Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Where Satan Will Attack First

Yesterday we began a series of devotionals looking at when we can expect Satan to attack us.  Revelation 12:1-5 provides insight into the first time he will attack,

Now a great sign appeared in heaven:  a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.  Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.  And another sign appeared in heaven:  behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.  His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.  And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.  And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

The child in this passage is the Lord Jesus Christ, the woman represents the nation of Israel, and the dragon that wanted to devour the Child as soon as He was born is our adversary the devil.

It was the devil who was behind King Herod commanding that all of the male children two years old and younger be slaughtered.  It was only because Joseph was warned by God in a dream that he, Mary, and Jesus escaped from Herod's clutches.

What I want you to see here is that the battle came to Jesus as soon as He was born.  And I think we should expect battle as soon as a person is born again, as soon as someone comes into God's family.

We need to be prepared to help protect and defend those who are new babes in Christ. 

~Bayless Conley~

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Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. —1 Thess 5:23-24

Many years since I saw that “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, “We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith.” This I testified in private, in public, and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work.
—John Wesley in 1771

“I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul; but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus to do something for me, and, when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then HE shut the door.”
—George Fox

My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst after approbation. I feel alone with God; He fills the void; I have not one wish, one will, one desire, but in Him; He hath set my feet in a large room. I have wondered and stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me by love.
—Lady Huntington

“All at once I felt as though a hand—not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love—was laid on my brow. I felt it not outwardly but inwardly. It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse all through me a holy, sin-consuming energy. As it passed downward, my heart as well as my head was conscious of the presence of this soul-cleansing energy, under the influence of which I fell to the floor, and in the joyful surprise of the moment, cried out in a loud voice. Still the hand of power wrought without and within; and wherever it moved, it seemed to leave the glorious influence of the Saviour’s image. For a few minutes the deep ocean of God’s love swallowed me up; all its waves and billows rolled over me.”
—Bishop Hamline

Holiness—as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it—appeared to me to be of a sweet, calm, pleasant, charming, serene nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, ravishment to the soul; in other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant fruits and flowers, all delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle vivifying beams of the sun.
—Jonathan Edwards

“Love’s resistless current sweeping
All the regions deep within;
Thought and wish and senses keeping
Now, and every instant clean:
Full salvation! Full salvation!
From the guilt and power of sin.”

~L. B. Cowman~

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The Hope of the Church # 3

The Hope of the Church # 3

Oh no, He is not telling us here that the soul is sleeping, that the spirit is unconscious. He is speaking of the tired, weary, worn bodies of the people of God, put to sleep till Jesus comes. So He says, "I do not want you to be ignorant concerning those which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope." We are not forbidden to sorrow. Our blessed Lord when He was here on earth was a Man of Sorrows; He was acquainted with grief. He looks in sympathy upon us in our sorrow. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them." We are not taught in scripture that we must adopt a cold, hard, stoical attitude when bereavement enters our home, and snatches our dear ones away. Why, the sisters of Bethany wept at the death of Lazarus, and Jesus wept with them. He has bidden us weep with those who weep at a funeral, and rejoice with those who rejoice at a wedding. We are to enter into the joys and sorrows of one another. What He does tell us is that our griefs and sorrows are not hopeless. These people of Thessalonica, so far as this world was concerned. had no hope whatever of meeting their departed loved ones again in their unsaved state. But to the Christians he says regarding those who sleep in Jesus they were not to sorrow as others which had no hope. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." We do believe that - don't we? Listen to me; if you do not believe it, you are not a Christian. I do not know if you have any professing Christians on this side of the water who do not believe it, but we have some on our side. They tell us that you can be a Christian, and you do not need to believe in the Resurrection of Christ; that in some way or other His Spirit is permeating men; that His teaching is living after Him, and doing men good. One of our preachers from New York speaking over the radio, referred to Matthew Arnold's well-known statement when he said that the Body of Jesus still sleeps in a Syrian tomb, but that His soul goes marching on. People said, How magnificent! magnificent nonsense!! It's a "John Brown body"sort of thing. If the Body of Jesus still sleeps in a Syrian tomb, then, according to First Corinthians 15, "your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." We begin with the truth of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." So I take it that you cannot begin as a Christian until you recognize the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. "He was delivered for our offences, and He was raised again for our justification." "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him," or, "will God lead forth with Him." What is He referring to? Why, simply this, that in the Old Testament it is written, "The Lord my God shall come and all the saints with Thee." And in the New Testament He tells us the same wonderful truth. And so the Apostle says that when the Lord Jesus returns again, when He comes forth to reign, when He sets up His glorious Kingdom, He is going to bring with Him all His saints, both those who have died in the past and those who will be living at the time. They are coming back with Him; they are going to be manifested with Him in glory, and the word will be fulfilled: and "every eye shall see Him and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth wail because of Him." But He will not come alone; He will come with all His redeemed, the entire heavenly company; those which have been put to sleep by Jesus will God lead forth with Him. The apostle John in his Book of the Revelation, written some forty years after Paul wrote this Letter, described symbolically His coming leading forth His saints. He pictured Him as a mighty warrior, whose Name is called the Word of God, who is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, riding upon a white horse. And John says, "The armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." It is a picture of the heavenly host returning with Christ to set up His heavenly Kingdom.

But how is this going to be? You say, the bodies of our dear ones have crumbled away to dust, and their souls are with Christ, and if they are not coming back as disembodied spirits, how then will God lead them forth with Him? The apostle explains it in another verse: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." "The Lord Himself." There is something lovely about that. "The Lord Himself." I like that word - don't you? It is not mere symbolism. He is not talking about the death angel, he is talking about "the Lord Himself." Before He went away He said to His disciples, "In My Father's house there are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also." You remember those two shining ones who appeared on the Mount of Olives just after Christ was taken up into Heaven? This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven." "This same Jesus." I love those words. "This same Jesus." Nineteen hundred years in the glory have not changed Him in the least. He is the same today as when He was here on earth. He is glorified now, but in His own Person, His character, He is the same blessed, living, loving, gracious, compassionate Lord that He was when He was here on earth. When I was a boy they used to sing in the Sunday school:

"I think, when I read that sweet story of old
When Jesus was here among men,
How He took little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with Him then,
I wish that His hands had been laid on my head
That His arms had been thrown around me.
And that I might have seen His kind look when he said,
Let the little ones come unto me!"

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 4)

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

The Gift of Exhortation

Romans 12:3-8

The church is filled with people who have different passions and interests. Christ designed His body to function this way by supplying various spiritual gifts by which His work is accomplished. Yet sometimes these differences can lead to misunderstandings because we each see through the lens of our own gift.

Exhortation is one of those spiritual gifts that can be misconstrued. People with this gifting may use strong words to urge fellow believers toward spiritual maturity. Sometimes this involves identifying foundational problems like pride, selfishness, or a desire for control and prescribing corrective steps based on biblical principles. Other times, exhortation may include an explanation of the blessings of obeying the Lord as well as warnings about the consequences of disobedience.

You may have noticed this gift is often given to pastors who regularly exhort God’s people from the pulpit, but there are also individuals in the congregation who may have this spiritual gift. As Christians, we need to hear the truth about ourselves and how we are living, yet sometimes we may be resistant. Perhaps we think the exhorter has oversimplified our situation or is trying to “help” God out. Or maybe the way in which the advice is given strikes us as overconfident. At other times, we may question how Scripture is applied or doubt the genuineness of the one who exhorts us.

Although we should always compare what we hear with God’s Word, we must not reject correction simply because we don’t want to hear it. Wisdom comes with careful consideration of counsel as we hold firmly to the Word.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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What a contrast!

("Every Day!" Author unknown)

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way!" Psalm 139:23, 24

What a contrast there is between a man of this world--and a child of God! 

The one wishes to avoid the scrutiny of God--and the other desires and prays for it. 

The one loves sin, and cherishes it--the other abhors sin, and desires to be delivered from it. 

The one walks hand in hand with iniquity--the other grieves that he bears about with him a body of sin and death.

It is the earnest desire of all who are born of God, and made partakers of the Divine nature--to be delivered from the power of sin that dwells in them. They would have no lust spared--and no corruption unmortified. 

Chosen by the Father in eternity past, 
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and justified freely by His grace
--they would also be sanctified by His Spirit.

They would be holy as He is holy--and their desires will eventually be satisfied! He who has begun a good work in them, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will present them "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!"

"Search me, O God, and try my thoughts,
 And make my heart sincere;
 Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
 And keep my conscience clear!

"Make me to walk in Your commands,
 'Tis a delightful road;
 Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
 Offend against my God!"

"The desire of the righteous will be granted!" Proverbs 10:24 

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That spiritual chemistry which turns all metals into gold!

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2 


William Bates: "Meditation is the serious exercise of the mind, whereby our thoughts are fixed on the observation of spiritual things, in order to practice them. Meditation is that spiritual chemistry which turns all metals into gold!" 


Arthur Pink: "Reader! You will derive far more benefit from a single verse of Scripture read slowly and prayerfully, and duly meditated upon--than you will from ten chapters read through hurriedly! Meditation is nearly a lost art. Lack of meditation is at the root of most of our spiritual troubles."


Edmund Calamy: "The reason why all the sermons we hear do us no more good, is for lack of divine meditation. For it is with sermons as it is with food--it is not having food upon your table that will nourish you, but you must eat it. And you must not only eat it, but digest it--or else your food will do you no good. 
So it is with sermons: it is not hearing sermons that will do you good, but pondering in your hearts what you hear, and digesting them by meditation. One sermon well digested, well meditated upon--is better than twenty sermons without meditation! I am confident the great reason why we have so many hunger-starved Christians who are lean in grace and lean in practice, though they hear sermon upon sermon--is because they digest nothing. They never ponder and meditate upon what they hear! There are some men sick with a disease that makes them vomit up whatever they eat--the food never does them any good. So is the custom of many of you: you hear a sermon, you go away, and never think of it afterward. This is just like food that you vomit up! That is the reason why you are so lean in grace--though you are so fully fed with sermons!" 

The Hope of the Church # 2

The Hope of the Church # 2

This truth seems to have gripped these Thessalonians, they revelled in it, they could think of little else. Some became so occupied with it that they were not much good for the ordinary affairs of life. There is always a danger of going too far in regard to any truth of God, and the apostle Paul was this. "Since we have been there some of them have died; they have fallen asleep in Christ, and their friends are disconsolate; they feel that they won't be here to welcome the King when He comes. They feel that they have missed so much that their hearts are really broken because of it." And Paul says, "I will just write them a Letter, and clear that up." So in the course of this Letter, he expounds the part that both those who have died before Christ's return, and those who are living at His Coming, will have in the glorious future day. "I would not have you ignorant", he says, "concerning them which are asleep." What does he mean by "those which are asleep?"  Does he mean when our dear ones in Christ close their eyes to the scenes of earth, when the body is dead, that we put them away, body, soul, and spirit, in the tomb, and that the whole man sleeps in utter unconsciousness until the glorious morning of the first resurrection? No, he certainly does not mean that, because that would contradict very definitely what he taught elsewhere. Take that wonderful passage in the third of Ephesians. He says,  "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Where does he locate the family of God? In only two places - in heaven and on earth. If he were a soul-sleeper he would have said, in the grave and on earth. But he did not say that. He locates those who have left this scene as in heaven. There is not even a third place. I look up a paper in our country not long ago that stirred me to preach a sermon. It had an article beseeching the faithful to come through with more cash, because the poor souls in purgatory are suffering so dreadfully because of the depression that has swept all over the world. And so I preached a sermon one Sunday on the subject, "What can we do for the poor souls in purgatory?" We had over five thousand people to hear it, and when we got looking into the Book to find out about it we found out that there was not any soul in purgatory, and that the only purgatory there is in the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which purged our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. No, Paul does not locate  any of the believers in purgatory, and he does not leave them unconscious in the grave. He speaks of "the whole family in heaven and on earth." And you remember that elsewhere he says that the believer who dies is absent from the body - not asleep in the body - and is present with the Lord. And he says that he himself had a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better. How did he know that? Was it simply the word of an inspired man who had been commanded so to write? No, not that alone; he knew it by practical experience.

We say sometimes, "No one has ever been to Heaven and come back to tell us what it is like? We are wrong, for He had been there. He says; "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell; God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Now, mark you, the apostle clearly gives us to understand there that a man can be conscious and out of the body. For when he had this experience he says a it were, "If I had a body, I am not conscious of it; and if I was out of the body, I did not miss it!" That helps me in regard to my friends who have gone to Heaven. He saw and heard something; he was thoroughly conscious, and he was caught up into Paradise. Paradise is a Persian word, it is used three times in the New Testament. It means "a royal garden." Paul says, "I was caught up; and I found myself in a royal garden." I never go into one of your beautiful English gardens without saying, "This is a little, wee bit of Paradise." Paul found himself in a scene of ineffable beauty and glory. Then he says, "I heard something, I heard unspeakable things which it is not lawful for a man to utter." So he was conscious; he could see and hear. I was in a meeting down in Florida some few years ago, and on one night each week we used to have questions and answers. Among the questions sent up was this one. "Will you please tell us what the unspeakable things were which Paul heard when he was caught up into the third heaven?" I had to admit that I could not tell. Why Paul himself could not tell. In other words, it was so wonderful that he could not put it into our language. Yet he heard it at the time and understood.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 3)

The Hope of the Church # 1

The Hope of the Church # 1

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so then also which sleep in Jesus will God bring him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

It is a very interesting fact, I think, that this first Letter to the Thessalonians is the earliest of the writings of the Apostle Paul which the Spirit of God has preserved for the edification of the Church; and yet it abounds in reference to the great doctrine of the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, too, it was written to a very young Church. Some people are inclined to think of the doctrine of the Lord's Return as something so difficult to understand, and as a truth so deep, and so hard for simple men to lay hold of, that it should only be proclaimed to Christians who are well advanced, and who are mature in their experience, and who have a very full understanding of the divine truth. But this Church to whom Paul wrote this Letter was composed of very young Christians. Only a few months before the writing of the Letter, at the most, they had been in the darkness and ignorance of heathendom. A few, perhaps, were Jews who had been brought to a saving knowledge of Christ, but the majority of these people in the Church at Thessalonica were heathen who had been reached by the Gospel, and who were now rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Then you remember that the Apostle Paul was only permitted to spend a very brief period with them. Luke speaks of his preaching in the synagogue for three Sabbath days, but how much longer he was there we are not told, possibly a little longer. Then persecution broke out, and in obedience to the Lord's word, "If they persecute you in one city, flee to another" (the apostle did not then have the ultra-dispensational teacher of today to tell him that the Lord's words did not then apply to him) he left there, and went on to Berea, and then on to Athens; and he left Timothy behind him to care for the young Church, and then to report. As a result of a letter that came to him at Athens he was so exercised that he sent Timothy back, and he could not rest until he returned the second time, and told him how well they were getting on. It was a wonderful report he brought back. Paul was fearful lest these young believers might have been disturbed by the enmity of the unbelieving Jews, and of their former friends in heathenism, who were opposed to the Gospel of Christ. But when Timothy returned he said something like this: "You know, Paul, it is remarkable the way they are going on. They are not only standing steadfast, and holding fast the Word of truth, but they are holding forth the Word of life. They have all turned preachers, and everywhere in Thessalonica they are carrying the message, and not only there but into Macedonia they have gone, and into other parts and into Achaia, and are telling out the story with great assurance." And he must have added, "You know, Paul, they are greatly distressed over one thing. You remember you told them that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming again to reign as King." He did proclaim that truth, and persecution broke out, and the accusation was made against Paul that he was a disturber of the peace. His enemies said of him, "He is preaching another King, one Jesus." And if Paul were preaching another King, one "Jesus" then he was preaching the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When our Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and anointed with the Spirit He was set apart for three offices - prophet, priest, and King. He exercised His prophetic office here on earth. He is exercising His priestly office yonder in the glory. But His is to reign as King when He comes back again, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God, and of His Christ.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 2)

Antichrist

Antichrist

This name introduces to us one of the most solemn and foreboding subjects in the Word of God. An antichrist - one absolutely opposed to Jesus Christ - we are told, shall come (John 2:18). The spirit of antichrist is already in the world, denying the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, either in the past (1 John 4:3) or in the future (2 John 7).

This spirit of antichrist, now possessed by many, will culminate in one person, the antichrist, who will deny both the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22).

That he is a single individual is plainly taught in 2 Thess. 2, where he is called "that man of sin ... the son of perdition" _ "that wicked," the lawless one.

As Christ is the express image of God (Heb. 1:3), so it appears that antichrist is the culminating manifestation of satan, "the prince of this world" (John 14:30). His coming is "after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness..." (2 Thess. 2:9-10).

He will be a "strong delusion," to them who believe not the truth (2 Thess. 2:3-12).

This mystery of lawlessness already worked in the days of the apostle, but there has been a hindering power, which, we believe, is the Holy Spirit, in His present manifestation, or office (as the reprover of the world and gatherer of the Church). When He, the restraining one, is taken out of the way, at the rapture of the Church, then shall the mystery be unveiled, and the lawless one be revealed (2 Thess. 2:7-8).

He will be received, even by the Jews (John 5:43), who, having returned to their own land and rebuilt their temple, will make a treaty with him, called by the prophet a covenant with death and an agreement with hell (Isaiah 28:14-18). And antichrist will exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God (the rebuilt temple) and sheweth himself that he is God. (2 Thess. 2:4). Doubtless he is the king described in Daniel 11:36), who shall do according to his own will and magnify himself above every god. Again, he is seen as the beast described in Revelation 13:11-18 whose number is the number of man, 666, and who performs "great wonderes...and deceiveth them that dwell upon the earth," by means of his miracles, and has the power to kill those who will not worship the image of the beast. And again he is seen in lucifer, or the day star, of Isaiah 14:12-16) of whom the king of Babylon was a type, and who weakens the nations, exalts his "throne above the stars of God," and sits "upon the mount of the congregation."

Such, in brief, is the awful picture which Scripture gives us of this great opponent of Christ. Many think that he has already been manifested in Antiochus Epiphanes - or the Popes of Rome - or Mohammed and his successors, all of which we regard as erroneous. The Popes have received their exaltation and power, as the pretended vicars of Christ, and not as His opponent. It is a great mistake, therefore, to call them the antichrist, or the opposing one. Antiochus was doubtless a type of antichrist. And in his opposition to the worship of Jehovah, his sacrifice of the hated swine in the temple and his merciless treatment of the Jews, he has given us a miniature picture of what the final antichrist will do. But he passed away long before Paul and John wrote of the antichrist to come. Likewise Mohammed may be in some sense a type, but that is all.

No, antichrist is still in the future, and he will not be manifested until the true Church has been taken away, at the rapture, as described in 1 Thess. 4:16-18). For Paul says "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him" that is, by this very fact of the rapture, of which he had previously written them, and which must first occur before the apostasy should come to the full, and the man of sin be revealed. This is confirmed by verse 7. (1 Thess. 2:1-2; 7; 1 Thess. 4:16-18). The Holy Spirit who, while He is gathering the Bride (1 Cor. 12:12-13); Eph. 4:30), reproves the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8), will, when He is taken out of the way, catch up the Bride to meet the Lord in the air, leaving the apostate church, adulterous Israel and the ungodly world, to believe a lie (2 Thess. 2:11), and then shall the lawless one be revealed. Praise God, that the Church is kept from this awful hour of temptation (Luke 21:36); Rev. 3:10). She shall be with her Lord (1 Thess. 4:17-18; 5:9-10), while the world is ruled by antichrist.

But, though antichrist shall so greatly exalt himself and rule over the world with such power, yet "shall he come to his end, and none shall help him" (Dan. 11:45). The Lord shall destroy him "with the brightness of His coming" (2 Thess. 2:8), when He shall come, with His saints, to execute judgment upon the ungodly (Jude 14:15). Yes, he shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." They that see him shall narrowly look upon him and consider him, saying, "is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof?" (Isaiah 14:15-17).

We would call special attention to the fact that antichrist denies the Father and the Son and that the Greek words in 2 Thess. 2:7-8 could be rendered "the mystery of lawlessness". This, we think, gives an alarming significance to the atheistic and lawless trio of socialism, nihilism and anarchy, so rapidly spreading in our day, and which seeks to wipe out all law relating to marriage, property, etc.

It may be that these are the immediate precursors of anitchrist. At any rate, he is surely coming, and sad indeed is the thought of a godless world, rushing on to such a culmination of evil.

~W. E. B. Blackstone~

(The End)

Show Thyself A Man # 2

Show Thyself A Man # 2

Settle the question in self-control by making timely decisions about what you are going to do about such important matters as temperance, morality and religion. Settle the question very early that your life shall be directed by principles and not by impulse. If you are not willing to deliberately take the risk of becoming a good-for-nothing sot, settle the question at once and finally that you will never take your first drink. Not to do this is to have about half decided that you will yield when the temptation comes. It means that you have concluded that you may yield, and so the probability is great that you will.

If you are not willing to take the risk of becoming a social outcast, decide as Joseph did long before he reached Potiphar's house that you will have a moral life.

To be a man means to be strong in purpose and self-control. If our manhood is buried under doubt, dig it out. There's a Gettysburg in every man's life which he has to fight. To be ready is half the secret of success.

Having oil or no oil in your lamp is the difference between light and darkness, between happiness and despair.

If you are not willing to run the risk of losing your soul take the only step that can make it safe by taking Christ into your heart and life at once. 

Decision determines what life is to become for every man in this world, and also decides it for eternity.

The man who lets the devil choose his company for him will soon do anything the devil wants him to do. Strive for self-control by forming good habits before bad ones fasten themselves upon you. A thread can be broken, but a rope will hang you. 

Be prudent by learning your own strength and weakness. Get the best training possible. Remember that knowledge is power. There is no excuse for ignorance in this day, when colleges are everywhere, and books seem to almost grow on trees.

The life of an uneducated man is like that of a mole living in the dark, while that of the man with culture is like the eagle, mounting above the clouds and soaring towards the sun.

Take the great men of the Bible and stand before them long enough to realize how great they were, and then ask yourself what there was in them that you ought to have in you, and then spend some time every day in considering the man who had in himself the great and manly qualities of them all in a superlative degree - the divine man - the God man - the man of Galilee.

Learn how to behold Christ's glory and so be changed into His likeness from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Let your soul go out to Him and be filled with Him, and you will soon begin to see that everything that is not like Him is unmanly and mean. Spend three months in studying His life on its man-ward side, and you will have a more exalted knowledge of what it means to be a man than you ever before possessed. A knowledge that will quicken you and inspire you to live for God and man as you never lived before.

Study the purpose of Christ and notice that He never swerved from the business for which He came into the world.

Study His prudence and courage and you will also find it true of His self control, faithfulness, charity, unselfishness, benevolence and sympathy.

Surely this man was the Son of God and the most glorious promise for us ever given that when He shall appear we shall be like Him. "Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man."

~Billy Sunday~

(The End)