Sleeping # 2
Sometimes the Lord withholds sleep that He may give us "songs in the night" (Job 35:10); at others, that we may "meditate on Him in the night watches" (Psalm 63:6); at others, to bring sin to remembrance, that it may be confessed unto Him. The next time the reader suffers from sleeplessness, let him call to mind that awful night when the Saviour was hounded from court to court and denied any rest.
Conversely, we are told that God "gives his beloved sleep" (Psalm 127:2). Most blessed is that. It is not that He "sends" it as one from a distance, but that He Himself gives sleep - personally bringing and graciously laying it upon our eyes. That sleep is a fitting emblem of the spiritual rest which He bestows upon the righteous.
But let us look at the verse as a whole: "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows - for so He gives His beloved sleep." There appears to be a contrast drawn. All the industry of the natural man avails him nothing without the blessing of God - sorrow is then his portion. But the godly man, though diligent in business, is enabled confidently to commit all his affairs unto the Lord, and close his eyes at night with a mind free of care. "So He gives His beloved sleep," as He did Peter, on the eve of his probable execution, as he lay in prison chained between two soldiers - sleeping so sweetly and soundly, that an angel's stroke was needed to arouse him (Acts 12:6-7)!
"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep - for you, Lord, alone, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8). We are never more helpless and unable to protect ourselves, than when wrapped in slumber. We are lost to all apprehensions of danger, and lie exposed to the violence of storms, the perils of fire, the menace of robbers, and the assaults of the evil one. At that time, we have no concern for ourselves, being incapable of thinking, much more so of providing for our safety. But the Lord is our Protector, equally during the hours of darkness, as of the light. The One who provided for me when I was awake, watches over my body when I am asleep. I am under the care of Him who "shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4). Though I am alone, I am not alone; and therefore it is my privilege to lie down in His loving arms, peacefully assured that I shall be supported and secured by His right hand. But our comfortable beds should cause us to contrast Him who often had no other couch than the cold mountain side (John 7:53; 8:2).
Our preservation during the hours of sleep, is a notable instance of God's concern for our welfare. What comforting assurance! It is a word to lay hold of by faith, and rest on. If I trustfully give myself in charge to my Father - there is nothing to fear. When we lie down in the arms of the "faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:19) and covenant God - fear is removed and sleep is sweet. "No pillow so soft as a divine promise, no coverlet so warm as an assured interest in Christ!
While one would scarcely be dogmatic on the point, yet it appears to us, that Scripture teaches that sleep is not only designed for the refreshing of our bodies but is also a time for the instructing of our minds. Did not David state, "my thoughts also instruct me in the night seasons" (Psalm 16:7)? Our fathers, (so much wiser in many respects than their sons) when called upon to make some important decision, were accustomed to say, "I will sleep on it and Lord willing, let you know tomorrow," having in mind something more than a prayerful deliberation of the same. This writer can testify from repeated experience that "when deep sleep falls upon men," the Lord "opens" the spiritual 'ears" and eyes, and "seals their instruction" (Job 33:15-16).
In closing, a word of warning: While sleep is both necessary and desirable - for without it we could neither go to our work nor enjoy the blessings of providence - yet it can be sinfully perverted. Therefore we are enjoined, "Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty" (Prov. 20:13). Alas, what creatures we are - liable to abuse every gift God bestows! May His grace preserve us from giving Him occasion to say, "How long will you sleep, O sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep? (Prov. 6:9). Slothfulness must not be regarded as an infirmity, but as a sin which affects the whole body, and if not watched, grows upon us with unperceived power!
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Waking # 2
Waking # 2
The fact that David made request, "Cause me to hear your loving-kindness," evinces that he had no confidence in his own ability to do so. It is only when we make that our sincere, earnest, and trustful request each night, that we may warrantably expect to be able to say, "When I awake, I am still with you" (Psalm 139:18). Not "you are still with me" - though that is blessedly the case - but "I am still with you"; conscious of Your nearness, sensible of Your favors, enjoying happy communion with the Eternal Lover of my soul.
As the comparison of one passage with another requires us to believe, it was in humble dependence upon God that David declared, "My voice shall you hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto you, and will look up" (Psalm 5:3). Such was his holy determination that the Lord should be given the first place and not be crowded out by temporal concerns. As His protection was essential for the night, so divine direction would be equally necessary for the day: grace would be required to oil the wheels of pious actions, wisdom from above to instruct him in the performance of duty, and the avoidance of the fowler's snares. All of this, he was resolved to ask for, leaning not unto his own understanding, but seeking unto the Lord at an early hour.
Nor would he make request in a merely perfunctory way, but in confident expectation of an "answer of peace," as his "I...will look up" connotes. Furthermore, he purposed, "I will sing aloud of your mercy in the morning" (Psalm 59:16). God's compassions fail not, but are "new every morning" (Lam. 3:22-23); equally so should be our acknowledgement of them. That is indeed a "good beginning" when we commence the day with prayer and songs of praise.
"Awake to righteousness, and sin not" (1 Cor. 15:34). While the immediate reference there is a call to arouse from the spiritual torpor into which false teachers had lulled the Corinthians, through the unsuspected effect of their evil teachings; yet those words may suitably be regarded as a divine exhortation unto a holy life, and particularly, as a summons for us to attend unto at the beginning of each fresh day. Considered thus, its force is" employ your renewed energies not in self-pleasing, but in walking by the rule that God has given us, for "righteousness" ever has reference to conformity unto a moral or spiritual standard. Earnestly set yourself to the glorifying of Him who has permitted you to see the light of another day; live it as though you knew it would be your last one on earth. Shun sin and the occasions thereof, as you would a deadly plague, yes, "abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22).
It is both interesting to consider some of the different experiences met with by awakened souls.
"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him" (Gen. 9:24). What a sad awakening was that - recorded as a lasting warning against drunkenness.
"But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him: What do you mean, O sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish" (Jon. 1:5-6). What a rude awakening was that, when one of God's servants was rebuked by a heathen!
"And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not" (Gen. 28:16) - blessed experience was that.
"Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him" (Matt. 1:24) - may a like spirit of obedience characterize us.
"And they awoke him, and said unto him: Master, don't you care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38) - even His slumbers were disturbed by the unbelieving!
"And when they were awake, they saw His glory" (Luke 9:32). May that be, more and more, the happy lot of both writer and reader.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Sleeping # 1
Sleeping # 1
[This article and its companion one, Waking, are not written to entertain the curious, but with the endeavor of giving God His true place, by moving His people unto more thankfulness for what are loosely termed, "His common mercies."]
It seems strange that the average person should spend at least one third of his short life in the sleep state. In comparison with eternity, how exceedingly brief is the span of our mortal existence! Yet the God-fearing soul cannot doubt it has been wisely ordered by his Creator, that such a proportion of that span should be passed in unconsciousness. The Saviour Himself, whose life was infinitely more important than ours, was no exception, for we are told that He slept (Matt. 8:24) - though often the hours of darkness were spent by Him in prayer, while others were slumbering (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12).
Sleep has been aptly defined as "the nurse for tired nature." What cause for gratitude have we, that frayed nerves and weary muscles are refreshed and renewed by a few hours of repose! How glad is many a one whose body is racked with pain throughout the day - to obtain a few hours respite during the unconsciousness of night! Sleep is indeed a merciful provision of God's, which none of us appreciate as highly as we should.
As common as is this mercy, yet thee is an element of mystery about it, for none can define exactly what it is. Nor can any produce it by mere effort of will. It is not sufficiently recognized, that the same One who gave us being, also puts us to sleep each night. Yes, even when tired out from the heavy labor of the day, we become unconscious almost as soon as our head rests on the pillow. At some time or other, the majority of us are made painfully aware of the fact that we cannot put ourselves to sleep. When a hacking cough refuses to be silenced, when an over-active brain or disturbed mind declines to relax, when what is termed "insomnia" affects us - the more eagerly sleep is sought, the more it eludes us.
"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept" (Gen. 2:21) is the first reference to our subject in the Scriptures; and while that instance was an extraordinary one, yet it was illustrative of a principle of universal application - our sleep is "caused" by our Maker, and is not brought on by ourselves.
Before proceeding farther, let us here utter an earnest word of warning against attempts of produce artificial sleep, or cure insomnia, by the use of drugs. Any attempt to force "nature" is dangerous, and usually leads to disaster. In nine-tenths of cases, the effect is, in the end, to increase the disorder. Most narcotics and sedatives have to be taken in increasing larger doses, if they are to produce any continued effect; and frequently, the patient becomes the slave of narcotic habits. Far better to spend the night in restless tossing, than resort to what is likely to issue in a complete breakdown. Better still, seek thee cause.
Likewise, no form of stimulant is free from risk. Anyone who attempts to do by artificial strength what cannot be done by natural - to supply by the use of some stimulant a temporary energy for activity to which one would be unequal without it - is courting trouble. There is always a proportionate reaction, and sometimes a collapse is the outcome.
Millions today are suffering from nervous disorders as a result of Sabbath desecration, forfeiting the physical and mental benefits which rest from secular tasks and occupying the mind with divine things produces. There are other passages of Holy Writ, besides Genesis 2:21, which teach that sleep is not only a merciful provision of the Creator's but also a divine gift, caused by Him. On one occasion, the Psalmist said, "You hold my eyes waking" (Psalm 77:4). The Hebrew word for "hold" here is a very strong one, being rendered to "keep hold on" in 2 Samuel 2:21, and "fastened" in Esther 1:6. Asaph was unable to close his eyes, sleep being withheld from him.
Another example where sleep was divinely denied, is that of Ahasuerus, of whom we read, "On that night the king could not sleep" (Esther 6:1); or as the margin more literally renders it, "Sleep fled away" - the whole context showing that it was a care of divine interposition which prevented his slumbers.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
[This article and its companion one, Waking, are not written to entertain the curious, but with the endeavor of giving God His true place, by moving His people unto more thankfulness for what are loosely termed, "His common mercies."]
It seems strange that the average person should spend at least one third of his short life in the sleep state. In comparison with eternity, how exceedingly brief is the span of our mortal existence! Yet the God-fearing soul cannot doubt it has been wisely ordered by his Creator, that such a proportion of that span should be passed in unconsciousness. The Saviour Himself, whose life was infinitely more important than ours, was no exception, for we are told that He slept (Matt. 8:24) - though often the hours of darkness were spent by Him in prayer, while others were slumbering (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12).
Sleep has been aptly defined as "the nurse for tired nature." What cause for gratitude have we, that frayed nerves and weary muscles are refreshed and renewed by a few hours of repose! How glad is many a one whose body is racked with pain throughout the day - to obtain a few hours respite during the unconsciousness of night! Sleep is indeed a merciful provision of God's, which none of us appreciate as highly as we should.
As common as is this mercy, yet thee is an element of mystery about it, for none can define exactly what it is. Nor can any produce it by mere effort of will. It is not sufficiently recognized, that the same One who gave us being, also puts us to sleep each night. Yes, even when tired out from the heavy labor of the day, we become unconscious almost as soon as our head rests on the pillow. At some time or other, the majority of us are made painfully aware of the fact that we cannot put ourselves to sleep. When a hacking cough refuses to be silenced, when an over-active brain or disturbed mind declines to relax, when what is termed "insomnia" affects us - the more eagerly sleep is sought, the more it eludes us.
"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept" (Gen. 2:21) is the first reference to our subject in the Scriptures; and while that instance was an extraordinary one, yet it was illustrative of a principle of universal application - our sleep is "caused" by our Maker, and is not brought on by ourselves.
Before proceeding farther, let us here utter an earnest word of warning against attempts of produce artificial sleep, or cure insomnia, by the use of drugs. Any attempt to force "nature" is dangerous, and usually leads to disaster. In nine-tenths of cases, the effect is, in the end, to increase the disorder. Most narcotics and sedatives have to be taken in increasing larger doses, if they are to produce any continued effect; and frequently, the patient becomes the slave of narcotic habits. Far better to spend the night in restless tossing, than resort to what is likely to issue in a complete breakdown. Better still, seek thee cause.
Likewise, no form of stimulant is free from risk. Anyone who attempts to do by artificial strength what cannot be done by natural - to supply by the use of some stimulant a temporary energy for activity to which one would be unequal without it - is courting trouble. There is always a proportionate reaction, and sometimes a collapse is the outcome.
Millions today are suffering from nervous disorders as a result of Sabbath desecration, forfeiting the physical and mental benefits which rest from secular tasks and occupying the mind with divine things produces. There are other passages of Holy Writ, besides Genesis 2:21, which teach that sleep is not only a merciful provision of the Creator's but also a divine gift, caused by Him. On one occasion, the Psalmist said, "You hold my eyes waking" (Psalm 77:4). The Hebrew word for "hold" here is a very strong one, being rendered to "keep hold on" in 2 Samuel 2:21, and "fastened" in Esther 1:6. Asaph was unable to close his eyes, sleep being withheld from him.
Another example where sleep was divinely denied, is that of Ahasuerus, of whom we read, "On that night the king could not sleep" (Esther 6:1); or as the margin more literally renders it, "Sleep fled away" - the whole context showing that it was a care of divine interposition which prevented his slumbers.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Waking # 1
Waking # 1
[This article and its companion one, Sleeping, are not written to entertain the curious, but with the endeavor of giving God His true place, by moving His people unto more thankfulness for what are loosely termed, "His common mercies."]
"I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." (Psalm 3:5(. There is no guarantee when we lie down at night, even though it is in good health - that we shall awake in this world on the next morning. Thousands have not done so, and each time we do - it is because the Lord has been pleased to "sustain" us - to sustain the action of the heart, the circulation of the blood, the heaving of the lungs - none of which is done by us. It is blessed to know that during the hours of darkness, we are objects of God's care, protecting us not only from physical harm, but also from assaults of satan. What child of God can doubt that our arch-enemy, filled as he is with enmity and hatred against the saints, attacks them in the sleep state? Some of our experiences at that time seem clearly to demonstrate it. Doubtless, many of our dreams are attributable to a disordered stomach or distempered mind; yet by no means all of them. Some of our nightmares cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by any physical or mental cause. That the Christian is not harassed by them regularly, is due alone to the sovereign goodness of God in preventing such.
We are equally in danger from the workings of a disordered mind, as from extraneous enemies. Some have walked in their sleep - and walked to their death! Why have not we or our loved ones done so? And again, the answer is, "I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." Some of our dreams supply evidence of a greatly heated imagination and deluded fancy. James Hervey relates a well-authenticated case known to him, in which two friends who had hunted through the day spent the night together. One of them pursued a stag in his dreams, crying out, "I'll kill him, I'll kill him." As he felt for the knife in his pocket, his companion sprang out of bed, and by the light of the moon, saw his friend give several deep stabs in the very place where a moment before his own throat had lain. Hervey added, "This is mentioned as proof that nothing hinders us from being assassins of others, or murderers of ourselves - amid the mad sallies of sleep - except the preventing care of our heavenly Father."
In the previous article, (Sleeping) we called attention to the element of mystery in sleep; let us now point out that it is just as real and evident in connection with our waking. We do not awaken automatically or according to any mere process or "law of nature." Nor is it caused by any act of our will. No, we are awakened from slumber, by the same One who put us to sleep! True, we are not sensible thereof, yet that alters not the fact itself. True also, that God may employ a variety of means, nevertheless the fact remains: "He awakens morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned" (Isa. 50:4). As John Gill pointed out, "The allusion is to masters calling their students early to their studies." While this verse is part of a Messianic prophecy, we doubt not that it has a general application, particularly unto the regenerate. In this matter, as many others, God often deigns to make use of human instruments and other agents, while at other times He dispenses entirely with them. Whether by means, or without them - it is the Lord who awakens us each morning. Unless He did so, our eyes would never again open in this world. The clock would run down and stop!
The experience of waking is such a common and everyday one, that few of us make any attempt to ponder and analyze it. The supernatural origin of it appears in its very characteristics. Why is it that the minute a person awakes, he is in full possession of his faculties, that after hours of heavy slumber and total subconsciousness, his strength is renewed, his muscles ready for immediate action, his senses alert, the mind thoroughly refreshed? Why is it that we instantly arouse from the profoundest stupor which deadens all our powers? How very different is the protracted and disagreeable recovery to full consciousness after an anesthetic!
How thankful we should be, that our waking by God is not a lengthy and nauseous process. Our daily emergence from hours of total inactivity, which closely resembles death itself; our bodies being completely and suddenly restored to vigor and activity - surely this is "the Lord's doing," and it should be "marvelous in our eyes" (Psalm 118:23) and move us to praise and thanksgiving. How completely dependent we are upon the Lord, appears further from the terms of that lovely prayer, "Cause me to hear your loving-kindness in the morning" (Psalm 143:8). Such should be one of our last petitions each night. "If it is Your good pleasure for me to see the light of the morning, awaken me with my heart attuned to Your beneficence. Arouse me from my slumbers with my faculties intent unto Your goodness, that my first waking thoughts may be engaged therewith."
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
[This article and its companion one, Sleeping, are not written to entertain the curious, but with the endeavor of giving God His true place, by moving His people unto more thankfulness for what are loosely termed, "His common mercies."]
"I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." (Psalm 3:5(. There is no guarantee when we lie down at night, even though it is in good health - that we shall awake in this world on the next morning. Thousands have not done so, and each time we do - it is because the Lord has been pleased to "sustain" us - to sustain the action of the heart, the circulation of the blood, the heaving of the lungs - none of which is done by us. It is blessed to know that during the hours of darkness, we are objects of God's care, protecting us not only from physical harm, but also from assaults of satan. What child of God can doubt that our arch-enemy, filled as he is with enmity and hatred against the saints, attacks them in the sleep state? Some of our experiences at that time seem clearly to demonstrate it. Doubtless, many of our dreams are attributable to a disordered stomach or distempered mind; yet by no means all of them. Some of our nightmares cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by any physical or mental cause. That the Christian is not harassed by them regularly, is due alone to the sovereign goodness of God in preventing such.
We are equally in danger from the workings of a disordered mind, as from extraneous enemies. Some have walked in their sleep - and walked to their death! Why have not we or our loved ones done so? And again, the answer is, "I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." Some of our dreams supply evidence of a greatly heated imagination and deluded fancy. James Hervey relates a well-authenticated case known to him, in which two friends who had hunted through the day spent the night together. One of them pursued a stag in his dreams, crying out, "I'll kill him, I'll kill him." As he felt for the knife in his pocket, his companion sprang out of bed, and by the light of the moon, saw his friend give several deep stabs in the very place where a moment before his own throat had lain. Hervey added, "This is mentioned as proof that nothing hinders us from being assassins of others, or murderers of ourselves - amid the mad sallies of sleep - except the preventing care of our heavenly Father."
In the previous article, (Sleeping) we called attention to the element of mystery in sleep; let us now point out that it is just as real and evident in connection with our waking. We do not awaken automatically or according to any mere process or "law of nature." Nor is it caused by any act of our will. No, we are awakened from slumber, by the same One who put us to sleep! True, we are not sensible thereof, yet that alters not the fact itself. True also, that God may employ a variety of means, nevertheless the fact remains: "He awakens morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned" (Isa. 50:4). As John Gill pointed out, "The allusion is to masters calling their students early to their studies." While this verse is part of a Messianic prophecy, we doubt not that it has a general application, particularly unto the regenerate. In this matter, as many others, God often deigns to make use of human instruments and other agents, while at other times He dispenses entirely with them. Whether by means, or without them - it is the Lord who awakens us each morning. Unless He did so, our eyes would never again open in this world. The clock would run down and stop!
The experience of waking is such a common and everyday one, that few of us make any attempt to ponder and analyze it. The supernatural origin of it appears in its very characteristics. Why is it that the minute a person awakes, he is in full possession of his faculties, that after hours of heavy slumber and total subconsciousness, his strength is renewed, his muscles ready for immediate action, his senses alert, the mind thoroughly refreshed? Why is it that we instantly arouse from the profoundest stupor which deadens all our powers? How very different is the protracted and disagreeable recovery to full consciousness after an anesthetic!
How thankful we should be, that our waking by God is not a lengthy and nauseous process. Our daily emergence from hours of total inactivity, which closely resembles death itself; our bodies being completely and suddenly restored to vigor and activity - surely this is "the Lord's doing," and it should be "marvelous in our eyes" (Psalm 118:23) and move us to praise and thanksgiving. How completely dependent we are upon the Lord, appears further from the terms of that lovely prayer, "Cause me to hear your loving-kindness in the morning" (Psalm 143:8). Such should be one of our last petitions each night. "If it is Your good pleasure for me to see the light of the morning, awaken me with my heart attuned to Your beneficence. Arouse me from my slumbers with my faculties intent unto Your goodness, that my first waking thoughts may be engaged therewith."
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, September 14, 2019
The Holy Spirit's Work In Salvation # 4
The Holy Spirit's Work In Salvation # 4
How perversely man reverses the order of God's truth. They urge dead sinners to come to Christ, supposing they have the power or will to do so. Whereas Christ has plainly and emphatically stated that "No man can come to Me, except the Father who has sent Me, draws him" (John 6:44). "Coming to Christ" is the affections of the heart being drawn out towards Him, and how can a person love one he knows not? See John 4:10. Ah, it is the Spirit who must bring Christ to me, reveal Him in me before I can truly know Him. "Coming to Christ" is an inward and spiritual act, not an outward and natural one. Truly, "the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). We cannot so much as "see Christ" until we are born again. (John 3:3).
Saving grace is something more than an objective fact presented to us; it is a subjective operation wrought within us. As it is not by natural discernment that I discover my need of Christ, so it is not by my natural strength and will that I come to Him. There must be life and light (sight) before there can be motion. A babe has to be born, and have sight and strength, too, before it is able to come to its parent. Believing in Christ is a supernatural act, the product of supernatural power. One may, by means of grammatical phrases and scriptural propositions teach spiritual truth to another - but he cannot illumine his mind with respect thereto. He may tell a man that God is holy - but he cannot impart to him a consciousness that God is holy. He may tell him that sin is infinitely heinous - but he cannot beget in him a feeling or heart-realization that it is so.
To those who were well acquainted with them outwardly, Christ said, "You neither know Me nor My Father" (John 8:19). A man may know the way of righteousness" theoretically, intellectually - but that is a vastly different matter from a spiritual experimental acquaintance with it. "We having the same Spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak" (2 Cor. 4:13). Here the Spirit of God is spoken of according to the work that He performs.
"The title "Spirit of faith" intimates that the Holy Spirit is the Author of faith; for all men have not faith; that is, it is not given to all and does not belong to all" (2 Thess. 3:2). The designation means that the procuring cause of faith is the Holy Spirit who produces this effect by an invisible call, an invitation which accompanies, according to the good pleasure of His will, the external proclamation of the Gospel. The faith, therefore, of which He is the Author, is not affected by the hearer's own strength - or by the hearer's own effectual will. The special operation of the Spirit inclines the sinner, previously disinclined, to receive the invitations of the Gospel; for it is He alone, acting as the Spirit of faith, that removes the enmity of the carnal mind to those doctrines of the Cross which - but for this, would seem to him unnecessary or foolish or offensive.
Writing to the Philippian saints the apostle declared, "Unto you it is given...to believe on Him" (1:29). Faith is God's gift as Eph. 2:8, 9 positively affirms. It is not a gift offered for man's acceptance but actually conferred upon God's children, breathed into them. It is imparted to each of God's elect at His appointed time by the Holy Spirit. It is not produced by the creature's will, but is faith of the operation of God. (Col. 2:12). It is the work of the Spirit, by His supernatural action. The Holy Spirit given by Christ to this end, that each of those for whom He died should be brought to a saving knowledge of the truth; therefore we are told "Who by Him (not by our wills) do believe in God" (1 Peter 1:21). In 1 Cor. 3:5 it is said "by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man"; so in Eph. 6:23 it is declared, "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The very degree and strength of our faith is determined solely by God: "think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3) If by grace you are truly a believer, let the reader give God the Spirit honor, glory and praise for it!
Salvation is wholly applied by the Holy Spirit
The salvation of God's elect was purposed, planned, and provided by God the Father before the foundation of the world. It was procured and secured by the incarnation, obedience, death and resurrection of God the Son. It is made known, applied to and wrought in them by God the Spirit. Thus, "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), and man has no part or hand in it at any point whatever. The child of God is not the earner of salvation, but the recipient of it. Faith is not a condition which the elect sinner must perform in order to obtain salvation - but is the means and channel through which he personally enjoys the salvation of the Triune Jehovah.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
How perversely man reverses the order of God's truth. They urge dead sinners to come to Christ, supposing they have the power or will to do so. Whereas Christ has plainly and emphatically stated that "No man can come to Me, except the Father who has sent Me, draws him" (John 6:44). "Coming to Christ" is the affections of the heart being drawn out towards Him, and how can a person love one he knows not? See John 4:10. Ah, it is the Spirit who must bring Christ to me, reveal Him in me before I can truly know Him. "Coming to Christ" is an inward and spiritual act, not an outward and natural one. Truly, "the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). We cannot so much as "see Christ" until we are born again. (John 3:3).
Saving grace is something more than an objective fact presented to us; it is a subjective operation wrought within us. As it is not by natural discernment that I discover my need of Christ, so it is not by my natural strength and will that I come to Him. There must be life and light (sight) before there can be motion. A babe has to be born, and have sight and strength, too, before it is able to come to its parent. Believing in Christ is a supernatural act, the product of supernatural power. One may, by means of grammatical phrases and scriptural propositions teach spiritual truth to another - but he cannot illumine his mind with respect thereto. He may tell a man that God is holy - but he cannot impart to him a consciousness that God is holy. He may tell him that sin is infinitely heinous - but he cannot beget in him a feeling or heart-realization that it is so.
To those who were well acquainted with them outwardly, Christ said, "You neither know Me nor My Father" (John 8:19). A man may know the way of righteousness" theoretically, intellectually - but that is a vastly different matter from a spiritual experimental acquaintance with it. "We having the same Spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak" (2 Cor. 4:13). Here the Spirit of God is spoken of according to the work that He performs.
"The title "Spirit of faith" intimates that the Holy Spirit is the Author of faith; for all men have not faith; that is, it is not given to all and does not belong to all" (2 Thess. 3:2). The designation means that the procuring cause of faith is the Holy Spirit who produces this effect by an invisible call, an invitation which accompanies, according to the good pleasure of His will, the external proclamation of the Gospel. The faith, therefore, of which He is the Author, is not affected by the hearer's own strength - or by the hearer's own effectual will. The special operation of the Spirit inclines the sinner, previously disinclined, to receive the invitations of the Gospel; for it is He alone, acting as the Spirit of faith, that removes the enmity of the carnal mind to those doctrines of the Cross which - but for this, would seem to him unnecessary or foolish or offensive.
Writing to the Philippian saints the apostle declared, "Unto you it is given...to believe on Him" (1:29). Faith is God's gift as Eph. 2:8, 9 positively affirms. It is not a gift offered for man's acceptance but actually conferred upon God's children, breathed into them. It is imparted to each of God's elect at His appointed time by the Holy Spirit. It is not produced by the creature's will, but is faith of the operation of God. (Col. 2:12). It is the work of the Spirit, by His supernatural action. The Holy Spirit given by Christ to this end, that each of those for whom He died should be brought to a saving knowledge of the truth; therefore we are told "Who by Him (not by our wills) do believe in God" (1 Peter 1:21). In 1 Cor. 3:5 it is said "by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man"; so in Eph. 6:23 it is declared, "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The very degree and strength of our faith is determined solely by God: "think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3) If by grace you are truly a believer, let the reader give God the Spirit honor, glory and praise for it!
Salvation is wholly applied by the Holy Spirit
The salvation of God's elect was purposed, planned, and provided by God the Father before the foundation of the world. It was procured and secured by the incarnation, obedience, death and resurrection of God the Son. It is made known, applied to and wrought in them by God the Spirit. Thus, "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), and man has no part or hand in it at any point whatever. The child of God is not the earner of salvation, but the recipient of it. Faith is not a condition which the elect sinner must perform in order to obtain salvation - but is the means and channel through which he personally enjoys the salvation of the Triune Jehovah.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
A Call to Prayer # 7
A Call to Prayer # 7
It is useless to say you cannot pray until you have faith and a hew heart, and that you must sit still and wait for them. This is to add sin to sin. It is bad enough to be unconverted and going to hell. It is even worse to say, "I know it, but will not cry for mercy." This is a kind of argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture. "Call you upon the Lord," says Isaiah, "while He is near." (55:6). "Take you words, and turn unto the Lord", says Hosea. (14:2). "Repent and pray," says Peter to Simon Magus (Acts 8:22). If you want faith and a new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them. The very attempt to pray has often been the quickening of a dead soul.
Oh, prayerless reader, who and what are you that you will not ask anything of God? Have you made a covenant with the dead and hell? Are you at peace with the worm and fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have you no fear of eternal torment? Have you no desire after heaven? Oh that you would awake from your present folly. Oh that you would consider your latter end. Oh that you would arise and call upon God. Alas, there is a day coming when many shall pray loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all too late; when many shall cry to the rocks to fall on them and the hills to cover them, who would never cry to God. (Matt. 25:11; Rev. 6:16). In all affection, I warn you, beware lest this be the end of your soul. Salvation is very near you. Do not lose heaven for want of asking.
Let me speak to those who have real desires for salvation, but know not what steps to take, or where to begin. I cannot but hope that some readers may be in this state of mind, and if there be but one such I must offer them affectionate counsel.
In every journey there must be a first step. There must be a change from sitting still to moving forward. The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to Canaan were long and wearisome. Forty years pass away before they crossed the Jordan. Yet there was someone who moved first when they marched from Ramah to Succoth. When does a person really take their first step in coming out of sin and the world? They do it the day when they first pray with their heart.
If you desire salvation, and want to know what to do, I advise you to go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first private place you can find, and earnestly and heartily entreat Him in prayer to save your soul.
Tell Him that you have heard that He receives sinners, and has said, "Him that comes unto Me I will in nowise cast out" (John 6:37). Tell Him that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to Him on the faith of His own invitation. Tell Him you put yourself wholly and entirely in His hands: that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in yourself: and that except He saves you, you have no hope of being saved at all. Beseech Him to deliver you from guilt, the power, and the consequences of sin. Beseech Him to pardon you, and wash you in His own blood. Beseech Him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy Spirit in your soul. Beseech Him to give you grace and faith and will and power to be His disciple and servant from this day forever. Oh, reader, go this very day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you really are in earnest about your soul.
Tell Him in your own way, and your own words. If a doctor came to see you when you sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If your soul feels its disease indeed, you can surely find something to tell Christ.
Doubt not His willingness to save you, because you are a sinner. It is Christ's office to save sinners. He says Himself, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32).
Wait not because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing. Wait for nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ. The worse you are, the more need you have to apply to Him. You will never mend yourself by staying away.
Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Saviour understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan.
Despair not because you do not get an answer immediately. While you are speaking, Jesus is listening. If He delays an answer, it is only for wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. The answer will surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it. It will surely come.
Oh, reader, if you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I have given to you this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 8)
It is useless to say you cannot pray until you have faith and a hew heart, and that you must sit still and wait for them. This is to add sin to sin. It is bad enough to be unconverted and going to hell. It is even worse to say, "I know it, but will not cry for mercy." This is a kind of argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture. "Call you upon the Lord," says Isaiah, "while He is near." (55:6). "Take you words, and turn unto the Lord", says Hosea. (14:2). "Repent and pray," says Peter to Simon Magus (Acts 8:22). If you want faith and a new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them. The very attempt to pray has often been the quickening of a dead soul.
Oh, prayerless reader, who and what are you that you will not ask anything of God? Have you made a covenant with the dead and hell? Are you at peace with the worm and fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have you no fear of eternal torment? Have you no desire after heaven? Oh that you would awake from your present folly. Oh that you would consider your latter end. Oh that you would arise and call upon God. Alas, there is a day coming when many shall pray loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all too late; when many shall cry to the rocks to fall on them and the hills to cover them, who would never cry to God. (Matt. 25:11; Rev. 6:16). In all affection, I warn you, beware lest this be the end of your soul. Salvation is very near you. Do not lose heaven for want of asking.
Let me speak to those who have real desires for salvation, but know not what steps to take, or where to begin. I cannot but hope that some readers may be in this state of mind, and if there be but one such I must offer them affectionate counsel.
In every journey there must be a first step. There must be a change from sitting still to moving forward. The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to Canaan were long and wearisome. Forty years pass away before they crossed the Jordan. Yet there was someone who moved first when they marched from Ramah to Succoth. When does a person really take their first step in coming out of sin and the world? They do it the day when they first pray with their heart.
If you desire salvation, and want to know what to do, I advise you to go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first private place you can find, and earnestly and heartily entreat Him in prayer to save your soul.
Tell Him that you have heard that He receives sinners, and has said, "Him that comes unto Me I will in nowise cast out" (John 6:37). Tell Him that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to Him on the faith of His own invitation. Tell Him you put yourself wholly and entirely in His hands: that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in yourself: and that except He saves you, you have no hope of being saved at all. Beseech Him to deliver you from guilt, the power, and the consequences of sin. Beseech Him to pardon you, and wash you in His own blood. Beseech Him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy Spirit in your soul. Beseech Him to give you grace and faith and will and power to be His disciple and servant from this day forever. Oh, reader, go this very day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you really are in earnest about your soul.
Tell Him in your own way, and your own words. If a doctor came to see you when you sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If your soul feels its disease indeed, you can surely find something to tell Christ.
Doubt not His willingness to save you, because you are a sinner. It is Christ's office to save sinners. He says Himself, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32).
Wait not because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing. Wait for nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ. The worse you are, the more need you have to apply to Him. You will never mend yourself by staying away.
Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Saviour understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan.
Despair not because you do not get an answer immediately. While you are speaking, Jesus is listening. If He delays an answer, it is only for wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. The answer will surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it. It will surely come.
Oh, reader, if you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I have given to you this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 8)
Saturday, September 7, 2019
The Holy Spirit's Work In Salvation # 3
The Holy Spirit's Work In Salvation # 3
Fitness for heaven is by the Spirit
Our title to the glory lies solely in the righteousness of Christ; our personal fitness for it lies in the Holy Spirit's regenerating of us. All our fitness for the heavenly state was wrought in us in regeneration. Writing to the regenerated Colossians the apostle said, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints of light." And then he shows wherein this "fitness" consists: "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." (v. 13). Their title is outside of them; their "fitness" is within them. The Holy Spirit has created in them a nature which is capacitated to know and enjoy the Triune God.
In our unregenerate state, we were completely under the power of darkness, that is, of sin and satan, and we were less able to deliver ourselves from this bondage - than Jonah was able to escape from the belly of the whale. We "sat in darkness" and "in the region and shadow of death." (Matt. 4:16). We were "captives", bound and in prison" (Isaiah 61:1). We were those "having no hope, and without God in the world." (Eph. 2:12). From this dreadful state, every renewed soul has been delivered by the gracious sovereign and invincible power of the Holy Spirit, and has been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Then let each renewed reader give equal homage, adoration and worship - to the Holy Spirit as to the Father and to the Son.
Justification and sanctification are by the Spirit
"And such were some of you; but you are washed - but you are sanctified - but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). This is a remarkable scripture, and little pondered. It would lead us too far away from our theme were we to attempt a full exposition of it. Two things here would we barely point out: the three saving blessings enumerated in this verse are referred, first, to the "name" or merits of Christ as His own procuring cause; and then to the Holy Spirit who makes the elect partakers of them by His own effectual application. He it is who enlightens their minds and opens their hearts to take in and be assured that they are "washed, sanctified and justified."
FAITH is from the SPIRIT
A deeply taught servant of God once wrote to a young preacher, "Never represent faith as being an act so "simple" that the work of the Spirit is not needed to produce it." Yet this is what has been commonly done! A great many of the evangelists of the past hundred years have displayed a zeal which was not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2), and manifested a far great concern to see souls saved than to preach the truth of God in its purity. In their efforts to show the simplicity of the way of salvation they have lost sight of the difficulties of salvation (Luke 18:24; 1 Pet. 4:18): in their pressing of the responsibility of man to believe, they have ignored the fact that none can believe until the Spirit imparts faith! To present Christ to the sinner and then throw him back on his own will, is to mock him in his helplessness; the work of the Spirit in the heart is as real and urgent a need - as was the work of Christ on the Cross. For the heart to truly believe in and trust God is a spiritual act, a "good fruit", and if fallen man possesses inherent power to do good, then to present the atonement to him is altogether needless.
There is no middle ground between life and death; no intermediate stage between conversion and non-conversion. The bestowal of eternal life is instantaneous; we are created in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:10). It is a most serious error to suppose that after the Spirit of God has done His work in the sinner, it still remains for him to say whether he shall be regenerated or not, whether he shall believe or not. All who are recipients of His supernatural operations are regenerated, effectually converted, and actually believe. It is not that the Spirit imparts the capacity to believe and then waits for the individual to exercise his will to believe: no, He works in the elect both to will and to do. (Phil. 2:13). I may tell a man that in the next room there is a lighted lamp, and he may not believe me - but let me bring it into the room where he is, so, that he sees the light for himself, and he is irresistibly persuaded. So a servant of God may tell a man that Christ is sufficient for the chief of sinners, and he believes not; but when Christ is "revealed in him" (Gal. 1:16) he cannot but trust Him (2 Cor. 5:4:6).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
Fitness for heaven is by the Spirit
Our title to the glory lies solely in the righteousness of Christ; our personal fitness for it lies in the Holy Spirit's regenerating of us. All our fitness for the heavenly state was wrought in us in regeneration. Writing to the regenerated Colossians the apostle said, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints of light." And then he shows wherein this "fitness" consists: "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." (v. 13). Their title is outside of them; their "fitness" is within them. The Holy Spirit has created in them a nature which is capacitated to know and enjoy the Triune God.
In our unregenerate state, we were completely under the power of darkness, that is, of sin and satan, and we were less able to deliver ourselves from this bondage - than Jonah was able to escape from the belly of the whale. We "sat in darkness" and "in the region and shadow of death." (Matt. 4:16). We were "captives", bound and in prison" (Isaiah 61:1). We were those "having no hope, and without God in the world." (Eph. 2:12). From this dreadful state, every renewed soul has been delivered by the gracious sovereign and invincible power of the Holy Spirit, and has been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Then let each renewed reader give equal homage, adoration and worship - to the Holy Spirit as to the Father and to the Son.
Justification and sanctification are by the Spirit
"And such were some of you; but you are washed - but you are sanctified - but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). This is a remarkable scripture, and little pondered. It would lead us too far away from our theme were we to attempt a full exposition of it. Two things here would we barely point out: the three saving blessings enumerated in this verse are referred, first, to the "name" or merits of Christ as His own procuring cause; and then to the Holy Spirit who makes the elect partakers of them by His own effectual application. He it is who enlightens their minds and opens their hearts to take in and be assured that they are "washed, sanctified and justified."
FAITH is from the SPIRIT
A deeply taught servant of God once wrote to a young preacher, "Never represent faith as being an act so "simple" that the work of the Spirit is not needed to produce it." Yet this is what has been commonly done! A great many of the evangelists of the past hundred years have displayed a zeal which was not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2), and manifested a far great concern to see souls saved than to preach the truth of God in its purity. In their efforts to show the simplicity of the way of salvation they have lost sight of the difficulties of salvation (Luke 18:24; 1 Pet. 4:18): in their pressing of the responsibility of man to believe, they have ignored the fact that none can believe until the Spirit imparts faith! To present Christ to the sinner and then throw him back on his own will, is to mock him in his helplessness; the work of the Spirit in the heart is as real and urgent a need - as was the work of Christ on the Cross. For the heart to truly believe in and trust God is a spiritual act, a "good fruit", and if fallen man possesses inherent power to do good, then to present the atonement to him is altogether needless.
There is no middle ground between life and death; no intermediate stage between conversion and non-conversion. The bestowal of eternal life is instantaneous; we are created in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:10). It is a most serious error to suppose that after the Spirit of God has done His work in the sinner, it still remains for him to say whether he shall be regenerated or not, whether he shall believe or not. All who are recipients of His supernatural operations are regenerated, effectually converted, and actually believe. It is not that the Spirit imparts the capacity to believe and then waits for the individual to exercise his will to believe: no, He works in the elect both to will and to do. (Phil. 2:13). I may tell a man that in the next room there is a lighted lamp, and he may not believe me - but let me bring it into the room where he is, so, that he sees the light for himself, and he is irresistibly persuaded. So a servant of God may tell a man that Christ is sufficient for the chief of sinners, and he believes not; but when Christ is "revealed in him" (Gal. 1:16) he cannot but trust Him (2 Cor. 5:4:6).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
A Call to Prayer # 6
A Call to Prayer # 6
This was the practice of all the saints whose history we have recorded in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did when he feared his brother Esau. This is what Moses did when the people were ready to stone him in the wilderness. This is what Joshua did when Israel was defeated before the men of Ai. This is what David did when he was in danger in Keliah. This is what Hezekiah did when he received the letter from Sennacherib. This is that the church did when Peter was put in prison. This is what Paul did when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.
The only way to really be happy in such a world as this, is to be ever casting all our cares on God. It is trying to carry their own burdens which so often makes believers sad. If they will tell their troubles to God, He will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did the gates of Gaza (Judges 16:3). If they are resolved to keep them to themselves, they will one day find that the very grasshopper is a burden!
There is a Friend ever waiting to help us, if we will unbosom to Him our sorrow - a Friend who pitied the poor and sick and sorrowful, when He was upon earth - a Friend who knows the heart of man, for He lived thirty-three years as a man among us - a Friend who can weep with the weepers, for He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief - a Friend who is able to help us, for there never was earthly pain He could not cure. That Friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy is to be always opening our hearts to Him. Oh, that we were all like that poor Christian slave who only answered when threatened and punished, "I must tell the Lord!"
Jesus can make those happy who trust Him and call Him, whatever be their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a prison, contentment in the midst of poverty, comfort in the midst of bereavements, joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty fullness in Him for all His believing members - a fullness that is ready to be poured out on everyone that will ask in prayer. Oh that people would understand that happiness does not depend on outward circumstances, but on the state of the heart!
Prayer can lighten crosses for us, however heavy. It can bring down to our side One who will help us to bear them. Prayer can open a door for us when our way seems hedged up. It can bring down One who will say, "This is the way, walk in it." (Isaiah 30:21). Prayer can let in a ray of hope when all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can bring down One who will say, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." (Heb. 13:5). Prayer can obtain relief for us when those we love the most are taken away, and the world feels empty. It can bring down One who can fill the gap in our hearts with Himself, and say to the waves within, "Peace, be still." (Mark 4:39). Oh that people were not so like Hagar in the wilderness, blind to the well of living waters close beside them (Genesis 21:14-19).
Let me speak a parting word to those who do not pray. I dare not suppose that all those who read these pages are praying people. If you are a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this day on God's behalf.
Prayerless reader, I can only warn you but I do warn you most solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in your present state, you are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be eternally miserable. I warn you that all professing Christians you are utterly without excuse. There is not a single good reason that you can show for living without prayer.
It is useless to say your know not how to pray. Prayer is the simplest act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither learning nor wisdom nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out their hand for alms, and does not wait to find fine words. The most ignorant person will find something to say to God, if they have only a mind.
It is useless to say you have no convenient place to pray in. Any person can find a place private enough, if they are disposed. Our Lord prayer on a mountain; Peter on the housetop; Isaac in the field; Nathaniel under the fig tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any place may become a closet, an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us the presence of God.
It is useless to say you have no time. There is plenty of time, if people will employ it. Time may be short, but time is always long enough for prayer. Daniel had the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and yet he prayed three times a day. David was the ruler over a mighty nation, and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at noon will I pray." When time is really wanted, time can always be found.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 7)
This was the practice of all the saints whose history we have recorded in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did when he feared his brother Esau. This is what Moses did when the people were ready to stone him in the wilderness. This is what Joshua did when Israel was defeated before the men of Ai. This is what David did when he was in danger in Keliah. This is what Hezekiah did when he received the letter from Sennacherib. This is that the church did when Peter was put in prison. This is what Paul did when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.
The only way to really be happy in such a world as this, is to be ever casting all our cares on God. It is trying to carry their own burdens which so often makes believers sad. If they will tell their troubles to God, He will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did the gates of Gaza (Judges 16:3). If they are resolved to keep them to themselves, they will one day find that the very grasshopper is a burden!
There is a Friend ever waiting to help us, if we will unbosom to Him our sorrow - a Friend who pitied the poor and sick and sorrowful, when He was upon earth - a Friend who knows the heart of man, for He lived thirty-three years as a man among us - a Friend who can weep with the weepers, for He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief - a Friend who is able to help us, for there never was earthly pain He could not cure. That Friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy is to be always opening our hearts to Him. Oh, that we were all like that poor Christian slave who only answered when threatened and punished, "I must tell the Lord!"
Jesus can make those happy who trust Him and call Him, whatever be their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a prison, contentment in the midst of poverty, comfort in the midst of bereavements, joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty fullness in Him for all His believing members - a fullness that is ready to be poured out on everyone that will ask in prayer. Oh that people would understand that happiness does not depend on outward circumstances, but on the state of the heart!
Prayer can lighten crosses for us, however heavy. It can bring down to our side One who will help us to bear them. Prayer can open a door for us when our way seems hedged up. It can bring down One who will say, "This is the way, walk in it." (Isaiah 30:21). Prayer can let in a ray of hope when all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can bring down One who will say, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." (Heb. 13:5). Prayer can obtain relief for us when those we love the most are taken away, and the world feels empty. It can bring down One who can fill the gap in our hearts with Himself, and say to the waves within, "Peace, be still." (Mark 4:39). Oh that people were not so like Hagar in the wilderness, blind to the well of living waters close beside them (Genesis 21:14-19).
Let me speak a parting word to those who do not pray. I dare not suppose that all those who read these pages are praying people. If you are a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this day on God's behalf.
Prayerless reader, I can only warn you but I do warn you most solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in your present state, you are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be eternally miserable. I warn you that all professing Christians you are utterly without excuse. There is not a single good reason that you can show for living without prayer.
It is useless to say your know not how to pray. Prayer is the simplest act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither learning nor wisdom nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out their hand for alms, and does not wait to find fine words. The most ignorant person will find something to say to God, if they have only a mind.
It is useless to say you have no convenient place to pray in. Any person can find a place private enough, if they are disposed. Our Lord prayer on a mountain; Peter on the housetop; Isaac in the field; Nathaniel under the fig tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any place may become a closet, an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us the presence of God.
It is useless to say you have no time. There is plenty of time, if people will employ it. Time may be short, but time is always long enough for prayer. Daniel had the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and yet he prayed three times a day. David was the ruler over a mighty nation, and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at noon will I pray." When time is really wanted, time can always be found.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 7)
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