The Rule Of The Heavens # 5
Similarity Between Ends and Beginnings
1. The Word of God Despised
The next thing is that conditions at the beginning are particularly true of the end. Look at the beginning of this period, this age-period of the Gentile world powers as we have it in the Book of Daniel and in the other prophecies which circle around the beginning. You have Jehoiakim and his apostasy. We will have more to say about it, but remember that all that took place here in the Book of Daniel took place in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim. Who was he? He was a son of Josiah. That makes things exceedingly serious, for Josiah was one of those good kings of the latter days of Israel, through whom a very blessed revival took place in Israel; who recovered things for God, who was true to God in a day of terrible declension and idolatry, and one of the most glorious fragments of those latter years of Israel's history was under Josiah. And Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah. And Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, cut the Word of God to pieces and burnt it. He despised the Word of God. He knew that upon which God had set His blessing. His approval, he knew of days of Divine blessing and the ground upon which that blessing was given, he knew that of which God approved, history was before him in close relationships, he had a godly heritage,k but he apostatized, he despised the Word of God. He let go his godly heritage. That was the beginning. He did more than that. He had a brother and he had seen his brother captivated, the King of Egypt deposed his brother and put him in his place and changed his name. He had seen the downfall of his brother because God was against the way that he was taking, and that ought to have been a warning to him. He had seen the blessing of God upon his father and the judgment of God upon his brother (2 Chron. 34; 35; 36; and Jeremiah 36.)
That is how it was at the beginning, and I have said that the conditions at the beginning are repeated very closely at the end of a dispensation. The Word of God is despised today. There is a godly heritage, there is a history, it is clear to all who want to see where the Lord's blessing rests and upon what it rests. We have not to look back upon our history very far to see where the Lord comes in, in blessing - faithfulness to the Word of God. Yet today that which officially represents Christendom as Jehoiakim officially represented Israel, in the main, despises the Word of God, sets it aside, ignores its history, takes no account of its godly heritage, and things are in a state of declension, largely apostasy, today. Yes, as it was then so it is now.
2. Mixture
A further feature was mixture in the things of God. Why, these prophecies pointing on to the captivity of Israel are just full of that, it is mountainous. You open Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the whole plaintive cry is about an awful mixture in the things of God. Take a chapter like Isaiah 66 "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things hath Mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word." But this is how things are: "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations" (Isaiah 66: 1-3). What mixture! No discrimination, no spiritual discernment, no perception, sensitiveness about holy things, but mixed up, confused. Are we not truly able to say that in our day at the end of the age there is a terrible mixture in the things of God? Yes, indeed, in the things of God all sorts of things contrary to God have been brought in. Sometimes it is literally appalling. As you know, I travel through the country a good bit by road, and in the course of these many journeys we pass the doors of numerous places of worship - great blazing notices of whist-drives, concerts, concert parties by the most outrageously worldly names and titles. These are the programs of these "places of worship" (?) and as you take account of Christendom, you shudder sometimes and wonder where the testimony of the Lord is. Awful mixture; so that even honest and sincere people very often do not know their right hand from their left in spiritual matters; what is of God and what is not, and you find very often genuinely sincere Christian people find it possible to do things and go to places and engage in this and that without any conscience whatever as to what the Lord approves of; things are so mixed, the whole background of their life has become so confused that they have entered into an inheritance of mixture and they do not know: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Mixture at the end as at the beginning, and much idolatry.
God Requires Ultimate Conformity To Original Light
One very brief word in this general outline again. Light is given at the beginning and light is recovered at the end, but with this extra emphasis, that light given at the beginning and recovered at the end is with the special object of that light being conformed to. I want you to get that, because these are abiding features of ages. The beginning of an age is marked by light always. The end of an age is always marked by that same light being brought into view, but an added emphasis of demand for conformity to the original light. Do you get that? In the Book of Daniel, isn't it marvelous, does it not strike you with great force, that the bringing in of Gentile world powers in a man like Nebuchadnezzar, what was he in himself? Not much as a man, and yet to that man the God of heaven gave the most remarkable and wonderful fullness of unveiling of world history, successive dominions of this world. Nebuchadnezzar searched out all his wise men, and his magicians to give him light, to help him in an hour when he was defeated, baffled, and not one of them could give a ray of light upon his perplexity, and he ordered them all to be destroyed. Daniel heard of it and said: "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" (Daniel 2:15). Then Daniel went in to the king and desired that he would give him time and he would show the king the interpretation. "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets" (Daniel 2:28). Every confidence in the Lord. And a season was appointed, the order of execution was stayed for a period, and Daniel called a prayer meeting, they went to the Lord. In a night vision the thing was revealed to Daniel and then Daniel praised the God of heaven and went in unto the king. By direct revelation 2,500 years of history were given to a Babylonian king when none of all the wise men of the earth could give him a ray of light. The God of heaven came in. Is that not impressive? Yes, light at the beginning. Light is always a feature of the beginning of dispensation, but as that dispensation closes that light is brought into view anew with God's double emphasis for conformity to the original light. that carries us a long way. If we are in the end, God is going to rise us a long way. If we are in the end, God is going to recover, and is seeking to recover for His saints the original light for His Church, but He is going to demand that the saints conform to that light, and if at an end time we come into touch with the true light, God is going to take great pains to see that we do not just handle this thing as so much truth and teaching,but He will deal with us in such a way as to bring us into living fellowship with the light.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 6)
A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Sunday, October 29, 2017
The Rule of the Heavens # 4
The Rule of the Heavens # 4
A Person, A Testimony, An Instrument
This rule of the heavens, therefore, is related to a Person, a Testimony and an Instrument. That person is the One here called "The Son of Man." Everything is pointing towards that Person, and the issue of this book is found in that Person, everything here is moving on toward the day when that Person shall be the one preeminent Person. The heavens are ruling and over-ruling the world-kingdoms towards that end. Toward a Person, a Testimony; that is, the Testimony of Jesus. That is the spirit of prophecy, we are told: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10). The heavens are ruling and over-ruling in relation to an instrument, that instrument is the Church, and it came in with the Gentile period. That Church is represented typically and spiritually by Daniel and his three friends. It is typified by the remnant which was the issue of the testimony of these four. Now I hope you may be able to grasp that. It will leave a general impression upon you even if you cannot grasp the details.
Thus, then, there are three things clearly in view in the main. One, the set course of the age, by Divine planning, heading up to Christ. That is very clear in the Book of Daniel. The set course of the age - all these Gentile powers with all that was bad and wrong in them, nevertheless by Divine appointment (not bad by Divine appointment, but the power, the rule by Divine appointment) it is in the Divine plan, and in spite of the Divine planning being taken hold of by evil men and all the wrong that they introduce, God is carrying on toward His purpose and causing these things to head up to His Son; that is the rule of the heavens. (I know very well how I am covering very old ground for many of you, for myself this is very old ground indeed, but there are perhaps younger servants of the Lord who have not been taken through the prophetical school very thoroughly, and for whom, perhaps, the barest outline of things may be helpful to a closer study). So it ought to come to us with fresh emphasis that these world empires, these Gentile empires with all the wrong and the evil and the wickedness and the antagonism to God, are nevertheless in the hands and in the plan of God, and that God has got them not only in His plan but in His authority. They may work against Him but He is compelling their very working against Him to work for Him, and it is all heading up to Christ, the Person.
Secondly, an instrument in the earth is in view which is inseparably bound up with the purpose of the age. Again, that should carry much more weight with us than it does, and if we are going on with the Lord we are going to come to that fact spiritually, perhaps along very violent lines. You and I will, if we come right into God's specific object for the age, come right in it spiritually and vitally. We are going to discover that we are people who count for something. That is not said on the natural level; that is said in that realm where we are going to discover that heaven and hell are involved in this matter of securing this instrument, and heaven will be moved to its center and hell will be moved to its depths because of that object, that instrument, that Church or that remnant. It is inseparably bound up with the age purpose and all the kingdoms of the earth are related to it. It touches all the nations in a spiritual way, so that two mighty spiritual hierarchies are drawn in, so to speak, as to the issue, the issue of the government of those nations, and that is being determined in and by the Church. Have you ever recognized that? That the Church is the instrument for the determining of the government of the nations, because it is the instrument of this testimony of Jesus, that He is Lord; and there is the challenge. The Church stands on the side of heaven, and heaven stands on the side of the Church, the Body of Christ, and heaven and the Church confront hell and all its forces with a challenge of government for the nations in all the ages to come. And so as that instrument in inseparably bound up with the purpose of the age, this third thing comes in, that heaven and hell are actively in operation concerning that instrument. That is of immense significance. You may be a professing Christian engaged in much of the organized work of Christianity, but if you come by the Holy Spirit into God's immediate age purpose spiritually, livingly, and range yourself with Christ as Lord, to be witness unto Him and His Lordship in this earth, you range yourself against hell and hell at once takes account of you and you become an object of significance and importance.
Now all that comes into view in the Book of Daniel because that is represented and typified by Daniel and his fellows, and the remnant which issued from their testimony.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 5)
A Person, A Testimony, An Instrument
This rule of the heavens, therefore, is related to a Person, a Testimony and an Instrument. That person is the One here called "The Son of Man." Everything is pointing towards that Person, and the issue of this book is found in that Person, everything here is moving on toward the day when that Person shall be the one preeminent Person. The heavens are ruling and over-ruling the world-kingdoms towards that end. Toward a Person, a Testimony; that is, the Testimony of Jesus. That is the spirit of prophecy, we are told: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10). The heavens are ruling and over-ruling in relation to an instrument, that instrument is the Church, and it came in with the Gentile period. That Church is represented typically and spiritually by Daniel and his three friends. It is typified by the remnant which was the issue of the testimony of these four. Now I hope you may be able to grasp that. It will leave a general impression upon you even if you cannot grasp the details.
Thus, then, there are three things clearly in view in the main. One, the set course of the age, by Divine planning, heading up to Christ. That is very clear in the Book of Daniel. The set course of the age - all these Gentile powers with all that was bad and wrong in them, nevertheless by Divine appointment (not bad by Divine appointment, but the power, the rule by Divine appointment) it is in the Divine plan, and in spite of the Divine planning being taken hold of by evil men and all the wrong that they introduce, God is carrying on toward His purpose and causing these things to head up to His Son; that is the rule of the heavens. (I know very well how I am covering very old ground for many of you, for myself this is very old ground indeed, but there are perhaps younger servants of the Lord who have not been taken through the prophetical school very thoroughly, and for whom, perhaps, the barest outline of things may be helpful to a closer study). So it ought to come to us with fresh emphasis that these world empires, these Gentile empires with all the wrong and the evil and the wickedness and the antagonism to God, are nevertheless in the hands and in the plan of God, and that God has got them not only in His plan but in His authority. They may work against Him but He is compelling their very working against Him to work for Him, and it is all heading up to Christ, the Person.
Secondly, an instrument in the earth is in view which is inseparably bound up with the purpose of the age. Again, that should carry much more weight with us than it does, and if we are going on with the Lord we are going to come to that fact spiritually, perhaps along very violent lines. You and I will, if we come right into God's specific object for the age, come right in it spiritually and vitally. We are going to discover that we are people who count for something. That is not said on the natural level; that is said in that realm where we are going to discover that heaven and hell are involved in this matter of securing this instrument, and heaven will be moved to its center and hell will be moved to its depths because of that object, that instrument, that Church or that remnant. It is inseparably bound up with the age purpose and all the kingdoms of the earth are related to it. It touches all the nations in a spiritual way, so that two mighty spiritual hierarchies are drawn in, so to speak, as to the issue, the issue of the government of those nations, and that is being determined in and by the Church. Have you ever recognized that? That the Church is the instrument for the determining of the government of the nations, because it is the instrument of this testimony of Jesus, that He is Lord; and there is the challenge. The Church stands on the side of heaven, and heaven stands on the side of the Church, the Body of Christ, and heaven and the Church confront hell and all its forces with a challenge of government for the nations in all the ages to come. And so as that instrument in inseparably bound up with the purpose of the age, this third thing comes in, that heaven and hell are actively in operation concerning that instrument. That is of immense significance. You may be a professing Christian engaged in much of the organized work of Christianity, but if you come by the Holy Spirit into God's immediate age purpose spiritually, livingly, and range yourself with Christ as Lord, to be witness unto Him and His Lordship in this earth, you range yourself against hell and hell at once takes account of you and you become an object of significance and importance.
Now all that comes into view in the Book of Daniel because that is represented and typified by Daniel and his fellows, and the remnant which issued from their testimony.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 5)
Saturday, October 21, 2017
The Rule of the Heavens # 3
The Rule of the Heavens # 3
2,500 Years of This World's History, continued -
Now we, of course, could go on with that historic, prophetical side, but a hurried look at Chapter 8 will complete all that we intend in this connection for the time being. In Chapter 8 you have the Medo-Persian empire, firstly as a ram with two horns, indicating the Medes and the Persians, the Persians the last and the stronger side, conquered in three directions, and those three directions are the three ribs of Chapter 7.
Secondly, the Greco-Macedonian empire is a he-goat; swift, that is, as the leopard kingdom of Chapter 7, with one horn, that is Alexander the Great. It is most important to realize this was all written some hundred years before Alexander the Great was born, and you see these conquests of that monarch as he leaped across the Hellespont and fought successful battles, and then moved on up the banks of the Indus and Nile and then to Shushan, the battle of the Granicus, and then the battle of Issus, and then his great battle of Arbella. He stamped the Persian to the ground and soon Syria, Phenicia, Cyprus, Tyre, Gaza, Egypt and Babylon were all conquered. After this he conquered Bactria and defeated the Scythians. Thus he stamped upon the ram.
"But when the he-goat had waxed very great, the great horn was broken." The early death of Alexander was thus predicted. He died a drunkard at the age of thirty-two years.
Now you may be wondering what all that has to do with us at this present time,but as we said at the outset, there is a spiritual side to this. There is, of course, its value of seeing the Word of God fulfilled so minutely, and the Spirit of God being vindicated along all these detailed lines, but there is a very great deal more than that in it and we want to come to the main spiritual features of this particular age as indicated by this Book of Daniel, and we can gather those up briefly.
The Spiritual Features Of This History
Firstly, we are impressed by this book with the fact that the government of the world on the human side is seen to be for this long period in the hands of Gentile rulers. That carries with it a very great deal more than is apparent on the surface, and we shall see something of what that includes as we go along.
Then in the second place, in a special and distinctive way the kingdom of God of the heavens is seen to be operating. Now put those two things together and you have something of tremendous significance. On the one hand, the fact that for some 2,500 years of this world's history, on the human side, its government is in the hands of Gentile rulers, and on the other hand, the fact that with the introduction of that regime there is so much said about the rule, the government of the God of the heavens. I do not know whether you have been impressed with that phrase, and similar phrases, in the Book of Daniel. If you care to make a note and look it up I will just give you some of the places in which that phrase and like phrases are used. Five times in Chapter 2:18, 19, 28, 37, 44. Five times in Chapter 4:13, 26, 31, 35, 37; and then in 5:23, 6:27; 7:13, 27.
Now that has a two-fold force. It has that general force which we have mentioned, that while Gentile powers, on the human side, have the government of this world in their hands, "The Heavens Do Rule." There is a specific emphasis laid upon the government of the heavens, and the God of the heavens. We shall come back to that later on, but there is another thing which goes along with that, which carries its own significance. Daniel was a Jew, probably of the seed royal, and if not of the seed royal one of dignity in the Hebrew race. If you read in Chapter 1 you will see that those that Nebuchadnezzar required to come into his court were to be taken from the seed royal or those outstanding in dignity, and Daniel and his friends were chosen on that ground. Now Daniel evidently held an important place in the Hebrew race and the Book makes it quite clear that Daniel had a special concern for Jerusalem, and the Lord's interest in Jerusalem, and the Lord's people the Jews. His windows were up toward Jerusalem three times a day, and he carried his own people as a great burden upon his heart, and withal he never speaks of the Lord as the God of the Jews, or of Israel, but always "the God of the heavens" (Daniel 6). That is a Gentile age feature, and it brings in God's specific purpose in the age, which is not the Jews as such, though included in the purpose. It brings in a heavenly calling, not an earthly one. "Partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1). It brings the heavens in with something which specifically relates to the heavens as differing from the Jewish kingdom on the earth, and shows that in this age the heavens are interested in that; that is the thing in which the heavens are concerned, this heavenly object. The God of the heavens is always seen here, it is the heavens ruling, and we shall see in what connection more specifically as we go on.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 4 - (A Person, A Testimony, An Instrument)
2,500 Years of This World's History, continued -
Now we, of course, could go on with that historic, prophetical side, but a hurried look at Chapter 8 will complete all that we intend in this connection for the time being. In Chapter 8 you have the Medo-Persian empire, firstly as a ram with two horns, indicating the Medes and the Persians, the Persians the last and the stronger side, conquered in three directions, and those three directions are the three ribs of Chapter 7.
Secondly, the Greco-Macedonian empire is a he-goat; swift, that is, as the leopard kingdom of Chapter 7, with one horn, that is Alexander the Great. It is most important to realize this was all written some hundred years before Alexander the Great was born, and you see these conquests of that monarch as he leaped across the Hellespont and fought successful battles, and then moved on up the banks of the Indus and Nile and then to Shushan, the battle of the Granicus, and then the battle of Issus, and then his great battle of Arbella. He stamped the Persian to the ground and soon Syria, Phenicia, Cyprus, Tyre, Gaza, Egypt and Babylon were all conquered. After this he conquered Bactria and defeated the Scythians. Thus he stamped upon the ram.
"But when the he-goat had waxed very great, the great horn was broken." The early death of Alexander was thus predicted. He died a drunkard at the age of thirty-two years.
Now you may be wondering what all that has to do with us at this present time,but as we said at the outset, there is a spiritual side to this. There is, of course, its value of seeing the Word of God fulfilled so minutely, and the Spirit of God being vindicated along all these detailed lines, but there is a very great deal more than that in it and we want to come to the main spiritual features of this particular age as indicated by this Book of Daniel, and we can gather those up briefly.
The Spiritual Features Of This History
Firstly, we are impressed by this book with the fact that the government of the world on the human side is seen to be for this long period in the hands of Gentile rulers. That carries with it a very great deal more than is apparent on the surface, and we shall see something of what that includes as we go along.
Then in the second place, in a special and distinctive way the kingdom of God of the heavens is seen to be operating. Now put those two things together and you have something of tremendous significance. On the one hand, the fact that for some 2,500 years of this world's history, on the human side, its government is in the hands of Gentile rulers, and on the other hand, the fact that with the introduction of that regime there is so much said about the rule, the government of the God of the heavens. I do not know whether you have been impressed with that phrase, and similar phrases, in the Book of Daniel. If you care to make a note and look it up I will just give you some of the places in which that phrase and like phrases are used. Five times in Chapter 2:18, 19, 28, 37, 44. Five times in Chapter 4:13, 26, 31, 35, 37; and then in 5:23, 6:27; 7:13, 27.
Now that has a two-fold force. It has that general force which we have mentioned, that while Gentile powers, on the human side, have the government of this world in their hands, "The Heavens Do Rule." There is a specific emphasis laid upon the government of the heavens, and the God of the heavens. We shall come back to that later on, but there is another thing which goes along with that, which carries its own significance. Daniel was a Jew, probably of the seed royal, and if not of the seed royal one of dignity in the Hebrew race. If you read in Chapter 1 you will see that those that Nebuchadnezzar required to come into his court were to be taken from the seed royal or those outstanding in dignity, and Daniel and his friends were chosen on that ground. Now Daniel evidently held an important place in the Hebrew race and the Book makes it quite clear that Daniel had a special concern for Jerusalem, and the Lord's interest in Jerusalem, and the Lord's people the Jews. His windows were up toward Jerusalem three times a day, and he carried his own people as a great burden upon his heart, and withal he never speaks of the Lord as the God of the Jews, or of Israel, but always "the God of the heavens" (Daniel 6). That is a Gentile age feature, and it brings in God's specific purpose in the age, which is not the Jews as such, though included in the purpose. It brings in a heavenly calling, not an earthly one. "Partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1). It brings the heavens in with something which specifically relates to the heavens as differing from the Jewish kingdom on the earth, and shows that in this age the heavens are interested in that; that is the thing in which the heavens are concerned, this heavenly object. The God of the heavens is always seen here, it is the heavens ruling, and we shall see in what connection more specifically as we go on.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 4 - (A Person, A Testimony, An Instrument)
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Do Not Begin To Be Anxious (and other devotionals)
Do not begin to be anxious (Philippians 4:6, PBV).
Not a few Christians live in a state of unbroken anxiety, and others fret and fume terribly. To be perfectly at peace amid the hurly-burly of daily life is a secret worth knowing. What is the use of worrying? It never made anybody strong; never helped anybody to do God's will; never made a way of escape for anyone out of perplexity. Worry spoils lives which would otherwise be useful and beautiful. Restlessness, anxiety, and care are absolutely forbidden by our Lord, who said: "Take no thought," that is, no anxious thought, "saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?" He does not mean that we are not to take forethought and that our life is to be without plan or method; but that we are not to worry about these things.
People know you live in the realm of anxious care by the lines on your face, the tones of your voice, the minor key in your life, and the lack of joy in your spirit. Scale the heights of a life abandoned to God, then you will look down on the clouds beneath your feet.
--Rev. Darlow Sargeant
--Rev. Darlow Sargeant
It is always weakness to be fretting and worrying, questioning and mistrusting. Can we gain anything by it? Do we not unfit ourselves for action, and unhinge our minds for wise decision? We are sinking by our struggles when we might float by faith.
Oh, for grace to be quiet! Oh, to be still and know that Jehovah is God! The Holy One of Israel must defend and deliver His own. We may be sure that every word of His will stand, though the mountains should depart. He deserves to be confided in. Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus.
--Selected
--Selected
Peace thy inmost soul shall fill
Lying still!
Lying still!
~L. B. Cowman~
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Numbers 11:11
Wherefore hast Thou afflicted Thy servant?
Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord's faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father's countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts His servants to glorify Himself, for He is greatly glorified in the graces of His people, which are His own handiwork. When "tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope," the Lord is honoured by these growing virtues. We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which His vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions tend also to heighten future joy. There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after toil? Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss of the glorified? There are many other comfortable answers to the question with which we opened our brief meditation, let us muse upon it all day long.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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Praying with Impact
Since praying is such a common practice for believers, over time it's easy to fall into habits that result in a lifeless and empty prayer life. Instead of a dynamic conversation with thoughtful requests and active listening for God's response, our prayers can seem more like grocery lists. Because communication with the Lord is such a vital part of the Christian life, we occasionally need to step back and examine how we're doing.
Begin by asking yourself these questions:
How effective are my prayers? Is God answering my petitions, or does it seem as if they never go past the ceiling?
Who am I praying for? Are most of my requests for myself or others?
What am I asking the Lord to do? Have I looked in the Word to see what He wants, or am I trying to get Him to intervene according to my plans and desires?
When do I pray? Is it only during emergencies or when I need something?
If you discovered any selfishness in your answers, you're not alone. Most of us struggle to enter God's presence with our eyes focused on Him instead of our needs. But the only way we'll be able to pray with impact is to fill our minds with Scripture so we can find out what the Lord wants to do.
Your prayer life can become effective and dynamic if you'll approach the Lord with a clean heart (Psalms 66:18), align your requests with His will, and believe He will do what He says (Mark 11:24). Then you'll be able to pray with absolute confidence knowing that He will hear and answer your petitions.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
Monday, October 9, 2017
Do You Ask Why He Is Angry? And Other Devotions
Do you ask why He is angry?
"God is angry with the wicked every day!" Psalm 7:11
Do you ask why He is angry?
I answer:
He is angry to see rational, immortal and accountable beings--spending twenty, forty, or sixty years in trifling and sin; serving numerous idols, lusts, and vanities, and living as if death were an eternal sleep!
He is angry to see you forgetting your Maker in childhood, in youth, in manhood--and making no returns for all His benefits.
He is angry to see you casting off His fear and rebelling against Him--who has nourished and sustained you.
He is angry to see you laying up treasures on earth--and not in Heaven.
He is angry to see you seeking everything in preference to the one thing needful.
He is angry to see you loving the praise of men more than the praise of God; and fearing those who can only kill the body, more than Him who has power to cast both soul and body into Hell.
He is angry to see that you disregard alike His threatenings and His promises, His judgments and His mercies.
He is angry that you bury in the earth the talents He has given you, and bring forth no fruit to His glory.
He is angry that you neglect His Word and His Son, and perish in impenitency and unbelief.
These are sins of which every person, in an unconverted state, is guilty. And for these things God is angry--daily angry, greatly and justly angry! And unless His anger is speedily appeased, it will most certainly prove your everlasting destruction!
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Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward!
(Charles Naylor)
"Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward!" Job 5:7
"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows." John 16:33
"Through many hardships and tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God." Acts 14:22
No one has ever lived, who has not had his times of discouragement, heaviness, sorrow and disappointment. Cares and afflictions come to all.
Life has its adversities--it must needs have them. Adversity, pain, sorrow, and disappointment--are thelathe upon which God shapes us. They are the grinding-wheel which grinds and smoothes us. They are the polishing-wheel which makes us shine.
If we can never be happy until we are so situated that nothing exists which may tend to render us unhappy--then we shall have little happiness in life.
Happiness does not come from a life of ease and indolence. It is not the result of the absence of obstacles and difficulties. Happiness comes from triumphing over them. Therefore the song of true happiness, often arises from the soul which undergoes many adversities.
Dear soul, Jesus knows all about your troubles. He knows every heartache, every difficulty, everything you must overcome, everything you must bear. Trusting in His grace, relying upon His help--you shall soon find your heart filling again with melody, for the clouds will pass away!
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away!" Revelation 21:4
Sunday, October 8, 2017
The Rule Of The Heavens # 2
The Rule Of The Heavens # 1
The Testimony And Its Vessel Unto The Time Of The End
The Abiding Message of The Book of Daniel
In this introductory word it will be necessary for us to take a broad view of what is before us and to be occupied mainly in a general outline. The more specific spiritual application will remain for subsequent consideration and you will understand that the peculiar nature of this present time is just in preparation for what may follow.
We shall have to take what this book (Daniel) brings into view along a two-fold line, in the main. Firstly the historical and prophetical; and then secondly, the typical and spiritual. But I would like here immediately to say that it is not one's thought or intention to deal with the Book of Daniel in any way exhaustively along prophetical lines, that is, it is not just prophecy as contained in this book which will occupy us, although that will be latent and sometimes patent all the way through.
We are aware that prophecy by itself need not be spiritually helpful or enriching or building up. It may be very interesting, very fascinating, very educational, but it does not always have a spiritual effect, and I do not think the Lord ever intended His people just to study prophecy as a subject, but to recognize that everything in His thought is intended to reach down into the life and to make very radical changes there, and in order for prophecy to do that, you have to do a great deal more than study dates, times, seasons and signs. There has to be a spiritual interpretation and application, and it is that which we have especially in mind here. But for the present moment we just take some more or less broad view of what is here brought before us.
2,500 Years Of This World's History
We know that the Book of Daniel covers and outlines that part of this world's history which was designated by the Lord Jesus Himself as "the times of the Gentiles." You will remember that He said (it is recorded in Luke 21:24): "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," and this Book of Daniel covers, and outlines, that period; roughly a period of some 2,500 years. It commenced when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were entirely overthrown and Gentile powers took possession of their land; in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar introduced the times of the Gentiles, the Gentile world-powers; and never since that time has there been a king of Israel of Judah. Now the outline of this period is given to us largely in the second, seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of this book.
In the second chapter we have the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and the seventh and the eighth chapters are enlargements of the second, that is, a fuller account of what is contained in the image of that dream. I am not going to attempt to deal with all the details of that, but just to remind you of that image and what it pointed to.
As you will remember, the image had a head of gold, and interpreting the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel said: "Thou art this head of gold," which of course was Nebuchadnezzar and his empire, the Babylonian empire. And then the image had its chest and arms of silver; and you notice that that is inferior to gold and portrayed an inferior kingdom which would follow that of the Babylonian. It pointed on to the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 2;3*0. Then the trunk and thighs were of brass, a still more inferior empire following that, which was fulfilled in the great Macedonian empire. Then the legs of iron and the feet part of iron and part of clay, pointed on to a still inferior empire, namely, the Roman, the two legs representing the eastern section and the western section of the Roman empire. The feet, the iron speaking of the monarchical aspect of that empire, that government, and the clay speaking of the democratic aspect.
Over the territory covered by that fourth empire today there are monarchics and republics, a literal fulfillment in our own day and many years past of that which was foreshadowed 500 years B.C. Then another thing is said concerning that fourth empire, that in the midst of those kings the God of heaven would set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed, and which would never be in the hands of another people; a stone cut without hands should break those kingdoms in pieces. We have seen a very large fulfillment of that; the God of heaven has set His kingdom in the midst of the kingdoms of that fourth world-empire, the Roman empire. Against that kingdom of the God of the heavens no world power has yet been able to prevail, although they have wielded the full weight of their might against the saints of the Most High: butchered and massacred them and determined with a diabolical determination to wipe them out: it is those kingdoms that have gone to pieces, the stone cut without hands has broken them and the kingdoms which have set themselves against the Lord and His Christ are fast becoming stories in history books of glories of past days, and the kingdom of the God of heaven goes on never to be destroyed, and never to be entrusted to the hands of any mere world-power, it is in the hands of the saints of the Most High. There will yet be a greater fulfillment of this: a literal one, and not only a spiritual one. Well, that is the second chapter in brief, so far as Daniel's image is concerned, and then as we said, chapters 7 and 8 are an enlargement of that. In chapter 7 you have the four beasts coming up out of the sea. The sea, as we here know, represents the unorganized mass of mankind. Coming up out of the sea re these four beasts.
The first was like a lion and that again represents Babylon. You remember Jeremiah, in prophesying the overthrow of Israel and Judah, and the coming captivity, spoke in typical language about the one who would come up and carry them away and destroy them. He said: "The lion is come up," and here is the lion coming up out of the sea. Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire.
The second was the bear, and that again points to the Medo-Persian empire. On its side, (you notice the detail) meaning that Persia was its strong element. It had three ribs in its mouth, speaking of three great provinces of that empire, Syria, Lydia and Asia Minor.
The third beast, the leopard, speaking of the Greco-Macedonian empire. This leopard had four wings typical of its rapid advance, fulfilled so clearly in the conquests of Alexander the Great, sweeping advances in all directions. It had four heads which pointed to the parting of the empire into its four territories of Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and Asia Minor.
Then the fourth beast, the great nondescript beast pointing to the Roman empire. Ten horns, speaking of ten provinces, and then one small horn destroying the three; the eyes of a man, a mouth speaking great swelling things. Much of this yet awaits fulfillment.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3)
The Testimony And Its Vessel Unto The Time Of The End
The Abiding Message of The Book of Daniel
In this introductory word it will be necessary for us to take a broad view of what is before us and to be occupied mainly in a general outline. The more specific spiritual application will remain for subsequent consideration and you will understand that the peculiar nature of this present time is just in preparation for what may follow.
We shall have to take what this book (Daniel) brings into view along a two-fold line, in the main. Firstly the historical and prophetical; and then secondly, the typical and spiritual. But I would like here immediately to say that it is not one's thought or intention to deal with the Book of Daniel in any way exhaustively along prophetical lines, that is, it is not just prophecy as contained in this book which will occupy us, although that will be latent and sometimes patent all the way through.
We are aware that prophecy by itself need not be spiritually helpful or enriching or building up. It may be very interesting, very fascinating, very educational, but it does not always have a spiritual effect, and I do not think the Lord ever intended His people just to study prophecy as a subject, but to recognize that everything in His thought is intended to reach down into the life and to make very radical changes there, and in order for prophecy to do that, you have to do a great deal more than study dates, times, seasons and signs. There has to be a spiritual interpretation and application, and it is that which we have especially in mind here. But for the present moment we just take some more or less broad view of what is here brought before us.
2,500 Years Of This World's History
We know that the Book of Daniel covers and outlines that part of this world's history which was designated by the Lord Jesus Himself as "the times of the Gentiles." You will remember that He said (it is recorded in Luke 21:24): "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," and this Book of Daniel covers, and outlines, that period; roughly a period of some 2,500 years. It commenced when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were entirely overthrown and Gentile powers took possession of their land; in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar introduced the times of the Gentiles, the Gentile world-powers; and never since that time has there been a king of Israel of Judah. Now the outline of this period is given to us largely in the second, seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of this book.
In the second chapter we have the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and the seventh and the eighth chapters are enlargements of the second, that is, a fuller account of what is contained in the image of that dream. I am not going to attempt to deal with all the details of that, but just to remind you of that image and what it pointed to.
As you will remember, the image had a head of gold, and interpreting the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel said: "Thou art this head of gold," which of course was Nebuchadnezzar and his empire, the Babylonian empire. And then the image had its chest and arms of silver; and you notice that that is inferior to gold and portrayed an inferior kingdom which would follow that of the Babylonian. It pointed on to the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 2;3*0. Then the trunk and thighs were of brass, a still more inferior empire following that, which was fulfilled in the great Macedonian empire. Then the legs of iron and the feet part of iron and part of clay, pointed on to a still inferior empire, namely, the Roman, the two legs representing the eastern section and the western section of the Roman empire. The feet, the iron speaking of the monarchical aspect of that empire, that government, and the clay speaking of the democratic aspect.
Over the territory covered by that fourth empire today there are monarchics and republics, a literal fulfillment in our own day and many years past of that which was foreshadowed 500 years B.C. Then another thing is said concerning that fourth empire, that in the midst of those kings the God of heaven would set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed, and which would never be in the hands of another people; a stone cut without hands should break those kingdoms in pieces. We have seen a very large fulfillment of that; the God of heaven has set His kingdom in the midst of the kingdoms of that fourth world-empire, the Roman empire. Against that kingdom of the God of the heavens no world power has yet been able to prevail, although they have wielded the full weight of their might against the saints of the Most High: butchered and massacred them and determined with a diabolical determination to wipe them out: it is those kingdoms that have gone to pieces, the stone cut without hands has broken them and the kingdoms which have set themselves against the Lord and His Christ are fast becoming stories in history books of glories of past days, and the kingdom of the God of heaven goes on never to be destroyed, and never to be entrusted to the hands of any mere world-power, it is in the hands of the saints of the Most High. There will yet be a greater fulfillment of this: a literal one, and not only a spiritual one. Well, that is the second chapter in brief, so far as Daniel's image is concerned, and then as we said, chapters 7 and 8 are an enlargement of that. In chapter 7 you have the four beasts coming up out of the sea. The sea, as we here know, represents the unorganized mass of mankind. Coming up out of the sea re these four beasts.
The first was like a lion and that again represents Babylon. You remember Jeremiah, in prophesying the overthrow of Israel and Judah, and the coming captivity, spoke in typical language about the one who would come up and carry them away and destroy them. He said: "The lion is come up," and here is the lion coming up out of the sea. Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire.
The second was the bear, and that again points to the Medo-Persian empire. On its side, (you notice the detail) meaning that Persia was its strong element. It had three ribs in its mouth, speaking of three great provinces of that empire, Syria, Lydia and Asia Minor.
The third beast, the leopard, speaking of the Greco-Macedonian empire. This leopard had four wings typical of its rapid advance, fulfilled so clearly in the conquests of Alexander the Great, sweeping advances in all directions. It had four heads which pointed to the parting of the empire into its four territories of Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and Asia Minor.
Then the fourth beast, the great nondescript beast pointing to the Roman empire. Ten horns, speaking of ten provinces, and then one small horn destroying the three; the eyes of a man, a mouth speaking great swelling things. Much of this yet awaits fulfillment.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Thoughts On Immortality # 4
Thoughts On Immortality # 4
4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great friend to whom we must look for help, both for time and eternity.
The purpose for which the eternal Son of God came into the world can never be declared too fully, or proclaimed too loudly. He came to give us hope and peace while we live among the "things seen, which are temporary," and glory and blessedness when we go into the "things unseen, which are eternal." He came to "bring life and immortality to light," and to "deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage." (2 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 2:15.) He saw out lost and bankrupt condition, and had compassion on us. And now, blessed be His name, a mortal man may pass through things temporal with comfort, and look forward to things eternal without fear.
These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us at the cost of His own precious blood. He became our Substitute, and bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, and then rose again for our justification. He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and justification while we live, and glory and blessedness when we die (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21).
And all that our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us He offers freely to every one who will turn from his sins, come to Him, and believe. "I am the light of the world," He says - "he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "If any man thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink." "Him that comes unto Me will never be cast out.l" And the terms are as simple as the offer is free - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." "Whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 8:12; Matt. 11:28; John 7:37; 6:37; Acts 16:31; John 3:16).
He who has Christ, has life. He can look round him on the temporary things, and see change and decay on every side without dismay. He has got treasure in heaven, which neither rust nor moth can corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. He can look forward to the "things eternal," and feel calm and composed. His Saviour has risen, and gone to prepare a place for him. When he leaves this world he shall have a crown of glory, and be forever with his Lord. He can look down even into the grave, as the wisest Greeks and Romans could never do, and say, "Oh, death, where is your sting? oh, grave, where is your victory? oh, eternity, where are your terrors?" (1 Cor. 15:55).
Let us all settle it firmly in our minds that the only way to pass through "things seen" with comfort, and look forward to "things unseen" without fear, is to have Christ for our Saviour and Friend, to lay hold on Christ by faith, to become one with Christ and Christ in us, and while we live in the flesh to live the life of faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). How vast is the difference between the state of him who has faith in Christ, and the state of him who has none! Blessed indeed is that man or woman who can say, with truth, "I trust in Jesus - I believe." When Cardinal Beaufort lay upon his death bed, our mighty poet, Shakespeare, describes King Henry as saying, "He died, but gives no sign." When John Knox, the Scotch Reformer, was drawing to his end, and unable to speak, a faithful servant asked him to give some proof that the Gospel he had preached in life gave him comfort in death, by raising his hand. He heard; and raised his hand toward heaven three times, and then departed. Blessed, I say again, is he who believes! He alone is rich, independent, and beyond the reach of harm. If you and I have no comfort amid temporary things, and no hope for the things eternal, the fault is all our own. It is because we will not come to Christ, that we may have life." (John 5:40).
I leave the subject of eternity here, and pray that God may bless it to many souls. You and I have looked each other in the face perhaps for the first time, and probably for the last time, in our lives. But when and where shall we meet again? Before we part, and perhaps forever, I offer a word of friendly exhortation. I offer to every one within these old Cathedral walls tonight some food for thought, and matter for self-examination.
(1) First of all, how are you using your TIME? Life is short and very uncertain. You never know what a day may bring forth. Business and pleasure, money-getting and money-spending, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage - all, all will soon be over and done with forever. And you, what are you doing for your immortal soul? Are you wasting time, or turning it to good account? Are you preparing to meet God?
(2) Secondly, where shall you be in eternity? It is coming, coming, coming very fast upon us. You are going, going, going very fast into it. But where will you be? On the right hand or on the left in the day of judgment? Among the lost or among the saved? Oh, rest not, rest not until your soul is insured! Make sure work - leave nothing uncertain.It is a fearful thing to die unprepared, and fall into the hands of the living God.
(3) Thirdly, would you be safe for time and eternity? Then seek Christ, and believe in Him. Come to Him just as you are. Seek Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. There is still a throne of grace. It is not too late. Christ waits to be gracious - He invites you to come to Him. Before the door is shut and the judgment begins, repent, believe, and be saved.
(4) Lastly, would you be happy? Cling to Christ, and live the life of faith in Him. Abide in Him, and live near to Him. Follow Him with heart and soul and mind and strength, and seek to know Him better every day. So doing you shall have great peace while you pass through "temporary things," and in the midst of a dying world shall "shall never die." (John 11:26). So doing, you shall be able to look forward to "things eternal" with unfailing confidence, and to feel and "know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. 5:1.
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great friend to whom we must look for help, both for time and eternity.
The purpose for which the eternal Son of God came into the world can never be declared too fully, or proclaimed too loudly. He came to give us hope and peace while we live among the "things seen, which are temporary," and glory and blessedness when we go into the "things unseen, which are eternal." He came to "bring life and immortality to light," and to "deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage." (2 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 2:15.) He saw out lost and bankrupt condition, and had compassion on us. And now, blessed be His name, a mortal man may pass through things temporal with comfort, and look forward to things eternal without fear.
These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us at the cost of His own precious blood. He became our Substitute, and bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, and then rose again for our justification. He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and justification while we live, and glory and blessedness when we die (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21).
And all that our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us He offers freely to every one who will turn from his sins, come to Him, and believe. "I am the light of the world," He says - "he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "If any man thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink." "Him that comes unto Me will never be cast out.l" And the terms are as simple as the offer is free - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." "Whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 8:12; Matt. 11:28; John 7:37; 6:37; Acts 16:31; John 3:16).
He who has Christ, has life. He can look round him on the temporary things, and see change and decay on every side without dismay. He has got treasure in heaven, which neither rust nor moth can corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. He can look forward to the "things eternal," and feel calm and composed. His Saviour has risen, and gone to prepare a place for him. When he leaves this world he shall have a crown of glory, and be forever with his Lord. He can look down even into the grave, as the wisest Greeks and Romans could never do, and say, "Oh, death, where is your sting? oh, grave, where is your victory? oh, eternity, where are your terrors?" (1 Cor. 15:55).
Let us all settle it firmly in our minds that the only way to pass through "things seen" with comfort, and look forward to "things unseen" without fear, is to have Christ for our Saviour and Friend, to lay hold on Christ by faith, to become one with Christ and Christ in us, and while we live in the flesh to live the life of faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). How vast is the difference between the state of him who has faith in Christ, and the state of him who has none! Blessed indeed is that man or woman who can say, with truth, "I trust in Jesus - I believe." When Cardinal Beaufort lay upon his death bed, our mighty poet, Shakespeare, describes King Henry as saying, "He died, but gives no sign." When John Knox, the Scotch Reformer, was drawing to his end, and unable to speak, a faithful servant asked him to give some proof that the Gospel he had preached in life gave him comfort in death, by raising his hand. He heard; and raised his hand toward heaven three times, and then departed. Blessed, I say again, is he who believes! He alone is rich, independent, and beyond the reach of harm. If you and I have no comfort amid temporary things, and no hope for the things eternal, the fault is all our own. It is because we will not come to Christ, that we may have life." (John 5:40).
I leave the subject of eternity here, and pray that God may bless it to many souls. You and I have looked each other in the face perhaps for the first time, and probably for the last time, in our lives. But when and where shall we meet again? Before we part, and perhaps forever, I offer a word of friendly exhortation. I offer to every one within these old Cathedral walls tonight some food for thought, and matter for self-examination.
(1) First of all, how are you using your TIME? Life is short and very uncertain. You never know what a day may bring forth. Business and pleasure, money-getting and money-spending, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage - all, all will soon be over and done with forever. And you, what are you doing for your immortal soul? Are you wasting time, or turning it to good account? Are you preparing to meet God?
(2) Secondly, where shall you be in eternity? It is coming, coming, coming very fast upon us. You are going, going, going very fast into it. But where will you be? On the right hand or on the left in the day of judgment? Among the lost or among the saved? Oh, rest not, rest not until your soul is insured! Make sure work - leave nothing uncertain.It is a fearful thing to die unprepared, and fall into the hands of the living God.
(3) Thirdly, would you be safe for time and eternity? Then seek Christ, and believe in Him. Come to Him just as you are. Seek Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. There is still a throne of grace. It is not too late. Christ waits to be gracious - He invites you to come to Him. Before the door is shut and the judgment begins, repent, believe, and be saved.
(4) Lastly, would you be happy? Cling to Christ, and live the life of faith in Him. Abide in Him, and live near to Him. Follow Him with heart and soul and mind and strength, and seek to know Him better every day. So doing you shall have great peace while you pass through "temporary things," and in the midst of a dying world shall "shall never die." (John 11:26). So doing, you shall be able to look forward to "things eternal" with unfailing confidence, and to feel and "know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. 5:1.
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
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