Here is the Conclusion of the Matter
"When I surveyed all that I had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve - everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun!" (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
"This world is passing away along with its desires!" (John 2:17).
"Whosoever drinks of this water - shall thirst again!" (John 4:13).
There is no delusion more prevalent, or more difficult to dissipate from the minds of men - than the imagined power which this world possesses to confer solid good or substantial enjoyment on its votaries. Their life is one unceasing struggle for some object or attainment which lies at a distance from them. They are fighting their way to an arduous eminence of wealth or of distinction - or running with eager desire after some station of imagined delight, or imagined repose - on this side of death.
And it is the part of Christian wisdom: to mark the contrast which exists between the activity of the pursuit in the ways of human ambition - and the utter vanity of the termination; to observe how, in the career of restless and aspiring man, he is ever experiencing that to be tasteless, on which, while beyond his reach - he had lavished his fondest and most devoted energies!
When we thus see that the life of man in the world is spent in vanity - and goes out in darkness - we may say of all the wayward children of humanity, "Surely man walks in a vain show, surely he vexes himself in vain!" (Psalm 39:6).
But these censures on that waste of strength and of exertion, which is incurred by the mere votaries of this world, are not applicable merely to the pursuits of general humanity - they are frequently no less applicable to the pursuits of professing Christians!
"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
~Thomas Chalmers~
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Monday, June 29, 2020
Other Men's Sins!
Other Men's Sins!
By other men's sins, a holy man is put in mind of the badness of his own heart.
Bernard makes mention of an old man, who, when he saw any man sin, lamented and wept for him. Being asked why he grieved so, for other men's sins, answered, "He fell today - and I may fall tomorrow!"
The falls of others puts a holy man in mind of the roots of sinfulness which are in himself. Other men's actual sins are as so many looking glasses, through which a holy man comes to see the manifold seeds of sin which are in his own heart - and such a sight as this cannot but humble him.
A holy heart knows that the best way to keep himself pure from other men's sins, is to mourn for other men's sins. He who makes conscience of weeping over other men's sins - will rarely be defiled with other men's sins.
A holy heart looks upon other men's sins as their bonds and chains - and this makes him mourn. Ah, how can tears but trickle down a Christian's cheeks, when he sees multitudes fast bound with the cords of their iniquity, trooping to hell? Who can look upon a lost sinner as a bound prisoner to the prince of darkness - and not bemoan him?
If holy people thus mourn for the wickedness of others, then certainly those who take pleasure in the wickedness of others - who laugh and joy, who can make a sport of other men's sins - are rather monsters than men! There are none so nearly allied to satan as these - nor any so resemble satan as much as these!
(The devil always joys most - when sinners sin most!) To applaud them, and take pleasure in those who take pleasure in sin - is the highest degree of ungodliness!
~Thomas Brooks~
By other men's sins, a holy man is put in mind of the badness of his own heart.
Bernard makes mention of an old man, who, when he saw any man sin, lamented and wept for him. Being asked why he grieved so, for other men's sins, answered, "He fell today - and I may fall tomorrow!"
The falls of others puts a holy man in mind of the roots of sinfulness which are in himself. Other men's actual sins are as so many looking glasses, through which a holy man comes to see the manifold seeds of sin which are in his own heart - and such a sight as this cannot but humble him.
A holy heart knows that the best way to keep himself pure from other men's sins, is to mourn for other men's sins. He who makes conscience of weeping over other men's sins - will rarely be defiled with other men's sins.
A holy heart looks upon other men's sins as their bonds and chains - and this makes him mourn. Ah, how can tears but trickle down a Christian's cheeks, when he sees multitudes fast bound with the cords of their iniquity, trooping to hell? Who can look upon a lost sinner as a bound prisoner to the prince of darkness - and not bemoan him?
If holy people thus mourn for the wickedness of others, then certainly those who take pleasure in the wickedness of others - who laugh and joy, who can make a sport of other men's sins - are rather monsters than men! There are none so nearly allied to satan as these - nor any so resemble satan as much as these!
(The devil always joys most - when sinners sin most!) To applaud them, and take pleasure in those who take pleasure in sin - is the highest degree of ungodliness!
~Thomas Brooks~
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Christian Fellowship
Christian Fellowship
The Lord's people are all one in Christ; and as such - they are near and dear to Him. They are also one with each other, being one body, influenced by one Spirit, walking by one written rule, and traveling along one consecrated way, to one eternal home!
What a mercy - to be one with Christ! What a mercy - to be one with the people of Christ! Building on the same foundation, encouraging the same hopes, and sharing the same privileges. As one with Christ and as one with each other - our sympathies should be deep and active, our love strong and fervent, and our fellowship sincere and abiding. As branches of the same vine, as stones in the same building, as members of the same body - our connection is close, and our fellowship should be profitable. This is variously represented and illustrated in God's holy Word; let us not pass over the representations without notice, or the illustrations without profit.
We are said to be fellow-citizens, forming part of the same commonwealth, entitles to the same blessings, and required to perform the same duties. We are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
We are fellow-servants in the same family, sitting at the same table, employed in the same service, and doing honor to the same master.
We are fellow-laborers, in the same vineyard, engaged for the same purpose, at the same pay, to aim at the same object.
We are fellow-soldiers, forming part of the same army, engaged in the same warfare, against the same foes.
We are fellow-sufferers, in the same cause, from the same sources, and in the same way.
We are fellow-helpers, and should assist each other in conflict, in toil, and in trouble.
We are fellow-heirs, being all of us heirs of God, and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are fellow-citizens - then let us dwell together in unity.
If we are fellow-labors - then let us encourage each other in our work.
If we are fellow-soldiers - then let us keep rank, and present a unified front to the foe.
If we are fellow-suffers - then let us sympathize with each other in our afflictions.
If we are fellow-helpers - then let us bear each other's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
If we are fellow-heirs - then let us rejoice together, as we are going to take possession of that same incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance, which is reserved in Heaven for us!
Let us have fellowship with each other, in all things spiritual and holy; and rejoice in the thought, that though we may differ in circumstances - we are one in essentials. Yes, being one with Christ - we are all one in Christ. We are members one of another, even as we are members of Christ. Blessed be God for our union to Christ - and fellowship with each other!
~James Smith~
The Lord's people are all one in Christ; and as such - they are near and dear to Him. They are also one with each other, being one body, influenced by one Spirit, walking by one written rule, and traveling along one consecrated way, to one eternal home!
What a mercy - to be one with Christ! What a mercy - to be one with the people of Christ! Building on the same foundation, encouraging the same hopes, and sharing the same privileges. As one with Christ and as one with each other - our sympathies should be deep and active, our love strong and fervent, and our fellowship sincere and abiding. As branches of the same vine, as stones in the same building, as members of the same body - our connection is close, and our fellowship should be profitable. This is variously represented and illustrated in God's holy Word; let us not pass over the representations without notice, or the illustrations without profit.
We are said to be fellow-citizens, forming part of the same commonwealth, entitles to the same blessings, and required to perform the same duties. We are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
We are fellow-servants in the same family, sitting at the same table, employed in the same service, and doing honor to the same master.
We are fellow-laborers, in the same vineyard, engaged for the same purpose, at the same pay, to aim at the same object.
We are fellow-soldiers, forming part of the same army, engaged in the same warfare, against the same foes.
We are fellow-sufferers, in the same cause, from the same sources, and in the same way.
We are fellow-helpers, and should assist each other in conflict, in toil, and in trouble.
We are fellow-heirs, being all of us heirs of God, and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are fellow-citizens - then let us dwell together in unity.
If we are fellow-labors - then let us encourage each other in our work.
If we are fellow-soldiers - then let us keep rank, and present a unified front to the foe.
If we are fellow-suffers - then let us sympathize with each other in our afflictions.
If we are fellow-helpers - then let us bear each other's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
If we are fellow-heirs - then let us rejoice together, as we are going to take possession of that same incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance, which is reserved in Heaven for us!
Let us have fellowship with each other, in all things spiritual and holy; and rejoice in the thought, that though we may differ in circumstances - we are one in essentials. Yes, being one with Christ - we are all one in Christ. We are members one of another, even as we are members of Christ. Blessed be God for our union to Christ - and fellowship with each other!
~James Smith~
Friday, June 26, 2020
It's True - I Do Love My Sins, My Lusts and Pleasures!
It's True - I Do Love My Sins, My Lusts and Pleasures!
Lost sinner, I beg you to consider the state of those who die outside of Christ Jesus. Yes, I say, consider their miserable state, and think thus with yourself: "What, shall I lose an eternal Heaven - for short pleasure?" Shall I buy the pleasures of this world at so dear a price - as to lose my soul to obtain them? What advantage will these be to me to lose my soul to obtain them? What advantage will these be to me - when the Lord shall separate soul and body asunder, and send one to the grave, and the other to hell; and at the judgment day, the final sentence of eternal ruin must be passed upon me?"
Consider, that the profits, pleasures, and vanities of this world will not last forever - but the time is coming, yes, just at the door, when they will give you the slip, and leave you in such a dreadful condition.
And therefore to prevent this, consider your dismal state, think thus with yourself. It is true - I do love my sins, my lusts and pleasures; but what good will they do me at the day of death and of judgment? Will my sins do me good then? Will they be able to help me when I come to fetch my least breath? What good will my money then do for me? And what good will my vanities then do, when death drags me away? What good will my companions, fellow-jesters, jeerers, liars, drunkards, and all my harlots do for me? Will they help to ease the pains of hell? Will these help to turn the hand of God from inflicting His fierce anger upon me? Nay, they will rather cause God to show me no mercy, to give me no comfort; and to thrust me down into the hottest place of hell, where I will swim in fire and brimstone!
O consider, that your doom is forever, forever! I is unto everladsting damnation, eternal destruction, eternal wrath and displeasure from God, eternal gnawings of conscience, eternal continuance with devils.
O consider, that just the thought of now seeing the devil, makes your hair to stand straight up on your head. O but this - to be damned, to dwell among all the devils, and that not only for a short time - but forever, to all eternity! This is so astonishingly miserable - that no tongue of man, no, nor of angels, is able to express it!
~John Bunyan~
Lost sinner, I beg you to consider the state of those who die outside of Christ Jesus. Yes, I say, consider their miserable state, and think thus with yourself: "What, shall I lose an eternal Heaven - for short pleasure?" Shall I buy the pleasures of this world at so dear a price - as to lose my soul to obtain them? What advantage will these be to me to lose my soul to obtain them? What advantage will these be to me - when the Lord shall separate soul and body asunder, and send one to the grave, and the other to hell; and at the judgment day, the final sentence of eternal ruin must be passed upon me?"
Consider, that the profits, pleasures, and vanities of this world will not last forever - but the time is coming, yes, just at the door, when they will give you the slip, and leave you in such a dreadful condition.
And therefore to prevent this, consider your dismal state, think thus with yourself. It is true - I do love my sins, my lusts and pleasures; but what good will they do me at the day of death and of judgment? Will my sins do me good then? Will they be able to help me when I come to fetch my least breath? What good will my money then do for me? And what good will my vanities then do, when death drags me away? What good will my companions, fellow-jesters, jeerers, liars, drunkards, and all my harlots do for me? Will they help to ease the pains of hell? Will these help to turn the hand of God from inflicting His fierce anger upon me? Nay, they will rather cause God to show me no mercy, to give me no comfort; and to thrust me down into the hottest place of hell, where I will swim in fire and brimstone!
O consider, that your doom is forever, forever! I is unto everladsting damnation, eternal destruction, eternal wrath and displeasure from God, eternal gnawings of conscience, eternal continuance with devils.
O consider, that just the thought of now seeing the devil, makes your hair to stand straight up on your head. O but this - to be damned, to dwell among all the devils, and that not only for a short time - but forever, to all eternity! This is so astonishingly miserable - that no tongue of man, no, nor of angels, is able to express it!
~John Bunyan~
Thursday, June 25, 2020
God's Work - and Man's Work
God's Work - and Man's Work
I sometimes meet with people who cannot, or will not, distinguish between God's work - and man's work. In the economy of grace there is both, God works in us - and we work out our own salvation. There are some things man cannot do - and there are some things that God will not do. Man cannot do God's work - and God will not do man's.
It is just so in nature: man cannot command the rain, the winds, or the sun; and God will not plow, fertilize, or sow the land. The latter is man's work, and he must do it, or have no crops. The former is God's work, and He does it faithfully. God will not dispense with man's efforts - and yet He will keep the man dependent. He holds him responsible - while He proves him weak.
Just so in grace: we can preach, teach, and pray - but we cannot command the blessing. God will neither dispense with our efforts - nor put the blessing in our power. He will be the agent - but He will have us be the instruments. Yet in general, He has so connected the blessing with the means - that if we use the one, we may expect the other; though He always leaves room for the exercise of His own sovereignty.
Not that we can labor in vain - if our motive is good, and the means we employ are scriptural; for if we do not accomplish the end upon which our heart may be set - we shall be sure to get a blessing for ourselves. "You know," said Paul, "that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." And again, "In due season you shall reap - if you faint not."
Let me then be always at work for God, either writing or speaking, or giving; remembering that it is as much my business to work, as if I could command success, and all rested upon me. And yet while I work, I will endeavor to realize, that Paul may plant and Apollos water - but God alone gives the increase.
Some will not work, except they can be agents - this is pride. Others will not work, but for wages - this is selfishness. But there are some who work from love, and consider themselves honored in being permitted to do anything for God.
Lord, I would work for You; I would not only work for you - but I would work from a right motive. I would be satisfied to be anything, the meanest instrument, that you may be the Almighty agent. I would be satisfied to do all I can - and then ascribe all the glory to You. Give me grace that I may plough up the fallow-ground, sow the good seed of the kingdom, and expect to reap thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold; and then enable me to pray, look up, and wait upon You for the blessing, saying with Paul, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it - but God made it grow! So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything - but only God, who makes things grow!" To God be glory, all the glory forever and ever. Amen
~James Smith~
I sometimes meet with people who cannot, or will not, distinguish between God's work - and man's work. In the economy of grace there is both, God works in us - and we work out our own salvation. There are some things man cannot do - and there are some things that God will not do. Man cannot do God's work - and God will not do man's.
It is just so in nature: man cannot command the rain, the winds, or the sun; and God will not plow, fertilize, or sow the land. The latter is man's work, and he must do it, or have no crops. The former is God's work, and He does it faithfully. God will not dispense with man's efforts - and yet He will keep the man dependent. He holds him responsible - while He proves him weak.
Just so in grace: we can preach, teach, and pray - but we cannot command the blessing. God will neither dispense with our efforts - nor put the blessing in our power. He will be the agent - but He will have us be the instruments. Yet in general, He has so connected the blessing with the means - that if we use the one, we may expect the other; though He always leaves room for the exercise of His own sovereignty.
Not that we can labor in vain - if our motive is good, and the means we employ are scriptural; for if we do not accomplish the end upon which our heart may be set - we shall be sure to get a blessing for ourselves. "You know," said Paul, "that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." And again, "In due season you shall reap - if you faint not."
Let me then be always at work for God, either writing or speaking, or giving; remembering that it is as much my business to work, as if I could command success, and all rested upon me. And yet while I work, I will endeavor to realize, that Paul may plant and Apollos water - but God alone gives the increase.
Some will not work, except they can be agents - this is pride. Others will not work, but for wages - this is selfishness. But there are some who work from love, and consider themselves honored in being permitted to do anything for God.
Lord, I would work for You; I would not only work for you - but I would work from a right motive. I would be satisfied to be anything, the meanest instrument, that you may be the Almighty agent. I would be satisfied to do all I can - and then ascribe all the glory to You. Give me grace that I may plough up the fallow-ground, sow the good seed of the kingdom, and expect to reap thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold; and then enable me to pray, look up, and wait upon You for the blessing, saying with Paul, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it - but God made it grow! So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything - but only God, who makes things grow!" To God be glory, all the glory forever and ever. Amen
~James Smith~
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Faithfulness In Littles
Faithfulness In Littles
"Catch the foxes - the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes!" (Song of Songs 2:15).
The little things of life are most important. Those who affect to despise the importance of little things, are in danger of becoming little people! Certainly no great man will ever do so. He will the rather prove his greatness by a hearty recognition of the truth of the wise saying, "He who despises little things, shall fall little by little."
The Great Teacher drew some of His most beautiful and important lessons from little things - such as little flowers, little birds, little dew drops, little children. He insisted on faithfulness in littles.
My friend, life is great because it is the aggregation of littles.
As the coral reefs which rear themselves high above the crawling sea beneath, are all made up of minute skeletons of microscopic animalcules; so life, mighty and solemn as having eternal consequences; life that hangs over the sea of eternity - is made up of these minute incidents of these trifling duties, of these small tasks. Only those who are faithful in the least are, or can be, faithful in the whole.
Little things make either the joy - or the sorrow, the success - or the ruin, the safety - or the danger, the grandeur - or the smallness - of human life.
Illustrations of this principle abound: Little neglects lead to great ruin, little precautions lead to great safety, little wastings make great losses, little savings make great gains, little troubles make us miserable, little virtues make us godly, little vices make us wicked.
Therefore, says inspired Wisdom, "Catch the foxes - the little foxes that spoil the vines," which is equivalent to saying, "I know you will keep out the more hateful and destructive full-grown foxes, by stopping up all the large holes in the vineyard fence. Your danger lies in overlooking the smaller gaps by which the little foxes may enter, and thus spoil your vines by robbing them of the tender grapes."
How forcibly may this advice be urged upon Christian people! They will be almost certain to secure their character against the intrusion of shameful vices, destructive sins, and great scandals. But are they always so careful to stop the smaller breaches in the fence of their Christian character against the little foxes, lesser sins, smaller vices, and trifling moral blemishes which, nevertheless, spoil the loveliness and nobility of their lives? Judging from observation and experience, I fear not.
~John Colwell~
"Catch the foxes - the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes!" (Song of Songs 2:15).
The little things of life are most important. Those who affect to despise the importance of little things, are in danger of becoming little people! Certainly no great man will ever do so. He will the rather prove his greatness by a hearty recognition of the truth of the wise saying, "He who despises little things, shall fall little by little."
The Great Teacher drew some of His most beautiful and important lessons from little things - such as little flowers, little birds, little dew drops, little children. He insisted on faithfulness in littles.
My friend, life is great because it is the aggregation of littles.
As the coral reefs which rear themselves high above the crawling sea beneath, are all made up of minute skeletons of microscopic animalcules; so life, mighty and solemn as having eternal consequences; life that hangs over the sea of eternity - is made up of these minute incidents of these trifling duties, of these small tasks. Only those who are faithful in the least are, or can be, faithful in the whole.
Little things make either the joy - or the sorrow, the success - or the ruin, the safety - or the danger, the grandeur - or the smallness - of human life.
Illustrations of this principle abound: Little neglects lead to great ruin, little precautions lead to great safety, little wastings make great losses, little savings make great gains, little troubles make us miserable, little virtues make us godly, little vices make us wicked.
Therefore, says inspired Wisdom, "Catch the foxes - the little foxes that spoil the vines," which is equivalent to saying, "I know you will keep out the more hateful and destructive full-grown foxes, by stopping up all the large holes in the vineyard fence. Your danger lies in overlooking the smaller gaps by which the little foxes may enter, and thus spoil your vines by robbing them of the tender grapes."
How forcibly may this advice be urged upon Christian people! They will be almost certain to secure their character against the intrusion of shameful vices, destructive sins, and great scandals. But are they always so careful to stop the smaller breaches in the fence of their Christian character against the little foxes, lesser sins, smaller vices, and trifling moral blemishes which, nevertheless, spoil the loveliness and nobility of their lives? Judging from observation and experience, I fear not.
~John Colwell~
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
What Amusements Are Lawful to People Who Wish to Live A Holy Life?
What Amusements Are Lawful to People Who Wish To Live A Holy Life?
What amusements are lawful to people who wish to live a holy life - is one of the questions by which many godly people are sorely perplexed. Many yield to the current customs of the times - but yield with hesitation, discomfort, and apprehension.
At first sight, some of the distinctions which have been drawn between amusements which are permitted, and amusements which are forbidden, appear to be altogether arbitrary. They seem to originate in no moral or spiritual principle. Why should card-playing stamp a man as "worldly" and chess be perfectly consistent with devoutness? Why should people take their children to a circus - who would be horrified at their going to a theater? The things allowed are so like the things forbidden, that the distinction which has been drawn between them will probably be pronounced by many people to be altogether irrational.
Many of the broad moral distinctions which evangelical Christians make between amusements which are very much alike, receive an easy explanation when we consider the very different accessories with which, either in our own days or in former days, they have been associated. There can be no more harm in playing with pieces of colored cardboard, than with pieces of carved ivory; but cards have been always associated with gambling, and chess has not.
The traditions of what is allowable, and what is forbidden, which have come down to us are explicable; and if we are people of sense, we shall ask whether the same circumstances which made certain amusements objectionable a hundred years ago, or fifty years ago - make them objectionable now.
Profanity, impurity, and cruelty are always evil - whether connected with our amusements or with common business and habits of life. Whatever tends to these things is evil too. If any recreation, however pleasant, involves a clear breach of moral laws - then it must be bad for all men and under all circumstances. Of if, though harmless in itself, immorality has become inseparably connected with it, every good man will avoid and condemn that particular amusement.
Prize fighting, cock-fighting, and bull-baiting are plainly barbaric sports. It is utterly disgusting that men should be able to find any pleasure in them; and the right feeling of society has made them all utterly disreputable.
But there are amusements which cannot be called immoral either in themselves or their accessories, about which a good man will have serious doubts.
The object of all recreation is to increase our capacity for work, to keep the bodily health strong, and the brain bright, and the temper kindly and sweet. If any recreation exhausts our strength instead of restoring it, or so absorbs our time as to interfere with the graver duties of life - then it must be condemned. Amusements are objectionable which interfere with regular and orderly habits of life, and which, instead of increasing health and vigor, produce weariness and exhaustion.
The common reason alleged for condemning certain amusements in which no moral evil can be shown to exist, is that they are "worldly." But there is no word in our language which is more abused than this, The sin of worldliness is a very grave one; but thousands and tens of thousands of people are guilty of it, who are most vigorous in maintaining the narrowest moral standards. One would imagine, from the habits of speech common in some sections of religious society, that worldliness has to do only with our pleasures, while in truth it has to do with the whole spirit and temper of our life.
To be "worldly" is to permit our transcendent relation to Jesus our Lord - to be overborne by inferior interests. There is a worldliness of the counting-house as fatal to the true health and energy of the soul - as the worldliness of the ballroom; and there are more people whose loyalty to Christ is ruined by covetousness than by love of pleasure.
There is a worldliness in the conduct of ecclesiastical affairs, quite as likely to extinguish the divine fire which should burn in the church - as the worldliness which reveals itself in the frivolity of those unhappy people whose existence is spent in one ceaseless round of gaiety.
Let no man think that he ceases to be worldly - ceases, that is, to belong to that darker and inferior region of life from which Christ came to deliver us - merely by abstaining from half a dozen of his old recreations. Not thus easily, is the great victory won which is possible only to a vigorous and invincible faith. Not thus artificial, are the boundaries between the heavenly commonwealth of which the Christian man is a citizen - and the kingdom of evil from which he has escaped.
~R. W. Dale~
What amusements are lawful to people who wish to live a holy life - is one of the questions by which many godly people are sorely perplexed. Many yield to the current customs of the times - but yield with hesitation, discomfort, and apprehension.
At first sight, some of the distinctions which have been drawn between amusements which are permitted, and amusements which are forbidden, appear to be altogether arbitrary. They seem to originate in no moral or spiritual principle. Why should card-playing stamp a man as "worldly" and chess be perfectly consistent with devoutness? Why should people take their children to a circus - who would be horrified at their going to a theater? The things allowed are so like the things forbidden, that the distinction which has been drawn between them will probably be pronounced by many people to be altogether irrational.
Many of the broad moral distinctions which evangelical Christians make between amusements which are very much alike, receive an easy explanation when we consider the very different accessories with which, either in our own days or in former days, they have been associated. There can be no more harm in playing with pieces of colored cardboard, than with pieces of carved ivory; but cards have been always associated with gambling, and chess has not.
The traditions of what is allowable, and what is forbidden, which have come down to us are explicable; and if we are people of sense, we shall ask whether the same circumstances which made certain amusements objectionable a hundred years ago, or fifty years ago - make them objectionable now.
Profanity, impurity, and cruelty are always evil - whether connected with our amusements or with common business and habits of life. Whatever tends to these things is evil too. If any recreation, however pleasant, involves a clear breach of moral laws - then it must be bad for all men and under all circumstances. Of if, though harmless in itself, immorality has become inseparably connected with it, every good man will avoid and condemn that particular amusement.
Prize fighting, cock-fighting, and bull-baiting are plainly barbaric sports. It is utterly disgusting that men should be able to find any pleasure in them; and the right feeling of society has made them all utterly disreputable.
But there are amusements which cannot be called immoral either in themselves or their accessories, about which a good man will have serious doubts.
The object of all recreation is to increase our capacity for work, to keep the bodily health strong, and the brain bright, and the temper kindly and sweet. If any recreation exhausts our strength instead of restoring it, or so absorbs our time as to interfere with the graver duties of life - then it must be condemned. Amusements are objectionable which interfere with regular and orderly habits of life, and which, instead of increasing health and vigor, produce weariness and exhaustion.
The common reason alleged for condemning certain amusements in which no moral evil can be shown to exist, is that they are "worldly." But there is no word in our language which is more abused than this, The sin of worldliness is a very grave one; but thousands and tens of thousands of people are guilty of it, who are most vigorous in maintaining the narrowest moral standards. One would imagine, from the habits of speech common in some sections of religious society, that worldliness has to do only with our pleasures, while in truth it has to do with the whole spirit and temper of our life.
To be "worldly" is to permit our transcendent relation to Jesus our Lord - to be overborne by inferior interests. There is a worldliness of the counting-house as fatal to the true health and energy of the soul - as the worldliness of the ballroom; and there are more people whose loyalty to Christ is ruined by covetousness than by love of pleasure.
There is a worldliness in the conduct of ecclesiastical affairs, quite as likely to extinguish the divine fire which should burn in the church - as the worldliness which reveals itself in the frivolity of those unhappy people whose existence is spent in one ceaseless round of gaiety.
Let no man think that he ceases to be worldly - ceases, that is, to belong to that darker and inferior region of life from which Christ came to deliver us - merely by abstaining from half a dozen of his old recreations. Not thus easily, is the great victory won which is possible only to a vigorous and invincible faith. Not thus artificial, are the boundaries between the heavenly commonwealth of which the Christian man is a citizen - and the kingdom of evil from which he has escaped.
~R. W. Dale~
Monday, June 22, 2020
The God of Popular Christianity!
The God of Popular Christianity!
"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth! Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and in Your hand is power and might!" (1 Chron. 29:11-12).
In these days of man-centered religion, verses like these have been ignored. The pulpits of our land preach a defeated God, a disappointed Christ and a defenseless Holy Spirit. Man has been deified - and God dethroned. God has been relegated to the background!
The God most people believe in his benevolent intentions, yet He is unable to carry them out. He wants to bless men, but they will not let Him. The average church-goer thinks satan has gained the upper hand, and that God is to be pitied rather than worshiped. The god of popular Christianity has a weak smile and a halo!
To suppose in the slightest that God has failed, or that He has been defeated, is the height of foolishness and the depth of impiety! The religious world needs to get God off the charity list!
The Bible knows nothing of a defeated, disappointed, and defenseless God! The God of the Bible is the "Almighty God" (Genesis 17:1). Who has all power in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 29:19). With Him nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) or too hard (Jeremiah 32:17). His eternal purpose is being worked out. Everything is going according to His plan, and all things are under His control.
The God of the Bible is the Supreme Being in the universe! He is the most High, higher than the highest. He has no superiors and no equals! God is God. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases!
"He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? What His soul desires, even that He does" (Job 23:13). Agreeing with this is Psalm 115:3: "But our God is in the heavens: He has done whatever He has pleased." As the Master of the World he declares: "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure!" (Isaiah 46:10).
God is the Supreme Being and the Sovereign of the universe. He exercises His power as He wills, when He wills, where He wills. "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth. No one can ward off His hand or say to Him: What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35).
God governs all His creatures and their actions. The events that take place on earth do not take place by chance, or fate, or luck. The so-called accidents are not even incidents with the Master of the World. He numbered the hairs of our head and noted the sparrow's fall in eternity past by His "determinate counsel and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23).
The Master of the World set the bounds of our habitation on earth. The number of our months is with Him, and our days are appointed!
God is holding the helm of the universe, and regulating all events. The Master of the World "works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11). It is God's eternal right to do all His pleasure. He is not accountable to any of His creatures, Job 33:13 declares: "He gives no account of any of His matters."
God controls all things - or nothing. He must either rule - or be ruled. He must either sway - or be swayed. He must either accomplish His will - or be thwarted by His creatures. He is not obligated to leave the affairs of this world to be governed by accident, chance, or the will of sinful men!
If we admit that God absolutely governs all things according to the counsel of His own will, then we admit that He has determined what shall and what shall not transpire in time and eternity. To deny His universal control of all things, is to deny His eternal power and Godhead. If He has the power and wisdom to determine all events - then He can cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
~Milburn Cockrell~
"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth! Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and in Your hand is power and might!" (1 Chron. 29:11-12).
In these days of man-centered religion, verses like these have been ignored. The pulpits of our land preach a defeated God, a disappointed Christ and a defenseless Holy Spirit. Man has been deified - and God dethroned. God has been relegated to the background!
The God most people believe in his benevolent intentions, yet He is unable to carry them out. He wants to bless men, but they will not let Him. The average church-goer thinks satan has gained the upper hand, and that God is to be pitied rather than worshiped. The god of popular Christianity has a weak smile and a halo!
To suppose in the slightest that God has failed, or that He has been defeated, is the height of foolishness and the depth of impiety! The religious world needs to get God off the charity list!
The Bible knows nothing of a defeated, disappointed, and defenseless God! The God of the Bible is the "Almighty God" (Genesis 17:1). Who has all power in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 29:19). With Him nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) or too hard (Jeremiah 32:17). His eternal purpose is being worked out. Everything is going according to His plan, and all things are under His control.
The God of the Bible is the Supreme Being in the universe! He is the most High, higher than the highest. He has no superiors and no equals! God is God. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases!
"He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? What His soul desires, even that He does" (Job 23:13). Agreeing with this is Psalm 115:3: "But our God is in the heavens: He has done whatever He has pleased." As the Master of the World he declares: "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure!" (Isaiah 46:10).
God is the Supreme Being and the Sovereign of the universe. He exercises His power as He wills, when He wills, where He wills. "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth. No one can ward off His hand or say to Him: What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35).
God governs all His creatures and their actions. The events that take place on earth do not take place by chance, or fate, or luck. The so-called accidents are not even incidents with the Master of the World. He numbered the hairs of our head and noted the sparrow's fall in eternity past by His "determinate counsel and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23).
The Master of the World set the bounds of our habitation on earth. The number of our months is with Him, and our days are appointed!
God is holding the helm of the universe, and regulating all events. The Master of the World "works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11). It is God's eternal right to do all His pleasure. He is not accountable to any of His creatures, Job 33:13 declares: "He gives no account of any of His matters."
God controls all things - or nothing. He must either rule - or be ruled. He must either sway - or be swayed. He must either accomplish His will - or be thwarted by His creatures. He is not obligated to leave the affairs of this world to be governed by accident, chance, or the will of sinful men!
If we admit that God absolutely governs all things according to the counsel of His own will, then we admit that He has determined what shall and what shall not transpire in time and eternity. To deny His universal control of all things, is to deny His eternal power and Godhead. If He has the power and wisdom to determine all events - then He can cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
~Milburn Cockrell~
Sunday, June 21, 2020
The Pouring Forth Of All His Wrath!
The Pouring Forth Of All His Wrath!
"I will sing of all Your love and justice" (Psalm 101:1).
Mercy is God's Alpha - justice is His Omega.
When God's mercy is despised - then His justice takes the throne!
God is the prince, who first hangs out the white flag of mercy; if this wins men - they are happy forever! But if they remain rebellious, then God will put forth His red flag of justice and judgment.
If His mercy shall be despised - His justice shall be felt!
God is as just - as He is merciful. As the Scriptures portray Him to be a very merciful God - so they portray Him to be a very just God.
Witness His casting the angels out of heaven and His binding them in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day!
Witness His turning Adam out of Paradise.
Witness His drowning of the old world.
Witness His raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom.
Witness all the troubles, losses, sicknesses, and diseases, which are in the world.
Witness His treasuring up of wrath against the day of wrath.
But above all, witness the pouring forth of all His wrath upon His bosom Son, when Jesus bore the sins of His people,and cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!"
As I know not the man who can reckon up his mercies; so I know not the man who can sum up the miseries which are coming upon him for his sins.
God is slow to anger - but He recompenses His slowness with grievousness of punishment. If we abuse His mercy to serve our lust - then He will rain hell out of heaven, rather than not visit for such sins.
Men shall be deeper in hell, because heaven was offered to them - and they abused God's mercy. Sins against God's mercy, will bring upon the soul the greatest misery!
~Thomas Brooks~
"I will sing of all Your love and justice" (Psalm 101:1).
Mercy is God's Alpha - justice is His Omega.
When God's mercy is despised - then His justice takes the throne!
God is the prince, who first hangs out the white flag of mercy; if this wins men - they are happy forever! But if they remain rebellious, then God will put forth His red flag of justice and judgment.
If His mercy shall be despised - His justice shall be felt!
God is as just - as He is merciful. As the Scriptures portray Him to be a very merciful God - so they portray Him to be a very just God.
Witness His casting the angels out of heaven and His binding them in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day!
Witness His turning Adam out of Paradise.
Witness His drowning of the old world.
Witness His raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom.
Witness all the troubles, losses, sicknesses, and diseases, which are in the world.
Witness His treasuring up of wrath against the day of wrath.
But above all, witness the pouring forth of all His wrath upon His bosom Son, when Jesus bore the sins of His people,and cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!"
As I know not the man who can reckon up his mercies; so I know not the man who can sum up the miseries which are coming upon him for his sins.
God is slow to anger - but He recompenses His slowness with grievousness of punishment. If we abuse His mercy to serve our lust - then He will rain hell out of heaven, rather than not visit for such sins.
Men shall be deeper in hell, because heaven was offered to them - and they abused God's mercy. Sins against God's mercy, will bring upon the soul the greatest misery!
~Thomas Brooks~
Friday, June 19, 2020
A Murmuring Spirit
A Murmuring Spirit
"Why have You, brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness? There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!" (Numbers 21:5).
"How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who murmur against Me?" (Numbers 14:27).
I am discontented because I have not those things which God has never promised me.
A wicked man wonders that his cross is so much. A godly man wonders that his cross is not more.
The wicked man knows of no way to get contentment, but to have his possessions raised up to his desires.
But the Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions, and so he attains his contentment.
The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have.
Here lies the bottom and root of all contentment - when there is an evenness and proportion between our hearts and our circumstances. That is why many godly men who are in low position, live more sweet and comfortable lives than those who are richer.
Grace enables believers to see love in the very frown of God's face!
One drop of Divine sweetness will sweeten a great deal of sour affliction.
A thankful heart loves to acknowledge God whenever it has received any mercy!
Oh, that we could but convince men that a murmuring spirit is a greater evil then any affliction, whatever the affliction!
"Do not murmur, as some of them did - and were killed by the destroying angel" (1 Corinthians 10:10).
~Jeremiah Burroughs~
"Why have You, brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness? There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!" (Numbers 21:5).
"How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who murmur against Me?" (Numbers 14:27).
I am discontented because I have not those things which God has never promised me.
A wicked man wonders that his cross is so much. A godly man wonders that his cross is not more.
The wicked man knows of no way to get contentment, but to have his possessions raised up to his desires.
But the Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions, and so he attains his contentment.
The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have.
Here lies the bottom and root of all contentment - when there is an evenness and proportion between our hearts and our circumstances. That is why many godly men who are in low position, live more sweet and comfortable lives than those who are richer.
Grace enables believers to see love in the very frown of God's face!
One drop of Divine sweetness will sweeten a great deal of sour affliction.
A thankful heart loves to acknowledge God whenever it has received any mercy!
Oh, that we could but convince men that a murmuring spirit is a greater evil then any affliction, whatever the affliction!
"Do not murmur, as some of them did - and were killed by the destroying angel" (1 Corinthians 10:10).
~Jeremiah Burroughs~
Thursday, June 18, 2020
What Kind of Bodies Will They Have?
What Kind of Bodies Will They Have?
"But someone may ask; "How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?"
Many other questions, of deepest interest to the thoughtful mind, we might ask - but cannot answer.
What precisely shall be the new conditions, capacities, abilities of our immortal body?
In what respect shall it be the same - and in what respect unlike, our present earthly state?
What new avenues of knowledge shall we possess? What new organs of perception? What new spheres of activity? What new springs of enjoyment?
Shall there be music, poetry, art, science, deepening research, and advancing knowledge of the works and ways of God in Heaven - even as here on earth?
Where shall the final dwelling-place of the redeemed be? Shall they be confined, as now, to one exclusive spot - to one single orb in the immensity of God's universe? Or shall they rather roam at large through all its wide domains - and tread freely and unrestrained, through all the streets of the fathomless city of God?
Shall we still, then as now - only scan from afar, the course of the distant planetary orbs? Or shall we be permitted to visit them, and know all about them, and be at home in them - as in so many chambers of the Father's majestic house?
In what form or stage of their development shall the bodies of the blessed arise - as in youth, or in manhood, or in ripe old age?
Shall the child of this world - be still a child in Heaven; or shall the child expand all at once in the wondrous transfiguration moment, into the fullness of its stature and perfection of its powers? Shall the old man be still an old man forever; or shall he be brought back to the freshness and strength of his manly prime? Shall we, in short, appear thus - just as we were when death took us - and not rather as we were or might have beern, at our best?
Shall the great Architect of Heaven, create the true and perfect ideal of the life of His saints - or the restoration only, though in a glorified state, of their actual form here below?
We cannot tell the answer to any of these inquires. "Now we are childen of God; and what we will be, has not yet been made known!" (1 John 3:2).
It is enough that God knows - and that He plans and does all things well.
It is enough that however high our conception of the unseen world, and however sublime our aspirations in regard to it - it will still be something far higher and grander than we could ever dream!
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined - what God has prepared for those who love Him!"
It is enough, that there shall be a new Heaven, and a new earth, and that we shall be made perfectly fit to possess and to enjoy it!
And above all, it is enough that Christ Himself shall be there, and that we shall be with Him, and "that we will be like Him - for we will see Him as He really is!"
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable - it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor - it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness - it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body - it is raised a spiritual body!" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
Here, then, we must pause. With this glimpse of the glory to be revealed - grand, but incomplete - we must rest satisfied!
~Islay Burns~
"But someone may ask; "How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?"
Many other questions, of deepest interest to the thoughtful mind, we might ask - but cannot answer.
What precisely shall be the new conditions, capacities, abilities of our immortal body?
In what respect shall it be the same - and in what respect unlike, our present earthly state?
What new avenues of knowledge shall we possess? What new organs of perception? What new spheres of activity? What new springs of enjoyment?
Shall there be music, poetry, art, science, deepening research, and advancing knowledge of the works and ways of God in Heaven - even as here on earth?
Where shall the final dwelling-place of the redeemed be? Shall they be confined, as now, to one exclusive spot - to one single orb in the immensity of God's universe? Or shall they rather roam at large through all its wide domains - and tread freely and unrestrained, through all the streets of the fathomless city of God?
Shall we still, then as now - only scan from afar, the course of the distant planetary orbs? Or shall we be permitted to visit them, and know all about them, and be at home in them - as in so many chambers of the Father's majestic house?
In what form or stage of their development shall the bodies of the blessed arise - as in youth, or in manhood, or in ripe old age?
Shall the child of this world - be still a child in Heaven; or shall the child expand all at once in the wondrous transfiguration moment, into the fullness of its stature and perfection of its powers? Shall the old man be still an old man forever; or shall he be brought back to the freshness and strength of his manly prime? Shall we, in short, appear thus - just as we were when death took us - and not rather as we were or might have beern, at our best?
Shall the great Architect of Heaven, create the true and perfect ideal of the life of His saints - or the restoration only, though in a glorified state, of their actual form here below?
We cannot tell the answer to any of these inquires. "Now we are childen of God; and what we will be, has not yet been made known!" (1 John 3:2).
It is enough that God knows - and that He plans and does all things well.
It is enough that however high our conception of the unseen world, and however sublime our aspirations in regard to it - it will still be something far higher and grander than we could ever dream!
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined - what God has prepared for those who love Him!"
It is enough, that there shall be a new Heaven, and a new earth, and that we shall be made perfectly fit to possess and to enjoy it!
And above all, it is enough that Christ Himself shall be there, and that we shall be with Him, and "that we will be like Him - for we will see Him as He really is!"
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable - it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor - it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness - it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body - it is raised a spiritual body!" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
Here, then, we must pause. With this glimpse of the glory to be revealed - grand, but incomplete - we must rest satisfied!
~Islay Burns~
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
God's Love-letter
God's Love-letter
The Scripture is God's love-letter to men. Here the lamb may wade - and here the elephant may swim!
The blessed Scriptures are of infinite worth and value! Here you may find a remedy for every disease, balm for every wound, a plaster for every sore, milk for babes, meat for strong men, comfort for the afflicted, support for the tempted, solace for the distressed, ease for the wearied, a staff to support the feeble, a sword to defend the weak.
The holy Scriptures are the map of God's mercy - and man's misery, the touchstone of truth, the shop of remedies against all maladies, the hammer of vices, the treasury of virtues, the exposer of all sensual and worldly vanities, the balance of equity, the most perfect rule of all justice and honesty.
Ah, friends, no book befits your hands like the Bible!
The Bible is the best preacher. This book, this preacher will preach to you in your shops, in your chambers, in your closets, yes, in your own bosom! This book will preach to you at home and abroad, it will preach to you in all companies; and it will preach to you in all conditions.
By this book you shall be saved - or by this book you shall be damned! By this book you must live. By this book you must die. By this book you shall be judged in the great day!
Oh, therefore, love this book above all other books, prize this book above all other books, read this book before all other books, study this book more than all other books! For he who reads much - and understands nothing, is like him who hunts much - and catches nothing.
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long!" (Psalm 119:97).
~Thomas Brooks~
The Scripture is God's love-letter to men. Here the lamb may wade - and here the elephant may swim!
The blessed Scriptures are of infinite worth and value! Here you may find a remedy for every disease, balm for every wound, a plaster for every sore, milk for babes, meat for strong men, comfort for the afflicted, support for the tempted, solace for the distressed, ease for the wearied, a staff to support the feeble, a sword to defend the weak.
The holy Scriptures are the map of God's mercy - and man's misery, the touchstone of truth, the shop of remedies against all maladies, the hammer of vices, the treasury of virtues, the exposer of all sensual and worldly vanities, the balance of equity, the most perfect rule of all justice and honesty.
Ah, friends, no book befits your hands like the Bible!
The Bible is the best preacher. This book, this preacher will preach to you in your shops, in your chambers, in your closets, yes, in your own bosom! This book will preach to you at home and abroad, it will preach to you in all companies; and it will preach to you in all conditions.
By this book you shall be saved - or by this book you shall be damned! By this book you must live. By this book you must die. By this book you shall be judged in the great day!
Oh, therefore, love this book above all other books, prize this book above all other books, read this book before all other books, study this book more than all other books! For he who reads much - and understands nothing, is like him who hunts much - and catches nothing.
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long!" (Psalm 119:97).
~Thomas Brooks~
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
The Fool's Bauble, the Fool's Fiddle!
The Fool's Bauble, the Fool's Fiddle!
"The wicked freely strut about, when what is vile is honored among men" (Psalm 12:8).
"Their souls delight in their abominations" (Isaiah 66:3).
"They love to indulge in evil pleasures" (2 Peter 2:13).
Proverbs 10:23, "A fool find pleasure in evil conduct." Evil conduct is the fool's bauble, the fool's fiddle." Fools take great delight and pleasure in doing evil. Sin and wickedness are a sport or recreation to a fool. It is a great pleasure and merriment to a fool - to do wickedness.
Proverbs 14:9, "Fools make a mock of sin" "They make a jeer of sin - which they should fear more than hell itself, a sport of sin - which will prove a matter of damnation to them, a pastime, a game of sin - which will make them miserable to all eternity, a mock of sin on earth - for which the devil will mock and flout them forever in hell.
Justice will at last turn over such fools to satan, who will be sure to return mock for mock, jeer for jeer, and flout for flout. Those who love such kind of pastimes, shall have enough of it in hell.
All unbelievers are such fools - for they delight and take pleasure in sin, which is the most corrupting and dangerous thing in the world. "And so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:12).
Well, sirs! Sin is the poison of the soul, the curse of the soul, the disease of the soul, the burden of the soul! And if God in mercy does not prevent it - sin will prove the eternal bane of the soul.
Oh, then, how great is their folly, who delight in sin, and who make a sport of it!
~Thomas Brooks~
"The wicked freely strut about, when what is vile is honored among men" (Psalm 12:8).
"Their souls delight in their abominations" (Isaiah 66:3).
"They love to indulge in evil pleasures" (2 Peter 2:13).
Proverbs 10:23, "A fool find pleasure in evil conduct." Evil conduct is the fool's bauble, the fool's fiddle." Fools take great delight and pleasure in doing evil. Sin and wickedness are a sport or recreation to a fool. It is a great pleasure and merriment to a fool - to do wickedness.
Proverbs 14:9, "Fools make a mock of sin" "They make a jeer of sin - which they should fear more than hell itself, a sport of sin - which will prove a matter of damnation to them, a pastime, a game of sin - which will make them miserable to all eternity, a mock of sin on earth - for which the devil will mock and flout them forever in hell.
Justice will at last turn over such fools to satan, who will be sure to return mock for mock, jeer for jeer, and flout for flout. Those who love such kind of pastimes, shall have enough of it in hell.
All unbelievers are such fools - for they delight and take pleasure in sin, which is the most corrupting and dangerous thing in the world. "And so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:12).
Well, sirs! Sin is the poison of the soul, the curse of the soul, the disease of the soul, the burden of the soul! And if God in mercy does not prevent it - sin will prove the eternal bane of the soul.
Oh, then, how great is their folly, who delight in sin, and who make a sport of it!
~Thomas Brooks~
Monday, June 15, 2020
You Have Been Long A-gathering Rust!
You Have Been Long A-gathering Rust!
"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the one who has done this!" (Psalm 39:9).
Oh! but my afflictions are greater than other men's afflictions are! Oh! there is no affliction like my affliction! How can I not murmur?
It may be that your sins are greater than other men's sins. If you have sinned against more light, more love, more mercies, more promises, than others - then it is no wonder if your afflictions are greater than others! If this is your case, then you have more cause to be mute than to murmur!
It may be that the Lord sees that it is very needful that your afflictions should be greater than others. It may be that your heart is harder and stouter than other men's hearts, or prouder than other men's hearts, or more impure than other men's hearts, or more carnal than other men's hearts, or more selfish and worldly than other men's hearts, or more deceitful and hypocritical than other men's hearts, or more cold and careless than other men's hearts, or more formal and lukewarm than other men's hearts.
Now, if this is your case, certainly God sees it very necessary, for the breaking of your hard heart, and the humbling of your proud heart, and the cleansing of your foul heart, and the spiritualizing of your carnal heart, that your afflictions should be greater than others; and therefore do not murmur!
Where the disease is strong, the remedy must be strong - or else the cure will never be wrought! God is a wise physician, and He would never give strong medicine - if a weaker one could effect the cure!
The more rusty the nail is, the oftener we put it into the fire to purify it; and the more crooked it is, the more blows and the harder blows we give to straighten it.
You have been long a-gathering rust! Therefore, if God deal thus with you, you have no cause to complain.
"For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:6).
~Thomas Brooks~
"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the one who has done this!" (Psalm 39:9).
Oh! but my afflictions are greater than other men's afflictions are! Oh! there is no affliction like my affliction! How can I not murmur?
It may be that your sins are greater than other men's sins. If you have sinned against more light, more love, more mercies, more promises, than others - then it is no wonder if your afflictions are greater than others! If this is your case, then you have more cause to be mute than to murmur!
It may be that the Lord sees that it is very needful that your afflictions should be greater than others. It may be that your heart is harder and stouter than other men's hearts, or prouder than other men's hearts, or more impure than other men's hearts, or more carnal than other men's hearts, or more selfish and worldly than other men's hearts, or more deceitful and hypocritical than other men's hearts, or more cold and careless than other men's hearts, or more formal and lukewarm than other men's hearts.
Now, if this is your case, certainly God sees it very necessary, for the breaking of your hard heart, and the humbling of your proud heart, and the cleansing of your foul heart, and the spiritualizing of your carnal heart, that your afflictions should be greater than others; and therefore do not murmur!
Where the disease is strong, the remedy must be strong - or else the cure will never be wrought! God is a wise physician, and He would never give strong medicine - if a weaker one could effect the cure!
The more rusty the nail is, the oftener we put it into the fire to purify it; and the more crooked it is, the more blows and the harder blows we give to straighten it.
You have been long a-gathering rust! Therefore, if God deal thus with you, you have no cause to complain.
"For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:6).
~Thomas Brooks~
Sunday, June 14, 2020
God's Perfect Wisdom In The Management of Our Affairs!
God's Perfect Wisdom in The Management of Our Affairs!
"The Lord reigns!" (Psalm 97:1).
The Bible lays a solid ground for our comfort, when it assures us that all things are under the government of God. He superintends the affairs of this world, both as the provident parent and as the moral governor of His creatures.
The Bible declares that God created them, and that whatever beings He designed to create - He does not disdain to care for. It assures us that no being is so great as to be exempt from His control - and none are so little as to be beneath His regard. And, in like manner, that His eye is directed to every event which may befall any one of His creatures no event being either so momentous, or so insignificant - as to be beyond His management, or unworthy of His notice. The sparrow which falls to the earth - is not less an object of His regard than the seraph that stands before His throne!
That all His creatures in this world, and all the events of human life, of whatever kind they may be - are under God's regulation and control - is, of itself, fitted to banish that feeling of uncertainty and hopelessness which the aspect of events might otherwise awaken. And how important to know that nothing happens by chance, that everything is ordained and appointed according to certain divine principles which are fixed and stable, and that these principles will continue to be developed, until the grand end of God's governent shall have been attained!
But, however important this information may be, it could ill suffice to cheer the heart amidst its sorrows, or to inspire that living hope which alone can bear us up under their heavy pressure - were we not further assured, that the government under which we live is conducted by a God of infinite intelligence and wisdom; a being who cannot err - one who knows the end from the beginning; and is alike incapable of choosing an improper end, or of employing unsuitable means for its attainment.
A persuasion of God's perfect wisdom in the management of our affairs is the more needful, in proportion as we feel our own helplessness, and are taught, by disappointments and trials - that our affairs are too high and too great to be managed by ourselves. And when assured of this precious truth, we shall the more readily submit to all God's appointments - satisfied, that although we know not of plan of operations - yet it is known and approved of by One whose wisdom is the best guarantee of the universe.
And thus, too, will the idea of blind fate be excluded, not less than the idea of chance.
Still the heart desires something more. It is not enough that the world is neither left to the random vicissitudes of change - nor governed by a blind and inexorable fate. It is not enough for our comfort to know that a God of infinite intelligence presides over its affairs, and that its laws are the emanations of His unerring wisdom. Great and glorious as these discoveries are, the heart longs to know the character, not less than the wisdom of that Almighty Being - and to be made acquainted, if not with His sercet purposes, at least with the nature of His moral perfections, and His dispositions towards ourselves. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" (Romans 5:8).
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" (Revelation 19:6)
~James Buchanan~
"The Lord reigns!" (Psalm 97:1).
The Bible lays a solid ground for our comfort, when it assures us that all things are under the government of God. He superintends the affairs of this world, both as the provident parent and as the moral governor of His creatures.
The Bible declares that God created them, and that whatever beings He designed to create - He does not disdain to care for. It assures us that no being is so great as to be exempt from His control - and none are so little as to be beneath His regard. And, in like manner, that His eye is directed to every event which may befall any one of His creatures no event being either so momentous, or so insignificant - as to be beyond His management, or unworthy of His notice. The sparrow which falls to the earth - is not less an object of His regard than the seraph that stands before His throne!
That all His creatures in this world, and all the events of human life, of whatever kind they may be - are under God's regulation and control - is, of itself, fitted to banish that feeling of uncertainty and hopelessness which the aspect of events might otherwise awaken. And how important to know that nothing happens by chance, that everything is ordained and appointed according to certain divine principles which are fixed and stable, and that these principles will continue to be developed, until the grand end of God's governent shall have been attained!
But, however important this information may be, it could ill suffice to cheer the heart amidst its sorrows, or to inspire that living hope which alone can bear us up under their heavy pressure - were we not further assured, that the government under which we live is conducted by a God of infinite intelligence and wisdom; a being who cannot err - one who knows the end from the beginning; and is alike incapable of choosing an improper end, or of employing unsuitable means for its attainment.
A persuasion of God's perfect wisdom in the management of our affairs is the more needful, in proportion as we feel our own helplessness, and are taught, by disappointments and trials - that our affairs are too high and too great to be managed by ourselves. And when assured of this precious truth, we shall the more readily submit to all God's appointments - satisfied, that although we know not of plan of operations - yet it is known and approved of by One whose wisdom is the best guarantee of the universe.
And thus, too, will the idea of blind fate be excluded, not less than the idea of chance.
Still the heart desires something more. It is not enough that the world is neither left to the random vicissitudes of change - nor governed by a blind and inexorable fate. It is not enough for our comfort to know that a God of infinite intelligence presides over its affairs, and that its laws are the emanations of His unerring wisdom. Great and glorious as these discoveries are, the heart longs to know the character, not less than the wisdom of that Almighty Being - and to be made acquainted, if not with His sercet purposes, at least with the nature of His moral perfections, and His dispositions towards ourselves. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" (Romans 5:8).
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" (Revelation 19:6)
~James Buchanan~
Friday, June 12, 2020
For His Poor Rachel!
For His Poor Rachel!
Did Jacob serve seven years for his Rachel - by day in the heat, and by night in the frost - and did they seem but as a day unto him - for the love he had for her?
Our spiritual Jacob has far exceeded him! He left the throne of His glory for his poor Rachel, and took her humble flesh in the form of a servant, and for her sake served thirty-three years under the Law! He bore the heat of temptation, weariness and thirst; as well as the cold of reproach and scorn, and the malice of sinners against Himself. This He thought not too much; for when He had finished the work on her behalf, for her He cheerfully entered upon the most bitter part of His sufferings, which made even His mighty heart shudder with agony, while His dear lips prayed, "O my Father, if it is possible, (with the rescue of My Bride) let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
Behold the depth of His unflinching love! The 'cup of curse' must be drunk - or the captive Bride must perish! And so He takes the bitter cup, and does not turn away until every dreg is consumed! And the same sacred lips which emptied it could say in triumph, "It is finished!"
For the joy that was set before Him (of possessing His beloved bride) He endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has now sat down at the right hand of God, until the blissful consummation before assembled worlds, when it will be joyfully proclaimed, "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready!"
Then shall the spiritual Jacob and His Rachel meet and embrace, and part no more forever! She transformed into His likeness, shall be satisfied! And He seeing her in glory (the very travail of His soul), shall be satisfied likewise!
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it!" (Ephesians 3:19).
~Ruth Bryan~
Did Jacob serve seven years for his Rachel - by day in the heat, and by night in the frost - and did they seem but as a day unto him - for the love he had for her?
Our spiritual Jacob has far exceeded him! He left the throne of His glory for his poor Rachel, and took her humble flesh in the form of a servant, and for her sake served thirty-three years under the Law! He bore the heat of temptation, weariness and thirst; as well as the cold of reproach and scorn, and the malice of sinners against Himself. This He thought not too much; for when He had finished the work on her behalf, for her He cheerfully entered upon the most bitter part of His sufferings, which made even His mighty heart shudder with agony, while His dear lips prayed, "O my Father, if it is possible, (with the rescue of My Bride) let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
Behold the depth of His unflinching love! The 'cup of curse' must be drunk - or the captive Bride must perish! And so He takes the bitter cup, and does not turn away until every dreg is consumed! And the same sacred lips which emptied it could say in triumph, "It is finished!"
For the joy that was set before Him (of possessing His beloved bride) He endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has now sat down at the right hand of God, until the blissful consummation before assembled worlds, when it will be joyfully proclaimed, "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready!"
Then shall the spiritual Jacob and His Rachel meet and embrace, and part no more forever! She transformed into His likeness, shall be satisfied! And He seeing her in glory (the very travail of His soul), shall be satisfied likewise!
"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it!" (Ephesians 3:19).
~Ruth Bryan~
Thursday, June 11, 2020
They Are New Every Morning!
They Are New Every Morning!
"His compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is Your faithfulness!" (Lamentations 3:24).
Each Christian may find in his own case, some peculiar token of God's providential kindness to him. It is in the details of each man's personal history that we find the most touching manifestations of God's providential care. None of us can refuse to acknowledge that we have been the objects of a watchfulness which has never slumbered, and of a benevolence which has never been weary in doing us good.
Were we to attempt an enumeration of all the blessings which we have received at God's hand, deliverances which He has wrought out for us, snares from which He has preserved us, manifestations of His long-suffering patience, and tender mercy, of which we ourselves have been the objects - were we to begin with the years of infancy and helplessness, and to trace our progress through the slippery paths of youth, until we reached our present state - we would soon find how impossible obligations to "the loving-kindness of the Lord."
For not only has God spared us in life, and upheld us from day to day, by His almighty power; not only has He given us our daily bread, and made our cup to run over - and that, too, notwithstanding all the ingratitude which we have displayed, and the manifold provocations which we have offered; but, in peculiar seasons, in seasons of difficulty and trial - He has often delivered our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling, and our souls from death!
And as often as we have cried to the Lord in our trouble, He has delivered us from our distresses - or supported and comforted us under them. So that each of His redeemed people, on a review of God's dealings with Him, will be forced to exclaim:
"The Lord has been my Shepherd!
I have not lacked any good thing!
Hitherto has the Lord helped me!
The Lord has done all things well!
Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life."
~James Buchanan~
"His compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is Your faithfulness!" (Lamentations 3:24).
Each Christian may find in his own case, some peculiar token of God's providential kindness to him. It is in the details of each man's personal history that we find the most touching manifestations of God's providential care. None of us can refuse to acknowledge that we have been the objects of a watchfulness which has never slumbered, and of a benevolence which has never been weary in doing us good.
Were we to attempt an enumeration of all the blessings which we have received at God's hand, deliverances which He has wrought out for us, snares from which He has preserved us, manifestations of His long-suffering patience, and tender mercy, of which we ourselves have been the objects - were we to begin with the years of infancy and helplessness, and to trace our progress through the slippery paths of youth, until we reached our present state - we would soon find how impossible obligations to "the loving-kindness of the Lord."
For not only has God spared us in life, and upheld us from day to day, by His almighty power; not only has He given us our daily bread, and made our cup to run over - and that, too, notwithstanding all the ingratitude which we have displayed, and the manifold provocations which we have offered; but, in peculiar seasons, in seasons of difficulty and trial - He has often delivered our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling, and our souls from death!
And as often as we have cried to the Lord in our trouble, He has delivered us from our distresses - or supported and comforted us under them. So that each of His redeemed people, on a review of God's dealings with Him, will be forced to exclaim:
"The Lord has been my Shepherd!
I have not lacked any good thing!
Hitherto has the Lord helped me!
The Lord has done all things well!
Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life."
~James Buchanan~
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Constant Religious Engagements
Constant Religious Engagements
"They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard have I not kept."
We may be active in our Lord's cause, but not spiritual in our own souls. We may be earnest for the salvation of others, but not be living in the joys of salvation ourselves. We may be instrumentally distributing the bread and water of life, but not be enjoying daily refreshment in our own experience. I do sorrowfully think that this is too much the case in the present day.
The reason why I thus judge, is from finding people so lively in conversing upon what they are doing for the Lord - yet so slow to speak of what He is doing for them. They seem delighted to tell of the great things which are going on all around, but immediately shrink back if any "heart subject" is brought home to them.
In fact, if one speaks of personal enjoyment of the love of Jesus, there is no response from some - but they put it down to the score of egotism. While others refer to years past, when they did feel Him to be precious - but they confess that they know little of it now. They are so occupied in what they call "working for Him," that they hear little from Him, say little to Him, enjoy little of Him, and may truly say, "While I was busy here and there, He had left."
It is most lamentable for any living soul to be in constant religious engagements for the good of others - while following Jesus afar off." Very many such I fear there are; as well as hundreds who only know Him in the judgment - and yet are continually reading, teaching, and conversing on His blessed name. This is a day of great profession - but yet real vital godliness is at a low ebb, and close walking with God in sweet communion is too little sought after.
Solemn, indeed, are these facts!
We may well say, with David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." (Psalm 139:23-24).
~Ruth Bryan~
"They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard have I not kept."
We may be active in our Lord's cause, but not spiritual in our own souls. We may be earnest for the salvation of others, but not be living in the joys of salvation ourselves. We may be instrumentally distributing the bread and water of life, but not be enjoying daily refreshment in our own experience. I do sorrowfully think that this is too much the case in the present day.
The reason why I thus judge, is from finding people so lively in conversing upon what they are doing for the Lord - yet so slow to speak of what He is doing for them. They seem delighted to tell of the great things which are going on all around, but immediately shrink back if any "heart subject" is brought home to them.
In fact, if one speaks of personal enjoyment of the love of Jesus, there is no response from some - but they put it down to the score of egotism. While others refer to years past, when they did feel Him to be precious - but they confess that they know little of it now. They are so occupied in what they call "working for Him," that they hear little from Him, say little to Him, enjoy little of Him, and may truly say, "While I was busy here and there, He had left."
It is most lamentable for any living soul to be in constant religious engagements for the good of others - while following Jesus afar off." Very many such I fear there are; as well as hundreds who only know Him in the judgment - and yet are continually reading, teaching, and conversing on His blessed name. This is a day of great profession - but yet real vital godliness is at a low ebb, and close walking with God in sweet communion is too little sought after.
Solemn, indeed, are these facts!
We may well say, with David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." (Psalm 139:23-24).
~Ruth Bryan~
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Father and Mother, If I Am Damned - It Is By Copying The Example You Placed Before Me!
Father and Mother, If I Am Damned - It Is By Copying The Example You Placed Before Me!
"Do not sin against the child!" (Genesis 42:22).
One way of sinning against a child is by bad example. The Characters of the parents are carefully watched and imitated by their children.
You profess, dear friend, to be a Christian, and your child knows you are a member of a church. He has seen you partake of the Lord's supper - and then, when you have gone home, he has in a moment detected the discrepancy between your behavior at church - and your daily life at home. The angry temper - the selfish spirit - the worldly conversation - all these have been so many sins against the child! By some evil example seen by them in early life, an impression may be made upon their souls, the effects of which will remain to their dying day - and beyond!
Oh, how dreadful the thought, that by our own hypocritical lives we may be sinning against the little darlings we often feel we could die for. God forbid, that at the last great day, any of our children should turn to us with blanched cheek and say, "Father and mother, if I am damned - it is by copying the example you placed before me!"
You may also sin against the child by neglecting the means of its salvation. Do you have to confess before the Lord, that the eternal interests of your children find but a small space in your PRAYERS? O do not sin so against the child - he is worth praying for!
What are you DOING to try and bring them to Jesus? Do you ever, with the tear in your eye, tell them of the love of Jesus? Have you ever tried to show them their need of a Saviour, and pointed them to Him who said, "Let the little children to come to Me?"
These are solemn questions, for I say to you dear parents in all love and from the very depths of my heart, "If you neglect the means for bringing your little ones to Christ, you are sinning against the child - and his blood will be required of you!" "If you do not teach them - the devil will!"
O friends, it is a crying shame, that in our prayer meetings there are to be found men who pray as if they were dying to see the world converted - and yet never pray for their own children! It is a sad, sad fact that there are many who seem wondrously in earnest about the conversion of strangers - who yet let their own children go to hell without a warning or entreaty!
~Archibald Brown~
"Do not sin against the child!" (Genesis 42:22).
One way of sinning against a child is by bad example. The Characters of the parents are carefully watched and imitated by their children.
You profess, dear friend, to be a Christian, and your child knows you are a member of a church. He has seen you partake of the Lord's supper - and then, when you have gone home, he has in a moment detected the discrepancy between your behavior at church - and your daily life at home. The angry temper - the selfish spirit - the worldly conversation - all these have been so many sins against the child! By some evil example seen by them in early life, an impression may be made upon their souls, the effects of which will remain to their dying day - and beyond!
Oh, how dreadful the thought, that by our own hypocritical lives we may be sinning against the little darlings we often feel we could die for. God forbid, that at the last great day, any of our children should turn to us with blanched cheek and say, "Father and mother, if I am damned - it is by copying the example you placed before me!"
You may also sin against the child by neglecting the means of its salvation. Do you have to confess before the Lord, that the eternal interests of your children find but a small space in your PRAYERS? O do not sin so against the child - he is worth praying for!
What are you DOING to try and bring them to Jesus? Do you ever, with the tear in your eye, tell them of the love of Jesus? Have you ever tried to show them their need of a Saviour, and pointed them to Him who said, "Let the little children to come to Me?"
These are solemn questions, for I say to you dear parents in all love and from the very depths of my heart, "If you neglect the means for bringing your little ones to Christ, you are sinning against the child - and his blood will be required of you!" "If you do not teach them - the devil will!"
O friends, it is a crying shame, that in our prayer meetings there are to be found men who pray as if they were dying to see the world converted - and yet never pray for their own children! It is a sad, sad fact that there are many who seem wondrously in earnest about the conversion of strangers - who yet let their own children go to hell without a warning or entreaty!
~Archibald Brown~
Monday, June 8, 2020
Actions, Words, Desires
Actions, Words, Desires
"My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!" (Psalm 84:2)
The desires of the heart are the best proofs of salvation; and if a man wishes to know whether he is really saved or not, he can very soon find out by putting his finger upon the pulse of his desires, for those are things that never can be counterfeit. You may counterfiet words; you may counterfeit actions; but you cannot counterfeit desires.
You cannot always tell a Christian by his actions. For sometimes true Christians act in a very ugly style; and sometimes those who are not Christians act in a very beautiful way; and hypocrites often act the best. The whole of a hypocrite's life may be a simple counterfeit.
Nor are our words always a true test. Often the most beautiful experience, as far as language goes, is the experience that falls from the lips of a man whose heart knows nothing about the grace of God. It is possible to mix with God's children until you pick up a sort of Christian dialect, and talk of others' experiences as though they were your own. Just as a man sojourning in a foreign country will learn a good deal of the language of its inhabitants by simply hearing it spoken - so it is possible to dwell among Christians until their language is in great measure acquired. But talking a language does not constitute a nationality.
But there is one thing which cannot be picked up or counterfeited, and that is a desire. Let me know my desire - then do I know myself; for I can no more counterfeit a desire than I can counterfeit fire. One says, "Do you want to know what you are? Go ask your desires, and they will tell you. Do you wish to know where you are going? See where your desires tend."
A good action may be done without any love to that action. And, on the other hand, an evil action may be avoided - not from any hatred to that evil. The good action may be done from an impure motive; the evil action may be avoided simply from a selfish motive. But the desire of the soul - that is the immediate issue of the heart.
The desire of the true Christian is after God Himself! "My heart and my flesh cry out for - for God." This desire swallows up all others! Longing after God is a more infallible proof you are God's, than your most zealous services, or the very best of your actions. These might be counterfeit - but this longing after God cannot be.
Oh what must Heaven be! If all the desires of a saint are concentrated in God - then hat must the satisfaction of Heaven be when it is all God - God on the throne, God before me, God leading me, God delighting my eyes, God in my songs - the world, its cares, its sorrows, its worries, all gone - a heavenly atmosphere of God all around! How unutterably deep the satisfaction! My heart and my flesh will no longer cry out for God - but will eternally rejoice in Him!
Do not I love thee, O my Lord?
Behold my heart, and see,
And chase each idol far away,
That dares to rival Thee!
Thou know'st I love Thee, dearest Lord,
But, oh! I long to soar.
Above the sphere of mortal joys,
And learn to love Thee more! (Philip Doddridge)
~Archibald Brown~
"My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!" (Psalm 84:2)
The desires of the heart are the best proofs of salvation; and if a man wishes to know whether he is really saved or not, he can very soon find out by putting his finger upon the pulse of his desires, for those are things that never can be counterfeit. You may counterfiet words; you may counterfeit actions; but you cannot counterfeit desires.
You cannot always tell a Christian by his actions. For sometimes true Christians act in a very ugly style; and sometimes those who are not Christians act in a very beautiful way; and hypocrites often act the best. The whole of a hypocrite's life may be a simple counterfeit.
Nor are our words always a true test. Often the most beautiful experience, as far as language goes, is the experience that falls from the lips of a man whose heart knows nothing about the grace of God. It is possible to mix with God's children until you pick up a sort of Christian dialect, and talk of others' experiences as though they were your own. Just as a man sojourning in a foreign country will learn a good deal of the language of its inhabitants by simply hearing it spoken - so it is possible to dwell among Christians until their language is in great measure acquired. But talking a language does not constitute a nationality.
But there is one thing which cannot be picked up or counterfeited, and that is a desire. Let me know my desire - then do I know myself; for I can no more counterfeit a desire than I can counterfeit fire. One says, "Do you want to know what you are? Go ask your desires, and they will tell you. Do you wish to know where you are going? See where your desires tend."
A good action may be done without any love to that action. And, on the other hand, an evil action may be avoided - not from any hatred to that evil. The good action may be done from an impure motive; the evil action may be avoided simply from a selfish motive. But the desire of the soul - that is the immediate issue of the heart.
The desire of the true Christian is after God Himself! "My heart and my flesh cry out for - for God." This desire swallows up all others! Longing after God is a more infallible proof you are God's, than your most zealous services, or the very best of your actions. These might be counterfeit - but this longing after God cannot be.
Oh what must Heaven be! If all the desires of a saint are concentrated in God - then hat must the satisfaction of Heaven be when it is all God - God on the throne, God before me, God leading me, God delighting my eyes, God in my songs - the world, its cares, its sorrows, its worries, all gone - a heavenly atmosphere of God all around! How unutterably deep the satisfaction! My heart and my flesh will no longer cry out for God - but will eternally rejoice in Him!
Do not I love thee, O my Lord?
Behold my heart, and see,
And chase each idol far away,
That dares to rival Thee!
Thou know'st I love Thee, dearest Lord,
But, oh! I long to soar.
Above the sphere of mortal joys,
And learn to love Thee more! (Philip Doddridge)
~Archibald Brown~
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Hard Work, and Bad Pay!
Hard Work, and Bad Pay!
"The wages of sin is death!" (Romans 6:23).
What! is the reward for all that hard toil - death? Yes, death! Oh, extraordinary wages - but more astonishing still, that any should be found to work for them!
The death of the body, is but one result of sin. If sin had not found its way into God's fair earth - then death also would have been forever a stranger. Death is the dark shadow that sin casts. For six thousand years men have been receiving the wages of death. Death has passed upon all men, for all have sinned.
Think of the aggregate of sorrow that has come on this fallen world through death, the fruit of sin. Could all the groans that have burst from broken-hearted mourners since our first parents wept over their murdered son, be gathered into one - what a deep thunder-peal of anguish it would be! Were all the tears collected that death has caused to flow - what a briny ocean they would constitute! Let those call sin a trifle who dare - but to us it is clear that what could bring on man so dreadful a curse as death, must in itself be something unutterably horrible!
And yet mere physical death, is the least that is meant here. If this was all the Lord meant - if men when they die, die like dogs - there would be no occasion for the agony of soul we often have. But alas! alas! the death referred to here is a death that never dies! It is death; in another word, HELL! Here, poor sinner, are your wages - here is the result of a life's toil for satan, HELL!
Let me say moreover, sin pays some of its wages now; it gives sometimes an installment of hell on earth. The wretched debauchee often finds it so. Mark his haggard countenance, his trembling gait; follow him to the hospital - no don't - let his end remain secret; terrible are the wages he receives! But oh, eternity, eternity is sin's long pay-day - and the wages paid is hell! Such are the wages of sin. It promises much - but its reward is damnation!
Servants of sin and satan, behold your future doom! Be honest, and confess that your service is hard work, and bad pay. God forbid that this large concourse of people, there should be a single one who will ever learn by bitter, eternal experience that "the wages of sin is death!"
~Archibald Brown~
"The wages of sin is death!" (Romans 6:23).
What! is the reward for all that hard toil - death? Yes, death! Oh, extraordinary wages - but more astonishing still, that any should be found to work for them!
The death of the body, is but one result of sin. If sin had not found its way into God's fair earth - then death also would have been forever a stranger. Death is the dark shadow that sin casts. For six thousand years men have been receiving the wages of death. Death has passed upon all men, for all have sinned.
Think of the aggregate of sorrow that has come on this fallen world through death, the fruit of sin. Could all the groans that have burst from broken-hearted mourners since our first parents wept over their murdered son, be gathered into one - what a deep thunder-peal of anguish it would be! Were all the tears collected that death has caused to flow - what a briny ocean they would constitute! Let those call sin a trifle who dare - but to us it is clear that what could bring on man so dreadful a curse as death, must in itself be something unutterably horrible!
And yet mere physical death, is the least that is meant here. If this was all the Lord meant - if men when they die, die like dogs - there would be no occasion for the agony of soul we often have. But alas! alas! the death referred to here is a death that never dies! It is death; in another word, HELL! Here, poor sinner, are your wages - here is the result of a life's toil for satan, HELL!
Let me say moreover, sin pays some of its wages now; it gives sometimes an installment of hell on earth. The wretched debauchee often finds it so. Mark his haggard countenance, his trembling gait; follow him to the hospital - no don't - let his end remain secret; terrible are the wages he receives! But oh, eternity, eternity is sin's long pay-day - and the wages paid is hell! Such are the wages of sin. It promises much - but its reward is damnation!
Servants of sin and satan, behold your future doom! Be honest, and confess that your service is hard work, and bad pay. God forbid that this large concourse of people, there should be a single one who will ever learn by bitter, eternal experience that "the wages of sin is death!"
~Archibald Brown~
Friday, June 5, 2020
A Man May Be Most Religious - and Yet Be Most Ungodly!
A Man May Be Most Religious - and Yet Be Most Ungodly!
"The ungodly are not so - but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (Psalm 1:4-5).
The ungodly - who are they?
I know full well who are uppermost in your minds. I no sooner mentioned the text, and spoke about the doom of the ungodly, that you began to think of the vile and the brutalized characters whose deeds of cruelty make up that shameful list of crimes of violence now appearing in our papers day by day. And side by side with them, you doubtless thought of the drunkard, and the brazen-faced harioltry and open immorality and of those who are steeped to the lips in sin - and of those who live, as they say, 'for a time - and let eternity look after itself.' These are the characters you pictured when we read the word 'ungodly'. Well, you are right, they are ungodly.
But I am certain that all I have mentioned fail to compose one-tenth part of those who are legitimately to be included in the catalogue of the ungodly. Remember this: that a man may be ungodly, without being any of the characters that I have mentioned! An ungodly man is simply a man who tries to get through the world without God. It is not necessary for a man's life to be a shame and a disgrace, for him to be ungodly. It is not necessary for him to be steeped in all sorts of vices, in order to be without God.
I will go further, and venture to assert that a man may be most moral - and yet most ungodly. While vile immorality has slain its thousands; a godless that is dragged down to perdition by the mill-stone of vice - there are hundreds who are taken in the meshes of the net of a Christless virtue. A man may be honest in all his transactions, prue in his language, chaste in his thoughts, an honorable man in all his business dealings - just the very one you would like to trade with - his word may be his bond, and all his actions fair - and yet come under the designation of the ungodly. It is with him, simply morality, skin deep; there has been nothing of regeneration within, without which it is impossible for a man to enter into the kingdom.
Look into his character, and you will find that he is ungodly in every part of his life. Inspect all his motives, and you will find that he never does a thing for God's sake. There is no fear of God before his eyes; there i no reverence for God within his heart. He may be gentle, amiable, moral - a good sort of man as far as this world's goodness is concerned. He would be all right, if a man could be all right without God - but he belongs to the ungodly.
We will go one step further, and say that a man may be most religious - and yet be most ungodly. I conceive of a man being a most talented preacher - and yet being ungodly. It may be that he has a natural liking and gift for speaking; and he may, perhaps, take a very great deal of interest in the increase of his denomination and the outward mechanism of his church - but for all that he is totally devoid of the life of God within his soul.
Oh, pass the question around, I beg you - you who have made a profession of the Lord Jesus Christ for years. Have you got something more than the mere name to live? Are you yet - (oh, can it be?) - ungodly, though a professing Christian - ungodly though oncve immersed in the name of Christ - ungodly, though your life is almost a pattern for the very best of Christians? The question is, have you God or not? For my text is not about the immoral, the profane, or the criminal - but about those who, whatever else they have, possess not God.
"The ungodly are not so - but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (Psalm 1:4-5).
~Archibald Brown~
"The ungodly are not so - but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (Psalm 1:4-5).
The ungodly - who are they?
I know full well who are uppermost in your minds. I no sooner mentioned the text, and spoke about the doom of the ungodly, that you began to think of the vile and the brutalized characters whose deeds of cruelty make up that shameful list of crimes of violence now appearing in our papers day by day. And side by side with them, you doubtless thought of the drunkard, and the brazen-faced harioltry and open immorality and of those who are steeped to the lips in sin - and of those who live, as they say, 'for a time - and let eternity look after itself.' These are the characters you pictured when we read the word 'ungodly'. Well, you are right, they are ungodly.
But I am certain that all I have mentioned fail to compose one-tenth part of those who are legitimately to be included in the catalogue of the ungodly. Remember this: that a man may be ungodly, without being any of the characters that I have mentioned! An ungodly man is simply a man who tries to get through the world without God. It is not necessary for a man's life to be a shame and a disgrace, for him to be ungodly. It is not necessary for him to be steeped in all sorts of vices, in order to be without God.
I will go further, and venture to assert that a man may be most moral - and yet most ungodly. While vile immorality has slain its thousands; a godless that is dragged down to perdition by the mill-stone of vice - there are hundreds who are taken in the meshes of the net of a Christless virtue. A man may be honest in all his transactions, prue in his language, chaste in his thoughts, an honorable man in all his business dealings - just the very one you would like to trade with - his word may be his bond, and all his actions fair - and yet come under the designation of the ungodly. It is with him, simply morality, skin deep; there has been nothing of regeneration within, without which it is impossible for a man to enter into the kingdom.
Look into his character, and you will find that he is ungodly in every part of his life. Inspect all his motives, and you will find that he never does a thing for God's sake. There is no fear of God before his eyes; there i no reverence for God within his heart. He may be gentle, amiable, moral - a good sort of man as far as this world's goodness is concerned. He would be all right, if a man could be all right without God - but he belongs to the ungodly.
We will go one step further, and say that a man may be most religious - and yet be most ungodly. I conceive of a man being a most talented preacher - and yet being ungodly. It may be that he has a natural liking and gift for speaking; and he may, perhaps, take a very great deal of interest in the increase of his denomination and the outward mechanism of his church - but for all that he is totally devoid of the life of God within his soul.
Oh, pass the question around, I beg you - you who have made a profession of the Lord Jesus Christ for years. Have you got something more than the mere name to live? Are you yet - (oh, can it be?) - ungodly, though a professing Christian - ungodly though oncve immersed in the name of Christ - ungodly, though your life is almost a pattern for the very best of Christians? The question is, have you God or not? For my text is not about the immoral, the profane, or the criminal - but about those who, whatever else they have, possess not God.
"The ungodly are not so - but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (Psalm 1:4-5).
~Archibald Brown~
Thursday, June 4, 2020
To An Angel's Eye, it Must Be The Ugliest Thing on Earth!
To An Angel's Eye, It Must Be the Ugliest Thing on Earth!
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).
Chrysostom has aptly called pride "the mother of hell!" - for hell with all its horrors is its hideous offspring!
Had there been no treacherous pride, there would have been no bottomless pit! Perdition was prepared for the devil and his angels - and pride prepared the devil and his angels for perdition! We need fear no language we can possibly use being too strong to denounce pride, for as Aristotle says, "Pride comprehends all vice!"
Is drunkenness to be condemned with unmeasured severity? Then let pride be equally so, for it is nothing less than a spiritual drunkenness. Pride flies as wine to the brain, and produces the same result. No wretched drunkard reeling along the road is a more pitable or disgusting sight, than the man who is intoxicated into idiocy with the alcohol of his own accursed pride!
May the most unsparing language be employed in the denunciation of the sin of idolatry? Then let it be equally strong in the condemnation of pride, for they are one in essence. The proud man is simply one who bends the knee and worships a more hateful idol than can ever be found in the whole catalogue of heathendom; and its name is "SELF!"
God loathes pride, for "everyone that is proud is an abomination to the Lord." (Proverbs 16:5). To an angel's eye, it must be the ugliest thing on earth! And the saint, often deploring it, hates it with a perfect hatred.
But although universally condemned - it is too generally harbored. It is easy to work to find a thousand excuses for the particular species of pride we possess, which is almost always, according to our own estimate, "only proper pride."
It is the minister's imperative duty to cry out against particular sins, and lay the axe at the root of special iniquities. I want this evening, by God's help, to strike a blow at the deadly root of pride. I have no doubt many things I may say will be considered too severe. I cannot help it if they are. The language of my text is strong and unvarnished enough; the truth it contains is put in the most uncomplimentary mode, and I would be a traitor were I to attempt to smooth it down. My work is to declare that "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
~Archibald Brown~
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).
Chrysostom has aptly called pride "the mother of hell!" - for hell with all its horrors is its hideous offspring!
Had there been no treacherous pride, there would have been no bottomless pit! Perdition was prepared for the devil and his angels - and pride prepared the devil and his angels for perdition! We need fear no language we can possibly use being too strong to denounce pride, for as Aristotle says, "Pride comprehends all vice!"
Is drunkenness to be condemned with unmeasured severity? Then let pride be equally so, for it is nothing less than a spiritual drunkenness. Pride flies as wine to the brain, and produces the same result. No wretched drunkard reeling along the road is a more pitable or disgusting sight, than the man who is intoxicated into idiocy with the alcohol of his own accursed pride!
May the most unsparing language be employed in the denunciation of the sin of idolatry? Then let it be equally strong in the condemnation of pride, for they are one in essence. The proud man is simply one who bends the knee and worships a more hateful idol than can ever be found in the whole catalogue of heathendom; and its name is "SELF!"
God loathes pride, for "everyone that is proud is an abomination to the Lord." (Proverbs 16:5). To an angel's eye, it must be the ugliest thing on earth! And the saint, often deploring it, hates it with a perfect hatred.
But although universally condemned - it is too generally harbored. It is easy to work to find a thousand excuses for the particular species of pride we possess, which is almost always, according to our own estimate, "only proper pride."
It is the minister's imperative duty to cry out against particular sins, and lay the axe at the root of special iniquities. I want this evening, by God's help, to strike a blow at the deadly root of pride. I have no doubt many things I may say will be considered too severe. I cannot help it if they are. The language of my text is strong and unvarnished enough; the truth it contains is put in the most uncomplimentary mode, and I would be a traitor were I to attempt to smooth it down. My work is to declare that "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
~Archibald Brown~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)