REFLECTIONS

“IMMANUEL.

When once I mourned a load of sin;

When conscience felt a wound within;

When all my works were thrown away;

When on my knees I knelt to pray,

   The blissful hour, remembered well-

    I learned Thy love, Immanuel.

When storms of sorrow toss my soul;

When waves of care around me roll;

When comforts sink, when joys shall flee;

When hopeless griefs shall gape for me,

   One word the tempest’s rage shall swell-

   That word Thy name, Immanuel.

When for the truth I suffer shame;

When foes pour scandal on my name;

When cruel taunts and jeers abound;

When ‘Bulls of Bashan’ gird me round,

   Secure within the tower I’ll dwell-

   That tower Thy grace, Immanuel.

When hell enraged lifts up her roar;

When Satan stops my path before;

When fiends rejoice and wait my end;

When legion’d hosts their arrows send,

   Fear not, my soul, but hurl at hell

   Thy battle-cry, Immanuel.

When down the hill of life I go;

When o’er my feet death’s waters flow;

When in the deep’ning flood I sink;

When friends stand weeping on the brink,

   I’ll mingle with my last farewell

  Thy lovely name, Immanuel.

When tears are banished from mine eye;

When fairer worlds than these are nigh;

When heaven shall fill my ravished sight;

When I shall bathe in sweet delight,

   One joy all joys shall far excel-

   To see Thy face, Immanuel.”

-C.H. Spurgeon

REFLECTIONS

Love To God First And Only

“Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:3

“Notice that, in all of his epistles, Paul constantly reminds of the grace of God and the love He bears to all believers. He says, Grace be to you and peace. This word peace includes all worldly prosperity. By it Paul is asking God to provide those things which He considers for our good. He will shower His riches upon us and reveal His bounty so that we might praise Him for His goodness.

However, the wealth of this world will be harmful for us unless we have found favor with the Lord. Hence, Paul speaks here in an orderly way, always placing God’s grace and free pardon before an increase in worldly prosperity. Though we may ask God to bless us with those things we need, we must not forget the most important blessing is to be members of His church and assured of God’s love in our hearts.

The light of God’s countenance should suffice us. Although God permits us to ask for good things from His hand, we must keep a tight rein on our desires. God may afflict us with many sorrows, and at such times we need to value His grace above everything else. If we live in comfort, surrounded by all kinds of pleasures and delights, we will still be miserable if we do not have the peace of conscience that comes from knowing that God loves and accepts us.

We should not desire earthly goods more than the love of God. For what if God, who loves us, wishes to test our patience by making us suffer in this world and subjects us to many trials? Even then, we must prize His love above all else and patiently bear all trials, though it seems as if everything is against us.”

_________________

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Galatians 2:16

“Since God has loved us and has showered His grace upon us, we are obliged to do our part by forgetting about self and devoting ourselves completely to Him. In other words, the two main factors in our religion are, first, to recognize that God is to be served and glorified; and second, to understand how we can present ourselves to Him and be accepted and acknowledged as His children, owning Him as our Father. Then we can have full assurance of the salvation of our souls.  

These words of humble confession define the sacrifice that God requires of us. I speak of humility, not simply the right facial expression but rather being affected in such a way that we willingly accept God’s condemnation and cast away all trust in our works.

In addition, we learn from this text that when God commanded the ceremonial law, He did not intend for us to cling to such external things. He wanted the children of Israel to exercise patience, acknowledging poverty and misery, and rid themselves of all corruptions of the flesh. Indeed, His purpose was to lead them to the Lord Jesus Christ so they would put their trust in Him and lean on Him completely for salvation. Those who sought to keep the ceremonial law as if it were absolutely vital and a sin not to do so were establishing a pattern of worship that was against God’s will and contrary to His intention. Those who did so were therefore false teachers, distorting the real significance of the law. In addition, they were instructing people to exalt themselves and to boast of their own works. That does not bring glory to God, for if we attribute to ourselves even a little merit, we are robbing and spoiling God of what rightfully belongs to Him.”

-From John Calvin 1509-1564

REFLECTIONS

The REALITY and IMPORTANCE of REVIVALS of RELIGION.

“6. The occurrences of that day exhibit the REALITY and IMPORTANCE of REVIVALS of RELIGION.

By a revival of religion we understand, an uncommon and general interest in the subject of salvation, produced by the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of Divine truth. The work is very commonly preceded by a prevailing and affecting coldness on the subject of personal religion: such as leads Christians to feel the necessity of extraordinary prayer for themselves as well as others. In its progress, the thoughtless are alarmed; convinced by their guilt; inquire what they shall do; receive Jesus as their Savior; rejoice in hope of future glory; join themselves to the people of God; and, in important repects, pursue a new course of life.

Such, substantially, was the Revival on the day of Pentecost.

But, not only does the day of Pentecost evince the reality of Revivals of religion; it furnishes reason to calculate on their existence, in all ages. Commencing as they did with the very commencement of Christianity, there was reason to believe they would accompany her in her march over the world. On such displays of Divine grace were fixed the hopes of the apostles. Nor in their expectations were they disappointed. The very first sermon preached by Peter in a Gentile province, was attended by similar effects. The Holy Ghost came on all them that heard the word. In proclaiming the gospel, the apostles urged, as a motive to repentance, the animating fact, that the times of refreshing had come from the presence of the Lord. And by such repeated displays of Divine grace they were sustained, and peculiarly encouraged in their holy enterprise.

The occurrences of the day of Pentecost exhibit likewise the importance of Revivals of religion. If they are actually of God, we know that their influence must be only salutary. Look back then to that memorable Revival, which ushered in the Christian ministry; and tell us if its influence was at all otherwise than salutary. On the very day of its commencement, about three thousand souls were turned from darkness to light: and, during its continuance, the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved. Were they less honest, sober, benevolent, than before their conversion? Or were they less qualified for the dread trial of the Last Day? In a single day, it gave to the Christian Church a weight of influence, more than a hundred fold greater than it had previously possessed. And whilst it gave new impulses to her efforts, it was the occasion of dismay to her opposers. The testimony it bore to the dignity of Jesus, and the truth of Christianity, will exert a blessed influence forever.

The happy influence of a Revival may be viewed, distinctly, in its effects, on individual happiness; on the interests of the community; and on the general cause of religion.

It is important to individual happiness. Such religious character as it creates is the only safe pledge of a peaceful life. You can spare the aggrandizements of wealth, and the parade of earthly distinction. But in this world of disease, disappointment, and death, you cannot spare the consolations of a Christian hope. But a single glance into eternity stamps immeasurable value on the religious character which is originated in a season of Revival. Oh, beware of risking the trial of the Great Day, in any other character, than that which is produced by the transforming Spirit. You may have passed through a season of religious attention, and in it became a happy subject of God’s grace. Others may attach to it a trivial importance; but by yourself it shall be recurred to with ecstasy, and with thanksgiving to God, when the heavens shall be no more.

A religious Revival exerts a happy influence on the community at large. The Gospel and the sanctifying Spirit, wherever they enter, enlighten, elevate, and purify. Their dominion over the heart secures a regularity of deportment, an industrious improvement of time, a scrupulous discharge of the varied duties of life. Often has a short period of the Spirit’s gracious operation allayed the asperity of contention; calmed the tumult of  a noisy rabble; put an end to scenes of midnight wickedness; brought relief to dwellings of domestic want and wo; and greatly elevated the intellectual, as well as moral character of society.

On the general cause of religion the influence of a Revival is immense, as well as salutary. The happy influence is not circumscribed by the limits of the Spirit’s immediate operation. It may reach to the ends of the earth-and onward through time. It may be the commencing link in a chain of operations, which shall issue in the rescue of millions from the agonies of the second death.

Revivals hasten the universal triumph of the Gospel. Let the churches of Christendom be found, this year, with one accord, pleading the Redeemer’s great promise-Let every city and village be a theatre of Revivals, like that in which Peter and his associates were the visible agents-and it would be the ushering in of millennial glory.

If then the work we are contemplating be indeed a work of God; and if such be its influence on individual happiness-on the interests of society-and on the general cause of religion,-O give to it, Christian brethren, the full ardor of your affections and prayers.”

-From a Sermon by Baxter Dickinson on Acts 2:1 from 1827  Taken from The National Preacher  Revival Sermons from the Second Great Awakening  Edited by Austin Dickinson  Printed by Solid Ground Christian Books  Alabama  2004 Pages 122-126

REFLECTIONS

Mortify The Flesh And Live

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13 NKJV.

Mortify means ‘to put to death’ and betokens the act of God on the believer through the death of Christ and it is an act of the believer himself, as being responsible to God’s act, to put to death “the deeds of the body”.

“Why Mortification Is the Work of the Spirit 

It is then, the work of the Spirit. For He is promised of God to be given unto us for this work. The taking away of the stony heart-that is, the stubborn, proud, rebellious, unbelieving heart-is in general the work of mortification that we treat of. Now this is still promised to be done by the Spirit, “I will give my Spirit, and take away the stony heart” (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26), and by the Spirit of God is this work wrought when all means fail (Isa. 57:17-18).

We have all our mortification from the gift of Christ, and all the gifts of Christ are communicated to us and given to us by the Spirit of Christ: “Without Christ we can do nothing” (John 15:15). All communications of supplies and relief, in the beginnings, increasings, actings of any grace whatsoever, from Him, are by the Spirit, by whom He alone works in and upon believers. From Him we have our mortification: “He is exalted and made a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance unto us” (Acts 15:31); and of our repentance our mortification is no small portion. How does He do it? Having “received…the promise of the Holy Ghost,” He sends Him abroad for that end (Acts 2:33). You know the manifold promises He made of sending the Spirit, as Tertullian speaks, “Vicarium navare operam,” to do the works that He had to accomplish in us.

The resolution of one or two questions will now lead me nearer to what I principally intend.

How the Spirit Mortifies Sin

The first [question] is: How does the Spirit mortify sin? I answer, in general, three ways.

By causing our hearts to abound in grace and the fruits that are contrary to the flesh, and the fruits thereof and principles of them. So the apostle opposes the fruits of the flesh and of the Spirit: “The fruits of the flesh”, says he, “are so and so” (Gal. 5:19-21); “but,” says he, “the fruits of the Spirit are quite contrary, quite of another sort” (vs. 22-23). Yea; but what if these are in us and do abound, may not the other abound also? No, says he, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (v. 24). But how? Why, “by living in the Spirit and walking after the Spirit” (V. 25)-that is, by the abounding work of these graces of the Spirit in us and walking according to them. For, says the apostle, “these area contrary one to another” (v. 17); so that they cannot both be in the same subject in any intense or high degree. This “renewing of us by the Holy Ghost,” as it is called (Titus 3:5), is one great way of mortification; He causes us to grow, thrive, flourish, and abound in those graces which are contrary, opposite, and destructive to all the fruits of the flesh, and to the quiet or thriving of indwelling sin itself.

By a real physical efficiency on the root and habit of sin, for the weakening, destroying, and taking it away. Hence He is called a ‘spirit of judgment and…burning” (Isa. 4:4), really and consuming and destroying our lusts. He takes away the stony heart by an almighty efficiency; for as He begins the work as to its kind, so He carries it on as to its degrees. He is the fire which burns up every root of lust.

He brings the cross of Christ into the heart of a sinner by faith, and gives us communion with Christ in His death and fellowship of His sufferings: of the manner whereof more afterward.

-John Owen (1616-1683)  From Overcoming Sin and Temptation  by  Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor  Published by Crossway Books  Wheaton, IL  2006  Pages 60-61.

REFLECTIONS

About Christ's Second Coming

Matthew 24:15-18

“God’s elect are always special objects of God’s care (vv. 22,24). Those whom God has chosen to salvation by Christ are those whom God especially loves in this world. They are the jewels among mankind. He cares more for them than for kings on their thrones if kings are not converted. He hears their prayers. He orders all the events of the nations and the consequences of wars for their good and their sanctification. He keeps them by His Spirit. He allows neither man nor devil to pluck them out of His hand. Whatever tribulation comes on the world, God’s elect are safe. May we never rest till we know that we are of this blessed number! When Paul saw their faith, hope and love of the Thessalonians, then he knew their election of God (1 Thess. 1:4).

In Luke 21:24 a period is foretold during which Jerusalem was to be given over into the hands of Gentile rulers and the Jews were to have no dominion over their ancient city. A fixed period is likewise foretold which was the time in which the Gentiles were to enjoy privileges and occupy a position something like that of Israel in ancient days. Both days are one day to end. Jerusalem is once more to be restored to its ancient inhabitants. The Gentiles because of their hardness and unbelief are to be stripped of their privileges and endure the judgment of God. Their dominion shall crumble away and their vaunted institutions shall fall to pieces. The Jews shall be restored.” (Written in the 1800’s).

“Whenever the second advent of Christ takes place, it shall be a very sudden event (v. 27). This is a practical truth that we should ever keep in our minds. That our Lord Jesus will come again in person we know from Scriptures. That He will come in a time of tribulation we know. But the precise period, the year, the month, the day, the hour are all hidden things. We only know that it will be a very sudden event. Our plain duty then is to live always prepared for His return. Let us walk by faith, not by sight. Let us believe in Christ, serve Christ, follow Christ and love Christ. So living, whenever Christ may return, we will be ready for Him.”

________________________

Matthew 24:29-35

“In this part of the prophecy our Lord deals with His own second coming to judge the world. When the Lord Jesus returns to this world, He shall come with peculiar glory and majesty (v. 30). Before His presence the very planets shall be darkened and shaken (v. 29).

The second personal coming of our Lord shall be as different as possible from the first. He came the first time as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was born in a manger in Bethlehem in lowliness and humiliation. He took on Him the form of a servant and was despised and rejected by men. He was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, condemned by an unjust judgment, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns and at last crucified between two thieves. He shall come the second time as the King of all the earth and with all royal majesty. The princes and great men of this world shall by themselves stand before His throne to receive an eternal sentence. Before Him every mouth shall be stopped and every knee bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. May we all remember this. Whatever ungodly men may do now, there will be no scoffing, no jesting at Christ, no infidelity at the last day. The servants of Jesus may well wait patiently. Their Master shall one day be acknowledged as King of kings by the whole world.

These verses teach us that when Christ returns He will first take care of His believing people (v. 31). In the Day of Judgment true Christians shall be perfectly safe. Not a hair of their heads shall fall to the ground. Not one bone of Christ’s mystical body shall be broken. There was an ark for Noah in the days of the flood. There was a Zoar for Lot when Sodom was destroyed. There shall be a hiding place for all believers in Jesus when the wrath of God at last bursts on this wicked world. Those mighty angels who rejoiced in heaven when each sinner repented shall gladly catch up the people of Christ to meet Him in the air. Believers may look forward to that awful day without fear.”

_________________________

Matthew 24:29-35

“Some understand ‘this generation’ to mean true believers (v. 34), but I understand it to mean that until Christ returns, the Jews will always remain a separate people. The continued existence of the Jews as a distinct nation is undeniably a great miracle. It is one of the evidences of the truth of the Bible that the infidel can never overthrow. For most of their history since A.D. 70 they have been without a land, without a king, without a government, scattered and dispersed over the world. The Jews are never absorbed among the people of the countries where they live like people of other nations, but live alone. Nothing can account for this but the finger of God. The Jewish nation stands before the world as a crushing answer to infidelity and a living book of evidence that the Bible is true. But we ought not to regard the Jewish people only as a witness the Bible is true. We should see them as a continual pledge that the Lord Jesus is coming again. Like the Lord’s Supper, they witness to the reality of the second advent as well as the first.” (Written in the 1800’s).

“Our Lord’s predictions will certainly be fulfilled (v. 35). Our Lord knew well the natural unbelief of human nature. He knew that scoffers would arise in the last days saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ (2 Peter 3:4). He knew that when He came faith would be rare on the earth. He saw how many would contemptuously reject the solemn predictions He had just been delivering as improbable, unlikely, and absurd. He warns us against all such skeptical thoughts with a caution of peculiar solemnity. He tells us that, whatever man may say or think, His words shall be fulfilled in their season and shall not pass away unaccomplished. May we all lay to heart this warning. We live in an unbelieving age. Few believed the report of our Lord’s first coming and few believe the report of His second. Let us beware of this infection and believe to the saving of our souls. We are not reading cunningly devised fables, but deep and momentous truths. May God give us a heart to believe them.”

-J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) from Daily Readings from all four Gospels  Published by Evangelical Press  England  2001  Devotions for October 23-25.