The Love of Jesus!
"I have loved you!" (John 15:12).
WHOM does Jesus love? Every believer, whatever his outward circumstances may be. That is, everyone who loves Him - and are in a measure, like Him. How wonderful that Jesus should love us, who are so vile, so debased, so ungrateful!! Yes - and it is fact, and He has proved it in a variety of ways.
He displayed His love before we knew Him, or were even capable of doing so - in choosing fallen men to be saved - and not the fallen angels. They fell as we did - but their nature was more noble, their fall was from a greater eminence - yet He did not assume their nature to save them - but He became man to save us! And why? He tells us, "I have loved you!"
In making a full atonement for our sins, He satisfied justice to the full. He removed the curse entirely. He produced for us a righteousness, sparkling with glory beyond the rays of the morning sun! And why? He tells us, "I have loved you!"
He displayed His love Now in the following ways: In conquering all our spiritual adversaries which had overcome us, and had taken captive our entire race. No human arm was strong enough to overcome them, no mere creature could escape from them; but Christ came, He fought, He conquered, He triumphed in our nature, in our name, for our sake! And why? He tells us, "I have loved you!"
In going to heaven as our forerunner, He has carried our nature into the presence of the Father, He has shown that the path to glory is attainable, and He is now actively employed in heaven preparing places for us! And why? He tells us, "I have loved you!"
In sending the Holy Spirit, who comes in His name, to quicken, call, cleanse, and sanctify. By Him we are converted to God, prepared for glory, rendered useful in the present world, and comforted in all our tribulations.
Christ, in acting as our intercessor and advocate before the Father, "He made intercession for the transgressors." He has pleaded for us, He presently pleads for us, He will continue to plead for us! And why? "He tells us, "I have loved you!"
He has displayed His love in His DEALINGS with us. He found us cruel, determined, unfeeling enemies to Him. But He reconciled us, made us friends, and filled us with wonder at His love.
He keeps us by His power and Holy Spirit, for we cannot be trusted for one solitary moment! He only chastens us in love - when He might justly punish us in wrath. He restores us from all our wanderings, and freely forgives our follies.
He carries on His work within us. He rejoices to save us, though as repulsive as worms, and viler than the earth!
His love is displayed in what He Intends to do for us. He will come in glory and majesty as our Bridegroom, to fetch us home, and make us the partners of His throne, triumphs and glory forever!
He will fill us with unspeakable joy and full of glory, and give us to possess more than our eye has seen, or our ear ever heard, or our heart could ever imagine! And why? He tells us, "I have loved you."
What will He not do for those whom He loves? What has not the love of Jesus done, or promised to do? It is, it will be, it must be matter of wonder throughout eternity - that Jesus should love us so - so freely, so constantly, with love so pure, so unbounded, and so Godlike!
Behold, how He loves us!
Behold, and wonder!
Behold, and praise!
Behold, and love Him in return!
~James Smith~
(The End)
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Ruin and Redemption
Ruin and Redemption
Israel is the type and looking-glass of the church. In the heart of that people - we see our own hearts; and in the conduct of that people - we see our own conduct. They bring out God's character, and set before us the nature of the divine government. What they did - we do; and what the Lord did for them - He does for His people now.
When Israel was in bondage to the Chaldeans, and were groaning under their iron yoke, the prophet bore testimony against them, and delivered a gracious message from God to them. A message to exercise faith, excite hope, fire them with courage, and fill them with comfort. His message was, "Thus says the Lord: You have sold yourself for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money!" (Isaiah 52:3).
Their conduct was dishonest, their sin was great, their situation was dreadful, their sufferings were extreme - and their deliverance was to be gratuitous. They were the authors of their own misery - and God alone would be the author of their deliverance. They suffered from their own sin - but they were to be delivered alone by His grace. Such is our condition; and, blessed be God - such is our mercy!
We have sold ourselves. Man was once free. He was holy. He was happy. No creature was more indulged in all God's universe. But he became dissatisfied with his lot. He listened to the tempter. He yielded to temptation. He got as far from God as he could. He surrendered himself into the hands of satan. He came under the power and authority of the prince of darkness, who took possession of him, ruled him, and reduced him to a state of the most abject slavery! Thus he forfeited his liberty, his peace, his possessions, and his all!
He was now a traitor - a rebel in arms against God. He sympathized with satan in his enmity to, and opposition against God. He sold himself, as far as he could, out of God's hands; and gave God's sworn foe the dominion over himself. It was his own act and deed. It was done willingly - for no coercion was employed. He did it knowingly - for he was not deceived. He did it, though warned against it, and threathened with terrible consequences if he did.
What he did - we as his posterity assented to. As soon as we were capable - we gave our consent to the bargain, and testified our approval of his conduct by imitating it as nearly as we could. We sold ourselves for nothing, for all we got for our bargain was vanity, falsehood, and suffering! O the folly we displayed! O the sin we committed! O the misery we entailed upon ourselves!
We sold ourselves - but to whom? satan was the purchaser. He presented bait - and we took it! He made the offer - and we accepted it! Thus we sold ourselves to the greatest tyrant, the most degraded being, the most hardened monster in the universe! By sin we subjected ourselves to him, and by sinning we continue under that subjection. God's justice had a claim upon us, and will not, cannot give up that claim - and therefore our purchaser is made both our jailor and our tormentor - and is employed by justice to inflict punishment upon us.
Sin not only gave satan power over us - but delivered us over to death. We are therefore separated from God, the fountain of life; deprived of all moral and spiritual power; and are exposed to all the horrors of banishment from God, and the vengeance of eternal fire! In selling ourselves - we lost the freedom of the will, which came under a sinful bias, and we were enthralled by evil, and reduced to bondage by satan. We parted with the purity and holiness of our nature - and became polluted and unclean. We gave up our rectitude and righteousness - and came under guilt and disgrace. Our conscience being defiled, turned against us; so that we became the slaves of fear and shame! Happiness and comfort - gave place to misery and woe! Health and strength - gave place to disease and weakness! And paradise, with all its beauty and blessedness - gave place to a waste-howling wilderness.
Thus we were degraded, rendered wretched, and exposed to all possible misery! Earth would have been turned into hell, and every one of us would have been tortured with black eternal despair - but for the mercy of God, who had thoughts of peace respecting us. The world, as bad as it is - is not what it would have been, if sin had been allowed to take its natural course. Man, suffer as he may - does not suffer as he would, if mercy had not interfered for him. We sold ourselves for nothing - but God determined that we should be redeemed.
The appointed Redeemer was His only begotten Son. He saw our state. He pitied our condition. He volunteered to effect our deliverance. In the covenant of grace it was arranged, that though He was God - He should become man. That though naturally incapable of suffering - he should be made capable of suffering, that by His sufferings, obedience, and death - He may give unto God a ransom for us. For if we were ever to be delivered - our sin must be atoned for, the demands of justice must be met, and the penalty of death must be paid. satan must be vanquished, death mjust be abolished, and a perfect righteousness, answerable to all the demands of the law, must be provided.
He is our Redeemer - the Lord Almighty, is His name. What love we owe Him! What obedience we should render to Him! What praise we should give Him! Beloved, are you trusting in His precious blood, and in His Almighty power, to complete your redemption?
If He has redeemed us from sin - He will deliver us from satan - and ransom us from the power of the grave. Having begun the work - He will complete it, and all His redeemed will ultimately unite in the song, "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
~James Smith~
(The End)
Israel is the type and looking-glass of the church. In the heart of that people - we see our own hearts; and in the conduct of that people - we see our own conduct. They bring out God's character, and set before us the nature of the divine government. What they did - we do; and what the Lord did for them - He does for His people now.
When Israel was in bondage to the Chaldeans, and were groaning under their iron yoke, the prophet bore testimony against them, and delivered a gracious message from God to them. A message to exercise faith, excite hope, fire them with courage, and fill them with comfort. His message was, "Thus says the Lord: You have sold yourself for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money!" (Isaiah 52:3).
Their conduct was dishonest, their sin was great, their situation was dreadful, their sufferings were extreme - and their deliverance was to be gratuitous. They were the authors of their own misery - and God alone would be the author of their deliverance. They suffered from their own sin - but they were to be delivered alone by His grace. Such is our condition; and, blessed be God - such is our mercy!
We have sold ourselves. Man was once free. He was holy. He was happy. No creature was more indulged in all God's universe. But he became dissatisfied with his lot. He listened to the tempter. He yielded to temptation. He got as far from God as he could. He surrendered himself into the hands of satan. He came under the power and authority of the prince of darkness, who took possession of him, ruled him, and reduced him to a state of the most abject slavery! Thus he forfeited his liberty, his peace, his possessions, and his all!
He was now a traitor - a rebel in arms against God. He sympathized with satan in his enmity to, and opposition against God. He sold himself, as far as he could, out of God's hands; and gave God's sworn foe the dominion over himself. It was his own act and deed. It was done willingly - for no coercion was employed. He did it knowingly - for he was not deceived. He did it, though warned against it, and threathened with terrible consequences if he did.
What he did - we as his posterity assented to. As soon as we were capable - we gave our consent to the bargain, and testified our approval of his conduct by imitating it as nearly as we could. We sold ourselves for nothing, for all we got for our bargain was vanity, falsehood, and suffering! O the folly we displayed! O the sin we committed! O the misery we entailed upon ourselves!
We sold ourselves - but to whom? satan was the purchaser. He presented bait - and we took it! He made the offer - and we accepted it! Thus we sold ourselves to the greatest tyrant, the most degraded being, the most hardened monster in the universe! By sin we subjected ourselves to him, and by sinning we continue under that subjection. God's justice had a claim upon us, and will not, cannot give up that claim - and therefore our purchaser is made both our jailor and our tormentor - and is employed by justice to inflict punishment upon us.
Sin not only gave satan power over us - but delivered us over to death. We are therefore separated from God, the fountain of life; deprived of all moral and spiritual power; and are exposed to all the horrors of banishment from God, and the vengeance of eternal fire! In selling ourselves - we lost the freedom of the will, which came under a sinful bias, and we were enthralled by evil, and reduced to bondage by satan. We parted with the purity and holiness of our nature - and became polluted and unclean. We gave up our rectitude and righteousness - and came under guilt and disgrace. Our conscience being defiled, turned against us; so that we became the slaves of fear and shame! Happiness and comfort - gave place to misery and woe! Health and strength - gave place to disease and weakness! And paradise, with all its beauty and blessedness - gave place to a waste-howling wilderness.
Thus we were degraded, rendered wretched, and exposed to all possible misery! Earth would have been turned into hell, and every one of us would have been tortured with black eternal despair - but for the mercy of God, who had thoughts of peace respecting us. The world, as bad as it is - is not what it would have been, if sin had been allowed to take its natural course. Man, suffer as he may - does not suffer as he would, if mercy had not interfered for him. We sold ourselves for nothing - but God determined that we should be redeemed.
The appointed Redeemer was His only begotten Son. He saw our state. He pitied our condition. He volunteered to effect our deliverance. In the covenant of grace it was arranged, that though He was God - He should become man. That though naturally incapable of suffering - he should be made capable of suffering, that by His sufferings, obedience, and death - He may give unto God a ransom for us. For if we were ever to be delivered - our sin must be atoned for, the demands of justice must be met, and the penalty of death must be paid. satan must be vanquished, death mjust be abolished, and a perfect righteousness, answerable to all the demands of the law, must be provided.
He is our Redeemer - the Lord Almighty, is His name. What love we owe Him! What obedience we should render to Him! What praise we should give Him! Beloved, are you trusting in His precious blood, and in His Almighty power, to complete your redemption?
If He has redeemed us from sin - He will deliver us from satan - and ransom us from the power of the grave. Having begun the work - He will complete it, and all His redeemed will ultimately unite in the song, "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
~James Smith~
(The End)
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Men Who Had Been With Jesus!
Men Who Had Been With Jesus!
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13)
There are men who seem to be so full of divine influence, that wherever they go they carry blessings. There is a strange power in their simplest words, which thrills every heart. There is a warm glow in their faces which seems like the outshining of a great altar fire, or a hot furnace of love in their bosoms. There is an unction in their prayers which takes hold of men's souls and lifts them up into the bosom of God. Their very presence brings a heavenly atmosphere. Their lives have a holy fragrance. And if you ask for the secret, you shall find it to be this: they have been with Jesus; they live with Him; they abide in Him; and wherever they go, they go right from His bosom.
These are the mighty ones of the earth. They live nearby the gates of Heaven, and when they come to us they bring their hands and their hearts full of rich blessings fresh from God. When a man comes in from outside on a cold, wintry day - he brings winter with him on his garments. When one comes from a flower garden into your chamber - he brings fragrance with him.
In the same way, when a man comes from communing with Jesus, "all his garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia." He walks in the garden of God - and comes with garments perfumed. Like the men who bore the Eshcol grapes from the vineyard-clad hills of Canaan - back into the wilderness he comes, laden with ripe clusters of the fruits, which, with his own hands, he has gathered upon the heavenly fields. He comes as a vessel, a vessel only of wood, or of clay, it may be - but a vessel fresh from the fountain, and full to the brim of the sweet waters of grace.
When they go out among the great needs and wants of human hearts - they go with their hands full of spiritual gifts. They live so near to the gates of Heaven that they catch the accents of the angels' songs, and then come and sing them in men's homes, to cheer the sad and weary of earth. They are on such intimate terms with Jesus, that He reveals to them many of the precious secrets of His love - and then they come and tell them to others who are burdened.
There is no power to be compared for a moment with spiritual power. Pompey boasted that with one stamp of his foot he could rouse all Italy to arms. But with all his power - he could not have comforted a mourner, nor dried a tear, nor lifted up a fainting one, nor led a lost soul to light. The achievements of physical power, will perish. The things that mighty men do, will pass away. The cities men build, will crumble. The thrones men raise, will topple and fall. But the things wrought by spiritual power, will endure forever.
They say that a word breathed into the air goes on and on forever, in infinite vibrations through the fields of space. This may be a mere vagary of the scientists - but certain it is, that good words once spoken will go on forever in human hearts. Songs sung into the ears of sorrow or care, will go singing on eternally. A touch of beauty on a human soul will never fade, nor be rubbed out. Joys started deep in men's hearts by spiritual truths, will never die. The things which are done in the name of Christ, and through the power of grace, will last forever. I would rather be the obscurest servant in all God's field - and have the spiritual ability to bless, to comfort, to heal, to cheer, to lift up, to feed, and to point souls to the Lamb of Calvary - than be the mightiest emperor on the globe, ruling over half a continent.
This power can be gained. God will give it to his lowliest servants - but it can be obtained only in one way. Wealth will not give it. The universities cannot confer it. Genius has it not among its treasures. It is not gotten in military academies. It is not one of the jewels of the king's crown.
It can only be had by being much with Jesus. Live with Him, commune with Him, sit at His feet, lie on His bosom, go out daily and hourly from His presence - and you will be clothed with spiritual power!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13)
There are men who seem to be so full of divine influence, that wherever they go they carry blessings. There is a strange power in their simplest words, which thrills every heart. There is a warm glow in their faces which seems like the outshining of a great altar fire, or a hot furnace of love in their bosoms. There is an unction in their prayers which takes hold of men's souls and lifts them up into the bosom of God. Their very presence brings a heavenly atmosphere. Their lives have a holy fragrance. And if you ask for the secret, you shall find it to be this: they have been with Jesus; they live with Him; they abide in Him; and wherever they go, they go right from His bosom.
These are the mighty ones of the earth. They live nearby the gates of Heaven, and when they come to us they bring their hands and their hearts full of rich blessings fresh from God. When a man comes in from outside on a cold, wintry day - he brings winter with him on his garments. When one comes from a flower garden into your chamber - he brings fragrance with him.
In the same way, when a man comes from communing with Jesus, "all his garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia." He walks in the garden of God - and comes with garments perfumed. Like the men who bore the Eshcol grapes from the vineyard-clad hills of Canaan - back into the wilderness he comes, laden with ripe clusters of the fruits, which, with his own hands, he has gathered upon the heavenly fields. He comes as a vessel, a vessel only of wood, or of clay, it may be - but a vessel fresh from the fountain, and full to the brim of the sweet waters of grace.
When they go out among the great needs and wants of human hearts - they go with their hands full of spiritual gifts. They live so near to the gates of Heaven that they catch the accents of the angels' songs, and then come and sing them in men's homes, to cheer the sad and weary of earth. They are on such intimate terms with Jesus, that He reveals to them many of the precious secrets of His love - and then they come and tell them to others who are burdened.
There is no power to be compared for a moment with spiritual power. Pompey boasted that with one stamp of his foot he could rouse all Italy to arms. But with all his power - he could not have comforted a mourner, nor dried a tear, nor lifted up a fainting one, nor led a lost soul to light. The achievements of physical power, will perish. The things that mighty men do, will pass away. The cities men build, will crumble. The thrones men raise, will topple and fall. But the things wrought by spiritual power, will endure forever.
They say that a word breathed into the air goes on and on forever, in infinite vibrations through the fields of space. This may be a mere vagary of the scientists - but certain it is, that good words once spoken will go on forever in human hearts. Songs sung into the ears of sorrow or care, will go singing on eternally. A touch of beauty on a human soul will never fade, nor be rubbed out. Joys started deep in men's hearts by spiritual truths, will never die. The things which are done in the name of Christ, and through the power of grace, will last forever. I would rather be the obscurest servant in all God's field - and have the spiritual ability to bless, to comfort, to heal, to cheer, to lift up, to feed, and to point souls to the Lamb of Calvary - than be the mightiest emperor on the globe, ruling over half a continent.
This power can be gained. God will give it to his lowliest servants - but it can be obtained only in one way. Wealth will not give it. The universities cannot confer it. Genius has it not among its treasures. It is not gotten in military academies. It is not one of the jewels of the king's crown.
It can only be had by being much with Jesus. Live with Him, commune with Him, sit at His feet, lie on His bosom, go out daily and hourly from His presence - and you will be clothed with spiritual power!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
Saturday, April 25, 2020
He Drank It Up - Every Drop!
He Drank It Up - Every Drop!
"Who can comprehend the power of Your wrath?" (Psalm 90:11)
Jesus Christ comprehends it, for He underwent it! His whole life was made up of suffering. From His birth to His death, from His cradle to the Cross, from the womb to the tomb - He was a man of sorrows!
Behold His bodily sufferings - the crown of thorns on His head, the smiting of His cheeks, the spitting on His face, the scourging of His body, the Cross on His back, the vinegar in His mouth, the nails in His hands and feet, the spear in His side, His crucifixion and death on the Cross - might well astonish us!
Behold the head, before which angels cast down themselves and worshiped - crowned with thorns!
Behold the eyes, which were purer than the sun - put out by the darkness of death!
Behold the ears which heard nothing but halleluiahs - hearing the blasphemies of the multitude!
Behold that lovely face - spit on by such beastly wretches!
Behold that mouth and tongue, which "spoke as never any man spoke" - accused of blasphemy!
Behold those hands, which freely swayed the scepter of heaven - nailed to the Cross!
Behold those feet, "like unto fine brass" - nailed to the Cross for man's sins!
Who can behold Christ thus suffering - and not be struck with astonishment?
1 Peter 3:18, "Christ has suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous." This is the wonderment of angels, the happiness of fallen man, and the torment of devils - that Christ has suffered. The doleful tragedy of His sufferings is unutterable!
The sufferings of Jesus Christ were very great and heinous. What agony, what torment was our Saviour racked with? "He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief!" (Isaiah 53:3). He knew more sorrows than any man, yes, than all men ever did! We never read that Jesus laughed at all, when He was in the world.
How deep were His wounds! How weighty His burden! How full of trembling His cup, when He lay under the mountains of the guilt of all the elect! How bitter were His tears! How dreadful His death!
Christ suffered in His birth, and He suffered in His life, and He suffered in His death. He began His life lowly and basely, and was sharpely persecuted. Who can compute how many vials of God's inexpressible, insupportable wrath, which Christ drank? Yet, He drank it up - every drop, leaving nothing behind for His redeemed people - but large draughts of love and salvation!
The death of Christ on the Cross was a bitter death, a sorrowful death, a bloody death. The bitter thoughts of His sufferings put Him into a most dreadful agony: "Being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was as great drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44).
Nothing could fasten Christ to the Cross - but the golden link of His free love! Oh, what a wonder of love is this - that Jesus Christ, who is the author of life, the fountain of life, the Lord of life - that He should so freely, so readily, so cheerfully lay down His life for us!
~Thomas Brooks~
(The End)
"Who can comprehend the power of Your wrath?" (Psalm 90:11)
Jesus Christ comprehends it, for He underwent it! His whole life was made up of suffering. From His birth to His death, from His cradle to the Cross, from the womb to the tomb - He was a man of sorrows!
Behold His bodily sufferings - the crown of thorns on His head, the smiting of His cheeks, the spitting on His face, the scourging of His body, the Cross on His back, the vinegar in His mouth, the nails in His hands and feet, the spear in His side, His crucifixion and death on the Cross - might well astonish us!
Behold the head, before which angels cast down themselves and worshiped - crowned with thorns!
Behold the eyes, which were purer than the sun - put out by the darkness of death!
Behold the ears which heard nothing but halleluiahs - hearing the blasphemies of the multitude!
Behold that lovely face - spit on by such beastly wretches!
Behold that mouth and tongue, which "spoke as never any man spoke" - accused of blasphemy!
Behold those hands, which freely swayed the scepter of heaven - nailed to the Cross!
Behold those feet, "like unto fine brass" - nailed to the Cross for man's sins!
Who can behold Christ thus suffering - and not be struck with astonishment?
1 Peter 3:18, "Christ has suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous." This is the wonderment of angels, the happiness of fallen man, and the torment of devils - that Christ has suffered. The doleful tragedy of His sufferings is unutterable!
The sufferings of Jesus Christ were very great and heinous. What agony, what torment was our Saviour racked with? "He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief!" (Isaiah 53:3). He knew more sorrows than any man, yes, than all men ever did! We never read that Jesus laughed at all, when He was in the world.
How deep were His wounds! How weighty His burden! How full of trembling His cup, when He lay under the mountains of the guilt of all the elect! How bitter were His tears! How dreadful His death!
Christ suffered in His birth, and He suffered in His life, and He suffered in His death. He began His life lowly and basely, and was sharpely persecuted. Who can compute how many vials of God's inexpressible, insupportable wrath, which Christ drank? Yet, He drank it up - every drop, leaving nothing behind for His redeemed people - but large draughts of love and salvation!
The death of Christ on the Cross was a bitter death, a sorrowful death, a bloody death. The bitter thoughts of His sufferings put Him into a most dreadful agony: "Being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was as great drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44).
Nothing could fasten Christ to the Cross - but the golden link of His free love! Oh, what a wonder of love is this - that Jesus Christ, who is the author of life, the fountain of life, the Lord of life - that He should so freely, so readily, so cheerfully lay down His life for us!
~Thomas Brooks~
(The End)
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Afflicted, tormented, And Destroyed!
Afflicted, Tormented, And Destroyed!
Let me give you a little abridgment of of the sufferings of some of the early Christians, "of whom the world was not worthy."
1. In the reign of Hadrian the emperor, there were ten thousand Christians crowned with a crown of thorns, thrust into the sides with sharp lances, and then crucified.
2. Others were so whipped, that their entrials were seen, and afterwards they were thrown upon sharp shells, and then upon sharp nails and thorns. And after all this cruelty, they were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured.
3. Multitudes were banished.
4. Others were pulled apart with wild horses.
5. Some were beaten and racked with bars of iron.
6. Others were cast into loathsome dungeons.
7. Some were burnt in the fire.
8. Others were knocked down and had their brains beaten out with staves and clubs.
9. Some were pricked in their faces and eyes with sharp reeds.
10. Others were stoned to death with stones, as Stephen was.
11. Some were dashed in pieces against millstones.
12. Others had their teeth dashed out of their jaws, and their joints broken.
13. Some were cast down from very high places.
14. Others were beheaded.
15. Some were tormented with razors.
16. Others were slain with the sword.
17. Some were run through with pikes.
18. Others were driven into the wilderness, where they wandered up and down, suffering hunger and cold, and where they were exposed to the fury both of wild beasts, and also to the rage of the barbarous Arabians.
19> Some fled into caves, which their persecutors cammed up with stones, and their they died.
20. Some were slain by being thrown in mines.
21. Others were hanged by the feet, and choked with the smoke of a small fire, their legs being first broken.
22. Lastly, many women had the joints of their bodies pulled from another, and their flesh and sides clawed with talons of wild beasts to the bones, and their breasts seared with torches until they died.
And thus you have an account of twenty-two different ways y which the precious sons and daughters of God have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and destroyed! What heart of stone can read over this list with dry eyes? And now tell me, sirs, whether your sufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the sufferings of the precious servants of God in the primitive times are spoken of? Oh, no! Well then, take heed of making molehills mountains, and of crying out, "Is there any sorrow compared to my sorrow; or any sufferings compared to my sufferings?"
~Thomas Brooks~
(The End)
Let me give you a little abridgment of of the sufferings of some of the early Christians, "of whom the world was not worthy."
1. In the reign of Hadrian the emperor, there were ten thousand Christians crowned with a crown of thorns, thrust into the sides with sharp lances, and then crucified.
2. Others were so whipped, that their entrials were seen, and afterwards they were thrown upon sharp shells, and then upon sharp nails and thorns. And after all this cruelty, they were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured.
3. Multitudes were banished.
4. Others were pulled apart with wild horses.
5. Some were beaten and racked with bars of iron.
6. Others were cast into loathsome dungeons.
7. Some were burnt in the fire.
8. Others were knocked down and had their brains beaten out with staves and clubs.
9. Some were pricked in their faces and eyes with sharp reeds.
10. Others were stoned to death with stones, as Stephen was.
11. Some were dashed in pieces against millstones.
12. Others had their teeth dashed out of their jaws, and their joints broken.
13. Some were cast down from very high places.
14. Others were beheaded.
15. Some were tormented with razors.
16. Others were slain with the sword.
17. Some were run through with pikes.
18. Others were driven into the wilderness, where they wandered up and down, suffering hunger and cold, and where they were exposed to the fury both of wild beasts, and also to the rage of the barbarous Arabians.
19> Some fled into caves, which their persecutors cammed up with stones, and their they died.
20. Some were slain by being thrown in mines.
21. Others were hanged by the feet, and choked with the smoke of a small fire, their legs being first broken.
22. Lastly, many women had the joints of their bodies pulled from another, and their flesh and sides clawed with talons of wild beasts to the bones, and their breasts seared with torches until they died.
And thus you have an account of twenty-two different ways y which the precious sons and daughters of God have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and destroyed! What heart of stone can read over this list with dry eyes? And now tell me, sirs, whether your sufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the sufferings of the precious servants of God in the primitive times are spoken of? Oh, no! Well then, take heed of making molehills mountains, and of crying out, "Is there any sorrow compared to my sorrow; or any sufferings compared to my sufferings?"
~Thomas Brooks~
(The End)
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Unreality In Religion # 2 (and others)
Unreality In Religion # 2 (and others)
Or take WORSHIP. Prayer is real. The skeptic may sneeringly ask, "Who is there to hear you when you kneel alone in the silence of your closet and speak your heart's requests - or when you bow in the public sanctuary with other worshipers?"
But we know that our Father indeed bends His ear to hear us whenever we pray in truth to Him. None of us doubt this. There is reality in prayer. But is our praying itself real?
The danger with all of us is that we fall into formalism - that we utter words of petition in which there is no true heart desire, no actual supplication. It may startle some of us if we question our own souls, after any season of private or public prayer - to have to confess in how small a part of it our whole being was absorbed and engrossed. When God listens while we pray - what does He hear?
An English preacher asks: "If at the close of any public service, if on rising from private prayer, the question were seriously put to us, in the heart; 'What have you done; what has been asked; what has been sought; what has been desired; what has been wished or felt in this act of devotion? What, therefore, in the supposition that God answers prayer, may you now expect as the result?' How often must the confession be, 'Nothing, nothing - my heart was not involved. The very object of our worship, God Himself, was to us an unreality; our conception of Him, our shaping and framing of the thought of Him, was even like that dumb idol of which Isaiah tells - a thing lifted into its place, and helplessly set there, speechless to its suppliant, and powerless to save."
There surely is something startling in this, if such words as these describe our experience. We need to give solemn heed to this whole subject. It is possible for us to go through forms of devotion regularly and decorously - and yet never really pray at all, our lips speaking words which are not born in one's hearts.
It is of vital importance that we seek to free our worship of all unreality. We should utter no word in our supplications before God, which is not laden with a deep and true desire from our heart of hearts. If we plead, "Nearer, my God, to You" - the holiest yearning of our soul should be in the cry. When we speak thanks in our worship, the pure incense of gratitude should be in the cry. When we speak thanks in our worship, the pure incense of gratitude should rise in the glad accents of our praising words. Whatever we say when we are on our bended knees before God in the act and attitude of prayer - should be the truest, realest utterance of our heart's desires. Unreality in praying, is irreverent mocking of God!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
____________________
(Octavius Winslow)
One fiery trial, sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, has done more to break up the crusted ground of the heart, to penetrate beneath the surface, to dissect, and winnow, and separate--than a lifetime of reading and hearing could have done.
Oh, what secret sins have been detected,
what carelessness of walk has been revealed,
what spiritual and unsuspected declension of soul has been discovered
--all leading to deep self-loathing, and to the laying the mouth in the dust before God!
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You!
Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5-6
_______________
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
Or take WORSHIP. Prayer is real. The skeptic may sneeringly ask, "Who is there to hear you when you kneel alone in the silence of your closet and speak your heart's requests - or when you bow in the public sanctuary with other worshipers?"
But we know that our Father indeed bends His ear to hear us whenever we pray in truth to Him. None of us doubt this. There is reality in prayer. But is our praying itself real?
The danger with all of us is that we fall into formalism - that we utter words of petition in which there is no true heart desire, no actual supplication. It may startle some of us if we question our own souls, after any season of private or public prayer - to have to confess in how small a part of it our whole being was absorbed and engrossed. When God listens while we pray - what does He hear?
An English preacher asks: "If at the close of any public service, if on rising from private prayer, the question were seriously put to us, in the heart; 'What have you done; what has been asked; what has been sought; what has been desired; what has been wished or felt in this act of devotion? What, therefore, in the supposition that God answers prayer, may you now expect as the result?' How often must the confession be, 'Nothing, nothing - my heart was not involved. The very object of our worship, God Himself, was to us an unreality; our conception of Him, our shaping and framing of the thought of Him, was even like that dumb idol of which Isaiah tells - a thing lifted into its place, and helplessly set there, speechless to its suppliant, and powerless to save."
There surely is something startling in this, if such words as these describe our experience. We need to give solemn heed to this whole subject. It is possible for us to go through forms of devotion regularly and decorously - and yet never really pray at all, our lips speaking words which are not born in one's hearts.
It is of vital importance that we seek to free our worship of all unreality. We should utter no word in our supplications before God, which is not laden with a deep and true desire from our heart of hearts. If we plead, "Nearer, my God, to You" - the holiest yearning of our soul should be in the cry. When we speak thanks in our worship, the pure incense of gratitude should be in the cry. When we speak thanks in our worship, the pure incense of gratitude should rise in the glad accents of our praising words. Whatever we say when we are on our bended knees before God in the act and attitude of prayer - should be the truest, realest utterance of our heart's desires. Unreality in praying, is irreverent mocking of God!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
____________________
(Octavius Winslow)
One fiery trial, sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, has done more to break up the crusted ground of the heart, to penetrate beneath the surface, to dissect, and winnow, and separate--than a lifetime of reading and hearing could have done.
Oh, what secret sins have been detected,
what carelessness of walk has been revealed,
what spiritual and unsuspected declension of soul has been discovered
--all leading to deep self-loathing, and to the laying the mouth in the dust before God!
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You!
Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5-6
_______________
A Divine Demonstration of Love
To better understand divine love, consider its opposite —false “love,” which sets limitations and always withholds something. This so-called love clings to control and gives only in order to manipulate. It is emotionally detached and unwilling to be vulnerable.
Genuine love, on the other hand, respects people as they are. It means understanding who the other person really is and loving without restriction. If you must be in control and your heart is not 100% in it, you’re missing true love.
Looking at the love of Jesus Christ on the cross, I see the most perfect demonstration of love anywhere. The Savior showed us how unlimited His love is: He gave His life for us and withheld nothing (Rom. 8:32)! He did not give His love to manipulate us but instead gave us free will to accept or reject Him. And He loved us with vulnerability, already knowing His love would be rejected—even ignored or mocked. In loving with His whole heart, Jesus was willing to be turned down.
If you’re ever unsure about what true love really looks like, turn to the cross. Jesus gave His best—His all—to love us so that we could become children of God (1 John 3:1).
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Unreality In Religion # 1
Unreality In Religion # 1
"Having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Tim. 3:5)
We are always in danger of making our religion and our religious exercises unreal. We are in danger of having only a creed - instead of a life; only forms of worship - instead of heart experiences of devotion. This danger arises from the spirituality of true religion. We cannot see the God whom we adore and worship. There is no one visible to our eyes when we pray. We cannot touch the things we are taught to believe in as alone true and eternal. All religious acts, are acts of faith.
It is very easy, therefore, to lose the reality from our acts of devotion, and to let God as a living fact fade out of our consciousness. Yet the result is a very sad one; practically, we are left without God. The forms and symbols remain. We repeat our creeds, we recite our commandments, we say our prayers - but our hearts are not warmed by love, the promises fail to support us and comfort us, and we are not strengthened for duty nor helped in struggles by our devotion.
Yet the realest things in this universe are the spiritual realities. God is real. Of course, we all believe this. We are not atheists. We have God in our creeds. We are entirely orthodox in our thoughts about the divine character and attributes. But is this God of our creeds, a reality to us in our personal life? Is he a father to us in our conscious experience? Do we enjoy real, living communion with Him? Are our lives properly affected by His realtion to us?
In the Scriptures God is represented as coming very close to man. He is a father, with all a father's care and thought. His interest extends to the most minute affairs of our daily lives. He hears our inmost prayers. He comes into our life as our closest friend. "O LORD, you have searched me and You know me. 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 139:1-4).
This is the GOD of the Bible. Is our God real to us in these ways? Is He as real as our father, mother, brother, nearest friend? Are we affected by God in our motives, feelings, words, acts> In temptation, does the thought of God restrain us from the evil? Does the love of God bind us to rectitude and purity and make sin a terrible sacrilege to us? In duty, do we get inspiration and strength from God? We do from our human friends; is God as real to us as they are? Do we get comfort in sorrow, a sense of security in time of danger, peace in our unrest, from our belief in God? When we come in penitence, weeping our bitter tears and pleading for pardon - is God's mercy a reality to us?
Or take the BIBLE. It is the inspired Word of God. We believe this. But are the words of this Book real to us? Many of them are divine promises. God promises us forgiveness if we come confessing and renouncing our sins. He promises us grace to help us in every time of need. He promises deliverance in temptation, comfort in sorrow. The pages of the Bible shine with these divine promies, as the heavens shine with their bright stars.
But are all these divine words realities to us? They have been to thousands of humble hearts. Men and women have taken these promises and have trusted them absolutely, venturing all upon them and have found them as real as God himself. In the hour of danger, they have turned to these sacred words spoken ages ago and treasured in this holy Book, and have found in them to be the strength of God himself.
In temptations they have drawn in their defense, these promises, and have found them polished shafts before which the enemy could not stand. In sorrow they have taken up these divine assurances, and they have proved to be heavenly lamps pouring their pure light upon the darkness. By thousands of beds of death, these words have been rod and staff to believers as they entered the valley of shadows.
But are the words of God real to us? Do they mean anything to us in those experiences of our lives in which sight and sense fail? Are they a stay and a strength and a light to us? Should we not ask ourselves such questions as these, and compel an answer? Should we not train ourselves to accept these words of God, to believe them implicitly, to let them guide and shape our lives, and to receive their revelations and assurances as eternal truths which can never fail those who build their hopes upon them?
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 2)
"Having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Tim. 3:5)
We are always in danger of making our religion and our religious exercises unreal. We are in danger of having only a creed - instead of a life; only forms of worship - instead of heart experiences of devotion. This danger arises from the spirituality of true religion. We cannot see the God whom we adore and worship. There is no one visible to our eyes when we pray. We cannot touch the things we are taught to believe in as alone true and eternal. All religious acts, are acts of faith.
It is very easy, therefore, to lose the reality from our acts of devotion, and to let God as a living fact fade out of our consciousness. Yet the result is a very sad one; practically, we are left without God. The forms and symbols remain. We repeat our creeds, we recite our commandments, we say our prayers - but our hearts are not warmed by love, the promises fail to support us and comfort us, and we are not strengthened for duty nor helped in struggles by our devotion.
Yet the realest things in this universe are the spiritual realities. God is real. Of course, we all believe this. We are not atheists. We have God in our creeds. We are entirely orthodox in our thoughts about the divine character and attributes. But is this God of our creeds, a reality to us in our personal life? Is he a father to us in our conscious experience? Do we enjoy real, living communion with Him? Are our lives properly affected by His realtion to us?
In the Scriptures God is represented as coming very close to man. He is a father, with all a father's care and thought. His interest extends to the most minute affairs of our daily lives. He hears our inmost prayers. He comes into our life as our closest friend. "O LORD, you have searched me and You know me. 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 139:1-4).
This is the GOD of the Bible. Is our God real to us in these ways? Is He as real as our father, mother, brother, nearest friend? Are we affected by God in our motives, feelings, words, acts> In temptation, does the thought of God restrain us from the evil? Does the love of God bind us to rectitude and purity and make sin a terrible sacrilege to us? In duty, do we get inspiration and strength from God? We do from our human friends; is God as real to us as they are? Do we get comfort in sorrow, a sense of security in time of danger, peace in our unrest, from our belief in God? When we come in penitence, weeping our bitter tears and pleading for pardon - is God's mercy a reality to us?
Or take the BIBLE. It is the inspired Word of God. We believe this. But are the words of this Book real to us? Many of them are divine promises. God promises us forgiveness if we come confessing and renouncing our sins. He promises us grace to help us in every time of need. He promises deliverance in temptation, comfort in sorrow. The pages of the Bible shine with these divine promies, as the heavens shine with their bright stars.
But are all these divine words realities to us? They have been to thousands of humble hearts. Men and women have taken these promises and have trusted them absolutely, venturing all upon them and have found them as real as God himself. In the hour of danger, they have turned to these sacred words spoken ages ago and treasured in this holy Book, and have found in them to be the strength of God himself.
In temptations they have drawn in their defense, these promises, and have found them polished shafts before which the enemy could not stand. In sorrow they have taken up these divine assurances, and they have proved to be heavenly lamps pouring their pure light upon the darkness. By thousands of beds of death, these words have been rod and staff to believers as they entered the valley of shadows.
But are the words of God real to us? Do they mean anything to us in those experiences of our lives in which sight and sense fail? Are they a stay and a strength and a light to us? Should we not ask ourselves such questions as these, and compel an answer? Should we not train ourselves to accept these words of God, to believe them implicitly, to let them guide and shape our lives, and to receive their revelations and assurances as eternal truths which can never fail those who build their hopes upon them?
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 2)
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