REFLECTIONS

“TREATMENT DUE TO YOUNG CONVERTS

vi. Impress the young convert with the danger of the least departure from duty, of taking the first step in the way of spiritual decline.

It rarely happens that an individual becomes a great backslider at once. On the contrary, it is usually the work of time, and generally has a small and almost imperceptible beginning. When the first step is taken, there is probably, in most cases, an intention not to take another, certainly not to go far; but it is a law of our moral constitution that one step renders the next easier; and hence the facility with which we form habits, especially evil habits. The young convert, upon the mount of Christian enjoyment, is able to from but an inadequate idea of the conflicts of the religious life, he realizes then, much less than in subsequent parts of his course, the need of constant watchfulness against temptations; and this lack of vigilance throws open the doors of the heart, and not infrequently the tempter has planted himself there, and begun his work, before any danger has been apprehended. And the soul which was just now burning with ecstasy wakes to the fact, not only that its joys are rapidly upon the wane, but that its desires are becoming earthly, and its impressions of invisible things feeble and inconstant.

Caution the young Christian then, against the least allowed violation of duty. Admonish him that, if he enter such a course, he can never know where it will end. Point him to the examples of those who have taken the first step with a firm purpose never to take another, who have nevertheless continued to backslide, until there was scarcely the semblance of Christian character remaining. Let him understand that no degree of joy, or even of spirituality, which he can possess on earth, can be any security against his losing his evidences and his comforts and sinking into a state of the most chilling spiritual indifference. And if, at any time, he find that he has actually begun to wander, let him know that he has the best reason to be alarmed, and that every hour that he continues his wanderings he is making work for bitter repentance and bringing a dark cloud over his religious prospects.

                                                                                                                         

vii. Put the young convert on his guard against neglecting the duties of the closet.

It is in the closet especially that every Christian must labor to keep alive the flame of devotion in his own soul. Here, more than anywhere else, is carried forward the silent communings of the soul with its God in acts of confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Here the believer becomes acquainted with his sins and his wants, and while he unburdens his soul before the throne of mercy, gathers strength and grace by which he is sustained and carried forward amidst the various duties and trials which meet him in the world. Hence it always happens that, in proportion as the duties of the closet are neglected, religion languishes in the hart and the exhibition of it in the life becomes faint and equivocal. It is manifest to those who see him and converse with him that there is a canker corroding the principle of his spiritual life. And he himself knows that his joys have fled, his conscience has become his accuser, and he has no evidence which ought to satisfy him that he is walking in the path to heaven.

But this evil of neglecting the closet is one to which the young convert is exceedingly liable. He may not be liable to it in the very earliest stage of his Christian experience; for then the duties of the closet are usually a delight to him; but when his first joys have partially subsided and he has begun to be conversant with the more sober realities of the religious life, there is great danger that he will find some apology for a partial and irregular attendance on these duties. One source of danger is found in the fact that he may neglect them, and still be unobserved by the world; that he may neglect them without forfeiting, even in the view of his fellow Christians, who of course are ignorant of it, his claim to Christian character. And then these duties, being of a peculiarly spiritual kind, are the very first to lose their attractions to a Christian who is losing his spirituality. Other duties bring him before the world. These bring him only before his own conscience and the searcher of his heart. And besides, where circumstances may seem to render it inconvenient to engage in closet devotion, it is too easy a matter to satisfy the conscience with an indefinite resolution that it shall be attended to at a consequent period; and no resolution is more easily broken than this; and let it be broken in a few instances, and a habit of comparative indifference to the closet is the consequence.

I doubt not that I might appeal to the experience of a large part of those who have professedly entered on the Christian life for evidence of the facts that no habit is formed with more ease than that of neglecting, in a greater or less degree, this class of duties.

If then the faithful discharge of private religious duties be so essential to a vigorous and healthful tone of religious feeling and action, and if there be peculiar temptations to neglect them, then every person at the commencement of the Christian life ought be admonished of his danger on the one hand, and exhorted to fidelity on the other. Counsel him to take heed that he does not substitute the form for the spirit of prayer; that he do not satisfy his conscience by appearing before God with the bended knee, without the broken heart. Counsel him to mingle with is private prayers self-examination and the reading of God’s Word, that thus his communion with God may be more intelligent on the one hand, and more spiritual on the other. Counsel him never to turn his back upon his closet because he may find his affections low and languid, and may imagine that he should have little enjoyment in attempting to pray. Let this rather be urged as an argument for hastening to his closet and confessing and lamenting his indifference and endeavoring to get the flame of devotion rekindled in his bosom. In short, urge the importance of private meditation and devotion in all circumstances; urge him to redeem time for that purpose under the greatest pressure of worldly care; and keep him mindful of the connection which this duty has with everything that belongs to Christian character and Christian enjoyment.”

-From Lectures On Revivals Of Religion by William B. Sprague  First Published 1832  Published by The Banner of Truth Trust  Carlisle, PA  2007 Pages 156-159

A Prayer To The God Of My Life

“I will be to them a God; they shall be to me a people.” Jeremiah 30:22 NKJV.

Father, You are the true God and the God of Your people! By Your awesome grace we have become the people of God, the true and living God. There is no other god-the Lord is God, He is God! The Lord is God! We had no truth or God before Your sweet grace came to us. We served false gods, the evil one had deceived us and we served sin and demons and idols-and we felt in ourselves the misery of darkness and the self-destructiveness of those who do not know God and who do not worship the Blessed and only God. Father, I remember feeling that I could no longer endure my life and wickedness-my burden was too heavy. My sin crushed me and wore me down. I was not of Your people then. But You saw me in my distress, yes, in my blood and uncleanness-You saw my corruptions and evil heart of sin and unbelief. You saw my complete inability and my desperate need and You came to me. From heaven Your Spirit descended and came and indwelt me and You made me Yours. O how sweet to trust in Jesus, O how sweet to take Him at His word! I have been enlivened and led by Your Spirit since then, O Lord, and I thank you. Just as You led Israel, Your people, by fire and cloud, You have led me through this wasteland world and You have tended to me. You comfort and nourish me-You encourage and strengthen me-You prevail over all powers and people, things and beings, circumstances and events and You lead me in holy worship of Your name. O God, I cannot forget the great thing that you have done for me. You have drawn near me Father! You are God, my God and Father, and to be near You is my happiness. I am Yours and am one of Your people-I am one of the people of God! Father, give us more love for Your people, spiritual Israel. Consume us in Your holy fire and together we shall sing Your praises in unity as one people of God. The most wonderful thing that any man can experience, salvation and adoption by God, has become my blessing by Your grace! I am blessed in Your love. O give me grace and I will draw closer to You and remain in Your blessed Presence for I am Yours Lord. For Christ’s glory, Amen.

REFLECTIONS

Peace and Spiritual Depression

“[Psalm 42:11] is an extraordinarily accurate picture of spiritual depression…you can almost see the man…the man who is dejected and disquieted and miserable, who is unhappy and depressed always shows it in his face. He looks troubled and he looks worried. You take one glance at him and you see his condition. Yes, says the Psalmist in effect, but when I really look at God, as I get better, my face gets better also.-‘He is the health of my countenance’. I lose that drawn, haggard, vexed, troubled, perplexed, introspective appearance and I begin to look composed and calm, balanced and bright. This is not the putting on of a mask, but something that is inevitable. If we are depressed or unhappy, whether we like it or not, we will show it in our face. On the other hand, if we are in the right relationship to God and in a true spiritual condition that again quite inevitably must express itself in our countenance, though I am not suggesting that we should perpetually have that inane grin upon our faces that some people think is essential to the manifestation of true Christian joy. You need not put anything on, it will be there; it cannot help expressing itself-‘He is the health of my countenance’.”

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“Beloved Christian, whatever it is that is tending to get you down, tending to make you a victim of this anxiety, this morbid care, harassing and spoiling your Christian life and witness, whatever it is, let it be known unto God…and if you do so it is absolutely guaranteed that the peace of God…shall guard, keep, garrison your heart and mind…Like the Psalmist you will lay yourself down and you will sleep, you will know this perfect peace. Do you this, have you got this peace? Is this another bit of theory or does it actually happen? I assert that this is a fact. Read the stories of the saints and the martyrs and the Confessors…John George Carpenter, until a few years ago the General of the Salvation Army, tells how he and his wife had to part with their daughter, a lovely girl, of who they were so fond and proud and who had dedicated her young life to foreign mission work in the East. Suddenly she was taken ill with typhoid fever. Of course, they began to pray, but John Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter somehow felt, although they could not explain it, that they could not pray for that child’s recovery. They went on praying but their prayer was-‘Thou canst heal her if Thou wilt’-they could not positively ask God to heal her…They went on like that for six weeks and then this beautiful girl died. The very morning she died John Carpenter said to Mrs. Carpenter, ‘You know, I am aware of a strange and curious calm within’, and she replied and said, ‘I feel exactly the same’. And she said to him, ‘This must be the peace of God’, And it was the peace of God…There they were, they had made their request known in the right way, and…this amazing calm and peace had come to them…’it must be the peace of God’. It was. Thank God for it.

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“Never does the Apostle say that if we pray our prayer in and of itself will make us feel better. It is a disgraceful thing that people should pray for that reason. That is the psychologists’ use of prayer. They tell us that if we are in trouble it will do us good to pray…Prayer is not auto-suggestion.

Neither does he say, ‘Pray, because while you are praying you will not be thinking about that problem, and therefore you will have temporary relief’…Neither does he say, ‘If you fill your mind with thoughts of God and Christ these thought will push out the other things’…Neither does he say…’Pray, because prayer changes things’. No, it does not. Prayer does not ‘change things’…It is not your prayer that is going to do it, it is not you who are going to do it, but God. ‘The peace of God that passeth all understanding’-He, through it all, ‘will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.’

I must say a word about the expression ‘keeping’ your hearts and minds. It means garrisoning, guarding-a number of words can be used. It conjures up a picture. What will happen is that this peace of God will walk around the ramparts and towers of our life. We are inside, and the activities of the heart and mind are producing those stress and anxieties and strains from the outside. But the peace of God will keep them out and we ourselves inside will be at perfect peace. It is God that does it. It is not ourselves, it is not prayer, it is not some psychological mechanism. We make our requests known unto God, and God does that for us and keeps us in perfect peace.”

-From Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Writings