Accessories To Adultery

Christians have long connected immodest clothing to sexual immorality.

Amazingly, that is challenged today. The person who points out the link between immorality and revealing clothing is sometimes thought to be expressing only his or her own personal weakness regarding sexual temptations.

The wearer of skimpy clothing (and the skimpy clothing itself) is not perceived to be the problem; rather, the problem allegedly rests with the person who protests the skimpy clothing.

This is the same argument that militant feminists have long made, an argument we now hear Christians making: women should be free to wear whatever they want and any resulting problems are due to vulgar men.

This silences appeals for modest clothing: he who makes such appeals is deemed to be shifting the blame for his own lust.

Thanks to socially acceptable immodesty, the person who challenges immodesty is accused of having a dirty mind.
 
But the old confessions and catechisms expose the emptiness of this contention.

Long before bikinis, Speedos, short shorts, and strapless dresses, Christians realized the essential connection between sexual immorality and immodest clothing.

Their comprehensive application of God’s Word regarding sexual purity and their serious pursuit of holiness led them to denounce immodest clothing.

The modern claim that no clothing is out-of-bounds for a Christian would have bewildered our spiritual forefathers…

This article is an appeal to obey the Seventh Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exo 20:14).

[It] requires the preservation of both our own and our neighbor’s sexual purity, a purity that should be displayed in our hearts as well as our behavior.

Negatively, the commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

We violate it if our clothing expresses our own sexual lusts, promotes sexual immorality either in ourselves or in others, tacitly (if perhaps unintentionally) sanctions unchastity and lusting, or tempts others to indulge in sexual sins.

Are you an accessory to adultery?

Our legal system rightly recognizes that both murderers and accessories to murder are lawbreakers.

Similarly, both adulterers and accessories to adultery are guilty of breaking God’s Law.

If we wear clothing that encourages lust in someone else, then we are an accessory to lust.

That makes us accessories to sin regardless of our intentions.

The Christian cannot say, “I’m not trying to be sexually provocative with my clothing. I have no immoral motives. Therefore, my clothing is modest.”

I will go further. As a husband and father, I am the head of my household. When I allow my family members to wear clothing that contributes to someone else’s heart-level adultery, I am guilty of promoting sin.

This is one reason why both men and women must dress modestly.

Men can promote lust in women just as women can promote sexually immoral thoughts in men.

God’s Word speaks clearly to the issue of becoming an accessory to sin.

The Bible uses the phrase stumbling block [or offenses] where we usually use the word accessory.

What is a stumbling block? It is something that entices someone to sin.

In Matthew 18:7-9, Jesus said, “Woe unto the world because of offenses [stumbling blocks]! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire”…

In this passage, Jesus is primarily concerned that we examine ourselves and eliminate stumbling blocks that tempt us to sin.

But we can also create hindrances and obstacles for other people and woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

This concept applies to much more than clothing, but it certainly includes clothing.

Notice the extreme metaphors in this passage: Amputate your hand. Cut off your foot. Gouge out your eye.

Of course, Jesus is not sanctioning self-mutilation. He is using figurative language to make a point: take drastic action to avoid hurting yourself or others spiritually.

Do radical things to make sure obstacles do not hinder your pursuit of the Kingdom of God…Dressing modestly is a relatively small price.

I am stunned when I hear a Christian say, “If my clothing causes Greg to lust, that’s his problem.”

That attitude is simply unbiblical.

It is the same as saying, “I am not responsible for the moral stumbling blocks that I create with my clothing."

To be sure, Greg’s lust is his problem and is primarily his problem. But if your clothing makes you an accessory to lust-a stumbling block-then the Word of GOD says it has become your problem also.

The LORD Jesus Christ Himself pronounces condemnation upon those people who encourage others to sin: woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

1 Timothy 2:9 and Matthew 18:7-9: “A woman characterized by this attitude [that is, modesty] will dress so as not to be the source of any temptation…

A godly woman hates sin so much that she would avoid anything that would engender sin in anyone.

Better to be dead than lead another believer into sin!”

Why do some Christians dress so as to make themselves “lusting events”?

Often it is due to innocent ignorance. Many believers simply do not realize that other Christians are easily tempted to sin by immodest clothing.

This is especially true for Christian women: they often do not understand that many Christian men experience great anguish of soul as they fight with sexual temptation.

Without intending to, they wear clothing that is a stumbling block.

Be mindful that Christian men are saints, not angels! Sisters, please love your brothers enough to avoid tempting them to sin.

In other cases, however, the problem is not innocent ignorance; rath-er, it is unwillingness to honor GOD and love our neighbors with our clothing.

The Bible declares that the Christian’s body belongs to God, both by creation and by redemption (1Co 6:19-20).

Every square inch of a Christian’s life is to be lived under Christ’s Lordship and for GOD’s glory and this includes the Christian’s apparel. 

“I can dress any way I want to” is simply not something a Christian can say.
 
Please hear your LORD when He says that drastic action must be taken to minimize temptations and stumbling blocks. This is a command, not a suggestion. (See 1Co 8:9; 10:31-33.)

Dressing modestly is simply one result of a GODLY and unselfish concern for others’ well-being.

~Robert G. Spinney~

Honeyed Poison

O Sirs! in the grave it is all the same...to one who has had all, and to another who has had nothing.

What folly is it to lay up goods for many years, when we cannot lay up one day for the enjoyment of our goods!

Christ, who never miscalled any, calls him "fool!" who had much of the world in his hands - but nothing of God in his heart.

All this whole world is not proportionate to the precious soul. 

All the riches of the Indies cannot pacify conscience, nor secure eternity, nor prevent death, nor bring you off victorious in the day of judgment.

Therefore be contented with a little.
 
All the good things of this world, are but cold comforts. They cannot stretch to eternity, they will not go with us into the eternal world.

Therefore why should the lack of such things either trouble our thoughts or break our hearts?

The whole world is but a paradise for fools; a beautiful but deceitful harlot; a dreamed sweetness; a very ocean of gall.

There is nothing to be found in it, which has not mutability and uncertainty, vanity and vexation stamped upon it.

And therefore he cannot be truly happy who enjoys it; nor can he be miserable who lacks it.

And why then should not he be contented who has but a little of it?

The greatest outward happiness is but honeyed poison; and therefore do not mutter or murmur because you have but little of the world.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5.
 
~Thomas Brooks~

Have Nothing To Do With Them.

Psa 106: 35-36  But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.  And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

They mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. They worshiped their idols, and this led to their downfall.

The 'carnal professors' of the day see nothing wrong, nothing amiss, nothing inconsistent in their conduct or spirit, though they are sunk in worldliness, carnality, or covetousness. 

But where there is divine life, where the blessed Spirit moves upon the heart with His sacred operations and secret influences, there will be light to see, and a conscience to feel, what is wrong, sinful, inconsistent, and improper.

It is but too evident that we cannot be mixed up with the professors of the day without drinking, in some measure, into their spirit and being more or less influenced by their example.

We can scarcely escape the influence of those with whom we come much and frequently into contact.

If they are dead, they will often benumb us with their corpse-like coldness.

If they are light and trifling, they will often entangle us in their carnal levity. 

If they are worldly and covetous, they may afford us a shelter and an excuse for our own worldliness and covetousness.

Abhor that loose profession, that ready compliance with everything which feeds the pride, worldliness, covetousness, and lusts of our depraved nature, which so stamps the present day with some of its most perilous and dreadful characters.

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. "Having a form of godliness but denying its power.
  
Have nothing to do with them.

~J. C. Philpot~

The Power Of Silence

 

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
 
Is there any note of music in all the chorus as mighty as the emphatic pause?

Is there any word in all the Psalter more eloquent than that one word, Selah (Pause)?

Is there anything more thrilling and awful than the hush that comes before the bursting of the tempest and the strange quiet that seems to fall upon all nature before some preternatural phenomenon or convulsion?

Is there anything that can touch our hearts as the power of stillness?

There is for the heart that will cease from itself, "the peace of God that passeth all understanding," a "quietness and confidence" which is the source of all strength, a sweet peace "which nothing can offend," a deep rest which the world can neither give nor take away.

There is in the deepest center of the soul a chamber of peace where God dwells, and where, if we will only enter in and hush every other sound, we can hear His still, small voice.

There is in the swiftest wheel that revolves upon its axis a place in the very center, where there is no movement at all; and so in the busiest life there may be a place where we dwell alone with God, in eternal stillness,

There is only one way to know God. "Be still, and know." "God is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." 

~Selected~

All-loving Father, sometimes we have walked under starless skies that dripped darkness like drenching rain. We despaired of starshine or moonlight or sunrise.

The sullen blackness gloomed above us as if it would last forever.

And out of the dark there spoke no soothing voice to mend our broken hearts.

We would gladly have welcomed some wild thunder peal to break the torturing stillness of that over-brooding night.

But Thy winsome whisper of eternal love spoke more sweetly to our bruised and bleeding souls than any winds that breathe across Aeolian harps.

It was Thy 'still small voice' that spoke to us. We were listening and we heard.

We looked and saw Thy face radiant with the light of love. And when we heard Thy voice and saw Thy face, new life came back to us as life comes back to withered blooms that drink the summer rain."

Song Of Confidence

Psa 138:7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.  

Wretched walking in the midst of trouble. Nay, blessed walking, since there is a special promise for it. 

Give me a promise, and what is the trouble? What doth my LORD teach me here to say? Why this... Thou wilt revive me.

I shall have more life, more energy, more faith. Is it not often so, that trouble revives us, like a breath of cold air when one is ready to faint?

How angry are my enemies and especially the archenemy!

Shall I stretch forth my hand and fight my foes! No, my hand is better employed in doing service for my LORD.

Besides, there is no need, for my God will use His far-reaching arm, and He will deal with them far better than I could if I were to try.

Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the LORD. He will with His own right hand of power and wisdom save me, and what more can I desire?

Come, my heart, talk this promise over to thyself till thou canst use it as the song of thy confidence, the solace of thy holiness. 

Pray to be revived thyself and leave the rest with the LORD, who performeth all things for thee. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Quicken Us

Psa 71:20  Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.  

God shows us the troubles. Sometimes, as this part of our education is being carried forward, we have to descend into "the lower parts of the earth," pass through subterranean passages, lie buried amongst the dead, but never for a moment is the cord of fellowship and union between God and us strained to breaking; and from the depths God will bring us again.

Never doubt God! Never say that He has forsaken or forgotten. 
Never think that He is unsympathetic. He will quicken again. 

There is always a smooth piece in every skein, however tangled. The longest day at last rings out the evensong. The winter snow lies long, but it goes at last.

Be steadfast; your labor is not in vain. God turns again, and comforts. And when He does, the heart which had forgotten its Psalmody breaks out in jubilant song, as does the Psalmist: "I will thank thee, I will harp unto thee, my lips shall sing aloud." 

~Selected~

Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing, And old and chill is the wintry blast; Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing, And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;

My face I hold to the stormy heaven, My heart is as calm as the summer sea, Glad to receive what my God has given, Whate'er it be.

When I feel the cold, I can say, 'He sends it,' And His winds blow blessing, I surely know; 

For I've never a want but that He attends it, And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow."

For Ye Are Dead And Your Life Is Hid With Christ In GOD

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Now, this definite, absolute and final putting off of ourselves in an act of death, is something we cannot do ourselves.

It is not self-mortifying, but it is dying with Christ.

There is nothing can do it but the Cross of Christ and the Spirit of God.

The church is full of half dead people who have been trying, like poor Nero, to slay themselves for years, and have not had the courage to strike the fatal blow.

Oh, if they would just put themselves at Jesus' feet, and let Him do it, there would be accomplishment and rest.

On that cross He has provided for our death as well as our life, and our part is just to let His death be applied to our nature just as it has been to our old sins, and then leave it with Him, think no more about it, and count it dead,

Not recognizing it any longer as ourselves, but another, refusing to listen or fear it, to be identified with it, or even try to cleanse it,

But counting it utterly in His hands, and dead to us forever, and for all our new life depending on Him at every breath, as a babe just born depends upon its mother's life.

~A. B. Simpson~

The Evil Of Not Fearing

Now we pass over to the other side - the evil of not fearing.

But this is another kind of fear, fear of the Lord, walking in the fear of the Lord, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord.

Great fear came upon the church - with what result? It lost heart, it became afraid, it was paralyzed?

No! - the Name of the Lord Jesus was glorified and the Church multiplied. Oh, this then, must be another kind of fear.

It operates in exactly the opposite way from that of which we have been speaking.

What is this fear? Well, it is the fear of devotion to the Lord.

It is that fear which, in the first place, has all questions of relationship with the Lord settled, has the whole matter of acceptance by the Lord settled, the sin question is got out of the way through the righteousness which is of faith. 

Then the fear of the Lord means recognition of His glory, recognition of His greatness, recognition of His holiness, His majesty, and a humble submission to Him in the fear that would not in any way work against Him and His honor.

It is another kind of fear, the fear of devotion to the Lord, and the chief characteristic of this fear is meekness.

And that is where the sin of not fearing is found in the Word of God.

If you go through the Word and you find those various instances where God came out in judgment because this fear was not there, you will find that it was that those instances represented something like this.

In Numbers 16 you have Dathan and Abiram and their company. What are they doing? 

To Moses, the meekest of men, the anointed servant of the Lord, they say, "You take too much on yourself.

You are not the only one through whom the Lord speaks. We are as much the children of God as you are!" That is how they speak, and they fear not to put their hand upon that which is anointed.

It is not that Moses is anything, but it is the anointing.

It is something anointed of God and they were guilty of the sin of spiritual assumption; it was due to a lack of meekness.

The Lord came out in terrible judgment, showing for all time that when the Lord anoints anyone or anything, that anointing is not something that constitutes that person a special office or officer.

The anointing is the Lord, the Lord Himself.

The Lord is on that, the Lord Himself is in that, the Lord is there, and when you touch that, you touch the Lord; you touch that in word, you touch the Lord, you touch that in deed, you touch the Lord.

He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not Mine anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm (Psa. 105:14-15).

If you and I ever have the slightest reason to conclude that the Lord is anywhere or with any person or with anything or with any people, we touch that to our peril if it is touching it other than in the fear of the Lord.

It is a tremendous check.

We read that little bit from 1 Samuel. Yes, David was anointed, David was God's chosen one, but Saul had been anointed and Saul was not yet dead. 

Saul was not yet set aside finally, although potentially. 

David got an opportunity and cut off the skirt of Saul's garment and then it says, "David's heart smote him".

David's heart smote him. We in New Testament times in whom the Spirit dwells would say, "The Lord rebuked me, smote me in my heart, in my spirit". 

Again and again this comes up - exactly what happens in the case of the bringing up of the ark. When Uzzah died before the Lord, what was the reason? It was a lack of the fear of the Lord of the right kind.

It was an assumption. It was a putting forth of a hand to touch holy things. That is terrible.

The evil of not fearing, you see. It comes from an insufficient apprehension of the sacredness of what is of God.

But this fear is a holy fear. Let no one think for a moment that this fear of the Lord is death, bondage, stultification and repression. Not at all. 

Wherever you find this fear of the Lord you find joy, love, peace and liberty. People are not afraid of the Lord. But they are careful not to grieve the Lord. They do not take liberties with the Lord.  

They do not think of spiritual liberty as spiritual license. They do not cast off restraint, they do not ride rough-shod over all sacred things, calling it liberty.

No, there is holy fear which restrains and in restraining keeps things pure and keeps things clear and makes a straight way for the Lord. 

The true fear of the Lord is not dread. It is a very blessed and precious thing.

Now you notice these passages in the New Testament show us that it was at such times when this kind of fear came in a special way that there was something to the glory of God. 

You know, if you get into the book of the Acts and you begin to see things happening, getting to the realm of "things doing" as we say, the expression and manifestation of divine power there is your peril. 

That was so in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Things were happening.

What a peril when the Lord is doing something, for the flesh to just step in and begin to sport itself in what God is doing, to take advantage, to exploit the situation for its improvement, and the Lord had to step in to save the situation. 

What did He do? Well, what He did in the issue was to recover a wholesome fear, a fear that would keep things pure and "fear fell upon all". That kept things pure. 

It did not arrest the Lord. It did not mean that things had got to come under bondage again. 

No, it just kept things pure, and so that was repeated from time to time. "Great fear came upon all... the Name of the Lord was glorified and the Church multiplied."

What I want to say is this, that a right kind of fear, a fear of the Lord, is something which gives the Lord a very clear way to do what He wants. 

To this one will I look... - and oh, what a lot is bound up with that phrase. It does not just mean that the Lord takes a look at us, looks in our direction. 

When the Lord looks to us, well, there is everything we want. All that we want is in the light of His countenance. 

If the Lord looks upon us, it is like the sun looking out with all the beneficent rays of warmth and light and energy. 

To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembles at My word (Isa. 66:2). 

Do you want, do I want, spiritual increase in understanding, in knowledge, in revelation?

Do we want spiritual increase in strength from the Lord? Do we want fulness?

Let me say that this is going to come to the humble man, the weak, meek one in the eyes of the Lord, the one who trembles at His word, who does not assume.

Oh, let us ask the Lord that there may be found in us that true holy fear which is love, not the fear which is contrary to love, but the true holy fear which is love.

The Lord will be able to go on and lead us into all His fulness if He has that quality in us, that in us which simply means that we honor Him, we recognize Him, we trust Him, we have perfect confidence in Him, and that we are very reticent either by word of criticism, or judgment, or by any other way, to put a hand upon what is sacred to the Lord, even a child of God.

If it is a child of God, then the Lord is in that one and we must be very careful.

That is what it means, and this matter of the blessing of the Lord which makes rich, this matter of the light of His countenance, is a very practical matter.

It may all hang upon some matter of our attitude towards another child of God.

The whole of the fulness of Christ may be held up and suspended for us because of some injurious way in which we talk about what is precious to God, if we criticize it, judge it, think that we can improve it.

The Lord may stand back.

Let us ask the Lord to put into our hearts His fear while on the other hand He is seeking to root out of us that evil which is so much to His dishonor.

I simply bring this to you and urge upon you further prayerful reflection. Ask the Lord about this. 

Do not forget the enemy's drive along the line of fear, but do not forget that freedom from the enemy's kind of fear does not make us those fire-eaters who care for nothing and simply trample all sacred things down under foot because we are very bold.

No, there is a right boldness and a wrong boldness, a right fear and a wrong fear. The Lord teach us the meaning of that! 

~T. Austin Sparks~

Instruments To Deal With Corruption

Take Nehemiah. Nehemiah seems to have had a great deal of his time occupied with dealing with the other false and foreign elements seeking to insinuate themselves into the recovery of this testimony, as represented by the wall: the clear line of demarcation between what is of God and what is not of God. 

He found these things had got right into the House of God itself and had established themselves there. 

And he rooted and routed them out, but he was constantly being drawn out to deal with these encroachments and these impingements.

On the Sabbath day the traders came round the gates of Jerusalem trying to get in, and if they could not get in on the Sabbath day they waited there to get in immediately the doors were opened. 

Nehemiah saw that this was a corrupting thing, it had gained the upper hand and would pollute what he was doing, and he recorded it of himself: "I testified against them".

Here is a man who is alive to the danger of these foreign elements coming in, and he is all the time dealing with that which he knows if once it gets in, will undo all that he is doing, which will destroy the testimony.
 
So it was with Ezra. And what business these two men had in the matter of the foreign wives even of the priests!

These foreign relationships had to be disentangled and cut off, and there had to be a breaking in between what was of God and what was not of God in order to establish the testimony in life. 

It had to be done.

In many other illustrations and instances in the Old Testament we have this same thing, that whenever a testimony has to be brought back into fulness of life, everything that is of darkness, that is foreign to light, that is not of God, has got to be put out. 

Otherwise our labor is in vain and the testimony will be nullified.

The enemy's persistent activity is to get something in that is not God.

If He gets in, it can carry that to the final issue.

That is why the Lord Jesus Himself, as the personification of the testimony of God, said: "the ruler [prince KJV, ] of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" (John 14:30).

The enemy had tried all through His life to get something in. In the wilderness, in the temptations, he tried to get something in that was of himself and insinuate himself in some way.

All along he was trying to do that.

He knew quite well that if he could get a lodgement for something of his own kingdom that was not of the Father, of God, he was sure of triumph in the long run.The testimony of life triumphing over death would be nullified. 

So he concentrated upon the chief and the inclusive vessel of that testimony, but the Lord was able to say at length, when the enemy had tried all his resources: "the ruler [prince] of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me".

That is the secret of His power and His victory; the full triumph of God over death in Him.

This is something which may not be new to us, but to have our attention drawn afresh to it is very important if we really are to be vessels of the testimony of God concerning His Son.

This applies to us as individuals, as individual believers, as children of God, but oh, how it applies to us and concerns us if we are responsible in any larger way than that of personal Christian life.

How important it is for us to be alive to this fact, and to always bear it in mind, that as believers and as servants of God the maintenance of the testimony in life with all that that means of the impact of an indestructible all-conquering power over Satan, has to be upheld and maintained.

We must have a very clear perception as to corrupting elements, defiling elements and mixture.

Mixture is one of the devil's master strokes to nullify what is of God.

This letter of John touches upon quite a number of things by which the enemy pursues this course of nullifying of the testimony.

In the first place it speaks of inconsistency and contradiction in the life of the believer.

Take note of one little clause only which is very revealing in that matter: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth" (1 John 1:6).

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (verse 8);

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  (verse 10);

He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. (1 John 2:9). 

Here are contradictions in believers saying one thing, but in the background contradicting the thing we say.

We need not dwell with that very much. It is perfectly patent that here you have two things at work, contradicting one another.

That is the devil's work.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Servant's Honored

Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof; so he that waiteth on his master shall be honored. (Proverbs 27:18).

He who tends the fig tree has figs for his pains, and he who waits on a good master has honor as his reward.

Truly the LORD Jesus is the very best of masters, and it is an honor to be allowed to do the least act for His sake.

To serve some lords is to watch over a crab tree and eat the crabs as one's wages; but to set ye the LORD Jesus is to keep a fig tree of the sweetest figs.

His service is in itself delight, continuance in it is promotion, success in it is blessedness below, and the reward for it is glory above.

Our greatest honors will be gathered in that season when the figs will be ripe, even in the next world. 

Angels who are now our servitors will bear us home when our day's work is done. Heaven, where Jesus is, will be our honorable mansion, eternal bliss our honorable portion, and the LORD Himself our honorable companion.

Who can imagine the full meaning of this promise: "He that waiteth on his master shall be honored"?

LORD, help me to wait upon my Master. Let me leave all ideas of honor to the hour when Thou Thyself shalt honor me.

May the Holy Spirit make me a lowly, patient worker and waiter!

~Charles Spurgeon~

Do Not Despair!

Psa 27:13  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
 
Psa 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
 
Do not despair!
 
Oh, how great the temptation is to despair at times!

Our soul becomes depressed and disheartened, and our faith staggers under the severe trials and testing that come into our lives, especially during times of bereavement and suffering.

We may come to the place where we say,“I cannot bear this any longer. I am close to despair under these circumstances God has allowed.

He tells me not to despair, but what am I supposed to do when I
am at this point?”
 
What have you done in the past when you felt weak physically?
You could not do anything. You ceased from doing.

In your weakness, you leaned on the shoulder of a strong loved one.You leaned completely on someone else and rested, becoming still, and trusting in another’s strength.
 
It is the same when you are tempted to despair under spiritual
afflictions.

Once you have come close to the point of despair, God’s message is not,“Be strong and courageous” (Josh. 1:6), for
He knows that your strength and courage have run away. 

Instead, He says sweetly, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).
 
Hudson Taylor was so weak and feeble in the last few months
of his life that he told a friend,“I am so weak I cannot write.

I cannot read my Bible. I cannot even pray. 

All I can do is lie still in the arms of God as a little child, trusting Him.”

This wonderful man of God, who had great spiritual power, came to the point of physical suffering and weakness where all he could do was lie still and trust.
 
That is all God asks of you as His dear child. When you
become weak through the fierce fires of affliction, do not try to
“be strong.” Just “be still, and know that [He is] God.”

And know that He will sustain you and bring you through the fire.

God reserves His best medicine for our times of deepest despair.
Be strong and take heart.

Psa 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
 
Be strong, He has not failed you In all the past, And will He go and leave you To sink at last?
 
No, He said He will hide you Beneath His wing; And sweetly there in safety You then may sing.

The Spirit Of Power And Love And A Sound Mind

GOD hath Not given us the spirit of Fear, of Fearfulness, of Timidity.

The Holy Ghost Does Not Create Neutralities, Character Without Force, Colourless and Impotent.

A spirit of fearfulness would have no 'go,' no impressiveness, no decision.

It's Strength would be Drained Away by its own Timidities.

That is not the character of a man filled with the Holy Ghost.

What then is He like?

What is the spirit of man like when filled with the fullness of GOD!

1. It is a spirit of Power. Power is the first characteristic of the man who is full of the Holy Ghost.

What is this, but to say that the Holy-Ghost creates force of character?

In every life there is an Executive Government which may be either Vigorous or Limp.

That executive government is the will.

If the will be like a Weak galvanic battery, then all my conduct will be Wanting in Brightness and Decision.

But if my will be like a battery Well Charged with Power, then all my conduct will be characterized by Intensity and Precision.

Force of character is proportioned to strength of will.

The life of Jesus thrills with Positive Power.

There is nothing pliable about it.

It is strong, decided and bold, moving along with irresistible force, turned neither to the right hand nor to the left, neither frightened by the stones of the world, nor allured by its crowns.

It is 'a Spirit of Power.'

That is one of the gifts offered to men by the grace of GOD.

We can have our wills recharged from the super-abundant energy of the strong Son of GOD.

The Holy Ghost will 'take of the things of Christ' and give them unto us.

The Holy Ghost, working in man, works both 'to will and to do,' changing weak, Wavering wills into Steadfast ones, and the spirit of fear into the Spirit of Power.

2. But that would not be enough. Bad men have often great force of character.

There is nothing more perilous than blind power.

The Spirit of Power must be allied with something else, or we may drive into a terrible ditch.

So the Spirit of Power must be allied with the Spirit of Love.

The Spirit of Love is the organ of vision.

The finest knowledge is gained by the finest feeling.

Sympathy is the great interpreter of secrets.

Love is sight. It is only the loveless who are blind.

The loveless do not see the beauties of Nature.

It is only when love is enthroned that there is 'a new heaven and a new earth,' and that 'all things become new.'

The loveless do not see the truth of humanity.

It is Love who sees the wickedness of the city, and weeps over it.

It is Love who sees the lingering beauty in a Magdalene, and yearns over it.

The capacity of love is the capacity to judge.

If we are to Know the Truth of things, we need the Spirit of Love.

And my text tells me that this again is the gift of the Spirit of Love.

He who gives the will to do the truth, will also give the love to know it.

He strengthens the will, and gives men force of character.

He enriches the heart, and gives men power to see and know the truth.

3. 'A Sound Mind.' That is the third characteristic endowment of a man filled with the Holy ghost.

Now a Sound Mind is a healthy mind, a mind which delights in the things which are pure, which passionately enjoys them, and which turns away from the impure with strong revulsion and disgust.

The 'Sound Mind' abhors 'that which is evil'; it relishes that which is good.

So that a sound mind is just a healthy moral palate, a taste for the things of GOD.

This, again, is the gift of the Holy Ghost, creating in man a moral sanity which enables him to sing, 'How sweet are Thy words unto my taste!'

Now, sum it all up. 

The man filled with the Holy Ghost has a 'Spirit Of Power'-capacity to Do the Truth; a 'Spirit Of Love'-capacity to Know the Truth; and 'A Sound Mind'-capacity to Love the Truth.

~John Henry Jowett~

Holy Ghost Tears

Tears have a language just as definite and emphatic as smiles or gestures.

Words do not constitute the only language we speak, for everywhere there are many languages spoken by every human being.

There is a language in our gait, our tones of voice, our eyes, smiles, gestures, and our physical movements, in our laughter, facial expression, and in our tears.

The Bible is full of tears. See how the patriarchs "lifted up their voices and wept".

Read in the prophets how the tears poured down their cheeks night and day.

Go through the New Testament and see Jesus weeping with His friends at the grave of Lazarus.

Read Paul's Epistles where the burning tears fell on the page as he wrote.

What a vast ocean of heart life and pathos and feeling pervades the whole Bible.

It is not a stoical, human, philosophical book; it throbs with deep feeling from beginning to end.

It is a wonderful blessing to any human soul to have the Holy Ghost plow up the deep, interior fountains, and melt all the emotions, and cause the heart to pour itself out in tears.

There are different types of Holy Ghost tears.

There are the tears which flow from conviction of sin, especially when we see the sin in the light of God and look at it in contrast with the Divine compassion and longsuffering toward us.

All truth, to be forcible, must be seen with its two sides as a whole and not as a half truth.

And so the sight of our sins, would not of itself break up the depths of the heart into weeping. 

But when this vision of sin is seen in connection with God's longsuffering and compassion towards us, we get a little glimpse into the tenderness and merciful feeling of God for sinners.

Then sin seems heart breaking, and so the conscience is touched to the quick, which produces a flow of tears.

It was this kind of weeping that Mary Magdalene poured out over the feet of her precious Lord.

It was this kind of tears that flowed thick and fast from the eyes of Peter when he heard the cock crow.

No sinner can be made to weep by a mere cold, formal sight of his sins.

Mt. Sinai made the Jews tremble, but did not make them weep, and so the denunciation of sin or the portrayal of it can never of itself produce repentant tears.

It is only when the sins are seen under the soft, melting light of infinite pity and love that the heart is broken and the tears flow. 

Law may reveal sin, but nothing in the universe except love will make a man hate his sins.

Water may be locked up in ice, but you cannot drink it till it is melted, and it takes the warmth of the tenderest love to bring forth the waters of repentance.

There are tears we shed out of an intense desire of seeing God, of beholding Jesus. 

These are tears of a still higher order.

These are tears such as David shed when he longed for the courts of the living God during his banishment and when he said his soul thirsted for God as the panting hart after the water brooks.

These are the tears Mary shed when she sat at the empty tomb of Jesus with an unspeakable longing to find her dear Lord. 

There are no tears that give us such a deep and beautiful insight into the preciousness of Christ's person and character as these tears of holy longing.

When we get an opportunity for long seasons of secret prayer and pour out our hearts to our Heavenly Father, and then leave ourselves open for the Spirit to work in us as He pleases, He begins to draw us out in pure heart longings after God.

It is glorious beyond description to have Him give us glimpses of Himself that seem to entice our souls almost out of the body, and draw us away with such inward pantings, that the heart seems to leap and bound upward into the Heavenly world.
      
We seem in spirit to be running with all our might to get closer to His blessed face, and at every bound it seems our hearts will break with desire after the living God, till the great fountain of tears is broken up and they flow like hot salt streams down our cheeks.

Then the soul cries out, "O my Lord! My Love! Thou infinitely blessed, tender, precious God; when shall I see thee in thy glory, and when shall I drink myself full of thine eternal blessedness!" 

These tears give to our inner eyes telescopic visions into the beauties of God as they are clustered and set forth in the meek and lowly JESUS.

These tears are supernatural, and float us, like Noah's flood, above the highest mountain tops of earth into the deep blue dome of the peace and joy of God. 

Another kind of spiritual tears are those we shed out of pure love for our fellows, when we weep over the sins of mankind, the calamities of our neighbors, and out of a heart sorrow, for the salvation of souls.

Such are the tears St. Paul shed over the wayward Galatians, and over those persons who had made shipwreck of their faith. 

It was tears like this that Samuel shed, when the Lord told him that Saul had turned away from God, and was rejected from being king, and the great loving prophet wept all night long.

It was such holy, loving tears as these that fell from the eyes of Jesus as He sat on Mt. Olivet, and looked over His beautiful but ill-fated Jerusalem, and said, while the tears trickled down His cheeks, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you, as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings, and ye would not."
 
These were the kind of tears the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, poured out all his life over the sins and desolations of his people.

These are the tears that soul winners who are filled with holy love shed over the souls that they are seeking to save.

These are the Holy Ghost tears which the humble and holy ones pour out in the silent night watches before God over the awful backslidings in the churches, over worldly ministers, and over cold, lifeless congregations.
 
Perhaps these tears take us down deeper in the heart of Jesus because they bring us into the plan of His sacrifice for others and knit us in sympathy with His soul over the lost.

There are many professed Christians who seldom weep; in fact, many of them speak slightingly of tears, but such persons are leagues away from the true Bible life.

May God pity the dry eyed Christians, for if the eye is dry, the heart behind the eyes is dry also.

We must never have self complacency in our tears, or look upon them as good in themselves; they are simply the effect which proves the working of a deep spiritual cause, back in the soul. 

But while we are not to be attached to our tears, we are to thank God that He gives them to us, and above all things, we are to seek that inward tenderness of nature, that lowly contrition of heart, that interior union with the Christ life out of which Holy Ghost tears may flow.
 
~G. D. Watson~