Wrath To GOD"S Glory

Wicked men will be wrathful. 

Their anger we must endure as the badge of our calling, the token of our separation from them:

If we were of the world, the world would love its own. 

Our comfort is that the wrath of man shall be made to redound to the glory of God. 

When in their wrath the wicked crucified the Son of God they were unwittingly fulfilling the divine purpose, and in a thousand cases the willfulness of the ungodly is doing the same. 

They think themselves free, but like convicts in chains they are unconsciously working out the decrees of the Almighty. 

The devices of the wicked are overruled for their defeat. 

They act in a suicidal way and baffle their own plottings. 

Nothing will come of their wrath which can do us real harm. 

When they burned the martyrs, the smoke which blew from the stake sickened men of popery more than anything else. 

Meanwhile, the LORD has a muzzle and a chain for bears. 

He restrains the more furious wrath of the enemy.

He is like a miller who holds back the mass of the water in the stream, and what He does allow to flow He uses for the turning of His wheel. 

Let us not sigh, but sing. 

All is well, however hard the wind blows.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Who Has The Majority?

2Ki 6:16  And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

Horses and chariots and a great host shut up the prophet in Dothan. 

His young servant was alarmed. 

How could they escape from such a body of armed men? 

But the prophet had eyes which his servant had not, and he could see a greater host with far superior weapons guarding him from all harm. 

Horses of fire are mightier than horses of flesh, and chariots of fire are far preferable to chariots of iron. 

Even so is it at this hour. 

The adversaries of truth are many, influential, learned, and crafty; and truth fares ill at their hands; and yet the man of God has no cause for trepidation. 

Agencies, seen and unseen, of the most potent kind, are on the side of righteousness. 

God has armies in ambush which will reveal themselves in the hour of need. 

The forces which are on the side of the good and the true far outweigh the powers of evil. 

Therefore, let us keep our spirits up, and walk with the gait of men who possess a cheering secret, which has lifted them above all fear. 

We are on the winning side. 

The battle may be sharp, but we know how it will end. 

Faith, having God with her, is in a clear majority: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them."

~Charles Spurgeon~

Sick Bed Vows

Psa 78:34  When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

Psa 78:35  And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
                                                      
Psa 78:36  Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

Psa 78:37  For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

Psa 78:38  But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Psa 78:39  For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

Psa 78:40  How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

Psa 78:41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

Psa 78:42  They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

This Psalm is about the people of Israel.

It sets forth God's dealings with them and the return which they made...

It declares, on the one hand, the wonderful things which He did for them:

His kindness and long-suffering, His chastisements and His forgiveness...

And, on the other hand, their many backslidings, their repeated ingratitude and rebellion.

In this particular part of the Psalm we see how the people turned to God when He laid His hand upon them in affliction, but forgot Him again when His hand was removed.

This happened again and again.

Many a time did they seem to repent, and yet they again returned to their sins.

Many a time did God forgive their backslidings.

How often may this be seen still! "When He slew them...then would seek Him."

When a man feels the hand of God upon him in sickness or trouble, then he seeks God.

His pride is brought down, he is careless no longer; for his strength is gone from him, and outward comforts are fled, and perhaps death itself seems near.

Now he seems in earnest.

He shows much zeal in inquiring after God, and pays attention to reading and prayer.

His thoughts go back to the past.

He remembers God's dealings with him...

He thinks over his life, counts up the mercies he has received, considers how he has been borne with in his carelessness, and how the means of grace have not been withheld from him, though he has made so poor an use of them.

He sees now the vanity of the world.

He remembers that God is his Rock, and the most high God is his Redeemer.

He will be a different man for the future.

He will never again live as he has lived.

If it pleases God to raise him up, he will never more forget Him, but will strive to serve Him truly all his days.

These are his thoughts and purposes.

Suppose it please God to restore that man to health and prosperity...does he still remain in the same mind?

Does he really lead a new life and care for his soul and serve God?

Alas, not in every case.

Often the sick-bed vow is broken and the sick-bed thoughts are forgotten.

With returning health, old thoughts come back, and old ways are followed.

There is little change.

The words come true, " But then they would flatter Him with their mouths, lying to Him with their tongues."

Not that they did not mean what they said.

The people of Israel were sincere perhaps at the moment; but "their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant."

There was no depth in their repentance, no steadfastness in their purposes...

And so, as soon as God's afflicting hand was removed, they provoked Him afresh.

In like manner, the man who forgets his sick-bed vows was no hypocrite perhaps when he made them.

He did not say one thing and mean another.

He meant to keep to what he said, and thought that he would.

But he did not know his own heart, his weakness, his proneness to forget God, his need of grace.

He did not know that the Holy Spirit alone could work a real change in him and make his heart right with God and lead him to be steadfast in His covenant.

Had he but known this, and sought the Spirit accordingly...how different would his after-life have been!

Affliction, pain, and sickness do not in themselves work a change of heart.

They are often used as instruments by God, but they are only instruments...the power is His.

It is only sanctified affliction which leaves a blessing behind it.

We should pray therefore, when we are sick or in trouble, that the Holy Spirit may be given to us, and that our affliction may be sanctified and turned to the good of our souls.

Prayer is the way by which afflictions may be turned into blessings.

Prayer will give us cause to say with David, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted!" (Psalm 119:71). 

Psa 119:71  It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

God is full of compassion and mercy.

Though Israel so often sinned again yet God repeatedly forgave them.

He is still the same...the same to us, as He was to them.

He looks in mercy upon our shortcomings and backslidings, our broken vows and forgotten resolutions.

He remembers that we are but flesh...poor, weak, sinful creatures.

The precious blood of Christ has been shed for us, and "He ever lives to make intercession for us".
 
Heb 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

For His sake, God is still ready to receive us; and, notwithstanding all that is past, He will forgive and save all who seek Him through Jesus Christ.

Thus He is indeed their Rock and their Redeemer.

Happy are all who seek Him and know Him thus!

But let none presume on God's compassion and mercy and think that because He bears long and forgives often...they may go on in their sins and yet escape.
 
It cannot be.

There is every encouragement to turn to God in Christ now.

No one shall now be refused; no one shall now find the door of mercy shut.

But the time will come when that door will be closed forever...

And when those who have slighted God's warnings and turned a deaf ear to His invitations will find too late that they have let the day of salvation slip by.

Now is the time to profit by God's chastisements, to turn to Him and to seek Him.

Even while His hand is upon us and we hear His gracious voice calling us in His Word...

Let us turn unto Him who smites us; let us seek the Lord Almighty!

~Francis Bourdillon~

He Blesses And Keeps

This first clause of the high priest's benediction is substantially a promise. 

That blessing which our great High Priest pronounces upon us is sure to come, for He speaks the mind of God.

What a joy to abide under the divine blessing!

This puts a gracious flavor into all things. 

If we are blessed, then all our possessions and enjoyments are blessed; yea, our losses and crosses and even our disappointments are blessed. 

God's blessing is deep, emphatic, effectual.

A man's blessing may begin and end in words, but the blessing of the LORD makes rich and sanctifies. 

The best wish we can have for our dearest friend is not "may prosperity attend thee," but "the LORD bless thee."

It is equally a delightful thing to be kept of God; kept by Him, kept near Him, kept in Him. 

They are kept indeed whom God keeps; they are preserved from evil; they are reserved unto boundless happiness. 

God's keeping goes with His blessing, to establish it and cause it to endure.

The author of this little book desires that the rich blessing and sure keeping here pronounced may come upon every reader who may at this moment be looking at these lines. 

Please breathe the text to God as a prayer for His servants. 

~Charles Spurgeon~