And though here He is called the Lamb of God, there is one aspect in which the Lamb was wrathful and His strength was lion-like. There was one vindictive feeling which, like an oven. burned in His holy bosom, and one object toward which He was filled with exterminating fury. On sin He could not look without abhorrence, and the sight of that cursed thing which had insulted His heavenly Father and filled a happy world with woe and horror kindled His zeal and revenge; and while the Lamb's gentleness encouraged the sinner, the Lion's fury still flashed upon the sin.
~James Hamilton~
(continued with # 2)
"The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
"The sin of the world!" Sin? What is sin? Do you see that holy law? Radiant with God's own purity and bright with a divine benignity, it stands on earth a pillar of light and glory, a specimen of God to tell us that He Himself is holy, just and good. Sin defaces that monument, dilapidates it, and cast filth on what it cannot destroy.
Do you see that God of love? Bending over the earth fresh fashioned and beaming on it those looks of delight which hallow while they bless; and behold Him concentrating those regards of love and joy on His own image, man, which was hailed, "Very good" - and presently see man shaking the fist of defiance and darting the glance of estrangement and hostility at the God of love, and you see another aspect of sin.
Look at this man - made up of divers lusts and passions! Pride, ambition, envy, vanity, resentment, anger, covetousness, license, cruelty - these and many evil appetites and emotions besides, flow through all his nature in fierce and malignant currents, and are his very being's poisoned blood and fevered pulse! They break out in oaths and curses, in fightings and violence, in debauchery and orgy; in spoken falsehood and acted lies, in words of lewdness and deeds of shame; in the sanctuary forsaken, the Bible tossed aside, and prayer neglected or shammed over.
When, goaded by conscience, he makes an effort to amend - when, to clear the cloud from affection's brow or reconcile him to himself, he makes a desperate struggle and seeks to rend off some besetting sin - he finds he cannot. This evil habit, he cannot tear away; for like the poisoned mantle, it has grown into himself, and to tear it off is to tear fibers and nerves asunder and to lacerate the quivering flesh. This guilty affection he cannot pluck out, for his heart is at its roots, and nature could not stand the self-mortification. In this pervasive canker, this virulent and festering plague - you see sin in its malignity!
And look to this pure region, this holy paradise of radiant Heaven. And what is this blot on the brightness, this shadow on the splendor? What is it which attracts so many eyes in wonder, and repels them again in horror? What is it that they are expelling in amazement and disgust? Rather, what is it which, from under Jehovah's burning eye, dark and dastardly, slinks away to its own place? What is it which, when confronted with infinite sanctity, would gladly seek refuge in the deepest cavern of the pit - and from a region of light and elevation would gladly flee to hide its hideousness and pollution in the dungeon of despair? Words cannot paint it. It is only in the light of the great white throne or by the flames of hell or in the revealing light of the Holy Spirit - that anyone can see the real character of sin. Sin is the enemy of God, the transgressor of His law, the great soul-poison and heart-plague, the only thing which really defiles man, pollution, misery, guilt, incipient hell, the only thing to which we can give, in its fullest sense, the emphatic name of EVIL!
But just as sin is earth's great burden and humanity's deforming blot, the design of the incarnation was to do away with this mighty evil for a goodly number. For this end the Son of God was manifest, that He might destroy the works of the devil; and in the case of a multitude whom no man can number, the Saviour finished transgression and made an end of sin. And though here He is called the Lamb of God, there is one aspect in which the Lamb was wrathful and His strength was lion-like. There was one vindictive feeling which, like an oven. burned in His holy bosom, and one object toward which He was filled with exterminating fury. On sin He could not look without abhorrence, and the sight of that cursed thing which had insulted His heavenly Father and filled a happy world with woe and horror kindled His zeal and revenge; and while the Lamb's gentleness encouraged the sinner, the Lion's fury still flashed upon the sin.
~James Hamilton~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, July 6, 2019
The Sacredness of the Redeemed Life
The Sacredness of the Redeemed Life
There is embedded in an unpromising Bible chapter, like a gem in a hard rock or growing like a delicate flower on a bare, cold crag - a beautiful incident which teaches a valuable lesson.
David and his men were in the cave of Dullam. They were shut in, fierce Philistines holding them in a sort of siege. Homesickness came over David. He thought of the scenes of his boyhood, not far away from where he then was. He was thirsty, too, in the burning heat, and there came memories of a cool spring which bubbled up by the gate of Bethlehem at which in his happy youth he used to drink. "David longed for water and said: "Oh that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" (2 Samuel 23:15).
By his side stood three men who loved their leader and feared no danger. Hearing David's words they drew their swords, and, breaking through the lines of the enemy, made their way to the well, and having drawn of its sweet water they bore it back to David and presented it to him. David's heart was thrilled by this proof of loyalty and love. In his thirst, too, he longed, too, he longed to drink the water. But when he thought through what peril his men had brought it to him, he refused even to put it to his lips. "Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it." Therefore he poured it out as a sacred offering unto the Lord. It had cost too much to be used for any common purpose or for mere personal gratification; the only fit thing to do with it was to devote it to God.
The incident has its suggestions. As a general principle it teaches us that whatever comes to us at great cost should be sacred in our eyes, and should not be devoted to any common, selfish or sinful use but should be dedicated to the Lord.
A most obvious application is to our own redeemed lives. We know how the blessing of spiritual life come to us. Jesus broke through the lines of enemies and brought water fresh from the costly well of salvation. All the blessings and joys of our Christian faith, reach us through the suffering and sacrifice of Christ. Can we devote these gifts and abilities of our lives, ransomed at such cost, to any common end or use? Can we do otherwise with them than as David did with the water - make them holy offerings to God? Is any other use in keeping with their sacredness?
This self-devotedness to God must be kept pure and clean. An old commentator says, "Let the eye look upon nothing evil, and it becomes a sacrifice unto God. Let the tongue say nothing foul, and it becomes an offering unto God. Let the hand do nothing unlawful, and it becomes a recompense unto God."
An artist chiseled in marble a wonderful statue of Christ. He always believed and asserted that it was an actual vision of the Saviour that had come to him and which he had carved in stone. So full of tender grace was the statue that when the artist called a child into his studio, and, pointing to the marble, asked, "Who is that?" the child looked in silence for some moments at the wondrous figure, and then in reverent tones replied, "Suffer the little children to come unto me." Untaught, the child-heart recognized in the radiant figure the features that must belong to the Redeemer.
After this the artist's name became famous, and he was asked to make statues of heathen deities for ornamental use. But he refused, saying, "A man who has seen Christ would commit sacrilege if he would employ his art in carving a pagan goddess. My art is henceforth a consecrated thing." He would never let his hands, which had fashioned the features of Christ in marble, touch any but sacred subjects.
This illustrates the true ideal of devotion to God. "The Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself." The hands which take the sacramental emblems, must do no unholy work. The lips that speak the vows of love and the words of prayer, must utter no bitter words, no evil or impure words. The eye that is lifted up to look upon the suffering Lamb of God and upon the holy beauty of the exalted King, must not linger an instant on anything that defiles. The heart that has been warmed by the consciousness of the love of God, must not open to any foul thought or evil desire or unholy imagination. The life that has cost the blood of Jesus, must be used to honor God and bless the world. It is too sacred to be devoted to any but holy service.
When we think deeply of this matter we see that every blessing we have is sacred, because of its cost. All along the ages whatever is good and beautiful and worthy, has been the fruit of pain.
Civilization has advanced through wars and struggles. What we are today in our happy country, we are as the result of long centuries of weary toil, of sad failure, of heart anguish, in those who have gone before us.
We are reaping now the harvests of the tears which others sowed. If we would sow anything for those to reap who follow us - then we must go forth weeping. We may not sit still in comfortable ease and feed on the blessings which others in pain and sorrow have won for us. The cup of sweet life that is before us, we may not take and lightly drink, merely to quench our own thirst; it is the blood of those who before us went in jeopardy of their lives to win it, and we must treat it as sacred, pouring it before God in consecrated offering to bless other lives.
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
There is embedded in an unpromising Bible chapter, like a gem in a hard rock or growing like a delicate flower on a bare, cold crag - a beautiful incident which teaches a valuable lesson.
David and his men were in the cave of Dullam. They were shut in, fierce Philistines holding them in a sort of siege. Homesickness came over David. He thought of the scenes of his boyhood, not far away from where he then was. He was thirsty, too, in the burning heat, and there came memories of a cool spring which bubbled up by the gate of Bethlehem at which in his happy youth he used to drink. "David longed for water and said: "Oh that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" (2 Samuel 23:15).
By his side stood three men who loved their leader and feared no danger. Hearing David's words they drew their swords, and, breaking through the lines of the enemy, made their way to the well, and having drawn of its sweet water they bore it back to David and presented it to him. David's heart was thrilled by this proof of loyalty and love. In his thirst, too, he longed, too, he longed to drink the water. But when he thought through what peril his men had brought it to him, he refused even to put it to his lips. "Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it." Therefore he poured it out as a sacred offering unto the Lord. It had cost too much to be used for any common purpose or for mere personal gratification; the only fit thing to do with it was to devote it to God.
The incident has its suggestions. As a general principle it teaches us that whatever comes to us at great cost should be sacred in our eyes, and should not be devoted to any common, selfish or sinful use but should be dedicated to the Lord.
A most obvious application is to our own redeemed lives. We know how the blessing of spiritual life come to us. Jesus broke through the lines of enemies and brought water fresh from the costly well of salvation. All the blessings and joys of our Christian faith, reach us through the suffering and sacrifice of Christ. Can we devote these gifts and abilities of our lives, ransomed at such cost, to any common end or use? Can we do otherwise with them than as David did with the water - make them holy offerings to God? Is any other use in keeping with their sacredness?
This self-devotedness to God must be kept pure and clean. An old commentator says, "Let the eye look upon nothing evil, and it becomes a sacrifice unto God. Let the tongue say nothing foul, and it becomes an offering unto God. Let the hand do nothing unlawful, and it becomes a recompense unto God."
An artist chiseled in marble a wonderful statue of Christ. He always believed and asserted that it was an actual vision of the Saviour that had come to him and which he had carved in stone. So full of tender grace was the statue that when the artist called a child into his studio, and, pointing to the marble, asked, "Who is that?" the child looked in silence for some moments at the wondrous figure, and then in reverent tones replied, "Suffer the little children to come unto me." Untaught, the child-heart recognized in the radiant figure the features that must belong to the Redeemer.
After this the artist's name became famous, and he was asked to make statues of heathen deities for ornamental use. But he refused, saying, "A man who has seen Christ would commit sacrilege if he would employ his art in carving a pagan goddess. My art is henceforth a consecrated thing." He would never let his hands, which had fashioned the features of Christ in marble, touch any but sacred subjects.
This illustrates the true ideal of devotion to God. "The Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself." The hands which take the sacramental emblems, must do no unholy work. The lips that speak the vows of love and the words of prayer, must utter no bitter words, no evil or impure words. The eye that is lifted up to look upon the suffering Lamb of God and upon the holy beauty of the exalted King, must not linger an instant on anything that defiles. The heart that has been warmed by the consciousness of the love of God, must not open to any foul thought or evil desire or unholy imagination. The life that has cost the blood of Jesus, must be used to honor God and bless the world. It is too sacred to be devoted to any but holy service.
When we think deeply of this matter we see that every blessing we have is sacred, because of its cost. All along the ages whatever is good and beautiful and worthy, has been the fruit of pain.
Civilization has advanced through wars and struggles. What we are today in our happy country, we are as the result of long centuries of weary toil, of sad failure, of heart anguish, in those who have gone before us.
We are reaping now the harvests of the tears which others sowed. If we would sow anything for those to reap who follow us - then we must go forth weeping. We may not sit still in comfortable ease and feed on the blessings which others in pain and sorrow have won for us. The cup of sweet life that is before us, we may not take and lightly drink, merely to quench our own thirst; it is the blood of those who before us went in jeopardy of their lives to win it, and we must treat it as sacred, pouring it before God in consecrated offering to bless other lives.
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
Family Worship # 2
Family Worship # 2
Family worship should be conducted reverently, earnestly and simply. it is then, that the little ones will receive their first impressions and form their initial conceptions of the Lord God. Great care needs to be taken lest a false idea be given them of the Divine Character, and for this, the balance must be preserved between dwelling upon His transcendency and immanency, His holiness and His mercy, His power and His tenderness, His justice and His grace. Worship should begin with a few words of prayer invoking God's presence and blessing. A short passage from His Word should follow, with brief comments thereon. Two or three verses of a Psalm or hymn may be sung. Close with a prayer of committal into the hands of God. Though we may not be able to pray eloquently, we should pray earnestly. Prevailing prayers are usually brief ones. Beware of wearying the young ones.
The advantages and blessings of family worship are incalculable.
First, family worship will prevent much sin. It awes the soul, conveys a sense of God's majesty and authority, sets solemn truths before the mind, and brings down blessings from God on the home. Personal piety in the home is a most influential means, under God, of conveying piety to the little ones. Children are largely creatures of imitation, loving to copy what they see in others.
"He issued His decree to Jacob; He gave His law to Israel. He commanded our forefathers to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them - even the children not yet born - that they in turn might teach their children. So that each generation might put their confidence in God and not forget God's works, but keep His commandments" (Psalm 78:5-7).
How much of the dreadful moral and spiritual conditions of the masses today, may be traced back to the neglect of their fathers in this duty? How can those who neglect the worship of God in their families - look for peace and comfort therein? Daily prayer in the home, is a blessed means of grace for allaying those unhappy passions to which our common nature is subject.
Finally, family prayer gains for us the presence and blessing of the Lord. There is a promise of His presence which is peculiarly applicable to this duty, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name - I am there among them." (Matt. 18:20). Many have found in family worship, that help and communion with God which they sought for with less effect in private prayer.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Family worship should be conducted reverently, earnestly and simply. it is then, that the little ones will receive their first impressions and form their initial conceptions of the Lord God. Great care needs to be taken lest a false idea be given them of the Divine Character, and for this, the balance must be preserved between dwelling upon His transcendency and immanency, His holiness and His mercy, His power and His tenderness, His justice and His grace. Worship should begin with a few words of prayer invoking God's presence and blessing. A short passage from His Word should follow, with brief comments thereon. Two or three verses of a Psalm or hymn may be sung. Close with a prayer of committal into the hands of God. Though we may not be able to pray eloquently, we should pray earnestly. Prevailing prayers are usually brief ones. Beware of wearying the young ones.
The advantages and blessings of family worship are incalculable.
First, family worship will prevent much sin. It awes the soul, conveys a sense of God's majesty and authority, sets solemn truths before the mind, and brings down blessings from God on the home. Personal piety in the home is a most influential means, under God, of conveying piety to the little ones. Children are largely creatures of imitation, loving to copy what they see in others.
"He issued His decree to Jacob; He gave His law to Israel. He commanded our forefathers to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them - even the children not yet born - that they in turn might teach their children. So that each generation might put their confidence in God and not forget God's works, but keep His commandments" (Psalm 78:5-7).
How much of the dreadful moral and spiritual conditions of the masses today, may be traced back to the neglect of their fathers in this duty? How can those who neglect the worship of God in their families - look for peace and comfort therein? Daily prayer in the home, is a blessed means of grace for allaying those unhappy passions to which our common nature is subject.
Finally, family prayer gains for us the presence and blessing of the Lord. There is a promise of His presence which is peculiarly applicable to this duty, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name - I am there among them." (Matt. 18:20). Many have found in family worship, that help and communion with God which they sought for with less effect in private prayer.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Family Worship # 1
Family Worship # 1
There are some very important outward ordinances and means of grace which are plainly implied in the Word of God - but the exercise of which we have few, if any, plain and positive precepts; rather are we left to gather incidental circumstances. An important end is answered by this arrangement: trial is thereby made of the state of our hearts. It serves to make evident whether, because an expressed command cannot be brought requiring its performance, professing Christians will neglect a duty plainly implied. Thus, more of the real state of our minds is discovered, and it is made manifest whether we have or have not an ardent love for God and His service. This holds good both of public and family worship. Nevertheless, it is not at all difficult to prove the obligation of domestic piety.
Consider first the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God. It was for his domestic piety that he received blessing from Jehovah Himself, "For I know Him, that He will command His children and his household after Him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment" (Genesis 18:19). The patriarch is here commended, for instructing his children and servants in the most important of all duties, "the way of the Lord" - the truth about His glorious person, His high claims upon us, His requirements from us. Note well the words "He will command" them; that is, he would use the authority to enforce the duties of family godliness. Abraham also prayed with, as well as instructed his family - wherever he pitched his tent, there he "built an altar to the Lord" (Genesis 12:7; 13:4). Now my readers, we may well ask ourselves, Are we "Abraham's seed" (Galatians 3:29) - if we "do not the works of Abraham" (John 8:39) and neglect the weighty duty of family worship?
The examples of other holy men are similar to that of Abraham's. Consider the pious determination of Joshua who declared to Israel, "As for me and my house - we will serve the Lord" (24:15). Neither the exalted station which he held, nor the pressing public duties which developed upon him, were allowed to crowd out his attention to the spiritual well-being of his family. Again, when David brought back the ark of God to Jerusalem with joy and thanksgiving, after discharging his public duties, he "returned home to bless his family" (2 Sam. 6:20). In addition to these eminent examples, we may cite the cases of Job (1:5) and Daniel (6:10). Limiting ourselves to only one in the New Testament, we think of the history of Timothy, who was reared in a godly home. Paul called to remembrance the "sincere faith" which was in him, and added, "which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice." Is there any wonder then that the apostle could say "from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures" (2 Timothy 3:15).
"Pour out Your wrath on the heathen that do not acknowledge You - and on the families that do not call on Your name! (Jere. 10:25). We wonder how many of our readers have seriously pondered these awe-inspiring words! Observe what fearful threatenings are pronounced against those who disregard family worship! How unspeakably solemn to find that prayerless families are here coupled with the heathen, who do not acknowledge the Lord. Yet, that need not surprise us. Why, there are many heathen families who unite together in worshiping their false gods. And do not they put thousands of professing Christians to shame?
How loudly should these words speak to us. It is not enough that we pray as private individuals in our closets; we are required to honor God in our families as well. Each day, the whole household should be gathered together to bow before the Lord - to confess their sins, to give thanks for God's mercies, to seek His help and blessing. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with this duty: all other domestic arrangements are to bend to it. The head of the house is the one to lead the devotions - but if he is absent, or an unbeliever, then the wife should take his place. Under no circumstances should family worship be omitted. If we would enjoy the blessing of God upon our family - then let its members gather together daily for praise and prayer. "Those who honor Me - I will honor" is His promise.
An old writer well said, "A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all storms." All our domestic comforts and temporal mercies, issue from the loving-kindness of the Lord. The best we can do in return, is to gratefully acknowledge together, His goodness to us as a family. Excuses against the discharge of this sacred duty - are idle and worthless. Of what avail will it be when we render an account to God for the stewardship of our families - to say that we had no time available, working hard from morn until eve? The more pressing are our temporal duties - the greater our need of seeking spiritual support. Nor may any Christian plead that he is not qualified for such a work - gifts and talents are developed by use - and not by neglect.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
There are some very important outward ordinances and means of grace which are plainly implied in the Word of God - but the exercise of which we have few, if any, plain and positive precepts; rather are we left to gather incidental circumstances. An important end is answered by this arrangement: trial is thereby made of the state of our hearts. It serves to make evident whether, because an expressed command cannot be brought requiring its performance, professing Christians will neglect a duty plainly implied. Thus, more of the real state of our minds is discovered, and it is made manifest whether we have or have not an ardent love for God and His service. This holds good both of public and family worship. Nevertheless, it is not at all difficult to prove the obligation of domestic piety.
Consider first the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God. It was for his domestic piety that he received blessing from Jehovah Himself, "For I know Him, that He will command His children and his household after Him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment" (Genesis 18:19). The patriarch is here commended, for instructing his children and servants in the most important of all duties, "the way of the Lord" - the truth about His glorious person, His high claims upon us, His requirements from us. Note well the words "He will command" them; that is, he would use the authority to enforce the duties of family godliness. Abraham also prayed with, as well as instructed his family - wherever he pitched his tent, there he "built an altar to the Lord" (Genesis 12:7; 13:4). Now my readers, we may well ask ourselves, Are we "Abraham's seed" (Galatians 3:29) - if we "do not the works of Abraham" (John 8:39) and neglect the weighty duty of family worship?
The examples of other holy men are similar to that of Abraham's. Consider the pious determination of Joshua who declared to Israel, "As for me and my house - we will serve the Lord" (24:15). Neither the exalted station which he held, nor the pressing public duties which developed upon him, were allowed to crowd out his attention to the spiritual well-being of his family. Again, when David brought back the ark of God to Jerusalem with joy and thanksgiving, after discharging his public duties, he "returned home to bless his family" (2 Sam. 6:20). In addition to these eminent examples, we may cite the cases of Job (1:5) and Daniel (6:10). Limiting ourselves to only one in the New Testament, we think of the history of Timothy, who was reared in a godly home. Paul called to remembrance the "sincere faith" which was in him, and added, "which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice." Is there any wonder then that the apostle could say "from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures" (2 Timothy 3:15).
"Pour out Your wrath on the heathen that do not acknowledge You - and on the families that do not call on Your name! (Jere. 10:25). We wonder how many of our readers have seriously pondered these awe-inspiring words! Observe what fearful threatenings are pronounced against those who disregard family worship! How unspeakably solemn to find that prayerless families are here coupled with the heathen, who do not acknowledge the Lord. Yet, that need not surprise us. Why, there are many heathen families who unite together in worshiping their false gods. And do not they put thousands of professing Christians to shame?
How loudly should these words speak to us. It is not enough that we pray as private individuals in our closets; we are required to honor God in our families as well. Each day, the whole household should be gathered together to bow before the Lord - to confess their sins, to give thanks for God's mercies, to seek His help and blessing. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with this duty: all other domestic arrangements are to bend to it. The head of the house is the one to lead the devotions - but if he is absent, or an unbeliever, then the wife should take his place. Under no circumstances should family worship be omitted. If we would enjoy the blessing of God upon our family - then let its members gather together daily for praise and prayer. "Those who honor Me - I will honor" is His promise.
An old writer well said, "A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all storms." All our domestic comforts and temporal mercies, issue from the loving-kindness of the Lord. The best we can do in return, is to gratefully acknowledge together, His goodness to us as a family. Excuses against the discharge of this sacred duty - are idle and worthless. Of what avail will it be when we render an account to God for the stewardship of our families - to say that we had no time available, working hard from morn until eve? The more pressing are our temporal duties - the greater our need of seeking spiritual support. Nor may any Christian plead that he is not qualified for such a work - gifts and talents are developed by use - and not by neglect.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
God's Loving Kindness # 2
God's Loving Kindness # 2
"I will betroth you unto Me forever; yes, I will betroth you unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies" (Hos. 2:19). Having made us willing in the day of His power to give up ourselves unto Him, the Lord enters into an everlasting marriage contract with us. This loving kindness of the Lord is never removed from His children. To our reason and sense, it may appear to be so, yet it never is; for since the believer be in Christ, nothing can separate him from the love of God (Romans 8:39). God has solemnly engaged Himself by covenant, and our sins cannot make it void. God has sworn that if His children keep not His commandments, that He will "visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes"; yet He at once adds, "Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor allow my faithfulness to fail! My covenant will I not break" (Psalm 89:30-35).
The loving kindness of God toward His people is centered in Christ. It is because His exercise of loving kindness is a covenant engagement that it is repeatedly linked to His "truth" (Psalm 40:11; 138:2), showing that it proceeds to us by promise, and therefore, we should never despair.
"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the LORD that has mercy on you" (Isaiah 54:10). No! That covenant has been ratified by the blood of its Mediator, by which blood the enmity (occasioned by sin) has been removed and perfect reconciliation effected. God knows the thoughts which He entertains unto those embraced in His covenant and who have been reconciled to Him, namely, "thoughts of peace and not of evil" (Jere. 29:11).
Therefore are we assured, "The LORD will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me" (Psalm 42:8). What a promise is that! Not merely that the Lord will give or bestow but command His loving kindness! It is given by decree, bestowed by royal engagement, as He also commands "deliverances" (Psalm 44:4), "strength" (Psalm 68:28), "the blessing, even life for evermore" (Psalm 133:3), which announces that nothing can possibly hinder these bestowments.
Well then, may we exclaim, "Your loving kindness is better than life!" (Psalm 63:3).
And what ought to be our response thereto?
FIRST, "Be therefore followers (imitators) of God, as dear children; And walk in love" (Eph. 5:1-2). "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, affections of mercies, kindness" (Col. 3:12). Thus it was with David: "Your loving kindness is before my eyes: and I have walked in your truth" (Psalm 26:3). His mind was employed thereon, he delighted to ponder it, and it refreshed his soul to do so; yes, it molded his conduct.
The more we are occupied with God's goodness, the more careful shall we be about our obedience - the constraints of God's love and grace are more powerful to the regenerate, than the terrors of His Law!
"How excellent is your loving kindness, O God! therefore both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 36:7).
Thus, SECOND, a sense of this divine perfection strengthens faith and promotes confidence in God.
THIRD, it should stimulate the spirit of worship: "Because your loving kindness is better than life - my lips shall praise you" (Psalm 63:3; Psalm 117).
FOURTH, it should be our cordial when depressed: "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to Your servant" (Psalm 119:76. So it was with Christ in His anguish (Psalm 69_17).
FIFTH, it should be made our plea in prayer: "Quicken me, O Lord, according to Your loving kindness (Psalm 119:159).
SIXTH, it should be appealed to when we have fallen by the wayside: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness" (Psalm 51:1): deal with me according to the gentlest of Your attributes, make my case an exemplification of Your tenderness.
SEVENTH, it should be a petition in our evening devotions: "Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning" (Psalm 143:8): arouse me with my soul in tune therewith, let my waking thoughts be of Your goodness!
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
"I will betroth you unto Me forever; yes, I will betroth you unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies" (Hos. 2:19). Having made us willing in the day of His power to give up ourselves unto Him, the Lord enters into an everlasting marriage contract with us. This loving kindness of the Lord is never removed from His children. To our reason and sense, it may appear to be so, yet it never is; for since the believer be in Christ, nothing can separate him from the love of God (Romans 8:39). God has solemnly engaged Himself by covenant, and our sins cannot make it void. God has sworn that if His children keep not His commandments, that He will "visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes"; yet He at once adds, "Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor allow my faithfulness to fail! My covenant will I not break" (Psalm 89:30-35).
The loving kindness of God toward His people is centered in Christ. It is because His exercise of loving kindness is a covenant engagement that it is repeatedly linked to His "truth" (Psalm 40:11; 138:2), showing that it proceeds to us by promise, and therefore, we should never despair.
"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the LORD that has mercy on you" (Isaiah 54:10). No! That covenant has been ratified by the blood of its Mediator, by which blood the enmity (occasioned by sin) has been removed and perfect reconciliation effected. God knows the thoughts which He entertains unto those embraced in His covenant and who have been reconciled to Him, namely, "thoughts of peace and not of evil" (Jere. 29:11).
Therefore are we assured, "The LORD will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me" (Psalm 42:8). What a promise is that! Not merely that the Lord will give or bestow but command His loving kindness! It is given by decree, bestowed by royal engagement, as He also commands "deliverances" (Psalm 44:4), "strength" (Psalm 68:28), "the blessing, even life for evermore" (Psalm 133:3), which announces that nothing can possibly hinder these bestowments.
Well then, may we exclaim, "Your loving kindness is better than life!" (Psalm 63:3).
And what ought to be our response thereto?
FIRST, "Be therefore followers (imitators) of God, as dear children; And walk in love" (Eph. 5:1-2). "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, affections of mercies, kindness" (Col. 3:12). Thus it was with David: "Your loving kindness is before my eyes: and I have walked in your truth" (Psalm 26:3). His mind was employed thereon, he delighted to ponder it, and it refreshed his soul to do so; yes, it molded his conduct.
The more we are occupied with God's goodness, the more careful shall we be about our obedience - the constraints of God's love and grace are more powerful to the regenerate, than the terrors of His Law!
"How excellent is your loving kindness, O God! therefore both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 36:7).
Thus, SECOND, a sense of this divine perfection strengthens faith and promotes confidence in God.
THIRD, it should stimulate the spirit of worship: "Because your loving kindness is better than life - my lips shall praise you" (Psalm 63:3; Psalm 117).
FOURTH, it should be our cordial when depressed: "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to Your servant" (Psalm 119:76. So it was with Christ in His anguish (Psalm 69_17).
FIFTH, it should be made our plea in prayer: "Quicken me, O Lord, according to Your loving kindness (Psalm 119:159).
SIXTH, it should be appealed to when we have fallen by the wayside: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness" (Psalm 51:1): deal with me according to the gentlest of Your attributes, make my case an exemplification of Your tenderness.
SEVENTH, it should be a petition in our evening devotions: "Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning" (Psalm 143:8): arouse me with my soul in tune therewith, let my waking thoughts be of Your goodness!
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Saturday, June 22, 2019
God's Loving Kindness # 1
God's Loving Kindness # 1
In the closing paragraphs of our March cover-page article, reference was made to the faithfulness of God; here we propose to engage the reader with another of His excellencies - one of which every Christian has received innumerable proofs. We turn unto a consideration of God's loving-kindness, because it is our desire and aim to maintain a due proportion in treating of the divine perfections, for all of us are very apt to entertain one-sided ideas and view of the same. [there will be three or more articles titled the same but with other of God's perfections].
There is a balance to be preserved here (as everywhere), as appears in those two summarized statements of the divine attributes, "God is light" (1 John 1:5), "God is love" (1 John 4:80. The sterner and more awe-inspiring aspects of the divine character are offset by the gentler and more winsome ones. It is to our irreparable loss if our minds dwell almost exclusively on God's sovereignty and majesty, or His holiness and justice; we need to meditate frequently (though not exclusively!) upon His goodness and mercy. Nothing short of a full-orbed view of the divine perfections as they are revealed in Holy Writ should content us.
Scripture speaks of "the multitude of His loving kindness" (Isaiah 63:7), and who is capable of numbering them? Said the Psalmist, "How excellent is your loving kindness, O God!" (36:7). No pen of man, no tongue of angel, can adequately express it.
We read of God's "marvelous loving kindness" (Psalm 17:7), and surely it truly is. Familiar as may be this blessed attribute of God's unto people - yet is it something entirely peculiar unto divine revelation. None of the ancients ever dreamed of investing his gods with any such endearing perfection as this. None of the objects worshiped by present-day heathens is conceived of as possessed of gentleness and tenderness: very much the reverse, as the hideous features of their idols exhibit! Philosophers regard it as a serious reflection upon the honor of the Absolute - to ascribe such qualities unto it. But the Scriptures have much to say upon God's loving kindness, or His paternal favor unto His people, and His tender affection towards them. The first time this divine perfection is mentioned in the Word is in that wondrous and glorious manifestation of Deity which was vouchsafed unto Moses, when Jehovah proclaimed His "Name" - that is Himself as made known. "The LORD, the LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Ex. 34:6); though much more frequently the Hebrew word "chesed," is rendered "kindness" and "loving kindness."
In our English Bibles, the initial reference, as connected with God, is Psalm 17:7, where David prayed, "Display the wonders of Your loving kindness!" Wondrous it truly is - that One so infinitely above us, so inconceivably glorious, so ineffably holy, should not only deign to notice such worms of the earth - but set His heart upon them, give His Son for them, send His Spirit to indwell them, and so bear with all their imperfections and waywardness as never to remove His loving kindness from them.
Consider some of the evidences and exercises of this divine attribute unto the saints:
"In love, having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself" (Eph. 1:4-5); and, as the previous verse shows, that love was engaged on their behalf before this world came into existence!
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9), which was His amazing provision for us as fallen creatures.
"I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you" (Jere. 31:3) - that is, drawn unto Myself, by the quickening operations of My Spirit, by the invincible power of My grace, by creating in you a deep sense of need, by attracting you by My winsomeness.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
In the closing paragraphs of our March cover-page article, reference was made to the faithfulness of God; here we propose to engage the reader with another of His excellencies - one of which every Christian has received innumerable proofs. We turn unto a consideration of God's loving-kindness, because it is our desire and aim to maintain a due proportion in treating of the divine perfections, for all of us are very apt to entertain one-sided ideas and view of the same. [there will be three or more articles titled the same but with other of God's perfections].
There is a balance to be preserved here (as everywhere), as appears in those two summarized statements of the divine attributes, "God is light" (1 John 1:5), "God is love" (1 John 4:80. The sterner and more awe-inspiring aspects of the divine character are offset by the gentler and more winsome ones. It is to our irreparable loss if our minds dwell almost exclusively on God's sovereignty and majesty, or His holiness and justice; we need to meditate frequently (though not exclusively!) upon His goodness and mercy. Nothing short of a full-orbed view of the divine perfections as they are revealed in Holy Writ should content us.
Scripture speaks of "the multitude of His loving kindness" (Isaiah 63:7), and who is capable of numbering them? Said the Psalmist, "How excellent is your loving kindness, O God!" (36:7). No pen of man, no tongue of angel, can adequately express it.
We read of God's "marvelous loving kindness" (Psalm 17:7), and surely it truly is. Familiar as may be this blessed attribute of God's unto people - yet is it something entirely peculiar unto divine revelation. None of the ancients ever dreamed of investing his gods with any such endearing perfection as this. None of the objects worshiped by present-day heathens is conceived of as possessed of gentleness and tenderness: very much the reverse, as the hideous features of their idols exhibit! Philosophers regard it as a serious reflection upon the honor of the Absolute - to ascribe such qualities unto it. But the Scriptures have much to say upon God's loving kindness, or His paternal favor unto His people, and His tender affection towards them. The first time this divine perfection is mentioned in the Word is in that wondrous and glorious manifestation of Deity which was vouchsafed unto Moses, when Jehovah proclaimed His "Name" - that is Himself as made known. "The LORD, the LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Ex. 34:6); though much more frequently the Hebrew word "chesed," is rendered "kindness" and "loving kindness."
In our English Bibles, the initial reference, as connected with God, is Psalm 17:7, where David prayed, "Display the wonders of Your loving kindness!" Wondrous it truly is - that One so infinitely above us, so inconceivably glorious, so ineffably holy, should not only deign to notice such worms of the earth - but set His heart upon them, give His Son for them, send His Spirit to indwell them, and so bear with all their imperfections and waywardness as never to remove His loving kindness from them.
Consider some of the evidences and exercises of this divine attribute unto the saints:
"In love, having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself" (Eph. 1:4-5); and, as the previous verse shows, that love was engaged on their behalf before this world came into existence!
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9), which was His amazing provision for us as fallen creatures.
"I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you" (Jere. 31:3) - that is, drawn unto Myself, by the quickening operations of My Spirit, by the invincible power of My grace, by creating in you a deep sense of need, by attracting you by My winsomeness.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
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