He will not forget the lambs!

He will not forget the lambs!

(John Angell James, "The Christian Professor")

"He tends His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the
 lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart.
 He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young."
    Isaiah 40:11

Are you alarmed at the difficulties and dangers of
the wilderness way? Consider that you enjoy the
notice, the love, intercession, and the support of
the Great and Good Shepherd, who carries the
lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart.
He will not forget the lambs--their feeble bleat
attracts His notice, their helplessness draws His
attention; and for them He puts forth all His
pastoral kindness and skill.

Three books

Three books

(J. C. Philpot, "REVIEWS")

There are three books which, if a man will read
and study, he can dispense with most others.

1. The book of Providence--and this he reads
to good purpose, when he sees written down line
by line the providential dealings of God with him,
and a ray of Divine light gilds every line.

2. The Word of God--and this he reads to profit, when
the blessed Spirit applies it with power to his soul.

3. The book of his own heart--and this he studies
with advantage, when he reads in the new man of
grace the blessed dealings of God with his soul--
and in the old man of sin and death, enough to fill
him with shame and confusion of face, and make him
loathe and abhor himself in dust and ashes.

The happiest Christians

The happiest Christians

(John Newton's Letters)

They are the happiest Christians, who have the
lowest thoughts of themselves, and in whose eyes
Jesus is most glorious and precious.

"Unto you who believe He is precious." 1 Peter 2:7

A Curious Meditation

A Curious Meditation

by James Smith, 1855

As I was walking out for exercise in the fields one morning, having been pleading with God to give me some profitable subject for meditation — I suddenly fell into this train of thought, which I afterwards wrote down; and, as it may interest and profit some, it is here inserted.

There are three things which I especially desire:
more communion with God,
more likeness to the Lord Jesus, and
more usefulness to his Church.

There are three things which I deprecate:
the withering of my gifts,
the decay of my graces, and
to become useless in the Lord's vineyard.

There are three things which I dread:
that I should become a proud professor,
that I should become a lukewarm Christian, and
that I should fall into the hands of man.

There are three things which I sometimes wish for (but which God will never grant me on earth):
to be totally free from sin,
to be delivered from a daily cross,
and to be always happy.

There are three things which I feel sure of:
hatred by the world,
opposition by hypocrites, and
love by spiritual believers.

There are three foes which always oppose me:
the world,
the flesh, and
the devil.

There are three friends which will always stand by me:
a peaceful conscience,
the bride of Jesus, and
the Lamb of God.

There are three deaths which have been experienced by me:
a death in sin,
a death to sin,
a death to the law of God.

There are three lives which shall be lived by me:
a temporal life,
a spiritual life, and
an eternal life.

There are three things which burden me:
a body of sin and death,
the opposition I meet with, and
my own ingratitude.

There are three things which support me:
the Father's love,
the Son's redemption, and
the Spirit's work.

There are three things which are a sore trial to me:
an irritable temper,
a flippant tongue, and
self-love.

There are three things which bring strong consolation to me:
the open fountain of Christ blood,
the promises of God, and
the Savior's free invitation.

There are three things which are especially dear to me:
the Word of God,
the throne of grace, and
the ordinances of the Lord's house.

There are three things lacking in me:
perfect penitence,
entire resignation, and
fervent love.

There are three books which are very useful to me:
the book of nature,
the book of Holy Scriptures, and
the book of my own experience.

There are three teachers which are employed to instruct me:
the Holy Spirit,
a special providence, and
the rod of God.

There are three things which are manifested in me:
the nature of sin,
the power of grace, and
the faithfulness of God.

There are three things which would be greatly useful to me:
more humility,
spiritual wisdom, and
enlightened zeal.

There are three things which characterize me:
weakness,
poverty, and
sinfulness.

Yet, there are three things which may be seen in me:
Christ's strength,
God's grace, and
the Spirit's holiness.

There are three things which are feared by me:
a stiff neck,
a hard heart, and
a presumptuous spirit.

There are three things which are matter of joy to me:
the conversion of sinners,
that my name is written in heaven, and
the glory to be given me at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

There are three things which must be renounced by me:
preconceived opinions,
worldly wisdom, and
natural religion.

There are three things which must be held fast by me:
the Word of truth,
my confidence in God, and
my profession of the gospel.

There are three things which are especially required of me:
to do justly,
to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with my God.

There are three things which are promised to me:
tribulation in the world,
sufficient strength in Jesus, and
eternal life at the end of my course.

There are three things which the Lord observes and approves in me:
the work of faith,
the labor of love, and
the patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a threefold deliverance which is effected for me:
from the dominion of sin,
from the present evil world, and
from my deserved doom.

There are three things which I would trample under foot:
unfounded prejudice,
vain distinctions, and
self-righteousness.

There are three things which I would aim at daily:
to exalt Christ,
to glorify God, and
to bring sinners to repentance.

There are three things which are still sure to me:
a rough road,
changing experiences, and
safety at last.

There are three things which are behind me:
a wicked life,
a broken law, and
the pit of destruction.

There are three things which are before me:
death,
perfect conformity to Jesus, and
eternal glory.

There are three things which are on my right hand:
Satan to resist me,
the Lord Jesus to save me, and
my own heart set on things above.

There are three things which are on my left hand:
the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eye, and
the pride of life.

There are three things which I greatly admire:
the Savior's person,
the promises of God, and
the instruments he employs in carrying on his work.

There are three things which much please me:
the doctrines of the gospel,
the witness of the Spirit, and
the light of God's countenance.

There are three things which I delight in:
that Jehovah is my God,
the comfort he imparts to me, and
the riches of glory which are set before me.

There are three things which I hate:
the cant of hypocrites,
the flattery of friends, and
the pride of professors.

There are three things which are good for me:
to draw near to God,
to be afflicted, and
to sing praises unto the Lord.

There are three things which often disgust me:
Satan's temptations,
the powerful working of unbelief, and
the conduct of religious professors.

There are three things which are prescribed to me:
to believe in God,
to love the saints, and
to observe the Lord's ordinances.

There are three things which are too often neglected by me:
self-examination,
diligent reading of the Bible, and
secret prayer.

There are three things which are too deep for me to fully know:
the depravity of my heart,
the devices of Satan, and
the manner of the Spirit's working.

There are three things which I wish to leave with the Lord:
to choose my lot in life,
to fight my battles, and
to supply all my needs.

There are three things which I do not consider worth having:
a form of godliness, without the power,
a name to live, while dead, and
the commendation of the enemies of Christ.

There are three things in which I glory:
the cross of Christ,
my saving knowledge of God, and
the everlasting gospel.

There are three things which have been taken from me:
proud free will,
vain boasting, and
enmity to God.

There are three things which abide with me:
faith,
hope, and
charity.

I am made up of three men:
corruption — the old man,
grace — the new man, and
the body — the outward man.

I fill a threefold office:
a prophet in the Church of Christ,
a priest before the altar, and
a king anointed to reign with Christ.

I wear a threefold garment:
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus,
the graces of the Holy Spirit, and
the garment of humility.

I have been condemned in three courts — and yet justified in them all:
the court of conscience,
the Church of God, and
the court of God's justice.

I have been justified three times:
at the resurrection of Christ my substitute,
when faith received his righteousness, and
when good works justified my faith before the world.

I am the subject of a threefold sanctification:
by the purpose of the Father,
by the blood of the Son, and
by the cleansing operations of the Holy Spirit.

I am a free man of three cities:
the present world,
the church below, and
the Jerusalem which is above.

I have been an eye-sore to three parties:
the devil,
the world, and
envious professors.

I shall have occupied three peculiar seats:
a dunghill by nature,
among the princes in the Church by grace, and
the throne of glory by special privilege.

I shall have three grand holidays:
one when the Holy Spirit sets my soul at liberty,
another when death sets me free from this mortal clay, and
and another when Jesus comes to be glorified in his saints.

I shall then have appeared in three different characters:
a vile rebel against God,
a supplicating sinner at mercy's footstool, and
a justified son of God before his throne.

I shall have had three fathers:
a human father,
the devil, and
Jehovah himself.

I shall have received three laws:
the law of nature,
the moral law of God, and
the law of the Spirit of life.

I shall have passed through three gates:
the gate of hope,
the gate into Christ's sheepfold, and
the gate of death.

I shall have walked in three ways:
the broad road of destruction,
the highway of holiness, and
Jesus Christ the only way to the Father.

I shall have conversed with three distinct classes of beings:
carnal men,
spiritual Christians, and
the Lord himself.

I shall have made three appearances:
once all black — like the devil,
then speckled — with nature and grace, and
then all pure — whiter than the driven snow!

I shall have undergone three momentous changes:
one at regeneration — when I passed from death unto life,
one at death — when my soul shall be admitted into Heaven, and
one at the resurrection — when my body shall be raised powerful, glorious, and immortal.

I view three things as pre-eminently excellent:
the fear of the Lord,
a sound judgment, and
Christ formed in the heart, as the hope of glory.

There are three things which I may covet:
the best gifts,
a contrite and humble spirit, and
to be filled with all the fullness of God.

There are three things which are removed from me:
the burden of sin,
the wrath of God, and
all condemnation.

There are three things which I do not know:
what is before me,
how God will provide for me, and
what I shall be.

There are three things which I do know:
that in my flesh dwells no good,
that though I was once blind, now I see, and
that I must needs die.

There are three things which are prepared for me:
a fountain to cleanse me,
a robe to adorn me, and
a mansion to receive me.

There are three things which await me:
a crown of righteousness,
a palm of victory, and
a throne of glory.

There are three things which shall be done for me:
God shall wipe away all tears from my eyes,
God shall remove all cause of pain and sorrow from my nature, and
the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall eternally satisfy me.

There are three things which shall never be known by me:
the frown of divine justice,
the curse of holy Jehovah, and
the power of God's anger.

There are three things which are hurtful to me:
carnal ease,
the flattery of professors, and
fullness of bread.

There are three things which benefit me:
temptation,
affliction, and
opposition.

There are three things which are pursued by me:
to know more of the Lord,
to live in peace with all men, and
thorough sanctification.

Satan tries to thwart me in three things:
by spoiling my comforts,
hindering my usefulness, and
seeking to devour my soul.

Satan has three things to expect:
to be disappointed of his prey,
to be judged by the saints, and
to be eternally punished for his wickedness.

There are three things which I would never trust:
my own heart,
an arm of flesh, and
my treacherous memory.

There are three subjects which I should never meddle with:
the fall of the angels,
the origin of moral evil, and
how God will justify himself.

There are three things which I cannot understand:
the nature of God,
the cause of my election, and
how divinity and humanity constitute one person.

There are three things which I should often think of:
what I have been,
what I now am, and
what I shall be.

A threefold freedom is granted me:
from the law of God,
from the reign of sin, and
to make use of, and enjoy the Lord Jesus.

I am an heir of three worlds:
the natural,
the spiritual, and
the eternal.

There are three things which will never grieve me:
that I have been poor in this world,
that I have preached the gospel fully, and
that I am related to Jesus Christ.

There are three things which comprise all I wish:
to know God, and glorify him,
to see Jesus, and be like him; and
to be united to the saints, and be eternally happy.

There are three things which shall never be heard by me:
Christ reproaching me,
God disowning me, and
the devils triumphing in my everlasting destruction.

There are three things which shall be eternally enjoyed by me:
the love of God,
the presence of Jesus, and
the company of the saints.

There are three things which will eternally delight me:
to be filled with holiness,
to be employed in praising Jehovah, and
to have gained a complete victory over all my foes.

There are three things which must come down:
the pride of men,
the devil's kingdom, and
the cause of error.

There are three things which will stand:
the house built on the Rock,
the purpose of God, and
the Messiah's kingdom.

There are three things which cannot be removed:
the church of God,
the covenant of grace, and
the kingdom we receive.

There are three things which will stand the fiery trial:
genuine faith,
the Word of God, and
a real Christian.

Lost sinners are like Satan in three things:
their nature,
their employment, and
their end.

Three things make Hell:
the wrath of God,
the stings of a guilty conscience, and
black despair.

Three things prove a man a Christian:
worshiping God in the spirit,
rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and
having no confidence in the flesh.

Three things are never satisfied:
a doubting Christian,
a worldly miser, and
the man of pleasure.

Christ fills three offices:
a prophet — for the ignorant,
a priest — for the guilty, and
a king — for the depraved.

Christ has been in three states:
ancient glory,
deep humiliation, and
merited dignity.

What more shall I say!

If you, reader, are a sincere Christian — do three things daily:
search God's Word,
be much at God's throne, and
be diligent in God's work.

If you are an unconverted sinner — do three things immediately:
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
repent of every sin you have committed,
seek the witness and pledge of the Holy Spirit in your heart, so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

The Lesson of Service

The Lesson of Service

J. R. Miller, 1905
 

"He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him." John 13:4-5

Serving is not an easy lesson to learn. But it is a lesson we must learn—if ever we would become like our Master. Jesus did not come to be served—but to serve. He served to the uttermost, just as He loved to the uttermost. Any service that needed to be done for another—He did as naturally and as simply as He breathed! He loved people, and was interested in them and was ready always to be helpful to them. It never mattered what the service was, whether it was the saving of a soul, the curing of a grievous sickness, or the giving of a cup of water—He did the least service—as graciously and as divinely as the greatest!

The washing of feet was the lowliest service any man could do for another. It was the work of the lowliest slave. Yet Jesus without hesitation, did this service for His own disciples. Thus He taught them that nothing anyone may ever need to have done by another—is unfit for the holiest hands. We begin to be like Christ—only when we begin to love others enough to serve them, regardless of the lowliness of the particular service.

One day a stranger entered an artist's studio in Milan. The artist was busy within. He was working on a painting of the head of Christ and appeared to take no notice of the stranger. At last he broke the silence, looked at the man and asked, "Sir, does it look like Jesus—or not?"

There is no surer test of the genuineness of Christian life—than in this matter of serving others. In serving others, we should inquire, "Are we like Jesus—or not?" We are too careful of our dignity. When we see the Son of God washing His disciples' feet—we should be ashamed ever to ask whether anything another may need to have done—is too menial for us to do. A king may do the lowliest kindness to the poorest peasant in his realm—and his honor will only be enhanced by it.

"O blessed Jesus, when I see You bending,
Girt as a servant—at Your servants' feet,
Love, lowliness, might—in zeal all blending,
To wash their feet—and make them meet
To share Your feast—I know not to adore,
Whether Your humbleness—or glory more!"

And will He feed His birds--and starve His children?

And will He feed His birds--and starve His children?

(John MacDuff, "Looking unto Jesus!" 1856)

"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:26

From the general care of God for these lower creatures--with what confidence may we infer God's special care for His people, who are His by so many close and tender ties!

Are the birds of the air fed? Do they find their food provided by a hand which they cannot recognize? Does He who gave them being, and who has assigned to them their appointed place in the ranks of creation, supply their daily needs, so that none of their species perish for lack of sustenance, but continue, from age to age--a standing monument of His providential goodness?

And will He feed His birds--and starve His children? Will He care for the one--and neglect the other? It cannot possibly be! The Savior refers to their comparative value, and asks, "Are you not of more value than they?" You are rational creatures, spiritual creatures, immortal creatures, yes, redeemed creatures--and therefore unspeakably more important than the birds are. If He then cares for them--oh! will He not care for you?

In connection with the above consideration, we may refer to the relationship which exists between God and His people. He is their Father--and they are His sons and daughters. Now a kind earthly father has it in him, as a natural instinct, to care for his children. His heart is set upon helping, supporting, directing, comforting, and blessing them. Such a concern has he for their well-being, that scarcely any sacrifice is deemed too costly by which that concern shall appear in practical manifestation. And if his concern for them should be repaid by nothing but ingratitude, as, alas! is often the case--yet even this cannot destroy his affections and feelings.

And if earthly fathers care for their children--will not our heavenly Father care for His? If they are full of concern for their offspring--then is it to be supposed that He, who implanted those kindly principles in their hearts, can be unconcerned about His offspring?

"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:26

That ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet!

That ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet!

(John Flavel)

Christ is the very essence of all delights and pleasures--the very soul and substance of them. As all the rivers are gathered into the ocean, which is the meeting-place of all the waters in the world--so Christ is that ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet!

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

Abide with us!

Abide with us!

(James Smith, "Food for the Soul" 1867)

"Abide with us!" Luke 24:29

So said the disciples when Jesus was about to leave them--and so shall we say, if we know the sweetness of His presence. When Jesus comes and manifests Himself, when He draws out our souls into sweet communion with Himself--then . . .
  we enjoy a Heaven on earth,
  our hearts glow with gratitude and burn with love,
  we are filled with joy, and
  dread nothing so much as His leaving us!
Then we cry, "Abide with us!"

Precious Lord Jesus . . .
  come and visit my soul,
  reveal Your glory,
  shed abroad Your love in my heart, and
  draw me into the closest, sweetest communion with Yourself!

My eyes have seen your salvation!

My eyes have seen your salvation!

(James Smith, "Food for the Soul" 1867)

"My eyes have seen your salvation!" Luke 2:30

So said Simeon--when he saw the child Jesus. Yes, Jesus is God's salvation, and everything necessary to save a sinner is to be found in Him!

His blood atones for our sins.
His righteousness justifies our persons.
His Spirit sanctifies our natures.
His precepts direct our steps.
His promises comfort our hearts.
His peace keeps our minds.
His intercession secures our lives.
His power subdues our foes.
His providence supplies our needs.
His beauty feasts our souls.

Jesus is enough. Jesus is all.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ!" Ephesians 1:3

The Cup of Wrath!

The Cup of Wrath!

Andrew Bonar (1810–1892)

"In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of red wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs!" Psalm 75:8

It will help greatly to the right apprehension of this solemn subject, to notice that Christ is the speaker of these sober truths. They cannot, then, have been spoken harshly; they must have been uttered in all tenderness.

This shall be in the day when He returns to judge the earth. It is He, meanwhile, who upholds all by the word of His power; He keeps the world from falling into ruin; He it is who sustains that blue firmament, as well as earths foundations, "I bear up the pillars thereof" — and were I to withhold my hand, all would tumble into ruin.

Oh that an unthinking world would consider! Oh that fools would learn wisdom, and the proud fall down before their Lord. For the Judge shall surely come, with the cup of red wine in His hand — a cup of wrath, of which every rebellious one must drink to the dregs! The horns of the wicked shall soon be laid low, and the righteous alone exalted (Psalm 75:9-10).

It is of this cup, that we this day wish to speak to you. It gives an alarming, awakening view of our God and Savior. It is not "God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself," but God the Judge, Christ the Judge. It is not the King with the golden scepter, inviting all to draw near — it is the King risen up in wrath, in the evening of the day of grace, to "judge all the wicked of the earth."

Oh there is a Hell, an endless Hell, awaiting the ungodly! The Judge warns us of it — in order that none of us may be cast into that tremendous woe! Say not in your hearts, "God is too loving and merciful ever to condemn a soul to such woe." If you continue in sin, you shall know too late that the Judge does condemn; not because He is not infinitely loving, but because your sin compels Him so to do. Listen to what is written, and you will every unbeliever shall drink of this wine of God's indignation.

I. The Cup of Wrath

The general idea of the verse is, that there is wrath against sin to be manifested by God, terrible beyond conception. As it is written in Ezekiel 18:4, "The soul that sins, it shall die;" and Psalm 7:11-12, "God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turns not — He will whet His sword; He has bent His bow, and made it ready. He has prepared for him the instruments of death." In Psalm 11:6-7, "Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this is the portion of their cup. For the righteous Lord loves righteousness." In Psalm 21:9, "You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger." In Job 36:18, "Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with His stroke; then a great ransom cannot deliver you." In Romans 2:5 we read, You "treasures up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;" and in Revelation 14:9-10, "If any man worships the beast, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of His holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb!" Can words be found more emphatic to express God's indignation at man's sin?

"A CUP" is spoken of. A measured out portion. (Psalm 11:6 and Psalm 16:5, "The Lord is the portion of my cup"). It is frequently used to express a full amount; as when fulfillment of curse is called the "cup of trembling," (Isaiah 51:22); and in Ezekiel 23:31-33, wrath upon Samaria is, "the cup of Samaria."

God's wrath shall be given forth in a measured portion, deliberately and fairly considered. There shall be nothing of caprice, nothing arbitrary, in God's judgment on sin; all shall be fairly adjusted. Here are the sins — there is the cup, of a size proportioned to the sin, and full. God's perfections direct and dictate the filling of it. It is "a cup of red wine." He elsewhere calls it "The wine of my fury;" and Revelation 16:19, it is "Wine of the fierceness of His wrath." In the East, red wine was usually the strongest; but besides, the fiery nature of the contents is indicated by the color.

This "red wine" is pressed out of the grapes by the divine attributes. It must be the concentrated essence of wrath; no weak potion, but one like that in Jeremiah 25:16, where they "drink, and are moved, and are mad;" or that in Ezekiel 23:32, 33, "A cup deep and large; it contains much; a cup of astonishment and desolation, filled with drunkenness and sorrow."

It is "mixed with spices." This signifies that the wine's natural quality has been strengthened; its force has been intensified by various ingredients cast into it. Such is the sense of "mingled wine" in Isaiah 5:22, and in Proverbs 9:5, "Come... drink of the wine which I have mingled." We must distinguish this from the expression "without mixture," in Revelation 14:10, where the speaker means to say, that there is no infusion of water to weaken the strength of the wine.

Here in Psalm 95, there is everything that may enhance the bitterness of the cup; and let us ask, What may be these various ingredients? From every side of the lost sinner's nature, forms of misery shall arise. The body, as well as the soul, shall be steeped in never-ending anguish, amid the unceasing wretchedness of eternal exile and lonely imprisonment. Further, each attribute of Godhead casts something into the cup!

Righteousness is there, so that the rich man in Hell (Luke 16) dare not hint that his torment is too great. Mercy and Love stand by and cast on it their ingredients, testifying that the sinner was dealt with in longsuffering, and salvation placed within his reach. O the aggravation which this thought will lend to misery. Omnipotence contributes to it; the lost man in the hands of the Almighty is utterly helpless, as weak as a worm! Eternity is an ingredient, telling that this wrath endures as long as God lives. And truth is there, declaring that all this is what God spoke, and so cannot be altered without overturning His throne.

Yet more! While shame and contempt, and the consciousness of being disowned by every holy being, fiercely sting the soul — there are ingredients cast in by the sinner himself. His conscience asserts and attests that this woe is all deserved, and the man loathes himself. Memory recalls past opportunities and times of hope despised. Sin goes on increasing, and passions rage; cravings gnaw the unsatisfied soul with eternal hunger! It may be that every particular sin will contribute to the mixture — a woe for lusts gratified; a woe for every act of drunkenness, and every falsehood and dishonesty; a woe for every rejected invitation, and every threatening disregarded. Who can tell what more may be meant by the words: "mixed with spices?"

It has "dregs" in it. The dregs lie at the bottom, out of sight, but are the bitterest. Do these mean hidden woes not yet conceived of by any? Such as may be hinted at in the words, "Better he had never been born!" Such as Christ's woes seem to speak of? These shall be the reverse of the saved man's joys, "which never have entered the heart" to imagine!

Backsliders seem sometimes to have begun to taste these dregs. Apostates, like Spira, have shown a little of what they may be. But oh, the reality in the ages to come! For it shall be the wrath of Him whose breath makes the mountains smoke, and rocks earth to its center. O the staggering madness of eternal despair!

God "pours out of the same." "The wicked shall drink it down to its very dregs!" They are not meant to be merely shown; this is not a cup whose contents shall only be exhibited and then withdrawn. No, the wicked must "drink it" and cannot refuse. When Socrates, the Athenian sage, was adjudged to drink the cup of poison, he was able to protest his innocence, and thus to abate the bitterness of the draught, though he took it as awarded by the laws of his country. Here, however, there shall be nothing like protest, nothing of and such alleviation of the awful draught which the sinner must drink! "God pours out," and the guilty soul "shall drink it down to its very dregs!"

Job 27:22, says "They would gladly flee out of his hand," but cannot, for it is written, "God shall cast upon him, and not spare." In Jeremiah 25:15-16, we have the Lord most peremptorily commanding, "Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad." And further, He insists, verse 28, "But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: You must drink it!" "They shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty" (Job 21:20).

And what do those words already quoted in Revelation 14:10 mean? "He, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb!"

It shall not, on God's part, be a mere silent feeling of indignation at sin; there must be infliction of curse. There is no thunder while the electricity sleeps in the cloud. The seven seals showed no deliverance for earth, while unbroken; the seven trumpets summoned no avengers, till sounded; the seven vials brought down no judgment, while only held in the angels' hands. Ah yes, the penalty must be exacted, and it will require eternity to exact it all!

O fellow-sinner, we have tried to say something of this doom; but what are words of man? You have seen a porous vessel, in which was fine flavored liquor. Outside you tasted the moisture, and it gave a slight idea of what was within; but slight indeed. So our words today. And remember each new sin of yours will throw more ingredients into the mixture. It is the merciful One Himself, who speaks in Ezekiel 22:14: "Can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken it — and will do it." It is dreadful to read and hear this proclamation of wrath; but it is all given in order to compel us to flee from it. As one of our poets (Montgomery) sings:

"Mercy has writ the lines of judgment here;
 None who from the earth can read them, need despair."
 

II. The story of One who drank this cup to the dregs!

We would not leave you merely contemplating the terrors of that wrath. We go on, in connection with it, to speak of one whose history has a strange bearing on our case.

There has been only One who has ever "drunk this cup to its very dregs!"

Cain has been drinking it for 5,000 years and finds his punishment greater than he can bear, but has not come to the dregs.

Judas had been drinking it for some 2000 years, often crying out with a groan that shakes Hell, "Oh that I had never been born! Oh that I had never seen or heard of the Lord Jesus Christ!" But he has not reached the dregs.

The fallen angels have not come near the dregs: for they have not arrived at the judgment of the Great Day.

The only One who has taken, tasted, drunk, and wrung out the bitterest of the bitter dregs — has been the Judge Himself, the Lord Jesus!

You know how often, when on earth, He spoke of it. "Are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink of?" (Matthew 20:22). "The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). The universe saw Him with it at His lips. It was our cup of trembling; the cup in which the wrath due to the "multitude which no man can number" was mixed. What wrath, what woe! A few drops made Him cry, "Now is my soul deeply troubled!" In the garden, the sight of it wrung out the strange, mysterious words, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death!" though God-man, He staggered at what He saw, and went on trembling.

The next day, on Calvary, He drank it all! I suppose the three hours of darkness may have been the time when He "was drinking down the dregs"; for then arose from His broken heart the wail which so appealed to the heart of the Father, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" As He ended the last drop, and cried out, "It is finished!" we may believe angels felt an inconceivable relief — and even the Father Himself! So tremendous was the wrath and curse! — the wrath and curse due to our sin!

In all this, there was nothing too much. Love would protest against one drop too much; and never do you find God exceeding. Did He not hasten to stay Abraham's hand, when enough had been done on Moriah? and at that same spot again, David's day, when Justice had sufficiently declared the sharpness of its two-edged sword — did He not again hasten to deliver, crying, "It is enough!" How much more then, when it was His beloved Son!

He sought from Him, all that was needed by justice. And so we find in this transaction, what may well be good news to us. For Jesus drank that cup as the substitute for "the great multitude," His innumerable people, given Him of the Father; and thereby freed them from ever tasting even one drop of that fierce wrath, that "cup of red wine, mixed with spices," with its dregs — its unknown terrors.

Now, this One, this One alone, who so drank the whole — presents to the sinners of our world, the emptied Cup — His own Cup emptied! He sends it round the world, calling on mankind  —  sinners to take it and offer it to the Father as satisfaction for their sins. Come, O fellow-sinner, grasp it and hold it up to God! Plead it, and you are acquitted!

Yes, if you are anxious at all to be saved and blessed, take up this emptied cup. However cold your heart, however dull your feelings, however slight your sorrow for sin — take this emptied cup. Your appeal to this emptied cup arrests judgment at once. Do not think you need to endure some anguish of soul, some great sorrow — to take some sips of the red wine, far less to taste its dregs — before you can be accepted. What thoughtless presumption — imitating Christ in His atoning work! If Uzziah, the king, presenting incense when he ought to have let the priest do it for him, was smitten for his presumption — take care lest you be thrust away, if you presume to bring the imagined incense of your sorrow and bitter tears. It is the emptied cup which is offered us, not the cup wet with our tears, or its purity dimmed by the breath of our prayers. Feelings of ours, graces of ours, can do nothing but cast a veil over the perfect merits of Christ!

Children of God who have used this cup — keep pleading it always. Ever make it the ground of your assurance of acceptance. Examine it often and well — see how God was glorified here, and how plentifully it illustrates and honors the claims of God's righteousness. Full payment of every claim advanced by Justice is here; and so you, in using it, give good measure, pressed down and running over! What then remains but that you render thanks and take this salvation, often singing —

"Once it was mine, that cup of wrath,
 And Jesus drank it dry!"

What should ever hinder your triumphant joy? Be full of gratitude; and let this gratitude appear in your letting others know what it has done for you, and may do for them.

For again we say to you, fellow-sinner, if you accept it not, soon you shall have no opportunity of choice. May I never see one of my people drinking this dreadful cup! May I never see it put into their hands! The groaning of a soul, dying in sin, is at times heard on this side of the veil, and it is the saddest and most haunting of all solemn and awful scenes. But what is that, compared to the actual drinking of the cup, and wringing out the very dregs!

Never may Satan have it in his power to upbraid you with having once had the offer of salvation, an offer never made to him! It seems to me that every Sabbath, especially the Lord takes Gospel-hearers aside into a quiet secluded nook, and there sets down before them the "cup of red wine, mixed with spices," and then the emptied cup of Jesus — earnestly, most earnestly, most sincerely, most compassionately — pressing them to decide and be blessed. Men and brethren, never rest till the Holy Spirit has in your eye so glorified Christ who drank the cup, that you see in Him your salvation and God's glory secured beyond controversy, beyond even Satan's power to question or assail!

Faith Makes Men Strong

Faith makes men strong - not in the head, but in the heart. Doubting people are generally headstrong - the Thomas-sort of people who obstinately declare that they will not believe unless they can have proofs of their own choosing. If you read certain newspapers, journals, quarterly reviews, and so on, you will see that the doubting people who are always extolling scepticism and making out that there is more faith in their doubt than in half the creeds, and so on, are particularly strong in the upper region, namely, in the head, only it is that sort of head-strength which implies real weakness, for obstinacy seldom goes with wisdom. They are always sneering at believers as a feeble folk, which is a clear sign that they are not very strong themselves; for evermore is this a rule without exception, that when a man despises his opponent he is himself the party who ought to be despised.

When certain writers rave about “evangelical platitudes,” as they commonly do, they only see in others a fault with which they are largely chargeable themselves. Anybody who glances at the sceptical literature of the present day will bear me out that the platitudes have gone over to the doubting side of the house. No people can write such fluent nonsense, and talk such absurdity, as the school of modem doubt and “culture:” they think themselves the wisest of the wise, but, professing to be wise, they have become fools, and I know what I say.

Tribulations, difficulties, and disappointments

Tribulations, difficulties, and disappointments

(Letters of John Newton)

"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is!" 1 John 3:2

Let us not be greatly discouraged at the many tribulations, difficulties, and disappointments which lie in the path which leads to glory--seeing that our Lord has foretold us of them, has made a suitable provision for every case we can meet with, and is Himself always near to those who call upon Him in His almighty strength--as a sure refuge, and a never-failing, ever-present help in every time of trouble!

Note likewise, that He Himself was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief for our sakes. He drank off the full cup of unmixed wrath for us--shall we then refuse to taste of the cup of affliction at His appointment, especially when His wisdom and love prepare it for us, and proportion every circumstance to our strength? He puts it into our hands, not in anger but in tender mercy--to do us good, to bring us near to Himself; and He sweetens every bitter draught, with those comforts which none but He can give!

The time is short, the world is passing away, all its cares and all its vanities will soon be at an end! Yet a little while, and "we shall see Him as He is!" Every veil shall be taken away--every seeming frown be removed from His face--and every tear wiped away from ours! We shall also be like Him!

PRIVATE JUDGMENT

PRIVATE JUDGMENT
(continued)

Arthur Pink, July, 1950

"But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren." Matthew 23:8

In every generation, there are those of an officious spirit who aspire to leadership, demanding deference from their fellows. Such men — especially when they are endowed with natural gifts above the average — are the kind who become the founders of new sects and parties, and insist upon unqualified subjection from their followers. Their interpretation of the Scriptures must not be challenged, their dictates are final. They must be owned as "rabbis" and submitted to as "fathers." Everyone must believe precisely what they teach, and order all the details of his life by the rules of conduct which they prescribe — or else be branded as a heretic, and denounced as a gratifier of the lusts of the flesh.

There have been, and still are, many such self-elevated little popes in Christendom, who deem themselves to be entitled to implicit credence and obedience, whose decisions must be accepted without question. They are nothing but arrogant usurpers, for Christ alone is the Rabbi or Master of Christians; and since all of His disciples are "brethren," they possess equal rights and privileges.

"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in Heaven." (Mat 23:9). This dehortation has ever been needed by God's people, for they are the most part simple and unsophisticated, trustful and easily imposed upon. In those verses, the Lord Jesus was enforcing the duty of private judgment, bidding believers allow none to be the dictators of their faith, or lords of their lives. No man is to be heeded in spiritual matters, any further than he can produce a plain and decisive, "Thus says the LORD" as the foundation of his appeal. To be in subjection to any ecclesiastical authority that is not warranted by Holy Writ, or to comply with the whims of men, is to renounce your Christian freedom. Allow none to have dominion over your mind and conscience. Be regulated only by the teaching of God's Word, and firmly refuse to be brought into bondage to "the commandments and doctrines of men," with their "Touch not; taste not; handle not" (Col 2:21-22). Instead, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free" (Gal 5:1); yet "not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God" (1 Peter 2:16) — yielding unreservedly to His authority alone. Rather than conform to the rules of the Pharisees, Christ was willing to be regarded as a Sabbath-breaker!

"Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith you stand" (2 Corinthians 1:24). Weigh well those words, my reader, and remember they were written by one who "was not a whit behind the very chief apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5); and here he declaims all authority over the faith of these saints! In the previous verse, he had spoken of "sparing" them; and here, "Lest it should be thought that he and his fellow ministers assumed to themselves any tyrannical power over the churches, or lorded it over God's heritage, these words are subjoined" — John Gill (1697-1771).

The word "faith" may be understood here as either the grace of faith or the object thereof. Take it of the former: ministers of the Gospel can neither originate, stimulate, nor dominate it — the Holy Spirit is the Author, Increaser, and Lord of it. Take it as the object of faith, that which is believed: ministers have no divine warrant to devise any new articles of faith, nor to demand assent to anything which is not plainly taught in the Bible. "If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11), neither withholding anything revealed therein, nor adding anything of his own thereto.

Paul's work was to instruct and persuade, not to lord it over his converts and compel their belief. He had written his first letter to the saints in answer to the queries they had sent him; and at the beginning of this second epistle explains why he had deferred a further visit to them, stating that he was prepared to stay away until such time as they had corrected the evils which existed in their assembly. He refused to oppress them.

"Faith rests not on the testimony of man, but on the testimony of God. When we believe the Scriptures, it is not man, but God whom we believe. Therefore, faith is subject not to man, but to God alone...The apostles were but the organs of the Holy Spirit; what they spoke as such, they could not recall or modify. They were not the lords, so to speak, of the Gospel...Paul therefore places himself alongside of his brethren, not over them as a lord, but as a joint believer with them in the Gospel which he preached, and a helper of their joy, cooperating with them in the promotion of their spiritual welfare" — Charles Hodge (1797-1878). If Paul would not, then how absurd for any man to attempt to exercise a spiritual dominion in matters of faith or practice!

"The elders who are among you, I exhort…Feed the flock of God which is among you…not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:1-3). These are part of the instructions given unto ministers of the Gospel as to how they are to conduct themselves in the discharge of their holy office, and we would earnestly commend them to the attention of every pastor who reads this article. They are divinely forbidden to abuse their position and assume an absolute authority or rule imperiously over the saints. Their task is to preach the truth and enjoin obedience to Christ, and not unto themselves. They are not to act arbitrarily or in a domineering spirit, for though they are set over believers in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:12) and are to "rule" — and therefore to be submitted unto in their lawful administration of the Word and the ordinances (Heb 13:17) — yet they are not to arrogate to themselves dominion over the consciences of men, nor impose any of their own inventions; but instead, teach their flock "to observe all things whatever [Christ has] commanded" (Mat 28:20).

The minister of the Gospel has no right to dictate unto others, or insist in a dogmatic manner that people must receive what he says on his bare assertion. Such a spirit is contrary to the genius of Christianity, unsuited to the relation which he sustains to his flock, and quite unfitting to a follower of Christ. No arbitrary control has been committed to any cleric. True ministerial authority or church rule, is not a dictatorial one, but is a spiritual administration under Christ. Instead of lording it over God's heritage, preachers are to be "examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3): personal patterns of good works, holiness, and self-sacrifice; models of piety, humility, and charity.

How vastly different from the conduct enjoined by Peter has been the arrogance, intolerance, and tyrannical spirit of his self-styled successors! Nor are they the only ones guilty thereof. Love of power has been as common a sin in the pulpit, as love of money, and many of the worst evils which have befallen Christendom, have issued from a lusting after dominion and ecclesiastical honors. Such is poor human nature, that good men find it hard to keep from being puffed up and misusing any measure of authority when it is committed unto them, and from not doing more harm than good with the same.

Even James and John so far forgot themselves that, on one occasion, they asked Christ to grant them the two principal seats of power and honor in the day of His glory (Mar 10:35-37). Mark well this part of His reply: "You know that those who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them" (verse 42) — they love to bear sway, and, like Haman, have everybody truckle to them. "But so shall it not be among you" says Christ to His ministers — eschew any spirit of domineering, mortify the love of being flattered and held in honor because of your office. "But whoever will be great among you, shall be your servant. And whoever of you will be the chief, shall be slave of all" (verses 43-44).

Those who are to be accounted the greatest in Christ's spiritual kingdom, are the ones characterized by a meek and lowly heart, and those who will receive a crown of glory in the day to come, are those who most sought the good of others. "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (verse 45) — then make self-abnegation and not self-exaltation your constant aim.

"Prove all things: hold fast that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). This is yet another verse that, by clear and necessary implication, teaches the privilege and right of private judgment, and makes known the duty and extent to which it is to is exercised. Linking it with what has been before us in the preceding paragraphs, it shows that if it is unwarrantable for the servants of Christ to usurp an absolute power — it is equally wrong for those committed to their care to submit thereto. Church government and discipline are indeed necessary and scriptural; yet not a lordly authority, but a rule of holiness and love, wherein a spirit of mutual forbearance predominates.

God does not require the minds and consciences of His children to be enslaved by any ecclesiastical dominion. Each one has the right to exercise his own judgment and have a say and vote upon all matters pertaining to his local assembly; and if he does not, then he fails in the discharge of his responsibility. Well did one of the old divines say on Psalm 110:1, "Christ is Lord to employ, to command, whom and what He will.' To Him only must we say, 'Lord, what will You have me to do?' (Act 9:6). To Him only must we go for instruction — 'You have the words of eternal life' (John 6:68)."

It scarcely needs to be said that the right of private judgment certainly does not mean that we are at liberty to bring the Word of God to the bar of human reason and sentiment, so that we may reject whatever does not commend itself to our intelligence, or appeal to our inclinations. The Bible does not submit itself unto our opinion, or give us the option of picking and choosing from its contents; rather is it our critic (Heb 4:12). "The law of the LORD is perfect" (Psalm 19:7), and, the best of us being very imperfect, it is madness to criticize it.

But when we hear preaching from it, we must test what is said, whether or not it accords with the Word, and whether the interpretation is valid or strained.

It is a fundamental truth that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15); yet even in the days of the apostles there were those who, while acknowledging Him as the only Savior, taught that there was no salvation apart from circumcision. Accordingly, the church met at Jerusalem "to consider of this matter" (Act 15:4-11). So must we "consider" all we hear and read, whether it agrees with the divine Rule, taking nothing for granted.

"Prove all things." This is not optional, but obligatory: we are divinely commanded to do so. God's Word is the only standard of truth and duty, and everything we believe and do must be tested by it. Thousands have sought to evade this duty by joining Rome and allowing that system to determine everything for them. Nor are the majority of the members of non-popish churches much better, being too indolent to search and study the Bible for themselves, believing whatever their preachers tell them. Beware, my reader, of allowing any influence to come between your soul and God's Word. How early did the Holy Spirit have occasion to say to one of the primitive churches which had given way to a spirit of partisanship and bigotry, "Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos?" When the mind rests upon the human instrument, not only is spiritual progress in the truth immediately arrested, but the living power of what truth is already attained dies out of the enslaved heart, being displaced by dogmas received on human authority. Divine truth then degenerates into a party distinction, for which many zealously contend in naught but a sectarian spirit. The origin of all sectarianism is subjection to men: human authority supplanting the authority of God, the preacher becoming the dictator.

We must not allow any to arrogate the place and office of the Holy Spirit. No human system can feed the soul: it has to come into immediate and quickening contact with the living and powerful Word of God in order to be spiritually nourished. Even where real Christians are concerned, many had their religious beliefs formed before they were converted, receiving them from their parents or the churches they attended, and not directly from God and His Word. Therefore, they, too, need to heed this divine injunction: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Bring your beliefs to the test of the Scriptures, and you are likely to discover that it is much harder and more painful to unlearn some things than it is to learn new ones. Very few think for themselves, and fewer still are really willing to "buy the truth" (Pro 23:23) and set aside their former opinions, no matter what may be the cost. Much grace is needed for that! Since the eternal interests of our souls are involved, it is the height of folly for us to depend upon the judgment of others, for the ablest ministers are fallible and liable to err.

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Act 17:11). Those Bereans sat in judgment upon the teaching of the apostles! They are commended for doing so! Not only was it their privilege and duty, but it is recorded to their honor. But mark how they discharged this duty. They brought all that they heard from the spoken discourse to the test of the written Word. They did not judge by their own preconceptions, views, prejudices, feelings, or partialities, but by God's Word. If what they heard was in accord therewith, they were bound to receive and submit to it; but if it was contrary thereto, they were equally bound to refuse and reject the ministry that taught it. That is recorded as an example to us! It reveals how we are to exercise this privilege of private judgment. The apostles claimed to be sent of God, but were they really preaching the truth? The Bereans gave them a ready hearing, but took the trouble to examine and try their teaching by the Scriptures, and searched them daily whether they were so. Do you likewise, and remember that Christ commended the Ephesian saints because they had tried those who said they were apostles and "found them liars" (Rev 2:2).

The right of private judgment does not mean that each Christian may be a law unto himself, and still less lord over himself. We must beware of allowing liberty to degenerate into license! No, it means the right to form our own views from Scriptures, to be in bondage to no ecclesiastical authority, and to be subject unto God alone. Two extremes are to be guarded against:

1. slavery to human authority and tradition, and
2. the spirit of self-will and pride.

On the one hand, we are to avoid blind credulity; on the other hand, an affectation of independence or the love of novelty, which disdains what others believe in order to obtain a cheap notoriety of originality.

Private judgment does not mean private imagination, but a deliberate conviction based on Holy Writ! Though I must not resign my mind and conscience to others, or deliver my reason and faith over blindfold to any church — yet I ought to be very slow in rejecting the approved judgment of God's true servants. There is a happy medium between limiting myself to what the Puritans and others taught — and disdaining the help they can afford me. Self-conceit is to be rigidly restrained. Private judgment is to be exercised humbly, soberly, and impartially, with a willingness to receive light from any quarter.

Ponder the Word for yourself; but mortify the spirit of haughty self-sufficiency, and be ready to avail yourself of anything likely to afford you a better understanding of the truth. Above all, daily beg the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. "Prove all things" — when listening to your favorite preacher, or reading these articles! And always accord your brethren the same right and privilege which you claim for yourself.

Self-elevated little popes!

Self-elevated little popes!

(Arthur Pink, "Private Judgment" 1950)
"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers." Matthew 23:8

In every generation, there are those of an officious spirit who aspire to leadership, demanding deference from their fellows. Such men insist upon unqualified subjection from their followers. Their interpretation of the Scriptures must not be challenged, their dictates are final. Everyone must believe precisely what they teach, and order all the details of his life by the rules of conduct which they prescribe--or else be branded as a heretic.

There have been, and still are, many such self-elevated little popes in Christendom, who deem themselves to be entitled to implicit credence and obedience, whose decisions must be accepted without question. They are nothing but arrogant usurpers, for Christ alone is the Master of Christians; and since all of His disciples are "brethren," they possess equal rights and privileges.

"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father--He who is in Heaven." Matthew 23:9. This dehortation has ever been needed by God's people, for they are the most part simple and unsophisticated, trustful and easily imposed upon. In those verses, the Lord Jesus was enforcing the duty of private judgment, bidding believers to allow none to be the dictators of their faith, or lords of their lives.

No man is to be heeded in spiritual matters, any further than he can produce a plain and decisive, "Thus says the LORD" as the foundation of his appeal. To be in subjection to any ecclesiastical authority which is not warranted by Holy Writ, or to comply with the whims of men--is to renounce your Christian freedom. Allow none to have dominion over your mind and conscience. Be regulated only by the teaching of God's Word, and firmly refuse to be brought into bondage to "the commandments and doctrines of men." Instead, "Stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made us free," yielding unreservedly to His authority alone.

God does not require the minds and consciences of His children to be enslaved by any ecclesiastical dominion. Each one has the right to exercise his own judgment.

"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care . . . not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." 1 Peter 5:2-3. Instead of lording it over God's heritage, preachers are to be "examples to the flock"--personal patterns of good works, holiness, and self-sacrifice; models of piety, humility, and charity.

Love of power has been as common a sin in the pulpit, as love of money, and many of the worst evils which have befallen Christendom, have issued from a lusting after dominion and ecclesiastical honors. Such is poor human nature, that good men find it hard to keep from being puffed up and misusing any measure of authority when it is committed unto them, and from not doing more harm than good with the same. Pastors are to make self-abnegation, and not self-exaltation, their constant aim.

The right of private judgment does not mean that each Christian may be a law unto himself, and still less lord over himself. We must beware of allowing liberty to degenerate into license! No, it means the right to form our own views from Scriptures, to be in bondage to no ecclesiastical authority, and to be subject unto God alone. Two extremes are to be guarded against:
1. slavery to human authority and tradition, and
2. the spirit of self-will and pride.

Private judgment does not mean private imagination, but a deliberate conviction based on Holy Writ! Though I must not resign my mind and conscience to others, or deliver my reason and faith over blindfold to any church--yet I ought to be very slow in rejecting the approved judgment of God's true servants. Self-conceit is to be rigidly restrained. Private judgment is to be exercised humbly, soberly, and impartially, with a willingness to receive light from any quarter.

Ponder the Word for yourself; but mortify the spirit of haughty self-sufficiency, and be ready to avail yourself of anything likely to afford you a better understanding of God's truth. Above all, daily beg the Holy Spirit to be your teacher! And always accord your brethren the same right and privilege, which you claim for yourself.

My Journal

I have waited some time to do this but I think now is the time to share with people my journal, I hope you enjoy this I will be adding stuff to it as I write in my journal.

You will notice my flaws and mistakes that I have made in my walk with God.

I wrote the journal to learn from success and failures so please read to enjoy, I hope you have some insight to tell me, so please do.

http://miketryjournal.blogspot.com/2010/12/journal-number-1.html

The essential doctrines of the gospel

The essential doctrines of the gospel

(Charles Spurgeon)

The doctrines of . . .
  original sin,
  unconditional election,
  definite atonement,
  effectual calling, and
  final perseverance,
are, I believe, the essential doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ--but we do not regard these five points as being barbed shafts which we are to thrust between the ribs of our fellow-Christians. We look upon them as being five great lamps which help to irradiate the cross; or, rather, five bright emanations springing from the glorious covenant of our Triune God, and illustrating the great doctrines of Jesus crucified!

Under a Cloud!

By Timothy Shay Arthur

"What a joyous creature!" said a friend, glancing, as he spoke, towards an attractive girl, whose laugh rang out at the moment, and went musically fluttering through the rooms. "It always does me good to meet the outflowing life of such a being. She is like a ruddy blossom in a bed of somber-hued plants, catching the sunbeams, and throwing them, by reflection, all around her."

"She is a human flower," I answered, "with rich stores of perfume in her heart; only, I have thought, sometimes, a little too mirthful and joyous. She seems to live in perpetual sunshine."

"I see no objection in that. Flowers grow in the sunshine. It is their life-imparting element," was returned. "Give me the radiant natures; souls which dwell beneath unclouded skies; hearts which know no shadows."

"The sky is not always sunny," I remarked.

My friend looked at me, as one who did not clearly see the drift of this sentence.

"There are intervals, in which clouds obscure the heavens — intervals of rain."

He looked at me still; a slight change passing over his face, as if some unpleasant thoughts were coming into his mind; but did not reply.

"Are not clouded skies, and falling rains, also good for the flowers? Would their richest beauty — their sweetest odors — come out, if they dwelt only in the sunshine? Nay, more than this, would the fruit-germ perfect itself fully in the flower-heart, if there were given only hot, untempered and over stimulating beams of light from the opening bud to falling petal?"

My friend was yet silent. The illustration brought doubts and queries not easily set aside.

"The soul is not a flower," he said, at length. "Because plants need the alternations of rain and sunshine, does it follow that the same is true of our souls?"

The merry laugh rang out again. It was near us — the maiden had crossed the room, her arm drawn within that of another maiden, and now stood the center of a little group. The laugh was as musical as before; and yet, something of its sweetness to the ear was gone. We paused to observe her, and could not help but hear the sentences which dropped from her lips. Flippant trifles first — then a thoughtless personality, which must have hurt the one at whom it was thrown — and then a witty sarcasm, at the expense of an excellent, but peculiar lady, who made one of the company.

"Too much sunshine," I remarked, leaning to my friend, as the group separated, and our merry maiden passed beyond the range of our voices. "The life blood is too abundant — the growth too lusty. She needs the tempering of clouds and rain."

"Trouble — sorrow — or sickness. Is that what you mean?"

"Whatever God sees best," was my answer. "He knows the heart, and understands what discipline is needed. She is with him, and he will not allow the good in her to be lost."

Again the bird-like, warbling laugh went through the rooms. A sigh, almost at the same moment, parted my friend's lips. Either my suggestions, or the lack of harmony between the beautiful and glad exterior of the maiden, and the glimpses she had given of her inner state, had changed his feeling towards her. He was disappointed, as we so often are in plucking a beautiful but unfamiliar flower, to find the odor unpleasant.

"Perhaps you are right," he said, in a changed voice. "There may be need of clouds and rain."

"There is always need of them," I remarked; "just as much need of them for the perfection of a human soul, as for the perfection of a plant or a tree. When the poet said —

'Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary,'

he was not playing with figures of speech, but uttering a truth of universal application."

"It may be so," the friend remarked, with increasing sobriety of manner, "but, I cannot see why the soul, of necessity, must have dark days and rainy seasons, for the perfection of its life. I cannot see why one like Miss Saroni, for instance, may not grow into a true, loving and perfect womanhood — and yet dwell always in sunshine. I know that our higher nature must be developed; that we must become heavenly-minded. But, I am of those who do not believe in a gloomy, self-tormenting religion. Why should doing right, and being right, according to God's precepts — shadow a man's soul?"

"It is right living which breaks the clouds which darken our sky," was my answer. "True religion is life — a life in harmony with divine precepts. The natural life into which we are born, is below this, and responsive to the world of nature — unhappily, through inherited evils, always, in its development, turning itself away from good. Did you not observe that tendency in Miss Saroni? As bright, happy, and lovely as she is — a contempt for others has already found a place in her mind. Will not that feeling under the strong stimulant of sunshine, grow vigorously? Depend upon it, there must be dark days, winter and rain for her, as for all. A new ground must be prepared in her mind; new seeds sown — even spiritual seeds, which are divine truths — and these must be sheltered from scorching heats, and receive dews and rains. So, of necessity, in order that the first life, which is by nature evil and selfish, may recede, and permit a new life to be born — states of trouble, of sorrow, or affliction, must come.

"If man had not sinned and fallen from his first estate, all would have been different. His natural life, developed in just order, would have been as a garden ready for spiritual seed, which being cast into the earth, would have germinated and grown into goodly plants bearing spiritual fruit. But it is different now. The natural mind is filled with evil seeds, and the growth of evil plants is rank and rapid. It follows, that unless these are removed, hurt or hindered in some way — no good seed can find a lodgment or grow. The hurting, the hindering and the removing, take place for the most part — through misfortunes, afflictions, sickness, or troubles, by which natural things recede from the affections, and the soul is led to aspire after heavenly and eternal things. We must all pass under the cloud; we must all have gloomy days; we must all suffer in some way — that spiritual life may grow within us."

A few years of sunshine followed, in which our young friend did not grow more lovely in spirit, though richly endowed both in mind and person. Beauty made her vain; mental superiority caused her to think with contempt of those with feebler endowments; wealth, instead of being thankfully accepted, created a feeling of superiority. Vanity, pride, self-estimation, contempt for inferiors — such were the evil plants fast attaining to a full growth in her mind. It was needful, in the wise provisions of a good Providence, that, to save her and others from the sad fruitage of these — she must pass under a cloud. And so, dark days came — angry skies and swift-driving tempests.

I did not see her during these dark days; but afterwards, I met her frequently. What a beauty there was in her life! She had been long under the cloud, and the shadows it left still lingered about her face; but, as thought and feeling stirred in her — how sweetly the quiet smiles broke through! There remained in her lower tones, a memory of past suffering, which touched you at times; but her words were ever cheerful. Of others, she spoke with considerate kindness; dwelling on the good in them — rarely touching the evil. Never a complaint passed her lips; but she often referred to the wise and good dealings of God to her. Once she said to me, "I am only happy when useful." What a volume of meaning, this sentence contains! Let not its triteness take from its just significance.

"Was it not best?" I said, to the friend with whom I had talked years before, "best for her that the sun was hidden, and the rain fell?"

"Perhaps," he answered, thoughtfully.

"Do you question it?" I asked.

"No, I will not say that. Doubtless it was best. One thing is certain, the sphere of her life is much sweeter. You cannot pass an hour in her company, without being more in love with right principles — without feeling an inspiration to good deeds."

And it was even so. In the winter of her adversity — "much wheat had grown." In the night of sorrow — she had been still gathering strength. While under the cloud — holy truths had dropped into her mind and germinated, the cloud still shadowing her sky, and tempering both light and heat, until the springing seeds gathered strength at the root, and lifted up green blades into the caressing air. She was coming into the light and heat again; but now, the sun whose rays poured down upon her life with blessing, was spiritual and divine.