The Power of God In Salvation # 3
4. The Power of God in Producing REPENTANCE
Man, without Christ, cannot repent, "Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance" (Acts 5:31). Christ gave it as a "Prince," and, therefore, to none but His subjects, those who are in His kingdom, in whom He rules. Nothing can draw men to repentance, but the regenerating power of Christ, which He exercises at God's right hand. For the acts of repentance are: hatred of sin, sorrow for it, determination to forsake it, and earnest and constant endeavor after its death.
But sin is so transcendentally dear and delightful to a man out of Christ, that nothing but an infinite power can draw him to these acts mentioned. Sin is more precious to an unregenerate soul than anything else in Heaven or earth. It is dearer to him than liberty, for he gives himself up to it entirely, and becomes its servant and slave. It is dearer to him than health, strength, time, or riches, for he spends all these upon sin. It is dearer to him than his own soul. Shall a man lose his sins, or his soul? Ninety-nine out of a hundred vote for the latter, and lose their souls on that account. Sin is a man's self. Just as "I" is the central letter of "sin", so sin is the center, the moving power, the very life of self! Therefore did Christ say, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself" (Matt. 16:24). Men are "lovers of their own selves" (2 Tim. 3:2), which is the same as saying that their hearts are wedded to sin. Man "drinks iniquity like water" (Job 15:16). He cannot exist without it - he is ever thirsting for it - he must have his fill of it.
Now, since man so dotes on sin, what is going to turn his delight into sorrow, his love for it into loathing of it? Nothing but almighty power! Here, then, we may mark the folly of those who cherish the delusion that they can repent whenever they get ready to do so. Evangelical repentance is not at the beck and call of the creature. It is the gift of God, "If God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:25). Then, what insanity is it that persuades multitudes to defer the effort to repent until their deathbeds? Do they imagine that, when they are so weak that they can no longer turn their bodies - they will have strength to turn their souls from sin? Far sooner could they turn themselves back to perfect physical health! What praise, then, is due to God if He has wrought a saving repentance in us.
5. The Power of God in Working FAITH in His People.
Saving faith in Christ is not the simple matter that so many vainly imagine. Countless thousands supposed it is as easy to believe in the Lord Jesus as in Caesar or Napoleon - and the tragic thing is that hundreds of preachers are helping forward this lie. It is as easy to believe on Him as on them in a natural, historical, intellectual way - but not so in a spiritual and saving way. I may believe in all the heroes of the past - but such belief effects no change in my life! I may have unshaken confidence in the historicity of George Washington - but does my belief in him abate my love for the world and cause me to hate even the garment spotted by the flesh?
A supernatural and saving faith in Christ, alone purifies the life. Is such a faith easily attained? No, indeed! Listen to Christ Himself, "How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God alone?" (John 5:44). And again, we read, "They could not believe" (John 12:39).
Faith in Christ is receiving Him as He is offered or presented to us by God in the Scriptures. Now, God presents Christ to us not only as Priest - but as King; not only as Saviour - but as "Prince."
Are men as willing for Christ to rule them - as to save them?
Do they pray as earnestly for purity - as for pardon?
Are they as anxious to be delivered from the power of sin - as they are from the fires of hell?
Do they desire holiness - as much as they do heaven?
Is the dominion of sin as dreadful to them - as its wages?
Does the filthiness of sin grieve them - as much as the guilt and damnation of it?
The man who divides what God has joined together when He offers Christ to us has not "received" Him at all. Faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). It is wrought in the elect by "the operation of God" (Col. 2:12). To bring a sinner from unbelief to saving faith in Christ, is a miracle as great and as wondrous as was God's raising Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, October 26, 2019
New Covenant Theology Essentials # 1
New Covenant Theology Essentials # 1
The story of Scripture can be summarized as "Creation to New Creation." How God brings revelation, history, and humanity from creation to new creation is referred to by many as "Redemptive History." One of the most complex yet rewarding pursuits in biblical studies is to understand the flow of Redemptive History. What is its structure? How does it progress and develop over time? How is one era related to another? Where do we find unity and continuity? Where do we encounter diversity and discontinuity? What has priority and permanence? What is temporal and passing away? These are not merely questions for the academic theologian. Since there is more material devoted specifically to this issue in the New Testament than to almost any other single issue, the Bible itself invites every believer to pursue this understanding of the big picture with all its theological and practical implications for life and faith.
Currently there are three main systems of theology within evangelical Christianity which address the subject of Redemptive History:
Covenant Theology
Dispensational Theology
New Covenant Theology
Whether or not they are conscious of it, all Christians will generally fall into one of these three systems.
Generally speaking, Covenant Theology emphasizes continuity to the expense of discontinuity. Since the Westminster Confession of Faith is structured around Covenant Theology, it is mostly Presbyterians who adhere to Covenant Theology, although others do was well (e.g. Reformed Baptists).
Dispensationalism, on the other hand, tends to emphasize discontinuity at the expense of continuity. It is mostly Bible churches that adhere to Dispensationalism, but it is certainly not limited to them. Dispensationalism is by far the most popular of the three, due in large part to its adoption early on in the Fundamentalist movement, as well as current popular marketing with fictional books and movies.
New Covenant Theology accommodates both continuity and discontinuity. It is held to by those in the "believer's church" tradition. New Covenant Theology is a relatively new label, but it is not a new method of interpretation. The early church fathers, the Anabaptists, as well as other significant figures in church history put the Bible together in a similar way.
There are six key distinctives that make up New Covenant Theology. Taken individually, these points may fit into Covenant Theology and/or Dispensationalism, but taken together they uniquely fit New Covenant Theology.
1. One Plan of God Centered in Jesus Christ.
The first distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that there is one plan of God throughout the Bible. This plan is centered on and finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Ephesians 1:8-10 says, With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment - to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Covenant Theology speaks of this plan in terms of the "covenant of grace." New Covenant strives to let biblical theology inform systematic theology. Exegesis should be the lifeblood of theology. This being the case, New Covenant Theology does not find exegetical warrant for an over arching covenant of grace that encompasses all the biblical covenants. This tends to flatten out the Bible. There is both continuity between the covenants and discontinuity. Each covenant must be dealt with in its own context as well as its contribution to the whole. When we recognize this, it becomes clear that there is a sharp contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Dispenationalism, on the other hand, tends to chop up the Bible, not seeing the fulfillment that the Messiah brings in continuity with what has gone before.
2. The Old Testament Should be Interpreted in Light of the New Testament
The second distinctive of New Covenant Theology is its insistence that the Old Testament must be read and interpreted in light of its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe". We take the progressive nature of God's revelation with the utmost seriousness. We learn how to interpret the Old Testament from Jesus and His apostles. It is our opinion that the conclusions of Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are a result of beginning with the Old Testament rather than the New Testament.
~Blake White~
(continued with # 2)
The story of Scripture can be summarized as "Creation to New Creation." How God brings revelation, history, and humanity from creation to new creation is referred to by many as "Redemptive History." One of the most complex yet rewarding pursuits in biblical studies is to understand the flow of Redemptive History. What is its structure? How does it progress and develop over time? How is one era related to another? Where do we find unity and continuity? Where do we encounter diversity and discontinuity? What has priority and permanence? What is temporal and passing away? These are not merely questions for the academic theologian. Since there is more material devoted specifically to this issue in the New Testament than to almost any other single issue, the Bible itself invites every believer to pursue this understanding of the big picture with all its theological and practical implications for life and faith.
Currently there are three main systems of theology within evangelical Christianity which address the subject of Redemptive History:
Covenant Theology
Dispensational Theology
New Covenant Theology
Whether or not they are conscious of it, all Christians will generally fall into one of these three systems.
Generally speaking, Covenant Theology emphasizes continuity to the expense of discontinuity. Since the Westminster Confession of Faith is structured around Covenant Theology, it is mostly Presbyterians who adhere to Covenant Theology, although others do was well (e.g. Reformed Baptists).
Dispensationalism, on the other hand, tends to emphasize discontinuity at the expense of continuity. It is mostly Bible churches that adhere to Dispensationalism, but it is certainly not limited to them. Dispensationalism is by far the most popular of the three, due in large part to its adoption early on in the Fundamentalist movement, as well as current popular marketing with fictional books and movies.
New Covenant Theology accommodates both continuity and discontinuity. It is held to by those in the "believer's church" tradition. New Covenant Theology is a relatively new label, but it is not a new method of interpretation. The early church fathers, the Anabaptists, as well as other significant figures in church history put the Bible together in a similar way.
There are six key distinctives that make up New Covenant Theology. Taken individually, these points may fit into Covenant Theology and/or Dispensationalism, but taken together they uniquely fit New Covenant Theology.
1. One Plan of God Centered in Jesus Christ.
The first distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that there is one plan of God throughout the Bible. This plan is centered on and finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Ephesians 1:8-10 says, With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment - to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Covenant Theology speaks of this plan in terms of the "covenant of grace." New Covenant strives to let biblical theology inform systematic theology. Exegesis should be the lifeblood of theology. This being the case, New Covenant Theology does not find exegetical warrant for an over arching covenant of grace that encompasses all the biblical covenants. This tends to flatten out the Bible. There is both continuity between the covenants and discontinuity. Each covenant must be dealt with in its own context as well as its contribution to the whole. When we recognize this, it becomes clear that there is a sharp contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Dispenationalism, on the other hand, tends to chop up the Bible, not seeing the fulfillment that the Messiah brings in continuity with what has gone before.
2. The Old Testament Should be Interpreted in Light of the New Testament
The second distinctive of New Covenant Theology is its insistence that the Old Testament must be read and interpreted in light of its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe". We take the progressive nature of God's revelation with the utmost seriousness. We learn how to interpret the Old Testament from Jesus and His apostles. It is our opinion that the conclusions of Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are a result of beginning with the Old Testament rather than the New Testament.
~Blake White~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, October 19, 2019
The Power of God in the Salvation of His People # 2
The Power of God in the Salvation of His People # 2
2. The Power of God in Convicting Us of Sin
"For you were once darkness" (Eph. 5:8). Such was the Christian's fearful state before grace laid hold of him. he was not only in darkness, but he himself was "darkness." He was utterly devoid of a singly ray of spiritual light. The "light of reason" of which men boast so much, and the "light of conscience" which others value so highly, were utterly worthless as far as giving any intelligence in the things of God was concerned. It was this solemn fact that Christ referred when He said, "If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:23). Yes, so "great" is that darkness that men "call evil good and good evil; put darkness for light, and light for darkness; put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). So "great" is that darkness that spiritual things are "foolishness" unto them (1 Cor. 2:14). So "great" is that darkness that they are completely ignorant of it (Eph. 4:18), and utterly blind to their actual state.
Not only is the natural man unable to deliver himself from this darkness, but he has no desire whatever for such deliverance, for being spiritually dead - he has no consciousness of any need for deliverance. it is because of their fearful state that, until the Holy Spirit actually regenerates, all who hear the Gospel are totally incapacitated for any spiritual understanding of it. The majority who hear it imagine that they are already saved, that they are real Christians, and no arguments from the preacher, no power on earth, can ever convince them to the contrary. Tell them, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes - and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Prov. 30:12), and it makes no more impression than does water on a duck's back! Warn them that, "Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish!" (Luke 13:3), and they are no more moved than are the rocks by the ocean's spray. No, they suppose that they have nothing to repent of, and know not that their repentance needs "to be repented of" (2 Cor. 7:10). They have far too high an opinion of their religious profession to allow that they are in any danger of hell!
Thus, unless a mighty miracle of grace is wrought within them, unless divine power shatters their complacency - there is no hope at all for them. For a soul to be savingly convicted of sin is a greater wonder than for a putrid fountain to send sweet waters. For a soul to be brought to realize that, "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," (Gen. 6:5) requires the power of omnipotence to produce.
By nature, man is independent, self-sufficient, self-confident. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he now feels and owns his helplessness!! By nature, a man thinks well of himself. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he acknowledges, "in me dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:18)! By nature, men are "lovers of themselves" (2 Timothy 3:2). What a miracle of grace has been wrought when they abhor themselves (Job. 42:6)! By nature, man thinks he is doing Christ a favor to espouse His Gospel and patronize His cause. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he discovers that he is utterly unfit for His holy presence, and cries, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8). By nature, man is proud of his own abilities, accomplishments, attainments. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he can truthfully declare, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus...and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ!" (Phil. 3:8).
3. The Power of God in CASTING OUT THE DEVIL
"The whole world lies in wickedness" (1 John 5:19) - bewitched, fettered, helpless. As we go over the Gospel narratives, and read of different ones who were possessed of demons, thoughts of pity for the unhappy victims stir our minds, and when we behold the Saviour delivering these wretched creatures, we are full of wonderment and gladness. But does the Christian reader realize that we, too, were once in that same awful plight? Before conversion, we were the slaves of satan, the devil wrought in us his will (Eph. 2:2), and so we walked according to the prince of the power of the air. What ability had we to deliver ourselves? Less than we have to stop the rain from falling, or the wind from blowing!
A picture of man's helplessness to deliver himself from satan's power is drawn by Christ in Luke 11:21, "When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace." The "strong man" is satan. His "goods" are the helpless captives. But blessed be His name, "The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). This, too, was pictured by Christ in the same parable, "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides the spoils" (Luke 11:22). Christ is mightier than satan, whom He overcomes him in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3), and emancipates "His own" who are bound (Isa. 61:1). He still comes by His Spirit to "set at liberty" them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18), therefore is it said of God, "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son!" (Col. 1:13). The Greek word for, "delivered," signifies freeing by violence, a plucking or snatching out of a power that otherwise would not yield its prey.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
2. The Power of God in Convicting Us of Sin
"For you were once darkness" (Eph. 5:8). Such was the Christian's fearful state before grace laid hold of him. he was not only in darkness, but he himself was "darkness." He was utterly devoid of a singly ray of spiritual light. The "light of reason" of which men boast so much, and the "light of conscience" which others value so highly, were utterly worthless as far as giving any intelligence in the things of God was concerned. It was this solemn fact that Christ referred when He said, "If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:23). Yes, so "great" is that darkness that men "call evil good and good evil; put darkness for light, and light for darkness; put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). So "great" is that darkness that spiritual things are "foolishness" unto them (1 Cor. 2:14). So "great" is that darkness that they are completely ignorant of it (Eph. 4:18), and utterly blind to their actual state.
Not only is the natural man unable to deliver himself from this darkness, but he has no desire whatever for such deliverance, for being spiritually dead - he has no consciousness of any need for deliverance. it is because of their fearful state that, until the Holy Spirit actually regenerates, all who hear the Gospel are totally incapacitated for any spiritual understanding of it. The majority who hear it imagine that they are already saved, that they are real Christians, and no arguments from the preacher, no power on earth, can ever convince them to the contrary. Tell them, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes - and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Prov. 30:12), and it makes no more impression than does water on a duck's back! Warn them that, "Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish!" (Luke 13:3), and they are no more moved than are the rocks by the ocean's spray. No, they suppose that they have nothing to repent of, and know not that their repentance needs "to be repented of" (2 Cor. 7:10). They have far too high an opinion of their religious profession to allow that they are in any danger of hell!
Thus, unless a mighty miracle of grace is wrought within them, unless divine power shatters their complacency - there is no hope at all for them. For a soul to be savingly convicted of sin is a greater wonder than for a putrid fountain to send sweet waters. For a soul to be brought to realize that, "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," (Gen. 6:5) requires the power of omnipotence to produce.
By nature, man is independent, self-sufficient, self-confident. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he now feels and owns his helplessness!! By nature, a man thinks well of himself. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he acknowledges, "in me dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:18)! By nature, men are "lovers of themselves" (2 Timothy 3:2). What a miracle of grace has been wrought when they abhor themselves (Job. 42:6)! By nature, man thinks he is doing Christ a favor to espouse His Gospel and patronize His cause. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he discovers that he is utterly unfit for His holy presence, and cries, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8). By nature, man is proud of his own abilities, accomplishments, attainments. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he can truthfully declare, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus...and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ!" (Phil. 3:8).
3. The Power of God in CASTING OUT THE DEVIL
"The whole world lies in wickedness" (1 John 5:19) - bewitched, fettered, helpless. As we go over the Gospel narratives, and read of different ones who were possessed of demons, thoughts of pity for the unhappy victims stir our minds, and when we behold the Saviour delivering these wretched creatures, we are full of wonderment and gladness. But does the Christian reader realize that we, too, were once in that same awful plight? Before conversion, we were the slaves of satan, the devil wrought in us his will (Eph. 2:2), and so we walked according to the prince of the power of the air. What ability had we to deliver ourselves? Less than we have to stop the rain from falling, or the wind from blowing!
A picture of man's helplessness to deliver himself from satan's power is drawn by Christ in Luke 11:21, "When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace." The "strong man" is satan. His "goods" are the helpless captives. But blessed be His name, "The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). This, too, was pictured by Christ in the same parable, "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides the spoils" (Luke 11:22). Christ is mightier than satan, whom He overcomes him in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3), and emancipates "His own" who are bound (Isa. 61:1). He still comes by His Spirit to "set at liberty" them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18), therefore is it said of God, "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son!" (Col. 1:13). The Greek word for, "delivered," signifies freeing by violence, a plucking or snatching out of a power that otherwise would not yield its prey.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
A Call to Prayer # 10 (and others)
A Call to Prayer # 10 (and others)
I commend to you the importance of thankfulness in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing and praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." (Col. 4:2). It is of mercy that we are not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of mercy that we still live and have opportunities of glorifying God actively or passively. Surely these thoughts should crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely we should never open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by which we live, and for that loving kindness which endures forever. Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. Paul hardly ever writes an epistle without beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitefield in last century, and Bickersteth in our own time, abounded in thankfulness. Oh, reader, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day, we must cherish a spirit of praise. Let our prayers be thankful prayers!
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers. Prayer is a point in religion at which you must be most of all on your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a person's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of their soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass. By this we may know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here is the heart of the matter of our practical Christianity. Sermons and books and tracts, and committee meetings and the company of good people are all good in their way, but they will never make up for the neglect of private prayer. Mark well the places and society and companions that unhinge your hearts for communion with God and make your prayers drive heavily. If you take care of your prayers, nothing shall go very wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for your private consideration. I do it in all humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself. But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I desire myself and all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet, to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that they are not praying amiss.
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
______________________________
Christ's Self-Sacrifice And Ours
I commend to you the importance of thankfulness in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing and praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." (Col. 4:2). It is of mercy that we are not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of mercy that we still live and have opportunities of glorifying God actively or passively. Surely these thoughts should crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely we should never open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by which we live, and for that loving kindness which endures forever. Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. Paul hardly ever writes an epistle without beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitefield in last century, and Bickersteth in our own time, abounded in thankfulness. Oh, reader, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day, we must cherish a spirit of praise. Let our prayers be thankful prayers!
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers. Prayer is a point in religion at which you must be most of all on your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a person's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of their soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass. By this we may know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here is the heart of the matter of our practical Christianity. Sermons and books and tracts, and committee meetings and the company of good people are all good in their way, but they will never make up for the neglect of private prayer. Mark well the places and society and companions that unhinge your hearts for communion with God and make your prayers drive heavily. If you take care of your prayers, nothing shall go very wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for your private consideration. I do it in all humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself. But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I desire myself and all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet, to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that they are not praying amiss.
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
______________________________
Christ's Self-Sacrifice And Ours
Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake, but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to mere self-denial that Christ calls us, but specifically to self-sacrifice: not to unselfing ourselves, but to unselfishing ourselves. Self-denial for its own sake is in its very nature ascetic, monkish. It concentrates our whole attention on self—self-knowledge, self-control—and can therefore eventuate in nothing other than the very apotheosis of selfishness. At best it succeeds only in subjecting the outer self to the inner self, or the lower self to the higher self; and only the more surely falls into the slough of self-seeking, that it partially conceals the selfishness of its goal by refining its ideal of self and excluding its grosser and more outward elements. Self-denial, then, drives to the cloister; narrows and contracts the soul; murders within us all innocent desires, dries up all the springs of sympathy, and nurses and coddles our self-importance until we grow so great in our own esteem as to be careless of the trials and sufferings, the joys and aspirations, the strivings and failures and successes of our fellow-men. Self-denial, thus understood, will make us cold, hard, unsympathetic,—proud, arrogant, self-esteeming,—fanatical, overbearing, cruel. It may make monks and Stoics,—it cannot make Christians.
It is not to this that Christ’s example calls us. He did not cultivate self, even His divine self: He took no account of self. He was not led by His divine impulse out of the world, driven back into the recesses of His own soul to brood morbidly over His own needs, until to gain His own seemed worth all sacrifice to Him. He was led by His love for others into the world, to forget Himself in the needs of others, to sacrifice self once for all upon the altar of sympathy. Self-sacrifice brought Christ into the world. And self-sacrifice will lead us, His followers, not away from but into the midst of men. Wherever men suffer, there will we be to comfort. Wherever men strive, there will we be to help. Wherever men fail, there will be we to uplift. Wherever men succeed, there will we be to rejoice. Self-sacrifice means not indifference to our times and our fellows: it means absorption in them. It means forgetfulness of self in others. It means entering into every man’s hopes and fears, longings and despairs: it means manysidedness of spirit, multiform activity, multiplicity of sympathies. It means richness of development. It means not that we should live one life, but a thousand lives,—binding ourselves to a thousand souls by the filaments of so loving a sympathy that their lives become ours. It means that all the experiences of men shall smite our souls and shall beat and batter these stubborn hearts of ours into fitness for their heavenly home. It is, after all, then, the path to the highest possible development, by which alone we can be made truly men. Not that we shall undertake it with this end in view. This were to dry up its springs at their source. We cannot be self-consciously self-forgetful, selfishly unselfish. Only, when we humbly walk this path, seeking truly in it not our own things but those of others, we shall find the promise true, that he who loses his life shall find it. Only, when, like Christ, and in loving obedience to His call and example, we take no account of ourselves, but freely give ourselves to others, we shall find, each in his measure, the saying true of himself also: "Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him." The path of self-sacrifice is the path to glory.
~B. B. Warfield~
Saturday, October 12, 2019
The Power of God In the Salvation of His People # 1
The Power of God in the Salvation of His People # 1
"Twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God!" (Psalm 62:11).
In our first article upon this glorious theme, we practically confined our attention to the omnipotence of God as it is seen in and through the old creation. Here, we propose to contemplate the exercise of His might in and on the new creation. That God's people are much slower to perceive the latter than the former, is plain from Ephesians 1:19, where the apostle prayed that the saints might know "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power." Very striking indeed is this. When Paul speaks of the divine power in creation, he mentions, "His power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20, but when he treats of the work of grace and salvation, he calls it, "exceeding greatness of His power."
God proportions His power to the nature of His work. The casting out of demons is ascribed to His "finger" (Luke 11:20); His delivering of Israel from Egypt to His "hand" (Exodus 13:9); but when the Lord saves a sinner, it is His "holy arm" which gets Him the victory (Psalm 98:1).
It is to be duly noted that the language of Ephesians 1:19 is so couched as to take in the whole work of divine grace in and upon the elect. It is not restrained to the past - "who have believed according to," nor to the time to come - "the power that shall work in you". But, instead it is "the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe." It is the "effectual working" of God's might from the first moment of illumination and conviction, until their sanctification and glorification.
So dense is the darkness which has now fallen upon the people (Isa. 60:2), that the vast majority of those even in the churches deem it is almost as easy to purify a man's heart (James 4:8) as it is to wash his hands! That it is as simple a matter to admit the light of divine truth into the soul, as it is the morning sun into our chambers by opening the shutters. That it is no more difficult to turn the heart from evil to good, from the world to God, from sin to Christ - than to turn a ship round by the help of the helm. And this, in the face of Christ's emphatic statement, "With men this is impossible" (Matt. 19:26).
To mortify the lusts of the flesh to be crucified daily to sin, to be meek and gentle, patient and kind - in a word, to be Christ-like - is a task altogether beyond our powers! It is one on which we would never venture, or, having ventured on, would soon abandon - but that God is pleased to perfect His strength in our weakness, and is "mighty to save" (Isa. 63:1).
That this may be the more clearly evident to us, we shall now consider some of the features of God's powerful operations in the saving of His people.
1. The Power of God in REGENERATION
Little as real Christians may realize it, a far greater power is put forth by God in the new creation, than in the old - in refashioning the soul and conforming it to the image of Christ, than in the original making it. There is a greater distance between sin and righteousness, corruption and grace, depravity and holiness - than there is between nothing and something, or nonentity and being. And the greater the distance there is, the greater power in producing something. The miracle is greater according as the change is greater. As it is a more signal display of power to change a dead man to life, than a sick man to health - so it is a far more wonderful performance to change unbelief to faith and enmity to love - than simply to create out of nothing. There, we are told, "The gospel of Christ ... is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes" (Romans 1:16).
The Gospel is the instrument which the Almighty uses when accomplishing the most wondrous and blessed of all His works, that is the picking up of wretched worms of the earth and making them "fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). When God formed man out of the dust of the ground, though the dust contributed nothing to the act whereby God made him, it had in it no principle contrary to His design. But, in turning the heart of a sinner toward Himself, there is not only the lack of any principle of assistance from him in this work, but the whole strength of his nature unites to combat the power of divine grace. When the gospel is presented to the sinner, not only is his understanding completely ignorant of its glorious contents - but the will is utterly perverse against it. Not only is there no desire for Christ, but there is inveterate hostility against Him. Nothing but the almighty power of God can overcome the enmity of the carnal mind. To turn back the ocean from its course would not be such an act of power, as to change the turbulent bent of man's wicked heart.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
"Twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God!" (Psalm 62:11).
In our first article upon this glorious theme, we practically confined our attention to the omnipotence of God as it is seen in and through the old creation. Here, we propose to contemplate the exercise of His might in and on the new creation. That God's people are much slower to perceive the latter than the former, is plain from Ephesians 1:19, where the apostle prayed that the saints might know "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power." Very striking indeed is this. When Paul speaks of the divine power in creation, he mentions, "His power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20, but when he treats of the work of grace and salvation, he calls it, "exceeding greatness of His power."
God proportions His power to the nature of His work. The casting out of demons is ascribed to His "finger" (Luke 11:20); His delivering of Israel from Egypt to His "hand" (Exodus 13:9); but when the Lord saves a sinner, it is His "holy arm" which gets Him the victory (Psalm 98:1).
It is to be duly noted that the language of Ephesians 1:19 is so couched as to take in the whole work of divine grace in and upon the elect. It is not restrained to the past - "who have believed according to," nor to the time to come - "the power that shall work in you". But, instead it is "the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe." It is the "effectual working" of God's might from the first moment of illumination and conviction, until their sanctification and glorification.
So dense is the darkness which has now fallen upon the people (Isa. 60:2), that the vast majority of those even in the churches deem it is almost as easy to purify a man's heart (James 4:8) as it is to wash his hands! That it is as simple a matter to admit the light of divine truth into the soul, as it is the morning sun into our chambers by opening the shutters. That it is no more difficult to turn the heart from evil to good, from the world to God, from sin to Christ - than to turn a ship round by the help of the helm. And this, in the face of Christ's emphatic statement, "With men this is impossible" (Matt. 19:26).
To mortify the lusts of the flesh to be crucified daily to sin, to be meek and gentle, patient and kind - in a word, to be Christ-like - is a task altogether beyond our powers! It is one on which we would never venture, or, having ventured on, would soon abandon - but that God is pleased to perfect His strength in our weakness, and is "mighty to save" (Isa. 63:1).
That this may be the more clearly evident to us, we shall now consider some of the features of God's powerful operations in the saving of His people.
1. The Power of God in REGENERATION
Little as real Christians may realize it, a far greater power is put forth by God in the new creation, than in the old - in refashioning the soul and conforming it to the image of Christ, than in the original making it. There is a greater distance between sin and righteousness, corruption and grace, depravity and holiness - than there is between nothing and something, or nonentity and being. And the greater the distance there is, the greater power in producing something. The miracle is greater according as the change is greater. As it is a more signal display of power to change a dead man to life, than a sick man to health - so it is a far more wonderful performance to change unbelief to faith and enmity to love - than simply to create out of nothing. There, we are told, "The gospel of Christ ... is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes" (Romans 1:16).
The Gospel is the instrument which the Almighty uses when accomplishing the most wondrous and blessed of all His works, that is the picking up of wretched worms of the earth and making them "fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). When God formed man out of the dust of the ground, though the dust contributed nothing to the act whereby God made him, it had in it no principle contrary to His design. But, in turning the heart of a sinner toward Himself, there is not only the lack of any principle of assistance from him in this work, but the whole strength of his nature unites to combat the power of divine grace. When the gospel is presented to the sinner, not only is his understanding completely ignorant of its glorious contents - but the will is utterly perverse against it. Not only is there no desire for Christ, but there is inveterate hostility against Him. Nothing but the almighty power of God can overcome the enmity of the carnal mind. To turn back the ocean from its course would not be such an act of power, as to change the turbulent bent of man's wicked heart.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
A Call to Prayer # 9
A Call to Prayer # 9
I commend to you the importance of perseverance in prayer. Once having begun the habit, never give it up. Your heart will sometimes say, "You will have had family prayers: what mighty harm if you leave private prayer undone?" Your body will sometimes say, "You are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray." Your mind will sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to today; cut short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct from satan. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I do not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length; but I do say, "Continue in prayer" and, "Pray without ceasing." (Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17). He did not mean that people should be always on their knees, but he did mean that our prayers should be like the continual burned-out offering, steadily preserved in every day; that it should be like seedtime and harvest, and summer and winter, unceasingly coming round at regular seasons; that it should be like the fire on the altar, nor always consuming sacrifices, but never completely going out. Never forget that you may tie together morning and evening devotions, by an endless chain of short ejaculatory prayers throughout the day. Even in company, or business, or in the very streets, you may be silently sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did in the very presence of Artaxerxes. (Neh. 2:4). And never thing that time is wasted which is given to God. A nation does not become poorer because it loses one year of working days in seven, by keeping the Sabbath. A Christian never finds he is a loser, in the long run, by persevering in prayer.
I commend you to the importance of earnestness in prayer. It is not that a person should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove that they are in earnest. But it is desirable that we should be hearty and fervent and warm, and ask as if we were really interested in what we were doing. It is the "effectual fervent" prayer that "avails much." (James 5:16). This is the lesson that is taught us by the expressions used in Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying, knocking, wrestling, laboring, striving." This is the lesson taught us by scripture examples. It is written of our Lord Jesus Christ, "In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears". (Heb. 5:7). Alas, how unlike is this to many of our supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by comparison. How truly might God say to many of us, "You do not really want what you pray for." Let us try to amend this fault. Let us knock loudly at the door of grace, like Mercy in Pilgrim's Progress, as if we must perish unless heard. Let us settle it in our minds, that cold prayers are a sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of Demosthenes the great orator, when one came to him, and wanted to plead his cause. He heard him without attention, while he told his story without earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with anxiety that it was all true. "Ah," said Demosthenes, "I believe you now."
I commend to you the importance praying in faith. We should endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask things according to God's will, we shall be answered. This is the plain command of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them." (Mark 11:24). Faith is to prayer what the feather is to the arrow: without it prayer will not hit the mark. We should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers.
I commend you to the importance of boldness in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in some people's prayers which I cannot praise. But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is exceedingly to be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when he pleads with God not to destroy Israel. "Wherefore," says he, "should the Egyptians speak and say, "for mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains"? Turn from your fierce anger." (Exodus 32:12). This is the boldness for which Luther was remarkable. One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit, what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend." This is the boldness which distinguished Bruce, a great Scottish divine of the seventeenth century. His prayers were said to be "like bolts shot up into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do not plead as often as we might, "Lord, are we not Your own people? Is it not for Your glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for Your honor that Your gospel should increase?"
I commend to you the importance of intercession in our prayers. We are all selfish by nature, and our selfishness is very apt to stick to us, even when we are converted. There is a tendency in us to think only of our own souls, our own spiritual conflicts, our own progress in religion, and to forget others. Against this tendency we all have need to watch and strive, and not the least in our prayers. We should study to be of a public spirit. We should stir ourselves up to name other names besides our own before the throne of grace. We should try to bear in our hearts the whole world, the heathen, the Jews, the Catholics, the body of true believers, the professing Protestant churches, the country in which we live, the congregation to which we belong, the household in which we sojourn, the friends and relations we are connected with. For each and all of these we should plead. This is the highest charity. The wheels of all machinery for extending the gospel are moved by prayer. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of His people, as their High Priest, before the Father. Oh, the privilege of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers. If I must choose a congregation, give me a people that pray.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 10)
I commend to you the importance of perseverance in prayer. Once having begun the habit, never give it up. Your heart will sometimes say, "You will have had family prayers: what mighty harm if you leave private prayer undone?" Your body will sometimes say, "You are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray." Your mind will sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to today; cut short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct from satan. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I do not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length; but I do say, "Continue in prayer" and, "Pray without ceasing." (Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17). He did not mean that people should be always on their knees, but he did mean that our prayers should be like the continual burned-out offering, steadily preserved in every day; that it should be like seedtime and harvest, and summer and winter, unceasingly coming round at regular seasons; that it should be like the fire on the altar, nor always consuming sacrifices, but never completely going out. Never forget that you may tie together morning and evening devotions, by an endless chain of short ejaculatory prayers throughout the day. Even in company, or business, or in the very streets, you may be silently sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did in the very presence of Artaxerxes. (Neh. 2:4). And never thing that time is wasted which is given to God. A nation does not become poorer because it loses one year of working days in seven, by keeping the Sabbath. A Christian never finds he is a loser, in the long run, by persevering in prayer.
I commend you to the importance of earnestness in prayer. It is not that a person should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove that they are in earnest. But it is desirable that we should be hearty and fervent and warm, and ask as if we were really interested in what we were doing. It is the "effectual fervent" prayer that "avails much." (James 5:16). This is the lesson that is taught us by the expressions used in Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying, knocking, wrestling, laboring, striving." This is the lesson taught us by scripture examples. It is written of our Lord Jesus Christ, "In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears". (Heb. 5:7). Alas, how unlike is this to many of our supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by comparison. How truly might God say to many of us, "You do not really want what you pray for." Let us try to amend this fault. Let us knock loudly at the door of grace, like Mercy in Pilgrim's Progress, as if we must perish unless heard. Let us settle it in our minds, that cold prayers are a sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of Demosthenes the great orator, when one came to him, and wanted to plead his cause. He heard him without attention, while he told his story without earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with anxiety that it was all true. "Ah," said Demosthenes, "I believe you now."
I commend to you the importance praying in faith. We should endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask things according to God's will, we shall be answered. This is the plain command of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them." (Mark 11:24). Faith is to prayer what the feather is to the arrow: without it prayer will not hit the mark. We should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers.
I commend you to the importance of boldness in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in some people's prayers which I cannot praise. But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is exceedingly to be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when he pleads with God not to destroy Israel. "Wherefore," says he, "should the Egyptians speak and say, "for mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains"? Turn from your fierce anger." (Exodus 32:12). This is the boldness for which Luther was remarkable. One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit, what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend." This is the boldness which distinguished Bruce, a great Scottish divine of the seventeenth century. His prayers were said to be "like bolts shot up into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do not plead as often as we might, "Lord, are we not Your own people? Is it not for Your glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for Your honor that Your gospel should increase?"
I commend to you the importance of intercession in our prayers. We are all selfish by nature, and our selfishness is very apt to stick to us, even when we are converted. There is a tendency in us to think only of our own souls, our own spiritual conflicts, our own progress in religion, and to forget others. Against this tendency we all have need to watch and strive, and not the least in our prayers. We should study to be of a public spirit. We should stir ourselves up to name other names besides our own before the throne of grace. We should try to bear in our hearts the whole world, the heathen, the Jews, the Catholics, the body of true believers, the professing Protestant churches, the country in which we live, the congregation to which we belong, the household in which we sojourn, the friends and relations we are connected with. For each and all of these we should plead. This is the highest charity. The wheels of all machinery for extending the gospel are moved by prayer. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of His people, as their High Priest, before the Father. Oh, the privilege of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers. If I must choose a congregation, give me a people that pray.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 10)
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Troubles, troubles, troubles
Troubles, troubles, troubles
"Call upon Me, in the day of trouble! I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" (Psalm 50:15).
Believe in this portion of the divine word, you will discover your present portion - trouble. Your constant privilege - prayer. Your future prospect - deliverance.
Your present portion is TROUBLE. You must expect trouble, and will certainly be deceived if you expect to escape it. Sin is the parent of trouble - and our sin-cursed earth its fruitful soil. Trouble springs up all around us, and appears in an almost infinite variety of forms.
Every connection we form, every character we bear, every office we fill, and every relation we sustain - is a fruitful source of trouble.
We shall have trouble in mind, trouble in circumstances, trouble in body, trouble from almost every quarter!
Every day has its peculiar troubles. Often we look for a certain comfort - we only find peculiar distress and vexation! Everything declares, "happiness is not in me!" You may look on the right hand - but you will find no permanent peace; on the left - and disappointment awaits you. Only in Jesus is solid peace, holy satisfaction, and permanent comfort to be found.
If we could rightly interpret the various voices around us, we would find them all saying, "Go to Jesus! Abide in Jesus! Derive all from Jesus - or be wretched, miserable, and disappointed!"
Troubles follow each other, at times, almost like Job's messengers, treading on each other heels, and we are almost overwhelmed! But,
Your constant privilege is PRAYER - to visit the throne of grace, and wait upon our God. He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble!" Troubles furnish us with messages to our Father's throne, quicken us in our supplications, and oblige us to entreat His favor!
His throne of grace is always accessible, and His ear is always open; but in times of trouble, He especially invites us to draw near.
Our troubles are frequently the instruments the Holy Spirit employs to carry on His sacred work in our hearts. By troubles, He empties us of self, weans us from the world, and endears Jesus and His salvation to us!
Oh, believer, make use of your privilege in every time of trouble - and fully expect what Your God has promised!
Your future prospect is DELIVERANCE. The prospect is opened up, "I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" Here God comes under engagement to deliver His calling child. Can we, then, be too confident, or expect deliverance with too much assurance? Surely not! Only let us beware lest we dictate to God as to time, means, or manner of deliverance - and then we cannot be too certain. He will deliver, and in such a way as to put honor on your faith, pour confusion on your unbelief, and secure the glory to His blessed self!
God's delivering mercies are all brought forth on jubilee days - for the deliverances which He affords, proclaim a jubilee in the soul.
"I will!" - the promise is more durable than earth, more stable than the pillars of Heaven, and as changeless as the nature of Jehovah.
"I will deliver!" - this is at once the food, warrant, and plea of faith; the lattice through which hope directs the eye, and the prime argument which the soul uses before God.
"I will deliver YOU!" This is the laying of God's hand on His needy child.
My poor brother - are you in trouble? Are you calling upon God? The Lord says, "I will deliver YOU!" You are the person God had in His eye and in His heart - when he caused this precious portion to be penned. Take up the language, and say, "He will deliver ME!" And you, being delivered, proving God to be faithful, realizing the power of prayer, and enjoying delivering mercy - shall, though satan will try to hinder, and unbelief would gladly shut your mouth - you shall glorify Me!
How truly blessed, how pleasant, how satisfactory is this! Every believer must say: "It is just as I would have it! I get all the mercy - and God gets all the glory!"
Brethren in Jesus expect your portion - troubles, prize your privilege - prayer, and look forward to your prospect - deliverance!
~James Smith~
(The End)
"Call upon Me, in the day of trouble! I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" (Psalm 50:15).
Believe in this portion of the divine word, you will discover your present portion - trouble. Your constant privilege - prayer. Your future prospect - deliverance.
Your present portion is TROUBLE. You must expect trouble, and will certainly be deceived if you expect to escape it. Sin is the parent of trouble - and our sin-cursed earth its fruitful soil. Trouble springs up all around us, and appears in an almost infinite variety of forms.
Every connection we form, every character we bear, every office we fill, and every relation we sustain - is a fruitful source of trouble.
We shall have trouble in mind, trouble in circumstances, trouble in body, trouble from almost every quarter!
Every day has its peculiar troubles. Often we look for a certain comfort - we only find peculiar distress and vexation! Everything declares, "happiness is not in me!" You may look on the right hand - but you will find no permanent peace; on the left - and disappointment awaits you. Only in Jesus is solid peace, holy satisfaction, and permanent comfort to be found.
If we could rightly interpret the various voices around us, we would find them all saying, "Go to Jesus! Abide in Jesus! Derive all from Jesus - or be wretched, miserable, and disappointed!"
Troubles follow each other, at times, almost like Job's messengers, treading on each other heels, and we are almost overwhelmed! But,
Your constant privilege is PRAYER - to visit the throne of grace, and wait upon our God. He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble!" Troubles furnish us with messages to our Father's throne, quicken us in our supplications, and oblige us to entreat His favor!
His throne of grace is always accessible, and His ear is always open; but in times of trouble, He especially invites us to draw near.
Our troubles are frequently the instruments the Holy Spirit employs to carry on His sacred work in our hearts. By troubles, He empties us of self, weans us from the world, and endears Jesus and His salvation to us!
Oh, believer, make use of your privilege in every time of trouble - and fully expect what Your God has promised!
Your future prospect is DELIVERANCE. The prospect is opened up, "I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" Here God comes under engagement to deliver His calling child. Can we, then, be too confident, or expect deliverance with too much assurance? Surely not! Only let us beware lest we dictate to God as to time, means, or manner of deliverance - and then we cannot be too certain. He will deliver, and in such a way as to put honor on your faith, pour confusion on your unbelief, and secure the glory to His blessed self!
God's delivering mercies are all brought forth on jubilee days - for the deliverances which He affords, proclaim a jubilee in the soul.
"I will!" - the promise is more durable than earth, more stable than the pillars of Heaven, and as changeless as the nature of Jehovah.
"I will deliver!" - this is at once the food, warrant, and plea of faith; the lattice through which hope directs the eye, and the prime argument which the soul uses before God.
"I will deliver YOU!" This is the laying of God's hand on His needy child.
My poor brother - are you in trouble? Are you calling upon God? The Lord says, "I will deliver YOU!" You are the person God had in His eye and in His heart - when he caused this precious portion to be penned. Take up the language, and say, "He will deliver ME!" And you, being delivered, proving God to be faithful, realizing the power of prayer, and enjoying delivering mercy - shall, though satan will try to hinder, and unbelief would gladly shut your mouth - you shall glorify Me!
How truly blessed, how pleasant, how satisfactory is this! Every believer must say: "It is just as I would have it! I get all the mercy - and God gets all the glory!"
Brethren in Jesus expect your portion - troubles, prize your privilege - prayer, and look forward to your prospect - deliverance!
~James Smith~
(The End)
A Call to Prayer # 8
A Call to Prayer # 8
Let me speak, lastly, to those who do pray. I trust that some who read this article know well what prayer is, and have the Spirit of adoption. To all such, I offer a few words of brotherly counsel and exhortation. The incense offered in the tabernacle was ordered to be made in a particular way. Not every kind of incense would do. Let us remember this, and be careful about the matter and manner of our prayers.
Brethren who pray, if I know anything of a Christian's heart, you are often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the apostle's words, "When i would do good, evil is present with me." so thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can understand David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." (Psalm 119:113). You can sympathize with that poor converted Hottentot who was overheard praying, "Lord, deliver me from all my enemies, and above all, from that bad man - myself." There are few children of God who do not often find the season of prayer a season of conflict. The devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on our knees. Yet, I believe that prayers which cost us no trouble, should be regarded with great suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the goodness of our prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us least, often pleases God most. Suffer me then, as a companion in the Christian warfare, to offer a few words of exhortation. One thing, at least, we all feel: we must pray. We cannot give it up. We must go on.
I commend then to your attention, the importance of reverence and humility in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into His presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves: "I am on holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do not mean what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of Solomon, "Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth." (Ecc. 5:2). When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "i am dust and ashes." When Job spoke to God, he said, "I am vile." Let us do likewise. (Gen. 18:27; Job 40:4).
I commend to you the importance of praying spiritually. I mean by that, that we should labor always to have the direct help of the Spirit in our prayers, and beware above all things of formality. There is nothing so spiritual that it may become a form, and this is especially true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into the habit of using the fittest possible words, and offering the most scriptural petitions, and yet do it all by rote without feeling it, and walk daily round an old beaten path. I desire to touch this point with caution and delicacy. I know that there are certain things we daily want, and that there is nothing necessarily formal in asking for these things in the same words. The world, the devil, and our hearts are daily the same. Of necessity we must daily go over old ground. But this I say, we must be very careful on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by habit almost form, let us strive that the clothing and filling up of our prayers, be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to praying of a book in our private devotions, it is a habit I cannot praise. If we can tell our doctors the state of our bodies without a book, we ought to be able to tell the state of our souls to God. I have no objection to a person using crutches when they are first recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use crutches, than not to walk at all. But if I saw them all their life on crutches, I should not think it matter for congratulation. I should like to see them strong enough to throw their crutches away.
I commend to you the importance of making prayer a regular business of life. I might say something of the value of regular times in the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours for morning and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as they were without meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of sin. But I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it is essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the business of every twenty-four hours of your life. Just as you allot time to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the morning, before you speak with the world; and speak with God at night, after you have done with the world. But settle it in your minds, that praying is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it into a corner. Do not give it the scraps and parings of your day. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 9)
Let me speak, lastly, to those who do pray. I trust that some who read this article know well what prayer is, and have the Spirit of adoption. To all such, I offer a few words of brotherly counsel and exhortation. The incense offered in the tabernacle was ordered to be made in a particular way. Not every kind of incense would do. Let us remember this, and be careful about the matter and manner of our prayers.
Brethren who pray, if I know anything of a Christian's heart, you are often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the apostle's words, "When i would do good, evil is present with me." so thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can understand David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." (Psalm 119:113). You can sympathize with that poor converted Hottentot who was overheard praying, "Lord, deliver me from all my enemies, and above all, from that bad man - myself." There are few children of God who do not often find the season of prayer a season of conflict. The devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on our knees. Yet, I believe that prayers which cost us no trouble, should be regarded with great suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the goodness of our prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us least, often pleases God most. Suffer me then, as a companion in the Christian warfare, to offer a few words of exhortation. One thing, at least, we all feel: we must pray. We cannot give it up. We must go on.
I commend then to your attention, the importance of reverence and humility in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into His presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves: "I am on holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do not mean what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of Solomon, "Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth." (Ecc. 5:2). When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "i am dust and ashes." When Job spoke to God, he said, "I am vile." Let us do likewise. (Gen. 18:27; Job 40:4).
I commend to you the importance of praying spiritually. I mean by that, that we should labor always to have the direct help of the Spirit in our prayers, and beware above all things of formality. There is nothing so spiritual that it may become a form, and this is especially true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into the habit of using the fittest possible words, and offering the most scriptural petitions, and yet do it all by rote without feeling it, and walk daily round an old beaten path. I desire to touch this point with caution and delicacy. I know that there are certain things we daily want, and that there is nothing necessarily formal in asking for these things in the same words. The world, the devil, and our hearts are daily the same. Of necessity we must daily go over old ground. But this I say, we must be very careful on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by habit almost form, let us strive that the clothing and filling up of our prayers, be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to praying of a book in our private devotions, it is a habit I cannot praise. If we can tell our doctors the state of our bodies without a book, we ought to be able to tell the state of our souls to God. I have no objection to a person using crutches when they are first recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use crutches, than not to walk at all. But if I saw them all their life on crutches, I should not think it matter for congratulation. I should like to see them strong enough to throw their crutches away.
I commend to you the importance of making prayer a regular business of life. I might say something of the value of regular times in the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours for morning and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as they were without meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of sin. But I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it is essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the business of every twenty-four hours of your life. Just as you allot time to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the morning, before you speak with the world; and speak with God at night, after you have done with the world. But settle it in your minds, that praying is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it into a corner. Do not give it the scraps and parings of your day. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 9)
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