The Providence of God

The Providence of God by  B.H. Carroll   B.H. CARROLL (1843-1914) Benajah Harvey Carroll was born in Mississippi and raised in Texas.  He was a soldier for the Confederate army.  In 1865, at the age of twenty two, he converted to Christianity at a Methodist camp meeting after taking up a preacher's challenge to experiment with Christianity.  After the war, he was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Waco and later the founder of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, still the largest seminary in the world. He was a powerful leader of the Southern Baptist Convention and was a formidable foe in the political controversies that often arose.  He almost always found himself on the conservative side of such issues.  He was mildly Calvinistic and a postmillieniallst.  He stood strongly against Modernism and Catholicism. He believed that preaching was the essence of the pastor's duty; he was an expositor in the truest sense.  He believed in the authority and the inspiration of the Bible first and foremost.  He criticized and chided the "Higher Criticism" teachers as being false brethren. Carroll published 33 volumes of works, and is best known for his 17-volume commentary, An Interpretation of the English Bible.Benajah Harvey Carroll died November 11, 1914, and is buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Waco, Texas.

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If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do?
Psalm 11:3

I do not understand this question to imply that the foundations can be destroyed,
except in the fears of the righteous. But whenever, in the mind of a righteous person
there is a distrust as to the stability of the foundation of his hope, then he may well
say, “What can I do?” Just to the extent of our distrust of the foundations is the
despondency with which we look upon the tangled and conflicting affairs of this life.
All our heartiness in work, boldness in enterprise, endurance of affliction, persistence
in effort, and courage in danger is measured by the degree of our faith in the stability
of the foundations upon which the Christian religion stands.

If the issues of life are determined by fate or chance, there are no foundations. In the
one case we become the effortless children of apathy upon whom no responsibility
devolves, our only consolation being the Oriental proverb, “Kismet.” In the other
case we become the devotees of ephemeral pleasure with no higher watchword
than, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Hence my theme today: The Providence of God is the Christian’s foundation. Under
these three - Fate, Chance and Divine Providence may be grouped all the theories
and philosophies of life. There is no room for another classification.

“Providence,” then, being the theme, certain inquiries naturally suggest themselves:

1. What antecedents does the doctrine of Providence imply?
2. What is Providence?
3. Who is Providence?
4. What is the relation of prayer to Providence?
Finally, what is the effect of simple faith in God’s Providence?

Now under these heads I wish to briefly discuss this question, for I certainly regard
the Providence of God as a foundation, and “if the foundations be destroyed, what
can the righteous do?”

Objectively, this foundation will be considered in this sermon as impregnable and
indestructible. But subjectively, that is in the minds of God’s people, the foundation
may oftentimes seem to shake. It is not affirmed that this timorous apprehension is
the habitual state of mind of even the weakest of God’s people, but that even with
the strongest and bravest, in exceptional emergencies, there may be temporary?distrust. This distrust again is more in practice than in theory. Oftentimes the lips
pronounce an orthodox reliance on God’s oversight of this world, when the heart is
sinking and the life is drifting.

Following the outline suggested, let us first answer the inquiry -1.
What does the doctrine of Providence imply? It implies the being of God, that
there is a God. It implies that this God possesses all of the requisite attributes of
Deity; that is, omniscience, knowing all things; omnipotence, having all power;
omnipresence, being everywhere; and holiness and love. It implies that such a God,
having the attributes of omniscience and omnipotence and omnipresence and holiness
and love, created the universe, brought into being everything that you see - what is
above us, what is below us, ourselves. It implies that this intelligent and powerful and
benevolent being brought into existence everything that is. In other words, that God
created this universe with all its creatures.

This implication denies atheism by assuming the being of God. It denies polytheism,
for but one being can possess the divine attributes. It denies materialism and
pantheism by assuming God’s existence before matter and His creation of it. So
much at least being implied, we may proceed to the second inquiry:
2. What is Providence? The importance of having a clear conception in our minds as
to the meaning of this term is self-evident. All books on systematic theology
emphasize the importance of a clear definition just here. I shall not cumber this
discussion with quotations, but will freely use without other acknowledgment,
anything in these books that best expresses my own views.

Briefly, then, Providence is God’s continual oversight or government of the universe
He created. To enlarge somewhat, the term, Providence, expresses the divine
agency in the direction, control and issue of all the events in the physical and moral
universe. All of them? Yes. Does He direct every event in the physical world? Every
one.

How sublime the doctrine as set forth in the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st chapters of
Job! The rain, the dew, the frost, the seasons, are always directly under His control:
“Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of
whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath
gendered it? The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is
frozen. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands
of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou
guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:28-32.)

He directs every event in the physical world. I do not refer simply to the events that
relate to the spheres in their magnitude and in their movements. I refer to the most
infinitesimal detail, minutia, that takes place in the whole physical world.
He has just that kind of direction in the moral world, as it relates to human beings
and angelic intelligences; that it is not only direction but control; that it is not only
control, but that it governs the issue, the direction, the control, the issue or outcome
of all events in the physical and in the moral universe.

In other words, having created the universe, He governs the universe. He did not
make the world and wind it up like a clock and go to sleep and let it run itself. I
mean that His direction and control and government of the issue applies to all forces
that are in operation in the physical world, otherwise called laws of nature. They are
nothing more than the expressions of the divine will.

Or, take this definition: Providence is that continuous, effective, all-comprehensive
agency of God by which He makes all the events of the moral and physical universe
to fulfill the design with which He created the universe.

Let us consider that definition a moment. It is expressed in somewhat different terms
from the other, but the idea is the same - that having made a world, He governs it,
superintends it, not by an intermittent agency, but by a continuous agency; not by a
slight agency, but by an effective agency; not by a partial agency, but by an all-comprehensive agency. I mean that the agency is just as comprehensive as the
universe is.

To get still nearer to what I mean by all-comprehensiveness, that it is not only an
agency over classes, but equally over the individuals in the classes; that it is not
merely an agency over the whole of a world, but over all of its parts; that it is not
merely a general Providence, but that it is a particular Providence; that it takes
cognizance of everything; that it is just as essential to the idea of Providence to
believe that the very hairs of your heads are numbered, and that it is just as essential
to believe that not a sparrow can fall to the ground without our heavenly Father
knowing it, as to believe that not a world could be blotted out.
I mean that it is a continuous, effective, all-comprehensive, divine agency. That it is
so in the sense of administering a kingdom; a kingdom implying a personal king; a
kingdom implying jurisdiction, implying government; that the kingdom of God is
supreme, that it is over all other kingdoms; that all other kingdoms must be
subordinated to the kingdom of God; that the issue will be just what this definition
expresses: That it is the continuous, effective, all-comprehensive, divine agency?which makes all events in the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design
with which He created that universe.

To advance a little in the thought of this definition: Once settle your mind on the idea
of Providence and there is no such thing as chance, there is no such thing as luck,
there is no such thing as fate. That this Providence “is not simply foreseeing but
forseeing,” not simply looking ahead beforehand, but looking ahead for, or in order
to, the accomplishment of its purposes and desires, “forseeing as well as foreseeing.”
An agent is a doer, or actor, not an influence; it is the personal supervision of an
individual.

With that definition clear before us, we may enlarge on one thought: All that is
involved in the definition that has been given is applicable to moral creatures without
interfering (how, I do not know, but yet without interfering) with their freedom of
action and responsibility. Of course you may say the two propositions cannot co-exist.
Your own consciousness replies to you bearing testimony within you not only
to the superintending providence of God over your life, but also the freedom of your
own individual actions.

Here let us squarely face the main difficulty ¾ how about sinful actions? Now, while
I will be brief on this point, I want to be very clear, endeavoring to show just how
God’s providence, as defined, touches, bears upon the evil actions of men. I think I
can make myself understood, and I will use certain terms suggested by Dr. Strong,
of Rochester, in order to make it clear that God’s providence touches evil actions
and the doers of them.

Let Bible events illustrate: Abimelech took Abraham’s wife. There were no human
barriers to oppose his will or restrain his desires. Yet was he hindered from
committing a great sin. How hindered? God’s Spirit touched his spirit in a dream:
“Thou art but a dead man for the woman thou hast taken I withheld thee from sinning
against me.”

Anyone who thoughtfully examines the events of his past life can call up some case
where there had been a desire to do a wrong thing, and where there had been
opportunity to do a wrong thing, and where, arguing from his past feelings upon such
subjects, he would have said that as a human proposition, given that desire and that
opportunity, the sin would have been committed, and yet he knows that
notwithstanding a conjunction of both desire and opportunity, the evil was not done.
How does he explain it? “Something kept me from doing it.”?So when Laban pursued after Jacob. He had followed Jacob all the way from Mesopotamia to the brook Jabbok, about half way down the eastern border of Palestine, and now was within sight of Jacob, with an overpowering force. Jacob is just as helpless in the hands of Laban as a timid dove is under the claws and beak of a hawk. Laban followed him to smite him and despoil him. Why didn’t he do it? Let him explain:

“It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt; but the God of your fathers
spake unto me yesternight, saying, take thou heed that thou speak not to
Jacob either good or bad.” (Genesis 31:29.)

Here was a restraining and preventive force that came by night upon that man of
violence more efficacious in staying the execution of his fell and persistent purpose
than any available human intervention.

To precisely that feature of Providence David refers in his prayer, “Keep back thy
servant from presumptuous sin.” That is, “O Lord, when in a moment of weakness I
am going astray, and when my powers of resistance to evil have been undermined
and I am about to commit an awful offense, O God, prevent it! Keep me back. In
some way keep me back from presumptuous sin.”

The thought is expressed in one of the prophets where God himself explains why His
people had not committed certain heinous offenses: “Because I built up a hedge of
thorns between you and that sin.” Now that hedge of thorns that God builds up
between the one who desires to commit an offense prevents the sin.

A writer of a modern romance avails himself of this well known subjection of the
human mind to the influence of providential interference in presenting a pathetic
instance where one, cruel by nature, cruel by habit, full of hatred toward a certain
object, had fully determined to strike when the opportunity came, and yet in the very
hour of opportunity was prevented from saying one hostile word by what seemed to
be a pure accident, and that is, that somebody had left a baby’s shoe on her table. It
was not there when she went out of the room and she comes back and finds her own
long-buried little baby’s shoe on her table. Instantly memory leaps back to her one
child. Instantly she hears the lisping prattle of that long silent tongue; she hears the
sound of well-known pattering footsteps; she remembers the one and only time that
she put this very little shoe upon that baby’s foot and her hard heart broke and
melted, long dried-up fountains of tears overflowed and so the memory of that dead
and buried baby expelled the purpose of malice from the heart. Now that illustrates
the preventive providence of God.?Consider another term: The permissive providence of God. The permissive providence of God is simply God’s not putting forth His preventive force; that is all. We sometimes see that God permits a man to sin who has been hindered a week, a year, two years, five years. He has tried hard hitherto to do this mean, devilish thing and God has withheld opportunity. God has brought in somebody or something to
interrupt him.

Some force visible or occult has stayed his hand. But he incorrigibly followed after
that sin until at last God said, “Now I will just remove my prevention, I will not incite
him, but I will break down my hedge of thorns.”

God never tempts to sin. That is what is called “letting a man alone,” “leaving him to
his own devices.” God says to His Spirit, “Let him alone. You have been preventing.
You have been guarding. You have been hedging. And he fights against the restraint
and bruises himself against the hedge, and manifests an incorrigible spirit to go on
and commit this offense. Now, if he will, let him go his way. I will call him no more. I
will visit him neither by day nor by night. So far as that providence is concerned
which has hovered over him and kept him back from presumptuous sin, I will take it
away. Now, sinner, commit thy sin.” That is permissive providence.
The case of a good man, Hezekiah, is an example. He had grown unmindful of
God’s care for him and got to thinking that he was holding himself up until it became
necessary to teach him a lesson. The Scriptures tell us, in the 32nd chapter of 2
Chronicles, how this man, who it seemed could not make a mistake, that went along
accomplishing everything he wished, until he really thought that he was infallible and
invincible, all at once stumbled and fell, as much to his own surprise as to the wonder
of others.

God explains it to him. He had let him alone for a little season to show him that his
help was in the Lord. It needed to be done. It was a part of God’s discipline.
So dealt the Lord with David, another good man. David knew his fundamental
principles of divine government, that as power rested in God it made no difference
about numbers; that the Lord could work with a few people; that one could chase a
thousand and two could put ten thousand to flight. But David got into his mind a vain
conceit that frequently misleads modern Christians ¾ pride in numbers: “I have a
large people now, let us count them and glory in their multitude.”
Seeing David’s bent, the Lord took away the hedge and let him do what he pleased.
One scripture expresses it, “The Lord moved David to number Israel,” while
another, referring to the same event, says, “Satan moved David to number Israel.”
And the question is, “How can both be true?” The answer is this: Satan had been?trying to move him to do that for a long while and Satan could not make him do it
because this intervening providence of God had kept him from it. Now when God
just gets out of the way, Satan gets in and you may say the Lord moved, or the Lord
permitted it to be done. Satan moved him. He would have moved him sooner if God
had permitted.

The providence of God is not only preventive and permissive of evil but is also
directive. What do I mean by directive? I mean that God so directs evil actions as to
disappoint the purpose and expectation of the sinner and his tempter.
Let us get that very clear. Two scriptures will serve to show that God’s providence
is directive with reference to the actions of evil men when it so operates that this evil
action shall miss its issue, shall come to another issue neither intended nor desired by
the perpetrator.

The first scripture is from the book of Genesis. The wicked brothers of Joseph, who
had sold him into Egypt, are now in trouble in that very land. Their consciences
accuse them:

“And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother,
in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us and we would
not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered
them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and
ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.” (Genesis 42:21, 22.)

This was the human side.
On the other hand, hear Joseph: “I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into
Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me
hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life *** to preserve you a
posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now, it was
not you that sent me hither, but God.” That is, you meant evil. God directed that
action so as to change it into an issue that was not foreseen nor purposed by you.
The other scripture is from the fourth chapter of Acts. These two will answer for a
thousand. They equal in importance any in the Bible:

“And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one
accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth,
and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of Thy servant David
hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The
kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the?Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus,
whom Thou has anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles,
and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy
hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.” (Acts 4:24-28.)

Now here was an entirely independent purpose and expectation on the part of
Herod, on the part of Pilate, on the part of the Jews. They meant death and ruin and
yet God’s providence governed their very malice to an issue neither foreseen,
desired nor purposed by them, in that it accomplished not only His own
predetermined purpose, working not for the ruin but for the salvation of the world.
Yet another term may be employed to show how the providence of God touches evil
actions, to-wit, determinative. Terminus means a boundary, a limit, and to
determinate is to set a boundary. The providence of God then touches evil actions by
putting a limit upon them. An illustrative case or two may be rapidly stated.
The devil wanted to get hold of Job, to worry and destroy him. He asked the Lord
for an opportunity. God, having purposes of His own to accomplish concerning Job
and others, gave the permission but set a limit at Job’s life: “You may take his cows;
you may take his camels; you may take his children so far as their earthly health and
existence is concerned; you may touch Job himself and cover his body with
loathsome ulcers, but the life of Job, the soul of Job, the spiritual standing of Job in
the sight of God, oh, devil, you cannot touch.” There God puts an impassable
barrier.

In the same direction are the words of the Psalmist:

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say: If it
had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us,
then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against
us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul;
then the proud waters had gone over our soul; blessed be the Lord, who
hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of
the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we are escaped.”
(Psalm 124:1-7.)

That is oftentimes true. If you leave God out, wickedness could put to death every
Christian in Waco in a week. Leave out the determinative providence of God, that
feature of God’s providence that sets a limit to the wrath of evil men and the devil,
and the foundation would be removed, and then what could the righteous do??We may well apply these words to the present state of our missionary work in
‘Texas. God’s determinative providence has set a limit to the relentless obstructers
of His holy cause. In our impatience it may seem a long way off. But it will come,
and when the Almighty’s barrier is reached, we shall have peace and prosperity in
our afflicted Zion.

Satan was permitted to sift Peter as wheat, but Jesus insured that his faith should not
fail. A messenger of Satan was permitted to buffet Paul and become an almost
unbearable thorn in his flesh. But God’s almighty grace was sufficient for him.
Our next inquiry is: Who is Providence? This is an important question to Christians.
How shall it be answered? I appeal to prophecy:

“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psalm 2:6.)

“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1.)

“Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a
right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
(Psalm 45:6, 7.)

“And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,
Behold the man whose name is the Branch and He shall grow up out of His
place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord. Even He shall build the
temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon
His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne; and the counsel of
peace shall be between them both.” (Zechariah 6:12, 13.)

Who is this King, this priest on the throne? Of whom speak the prophets these
things? Let the New Testament answer. Paul thus prayed:

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes of
your understanding be enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His
calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and
what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in?that which is to come, and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to
be the head over all things to the church.” (Ephesians 1:17-22.)

Who is Providence? Let Paul answer again: “Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took
upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man, and being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also highly exalted Him and given
Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Consider, moreover, the passages in the book of Hebrews, which cite the Psalms
from which we have quoted. They find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Hear himself
speak: “All power in heaven and on earth is given unto me.”

Who is it that sits on the throne of the judgment? Jesus Christ, your Savior. Before
whom shall stand all the dead, small and great? Jesus. And according to what shall
they be judged? The laws of Jesus. Who shall assess the penalty for the violation of
these laws? Jesus. At whose bidding today is every wind and wave and element and
force and star and atom? Under whose control and jurisdiction is every power in this
universe? Under the control of Jesus.

He is Providence, and with an effective, continuous, all-comprehensive, divine
agency He touches every event in the physical and in the moral world. To what end?
That to them that love God all things shall work together for good.

Who is Providence? Oh, ye doubting ones! A little storm darkens your horizon for a
while - an ephemeral thing. You forget He is riding it; that on the neck of that courser
of the skies lie the reins and that those reins are in the hands of Jesus Christ, and that
all things shall work together for good to them that love God.

For whom is the royal diadem? Who is to be the crowned? That One who has
written on His thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” That One who came to the
Ancient of Days and received a kingdom which is an everlasting kingdom; that One
who shall reign until all His enemies are put under His feet, and the last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death. Why should the heathen rage and the people imagine
vain things? Who shall say the foundations are destroyed? On what reasonable
ground quakes your cowardly heart? Why is your right arm nerveless? Why have
you permitted the devil to come and pluck courage and faith and hope out of your
heart when the Lord God omnipotent reigneth and reigneth today and reigneth over
everything??Let us next ascertain the relation of faith to Providence. How manifest and self-evident is this relation? Inquire of your own heart: Does your faith rest in a dead God
or a living one? A God who sleeps or who is awake? Do you believe in a God
manifest in Christ or without a manifestation?

If a little boy could lie down on the deck of a ship, saying, “My father’s captain,”
how much more can a Christian say, “Let the devil bark. Let puny earthquakes
shake this globe. Let the wicked fight and howl and shout. When the enemy comes
upon thee like a flood, then the Lord lifteth up the standard.”

Have you faith in the providences of God? The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let
us see now if you have faith in Providence. Test it, my brethren. Are you like David
once when his heart failed him? Hear his doleful confession, Psalm 73:

“Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for
me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was
envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Verses 1-3.)
“Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in
riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency.” (Verses 12, 13.)
“When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the
sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they
brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with
terrors.” (Verses 16-19.)
“Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by my right
hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to
glory.” (Verses 23, 24.)

Ah, brother, have you worried over the prosperity of the wicked? Have you been a
fool and brutish, like David? Have you stumbled at such thoughts? Then enter the
sanctuary. Stand next to God; get behind the curtain; see the reach of God’s
foresight and the sweep of His sword of justice, see the threads of all events in His
hands, see how He is drawing them to a consummation absolutely at His disposal;
then understand.

Yes, little bird, when even you fell, O sparrow, your Father knew that. And every
hair on my head is numbered and my God knoweth all my needs and my God is able?to supply all my wants; and my God is able to care for me in any emergency that
may arise.

Jesus, forgive me, if for one treacherous moment I ever allow a shadow of doubt as
to divine providence to come into my heart.

Very briefly, in conclusion, what is the relation of prayer to Providence? Let a single
scripture express it:

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an
High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16.)

Providence there, prayer here. Because there is a Providence, pray. Because that
Providence is a person; that person is Jesus Christ, and that throne of power is also
a throne of grace, a throne for prayer to reach, therefore come to the throne of
grace.

But what good will it do? “Shall not God avenge His own, they that cry unto Him
day and night?” What good? Behold that picture in Revelation: “I saw an angel and
he had in his hand a smoking censer.”

And that censer contained the prayers of the saints of God, and he carried those
prayers to the golden altar and he waved those prayers before the throne of God,
and as that censer waved and smoked, what followed? All of those wonderful things
that are mentioned in the book of Revelation. The elements leaped to the foot of the
throne and said, “The prayer has touched us.” Disease came and said, “Prayer has
touched me.” Pestilence came, with her loathsome form, and grimvisaged, red-handed
war, and conflagration with her torch; these all came, and as ministers in
answer to prayer said unto God, “Send us,” and thus God says, “Avenge my
people.”

Now in conclusion, such being Providence, and you having faith in that Providence,
and all the time praying to that Providence, what is the result? This is the climax. I
will read it, from the 26th chapter of Isaiah. It has oftentimes been a great comfort to
me. Not always but many times I have said in my heart just what it says: “In that day
shall this song be sung.” Now, what is it? “We have a strong city. Salvation will God
appoint for its walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous nations that?keepeth truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.”

Many of God’s saints, in the stormiest and darkest periods of their lives, have had
that peace, perfect peace, without anxiety in view of trouble or difficulty. “Lord, I
trust thee. My song is this: That I have faith in God, faith in the Providence of God;
and while wolves may howl around my dwelling, they cannot enter in, and while night
may bring her curtains of darkness and wrap the world about, there is a light inside.
While winter may come with its cold and chilling blasts and bind in iron the earth
outside, it is warm in here. My heart is full of peace because stayed on God. My
trust is in thee.”

Now, brethren, I ask you, when you seriously reflect on what Providence implies, on
what Providence is and who Providence is, the relation of faith to Providence and
the relation of prayer to Providence, ought not your hearts at once to accept this
proposition expressed so often in the scriptures? What is it? “The Lord God
omnipotent reigneth forever. Let the earth rejoice. Let it rejoice.” Let the world be
glad that God reigneth. Trust it. Lean your head on it and your heart on it. Put your
soul’s most perfect love upon Jesus.

But you say, “Oh, this man and that man!” Well, now, do you call that a foundation?
No man is a foundation. It is only a Romanist that would make Peter a foundation.
“On this Rock I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
And that Rock is Christ. Therefore

“On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.” 

A Weapon and a Tool (and other devotionals)

A Weapon and a Tool

And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. - Nehemiah 4:15-17

Nehemiah left Babylon to return to Jerusalem because he had heard that the walls around the city were still in rubble. Though others had already returned to rebuild the temple, no one had determined to repair the walls and gates. This news brought Nehemiah to tears, as he fasted and prayed fervent prayers to God. He returned to Jerusalem determined to fix the broken walls, but he needed help and support from those around him. Nehemiah’s story is truly amazing in its purpose, preparedness, and planning. But even the best laid plans can come under threatening attacks—and his certainly did. Though they tried, those who were against the restoration of the walls and gates could not thwart Nehemiah’s plans. His men kept working, even as they had to strap a sword to their side for protection.

Our enemy is always lurking about us, roaming and seeking whom he may devour. But remember this: he cannot thwart God’s plans, even if he frightens us along the way. Nehemiah was aware of his enemy’s schemes and he did not allow those tactics to intimidate him or his workers. They kept a hammer in one hand and weapon in the other. Despite obstacles, persecutions and negative influences, we need to keep pursuing the things of God. Our enemy will use every trick in the book to keep us from being effective, productive and fruitful; but once we are aware of his schemes, we can fight back. Do not let fear, intimidation, insecurity or guilt keep you from being successful. Pray, plan and purpose in your heart to get going and do not stop. Be strong and courageous, and ask the Lord to guide your every step. 

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

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Seven Ways to Pray 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

My experience in prayer has been a journey with Jesus for 36 years. My heart to know, love and be known by my heavenly Father has not changed. But the depth and breadth of the richness in prayer has grown exponentially in its eternal consequences and earthly value. The more I pray—the less adequate I feel. The more I pray—the more I feel dependent on the Spirit to guide my way to God—to intercede in intimacy with Him. Prayer is the Lord’s loving reminder that He is God and I am not. Writing to the Ephesian Christians Paul instructs them to “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers.” Below is my modest attempt to describe a few ways to pray:

Contemplation
When we contemplate in prayer we marinate our mind and heart in the Word of God. As we meditate on Scripture we ask, “What is the context?” “How does this apply to readers in their  day?” “How does this instruct me for today?” As we process the Word in prayer we draw closer to the living Word—Jesus. Truth transforms our thinking and behavior to become like Christ’s.

“I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word”
(Psalm 119:14-16).

Confession and Repentance
Like a car driven daily picks up road residue, so our soul is soiled every day by doing life. Life is messy and sinful. It requires ongoing cleansing from our Savior Jesus. Prayer is our safe environment for mercy and forgiveness. Our holy heavenly Father cannot look on sin, but He does accept our faith in His sinless son as the payment for our sins. We confess to acknowledge our wrong and we repent to turn from our wrong. Prayer positions us for God’s forgiveness.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Rejoice
Prayer is joyful. We celebrate our good and generous God. We praise Him for His loving favor and His beautiful creation. Our hearts elevate in grateful worship when we recite the Lord’s blessings of: Christ’s salvation, the Holy Spirit’s comfort, friends who pray with us and family who love and care for us. Prayer is our pipeline to express joyful thanksgiving to Jesus. We can’t help but rejoice for we serve our risen Savior and Lord. Joy mutes the screechy voices of anger.

“Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance” (1 Samuel 2:1).

Cry Out
Pain and suffering aggressively call for prayer. In our darkness we ask other children of the light to agree with us in prayer. Though we may feel abandoned by our heavenly Father—by grace and in prayer—we will not abandon our faith in Him. When we hurt deeply, we have the opportunity to go deeper in our communion with Christ. He becomes our confidant as we suffer with the One who suffered for us. Prayer may not remove our pain, but it sustains us in our pain.

“Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly” (Psalm 102:1-2).

Petition
Our heavenly Father delights in giving good gifts to His children. Similar to any good parent He gives us what’s best for us and not always what we want. So, we are commanded to persistently ask the Lord in prayer for what pleases Him. When our prayers align with His will—our life becomes a big deal. In fact, prayer is the platform for the Holy Spirit to align our will with His. Thus, we petition God for healing, wisdom, and salvation of the lost and trust Him with the results.

“So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:23).

Jesus Model
Jesus taught His disciples how to pray—we call it the Lord’s prayer. The prayer is comprehensive: 1) Communal-“Our Father” 2) Majestic-“In heaven” 3) Reverence and awe of God’s holiness-“Hallowed be your name” 4) Kingdom minded- “Your Kingdom come” 5) Seeks God’s will-“Your will be done” 6) Requests daily provision-“Give us daily bread” 7) Asks forgiveness- “Forgive us” 8) Offers forgiveness- “As we forgive” 9) Keep from temptation- “Lead us not” 10) Protection from the devil- “Deliver us from the evil one.” Pray like Jesus.

“This, then, is how you should pray” (Matthew 6:9).

Spontaneous
Every moment of the day is opportunity for spontaneous prayer. “Lord thank you for giving me this opportunity. Heavenly Father I trust You to lead the conversation with my co-worker. Dear Lord, give me wisdom to parent my child today. Jesus, I need You to show me how to love my spouse as You love them.” Create a prayer habit, so its the entrance and exit of your thoughts, words and actions. Pray without ceasing and you will not cease to be amazed at God.

“Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, grow me into a humble person of prayer.

~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~

The Basis for Discernment (and other devotionals)

The Basis for Discernment

Hebrews 4:12-13

Since spiritual discernment is the ability to see life from God's perspective, it requires that we know how He thinks and acts. The Bible is His unchanging, infallible revelation of Himself. However, the Lord doesn't simply give us a list of facts about His character and ways. All throughout the pages of Scripture, He illustrates who He is and how He operates.

Although the Bible is ancient, it's not a dead book. It's alive and as fresh as if He were speaking directly to you. The stories may have taken place centuries ago, but the principles and applications are current and relevant. It's our instruction book about how to live. Guidance for decisions and discernment about situations are found from Genesis to Revelation.

God's Word is active and piercing. The words don't simply sit on the page. They penetrate our hearts and judge our thoughts and motives. This convicting quality is why some people don't like to read the Bible. But self-discernment is essential if we don't want to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. 

Some Christians live on a surface level, never understanding why they react to situations the way they do. But if we'll approach the Word of God with an open spirit, it will bring to light our hidden motives and reveal unrecognized sins.

Spiritual discernment involves seeing not just our circumstances but also ourselves from God's perspective. Have you learned to embrace the piercing sword of Scripture, or have you avoided doing so because it makes you uncomfortable? Remember, God's Word cuts only so that it can heal.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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A Prize to Possess

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2b

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Jesus is our example. He is a champion who, when He ran His race, received a crown of joy. When an athlete runs, he runs to win a trophy. In our verse today, what is “the joy that is set before Him”? It’s winning the race. He “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

That crown gave Him the ability to endure. If you keep the crown in mind, you can bear the cross. But you cannot have the crown if you despise the cross. We are crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a few trophies that I won back in high school on a championship football team: a gold football, a letterman’s sweater and a silver cup. Do you know what happened to all those trophies? Someone broke into the house and got the gold football. The moths had a camp meeting in the sweater. It’s gone. There are no more letters on that letter sweater. What happened to the silver cup, I haven’t the foggiest.

ACTION POINT:

Friend, athletes run “to obtain a corruptible crown; but we for an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Running the race, Jesus had the joy that was set before Him and He endured the cross. He despised the shame. There is a prize to possess.

~Adrian Rogers~

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The Most High does not live in houses made by men. (Acts7:48 NIV)

Christianity has become a tremendous buildup of things which were not at the beginning. The Christianity which we know today is a very complicated thing. The hands of men have come upon the things of God, and men have tried to build this great thing according to their own judgment. And so we have all the confusion, all the divisions, and all the complications. It is really hard going in Christianity. Christianity has become its own great hindrance.... You will go about this country, you will go about this city, and you will see these great religious buildings with a cross at the top. And when people enter those buildings, they bow themselves; they look very reverent. And they think that this is a sacred building. If you interfere with anything there, it is called sacrilege. To God that is all nonsense. It does not mean anything at all. The only thing that matters to God is not the wonderful building and all the wonderful things inside the building, and not even the cross on the top. The one thing that matters to God is whether He is there. Is God Himself present in this place?

But what about ourselves, we hear Christians who come into a meeting like this speaking about coming into the house of God. Perhaps they say when they are going to this meeting place, "I am going to the house of God." And when they pray, they say, "We are very glad to be in the house of God this morning; it is a good thing to be in the Lord's house." What makes any place the house of God? What makes this place sacred? If it is sacred at all, what makes it sacred? It is not the building, this is not a sacred building. It is not a congregation gathered here. The only thing that makes it sacred is that the Lord is present. The Lord is not interested in our places or in our congregations; He is only concerned that He may find a place for Himself where He may be present in pleasure. I wonder where the tabernacle in the wilderness is now? I expect it is buried somewhere deep under the earth. I wonder where the great temple of Solomon is now?! I think you would be wasting your time to try and find it. You see, God had buried those things.... Everything that is not of Christ is going to be dissolved. Make no mistake. This whole structure of Christianity is going to be tested according to Christ. Christianity is just going to be tested as to how far it was the work of the Holy Spirit of God according to Christ.

By T. Austin-Sparks

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Nothing to Alarm Us

"But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days"   (Daniel 12:13).

We cannot understand all the prophecies, but yet we regard them with pleasure and not with dismay. There can be nothing in the Father's decree which should justly alarm His child. Though the abomination of desolation be set up, yet the true believer shall not be defiled; rather shall he be purified, and made white, and tried. Though the earth be burned up, no smell of fire shall come upon the chosen. Amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds, the LORD Jehovah will preserve His own.

Calmly resolute in duty, brave in conflict, patient in suffering, let us go our way, keeping to our road, and neither swerving from it nor loitering in it. The end will come; let us go our way till it does.

Rest will be ours, All other things swing to and fro, but our foundation standeth sure. God rests in His love, and, therefore, we rest in it. Our peace is, and ever shall be, like a river. A lot in the heavenly Canaan is ours, and we shall stand in it, come what may. The God of Daniel will give a worthy portion to all who dare to be decided for truth and holiness as Daniel was. No den of lions shall deprive us of our sure inheritance.

~Charles Spurgeon~

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YIELD: The Fourth Step in Effective Prayer

 Psalms 37:4  provides us the "Y" in the acronym P-R-A-Y, the four elements to effective prayer we have been discussing over the last few devotionals. 

Here is what Psalm 37:4 says,

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Now the Hebrew word for delight in this verse literally means to become soft or pliable.  This means that "delighting" in the Lord is assuming a yielded posture before God. 

So the "Y" in P-R-A-Y stands for yield.  The question is:  How do you practice yielding to God when you pray?  Yielding is when you stop talking, and  you wait, listen, and seek to hear from God. 

In my own practice of prayer, I will often bow before God and ask Him, "God, is there anything You want to say to me?  Do You have any instructions for me?  Is there anything You want me to change?"

Then I silently wait for Him to speak to me.

As you assume this posture of being yielded and waiting quietly before Him, you will be surprised at some of the things that come to your attention: "You need to spend more time with your daughter," "Take your wife out on a date," "Bake your neighbor a pie and build a bridge over which the gospel can travel," "Spend more time praising Me," "Show your gratitude and appreciation for those who have been helping you in your life."

You will indeed hear from God if you ask Him to speak into your heart, and wait silently before Him.  

That is the last element of effective prayer:  praise, repent, ask, yield.  Your prayers can indeed be effective if you commit to these four principles.  That is how to  P-R-A-Y.

~Bayless Conley~

The Essential newness of the New Creation

The Essential Newness of the New Creation 

by T. Austin-Sparks

Chapter 1 - The New Creation

READINGS: Isaiah 48:6-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Matthew 9:16-17.
Familiarity with words and ideas very often takes something from their value. Few passages in the New Testament are more familiar to us than 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation..." (R.V.M.), but the full force of the one governing word there has, I am quite sure, not fallen upon our hearts, and we have still very much to learn as to that essential newness of the new creation in Christ. Indeed, we may say that many of our troubles, our difficulties, our weaknesses, our failures, our problems, our perplexities are the result of our having failed to sufficiently grasp the import of that one word "new." We have, very largely, proceeded with a good deal that is old into the new creation, or we have tried to do so, and we have discovered sooner or later that that cannot be done, that we are attempting an impossibility. So that it may be quite profitable for us to dwell for a little while upon this essential newness.

We begin by reminding ourselves, or acquainting ourselves with the fact that there are two sides to the new creation. There is the vessel, and there is that which is put into the vessel. It takes both of these to constitute what is called the "new creation," the human side, and the Divine side: but while newness applies to both sides, the newness is not the same newness. There are two main words which are translated into our English word "new." We are perhaps familiar with the difference. One implies something which is fresh, not necessarily just originated, but bearing the mark of freshness. The other word implies more strictly something which is quite recent, which was not necessarily there before; it is new in the sense that it has just come in, not something revived but something new. It is interesting to notice that the Holy Spirit uses the two words in connection with the two sides of the new creation.

In this vessel in Matthew 9 you have both words used. As to the wine-skins (translated in the Authorised Version, "bottles") the word used is that which implies freshness. When the Lord Jesus speaks of new wine He uses the other word, that is, something which is quite new, quite recent. When you pass to the passage in 2 Corinthians 5 and it is stated that: "...if any man is in Christ there is a new creation; the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new," there twice the word is used which means freshness. That is strictly consistent with the truth as to the real nature of the new creation.

You are dealing, first of all, with the vessel. Now as vessels in the new creation we are not something which never was before, something quite recent. The vessel of the new creation is our old spirit brought back into life. Our human spirit fell out of fellowship with God, and that meant spiritual death. The new creation activity is to bring back the human spirit from spiritual death into life, and it is the same spirit, raised in union with Christ, becoming the vessel of the new creation.

That is, however, only half of the process. Something which was never in that spirit before is deposited in it, a life which is not fresh but new, recent, absolutely new, which was never in the human spirit before is now put into that vessel, and that which is so completely new, says the Word, is never put into an old wineskin. That vessel has to be made fresh, brought into a state of life, in order to be the receptacle of this utterly new life of the Spirit of God.

These are the two sides of the new creation. The point is that, first of all, something has to be done in the vessel, as well as something having to be put into the vessel.

That is a principle, to which God has bound Himself, and which governs Him in all His activities. It applies in every direction where Divine work is in view. God never builds His new thing upon an old foundation. God never uses the old thing as the material for His new work. That has to be completely renewed. That He does not put His life, His new wine, into old skins is a truth which relates not only to regeneration, to our salvation, to the new creation man, but it also applies to every work of God. Whenever God does a thing the characteristic is newness. Although there may be an old vessel, that vessel has got to be made fresh in order to effect God's end.

That applies to truth as much as to anything else. It may be Divine Doctrine, God given revelation, that which at one time by the Holy Spirit was living truth; but that can never be taken up at any subsequent date or period of time and used again without it becoming fresh in the experience and life of those who come into it. It is just there that a very great many of the mistakes have been made; that what in the way of revelation was a living revelation so long ago has been adopted by subsequent generations as truth, without that subsequent generation, or those subsequent generations, coming into the living reality thereof. That is vital.

It applies to the new creation man. You cannot bring the old creation man over into the new creation without his becoming fresh in a living way. That applies to truth, revelation, doctrine. You cannot carry it on only as it is perennially fresh. Ezekiel's vision of the river, and the trees on either side, very many trees whose leaves never fade and whose fruit is continuous, is simply a revelation or a vision of the Testimony being maintained by the principle of life in freshness right down the whole course of the ages. Truth has to be like those leaves, which never fade. Truth has to be like that fruit, which is always there, luscious fruit. All doctrine is not like that. Unless it is like that its essential element has gone. It is the essential newness of what is of God.

Every fresh step of God is marked by this freshness, this newness. God may have done that same thing again and again, in the course of history, but the next time He does it it is as though it had never been done before in the case of the people in whom He does it. That is the glory of things.

We have seen this work in simple ways. Some of us have been so familiar with certain things, and we have said those things again and again. To us they were living realities, and we have known of certain people who have heard them, who have listened to them, who have been under the ministry by which those things have been declared again and again, over a course of, perhaps, years, and then suddenly, as by a touch of the Spirit, they have seen it, they have caught the inner sound, it has broken upon them, and has become living to them. The result was that they commenced to talk about those things as though no one in all the world had ever heard them before, and as though the very person who had been talking about them for years did not know anything about it! It is just like that. That is the living Testimony. It is the freshness of things. Things must be like that to be of God, for what is really of God is like that. It is not that we hold the truth. It is that we have the life of the truth.

What is true in the case of the new creation man, and in connection with truth or doctrine, revelation or light, is also true in the direction of the work of God, what we call Christian work. For every one who enters into the Divine vocation, the calling to service, it ought to be, for that one, as though there had never been any Christian work before. It ought to be as though they were the first ever commissioned. In their spirit, in their outlook, in their passion, it should be as though they were right at the beginning of things, as though the Christian activity, the Christian Gospel, was only just starting on its way. That should be the consciousness which they should have. It is just the opposite of entering into a longstanding, accepted, crystallised system of Christian work, becoming a part of a great existing machine. The freshness about things should be of this character, that in our service we are conscious that the hand of God has come upon us as though it had never come upon any other person, as though no one else had been called but ourselves. I do not mean that to be taken in a wrong way, that we are the only ones, but that here this thing is such a living, tremendous reality to us that we feel as though nothing had ever been done for the Lord before.

Do you understand what we mean by that? Christian work has become an order, as we have called it, a crystallised system of Christian enterprise, activity, organised work, and people are called upon today to enter into it, to take it up, and they do so and become a part of a great Christian machine for accomplishing a certain purpose, and they go into some kind of a factory to be turned out a Christian worker. You are not surprised that these factory-turned-out workers have not got that thing by which men and women today are fed and brought into the full glory, beauty, grandeur, magnificence of Christ. No! The work of the Lord is something which, to the one who is apprehended of Christ Jesus, is as though there had never been any Christian work before. There is the freshness of life about it.

This applies to the thing which God does, not only to those who are used to do it. When God does a thing there is that about that thing which is fresh. There is the sense that here is something which, as an element, makes this work of God a new work.

God must have newness in His vessels of every kind. If the vessel, or the vehicle, is a man; if the vessel or the vehicle is a revelation; if it is a collective instrumentality, or some piece of work which God is doing in the world, when it is of Him it bears that hallmark of freshness. There is no staleness about it. There is no death about it. It throbs with vitality.
I believe the Lord has a very definite object in our being led to this thought at this time. Undoubtedly, the need today everywhere is just this sense of God in a new way. There is plenty of work, plenty of doctrine, and there are many Christians; but, oh, for this sense of God, this sense of keenness, freshness, vitality, and knowledge of God in all! That is the need. Without that things will go on as they are, and they are very dead, and tragically weak and ineffective.

The measure, then, of the newness of the vessel will be the measure of the newness of what God puts into it. God demands the newness of the vessel in order to commit Himself to it.

Look at that passage from Isaiah 48: "I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known. Thou art created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou heardest them not lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them." Is not that the attitude today toward a great deal? "Oh, yes, I know it all! I know, there is nothing new about that! The doctrine and everything else, I know it! We have heard that before! We know it! There is nothing new about that!" Beloved, if you have caught the inner significance of this you are not mentally talking like that, you are seeing, and as you see you are feeling intensely that there is this need today everywhere. You have the intelligence of a living insight, and you know quite well that there is no hope whatever in simply propagating doctrine and truth, and trying to do the old work in the old way. The need is not more work, more doctrine, truth and light, so much as more of this living element in all.
There are two sides. There is the vessel, and there is that which is in the vessel. The vessel may be quite a good vessel doctrinally, and in other ways, but there needs to be also the deposit in the vessel, the new wine. So the Word says here quite clearly that there is a hopelessness about the old, and all the hope lies in the direction of renewal and freshness on the one hand, and God's living, new deposit on the other hand.

What is the ultimate conclusion about this? It is the conclusion to which 2 Corinthians 5:18 comes: "But all things are of God..." That follows the statement: "...we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, that they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him..." That is the one side; everything having died as to its own self-productiveness. It cannot produce this Divine end, this Divine result. It has died to its own productiveness, and now it is unto Him, and when it is all unto Him then all things are out from God. When all things are of God, all things carry this vital element, this essential freshness of a new creation.

You and I should have heart exercise about everything that the Lord has brought to us. Do we really do that? Do we go back over what has been said and say, Now the Lord said such, and such, and this and that comes out of it. What are we going to do about it? Do we know that in a living way? Does that really represent the Lord's mind for me, and His People? Is that something that the Lord desires for all His own? If so, on any one of these matters I must get before the Lord and definitely be exercised in heart about it. There piled up, mountains high, words, language, teaching, truth, light, and the percentage of living, effective value in it all is all too small. If there is one thing about which we should lay hold of the Lord it is this, Lord keep this Testimony a living thing! Do not let it become mere doctrine, mere truth, something to be passed on, which shall be taken up by others and talked about, and the phrases and terminology used! God forbid that that should be.

The essential newness of all that is out from God is the point. The essential newness of that which proceeds from the Lord, which is really related to the Lord. Freshness on the part of those who are concerned, and newness on the part of that which is coming out from God Himself. Let us pray very much about that, because that is the very essence of our ministry, not only of our life and what we call our Testimony. Bread must have vitamins in it; and in the spiritual food it is the same thing, there must be a living attribute. The essential newness, not old things dead, but (it may be old things) living. "Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old" (Matthew 13:52). But if he brings old things out there is a newness about them that conveys the impression that they never were before, something at any rate which is altogether fresh. The Lord maintain us, and all with which we have to do, in that essential freshness and newness which is the hallmark of Himself.

A Preacher's Second Chance

A Preacher's Second Chance
by Louis Albert Banks (1855-1933)
 

"And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, wherein they had fulfilled their ministration, taking with them John whose surname was Mark." Acts 12:25 (Rev. Ver). "Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphyiia: and John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem."  Acts 13:13 (Rev. Ver.).  " And after some days Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us return now and visit tlie brethren in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they fare. And Barnabas was minded to take with them John also, who was called Mark. But Paul thought not good to take with them him who withdrew from them from Pamphyiia, and went not with them to the work. And there arose a sharp contention, so tliat they parted asunder one from the other, and Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas, and went forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.  Acts 15:36-40 (Rev. Ver.).  "Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is useful to me."  2 Tim. 4:11 (Rev. Ver.)

                                                                    These brief Scriptures do not make a very long biography, but when we pause to read between the lines they tell a wonderfully interesting and suggestive story concerning the experiences of John Mark. This young man was one of the earliest Christians. His mother's house was a hotel on the underground railroad of early Christianity. In the old slavery days in this country there used to be what was known as "the underground railroad," along which slaves escaping from the South made their way with great secrecy and many fears toward Canada and freedom. On these routes were certain farmhouses owned by great-hearted men and women who were willing to run the risk of loss by making their homes houses of welcome for these poor wretches who were flying from slavery to liberty. 

The house of Mary, the mother of Mark, was such a home for the early Christians. There they were always sure of welcome and such comfort as her house afforded. It was in this house that the Christians gathered to pray for Peter on that terrible night when he had been sentenced by Herod to die on the morrow. All through the hours of the night they prayed until Peter, having been rescued by the angel, sought out the house of Mary and knocked at the gate. When the little damsel Rhoda came down to open it and saw that it was Peter, her heart was so glad that she forgot even to open the gate, but ran back shouting at the top of her voice that their prayers were answered and Peter himself stood at the gate. Poor souls! They could not believe it at first; it seemed too good to be true, and they feared he was already dead and that this was his ghost. But it was Peter, sure enough, and that prayer-meeting broke up in great joy. 

It was a precious privilege to be brought up in a home like that, where the greatest men and women among the early Christians were coming and going. To breathe such an atmosphere in one's youth is a glorious boon, and one who has had such an opportunity can never thank God enough for it. How many there are who owe a priceless debt of thanksgiving on account of the Christian homes in which they were born and reared. 

It seems very natural that John Mark, brought up in such a home, listening to the conversations of such men as Peter and Barnabas and Paul and Silas, should desire to give his own life to the ministry of Christ and become a bearer of this good news of salvation to those in distant lands. And so when Barnabas and Paul were about to set out on a great preaching tour he gladly joined them and entered hopefully on his career as a messenger of Jesus Christ. No doubt his mother Mary was both rejoiced and saddened to see him go, and rejoiced that her son was to go forth in such noble company to be a witness for the Master, and saddened that she was left behind and should miss his dear presence in her daily life. O young man! Think tenderly and deal generously concerning the mother who has remained at home watching and waiting while you with exulting heart have gone out on your life career. You have had your lonely and homesick hours, too, but the heaviest burden is carried by the hearts that stay at home. When tempted to forsake the path of righteousness and walk in the way of sin, remember again that anxious, loving heart who sent you out with her prayer and benediction, and resolve to die sooner than say or do that which would bring a blush of shame to her pure face. 

Surely, any one prophesying of the future would have said that no one could have a better chance of winning an honorable and glorious place among the early Christian heroes than John Mark. But the prospect was soon sadly darkened. Only a brief period had passed, and they had just got well under way on their journey, when Mark abruptly terminated his association with his friends and teachers and returned home, greatly to the sorrow of Paul and Barnabas. We do not know why he took this course, but we know that his reasons were not satisfactory to Paul, and his conduct was such that this great missionary lost all faith in him and refused to have him in his company five years later when he had changed his mind and wished for the second time to enter on Lis vocation as a worker for Christ. 

It was doubtless a combination of reasons working together which brought about the desertion of Mark and caused him to make shipwreck of the greatest opportunity of his life. He was very young, and was perhaps at first attracted by the novelty of the journey and the strange habits and customs of the people they met; but this soon wore away and the hardship and danger remained. It could not have been for the lack of interesting experiences, for during the short term of his service he had witnessed the awful judgment on Elymas the sorcerer, and the glorious conversion of Sergius Paulus. Yet in spite of these manifestations of the presence of God with them, and the mighty possibilities within the reach of their ministry, Mark threw it all up and went home. What motive can have turned him back? Matthew Henry says, "Either he did not like the work, or he wanted to go see his mother." Quaint old John Trapp says that Mark left them because they were then to take a tedious and dangerous journey over the high mountains of Taurus, and, his ardor having evaporated a little, he sought his own ease by returning home. 

Whatever was the cause, we may be sure that John Mark repented it many a long day thereafter. 

A mother like his would rather have heard of his death in honorable service than to have seen his face as a coward and a deserter. It was five years before he saw Paul and Barnabas again. Think how much he lost in missing that opportunity- for association with Paul through his most vigorous and fruitful years. There never was a college or theological school on the earth that would have been equal to the training, the inspiration, the soul-culture of five years of shoulder-to-shoulder, heart-to-heart fellowship with Paul in those glowing, blazing days of his missionary conquest! 

Not only did he lose all this, but when the five years were passed, and God in his infinite mercy had roused him from his lethargy and defeat, and encouraged him to try again, he suffered the shame and humiliation of being refused association and fellowship by the greatest man of his age. And so that one foolish and wicked act, that one cowardly backsliding and desertion, cost him all possibility of associating with Paul throughout the years of his greatest power as a minister. It was not until the great preacher was an old man that Mark was to know again his sympathy and love. 

I pray that the Holy Spirit may impress this lesson very deeply on the hearts that need it! We can never in cowardice desert our post and refuse to do our duty without submitting ourselves to fearful loss and heavy penalty. Some of you have been reading your own autobiography in the story of John Mark. You, too, were called in your youth into the church of Jesus Christ. You rejoiced in the glad consciousness that your sins were forgiven and that you were chosen to bear witness for the Savior. Like young Mark you rejoiced in the associations of the church. You delighted in the talk of those who had long known Christ and whose ardent testimony roused your ambition to do valiant service for the Lord. You looked ahead for ten or twenty years or more and pictured yourself as a middle-aged man or woman, devoted to Christ, and as pure and holy in your fidelity to the service of the church as were those noble saints who had won your admiration and your confidence. 

Alas, that any shadow should ever have come over a life that had so bright a morning of Christian hopefulness and promise! But there came a time when you stood before your mountains and trembled for fear. The day came when you were called upon to endure hardness for the Master's sake, and your treacherous heart, like the foolish Israelites in the wilderness, longed for the leeks and onions and flesh-pots of Egypt, even with its bondage. And so you fell away. Not all at once, perhaps ; but step by step, little by little, you were drawn back into the world, until now it may be that jour heart is harder and you are farther away from God than before you first pledged him your service. 

Now if I am speaking to any such backslidden soul, I know if you are honest with yourself you will bear me witness that the saddest mistake of your life was when you deserted Jesus Christ. In your best hours, when you are your highest and noblest self, you would give anything within your power to buy back your peace with God, your joy-ous fellowship with Jesus Christ; to regain the hope of usefulness and the promise of spiritual conquest and heavenly triumph the vision of which once animated your soul and made glorious your daily life. 

Let no man think it is a light thing to fall away from God's fellowship and love. Alas! many who do so never return. Many a young man has fallen away like John Mark, but, like Samson, who was also reared in a godly home, whose young manhood was animated with noble ambitions and whose early career was glorified with the presence of God, has fallen away to come back no more, and has died, in blindness and bondage and shame, the death of a suicide. 

This sad truth was illustrated recently in a Western city. The poor victim was one of the most successful merchants in that great city; he associated with men of prominence, was a member of the leading clubs, and had an open door to all that society has to give. He lived in a splendid mansion on the favorite street of millionaires and merchant princes, and around him were his family and admiring friends. But neither his beautiful home nor his business prosperity could satisfy a heart that had wrenched itself away from God. All the treasures he had gathered became as ashes in his grasp. Who can tell the torture and agony that must have driven his soul when on one of the most beautiful days of autumn he turned his back upon all that for which he had labored, went down to the lake over whose blue waters he had often looked with delight, and, as the light was dawning, by one mad plunge in the cold waters sought to end in their dark depths a life which he could no longer bear. Ah, it is an awful thing, having once tasted of the good word of life, to desert one's post and go back into worldliness and sin! 

But in the story of Mark there is a message of hope. Five years had passed away after his desertion, and Paul and Barnabas had returned from their journey ings in great joy and triumph. After a while they decided to go again and visit the churches which they had formed in their long missionary tour, and build them up in the faith. 

John Mark had now come to his senses and earnestly desired that he might accompany these great preachers again. But Paul, remembering his former desertion, would not consent to have him of the party. Barnabas, however, who was Mark's cousin, believed in the young man and plead that he should be given another trial. Paul refusing to permit this, they separated, and Paul, choosing Silas as his companion, departed in one direction, while Barnabas took Mark and went in another. The result shows that Barnabas was right and Paul was wrong. We have every reason to believe that Mark fully appreciated the second opportunity and was ever afterward a most faithful and efficient witness for Christ. One of the surest 
evidences of this is that Paul in his old age, in his letter to Timothy, asks him to bring Mark with him to be his associate, and declares concerning him, "He is useful to me."  What a victory that was for Mark! It must have been a proud day for him when Timothy showed him Paul's letter and assured him that the great veteran missionary, who had once been so disgusted with him, now believed in him thoroughly and desired to have him as a fellow worker in the Gospel. 

Let any of you to whom this message comes with special personal application take it with comfort to your hearts and seize at once the new chance which God is now offering to you in Jesus Christ. We can not bring back the past. You have made loss and must abide by it unto eternity; but, thank God! there is a new chance, and there is hope and salvation in it, if you will accept it. Because you have failed once is no reason why, with added wisdom and experience and the failure of the past to warn you, you shall not now enter upon a Christian experience that shall be crowned with glorious victory. Come back to Christ now! Today is the day of salvation. If ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 

Do not dally with this opportunity, for another like it may never come. A convict in prison, under sentence of death, was very anxious to get access to the governor that he might plead with him for a pardon. One day a gentleman of unpretending appearance visited his cell and spoke to him very kindly, but without producing any special impression upon him. 

After the gentleman had gone some one said to the prisoner, " Did you know that that was the governor?" 

"Oh," he said, "why didn't I know it, that I might have asked him to pardon me?" 

Opportunities of salvation thus come unheralded and unrecognized and pass away forever. Oh that I had the ability to arrest your attention, arouse your conscience, and summon your will, so that every power of your nature might be concentrated on the offer of salvation which Jesus your Savior makes you now. 

Do not wait to make yourself any better. Do not try in your own strength to get back some of the ground you have lost. Christ came to save sinners, and if you will come just as you are, a poor sinner, crying out, with the publican mentioned in the Gospel record, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" you may be sure of a loving welcome. 

There is a story of a great monarch who was accustomed on certain set occasions to entertain all the beggars of the city. Around him were placed his courtiers, all clothed in rich apparel; the beggars sat at the same table in their rags of poverty. Now it came to pass that on a certain day one of the courtiers had spoiled his silken apparel, so that he dared not put it on, and he felt, "I can not go to the king's feast today, for my robe is foul." He sat weeping till the thought struck him: "Tomorrow, when the king holds his feast, some will come as courtiers happily decked in their beautiful array, but others will come and be made quite as welcome who will be dressed in rags. Well, well," said he, "so long as I may see the king's face and sit at the royal table, I will enter among the beggars." So he put on the rags of a beggar and was welcomed to the king's table. 

My friend, this is just your case. You have spoiled the silken robe of your purity, you can only come as a poor sinner. But as such he will welcome you and you shall sit at his table, tho not in rags, for he will clothe you anew in his own righteousness. Only yield your heart to the Gospel message and you shall be able to sing with the poet-saint: 

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness 
My beauty are, my glorious dress ; 
'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, 
With joy shall I lift up my head."  

Perfect Purity (and other devotionals)

Perfect Purity

"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment"   (Revelation 3:5).

Warrior of the cross, fight on! Never rest till thy victory is complete, for thine eternal reward will prove worthy of a life of warfare.

See, here is perfect purity for thee! A few in Sardis kept their garments undefiled, and their recompense is to be spotless. Perfect holiness is the prize of our high calling; let us not miss it.

See, here is joy! Thou shalt wear holiday robes, such as men put on at wedding feasts; thou shalt be clothed with gladness and be made bright with rejoicing. Painful struggles shall end in peace of conscience and joy in the LORD.

See, here is victory! Thou shalt have thy triumph. Palm, and crown, and white robe shall be thy guerdon; thou shalt be treated as a conqueror and owned as such by the LORD Himself.

See, here is priestly array! Thou shalt stand before the LORD in such raiment as the sons of Aaron wore; thou shalt offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving and draw near unto the LORD with the incense of praise.

Who would not fight for a LORD who gives such large honors to the very least of His faithful servants? Who would not be clothed in a fool's coat for Christ's sake, seeing He will robe us with glory?

~Charles Spurgeon~

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That it might be well with them. Deuteronomy 5:29

Here is a sigh from the Divine heart. It recalls the tears of the Lord Jesus over Jerusalem. The people insisted on their willingness to do all that was required of them, but they were destined to learn and teach that the will may be present, without the power; just as a sick man may have the will to walk across his bedroom, and will fall to the floor because he has no strength.

God's Commandments are for our Welfare. - We find men shrinking from consecration to complete obedience because they fear that it will mean loss and pain. There may be loss and pain; but only in the excision of things which they would be the first to put away, if they understood their nature and outworking as God does. Those who obey God most literally find the most blessedness in life, whether now or hereafter.

We approve them with our Will - More than once the people insisted that they would do as God commanded. We are not so destitute of moral perception as not to see the beauty of a life wholly yielded to God; but let us not rest content with this, or we may have yet to cry with the Apostle, The law is holy, just, and good; but I am carnal, sold under sin.

God wants the Heart. - He will not trust Himself to us, so long as the heart is a stranger to the indwelling of the Divine Spirit. "Oh, that there were such a heart in them!" We need to cry to Him to create in us a clean heart, to ask that He would exchange the heart of stone for one of flesh, to entreat that His love may be shed abroad in our heart, that we may perfectly love Him. "My son, give Me thy heart!"

~F. B. Meyer~

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Exodus 20:12

(12) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
New King James Version   

Taken to an extreme, dishonoring of parents leads to anarchy, first in the family and then in society, as the decay of this basic component spreads. Eventually, a person will expend much, if not most, of his energies just surviving, effectively destroying the development of spiritual, creative, and intellectual qualities essential to his and society's well-being. 

Not honoring parents also causes immaturity. Because children do not respect their parents' advice, they grow up missing the significance of much they encounter, and so wisdom comes to them very slowly. In some cases, they may never learn wisdom. Lack of honor manifests itself in self-willed and self-indulgent people who seem to simmer just beneath the point of rebellion. Their motto in life becomes, "Just do it." So they condemn themselves to learning the lessons of life through hard experience, which may be a good teacher, but a painful one.

~John W. Ritenbaugh~

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Exodus 14:13

Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.

These words contain God's command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut up on the right hand and on the left; what is he now to do? The Master's word to him is, "Stand still." It will be well for him if at such times he listens only to his Master's word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, "Lie down and die; give it all up." But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in His love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, "Retreat; go back to the worldling's way of action; you cannot play the Christian's part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles." But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What, if for a while thou art called to stand still, yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time. Precipitancy cries, "do something. Stir yourself; to stand still and wait, is sheer idleness." We must be doing something at once-we must do it so we think-instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something but will do everything. Presumption boasts, "If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle." But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, "Stand still," and immovable as a rock it stands. "Stand still";-keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, "Go forward."

~Charles Spurgeon~