God Repays

Pro 19:17  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

We are to give to the poor. 

Not to be seen and applauded, much less to get influence over them; but out of pure sympathy and compassion we must give them help.

We must not expect to get anything back from the poor, not even gratitude; but we should regard what we have done as a loan to the LORD. 

He undertakes the obligation, and, if we look to Him in the matter, we must not look to the second party.

What an honor the LORD bestows upon us when He condescends to borrow of us!

That merchant is greatly favored who has the LORD on his books.

It would seem a pity to have such a name down for a paltry pittance; let us make it a heavy amount. 

The next needy man that comes this way, let us help him.

As for repayment, we can hardly think of it, and yet here is the LORD's note of hand. 

Blessed be His name, His promise to pay is better than gold and silver.

Are we running a little short through the depression of the times? 

We may venture humbly to present this bill at the bank of faith...

Has any one of our readers [oppressed] the poor? 

Poor soul. May the LORD forgive him. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Every Man's Work Will Be Tried In The Fire!

1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

I have no doubt that you love the Lord.

I am not raising any question about that. 

But, I do say again, we are involved in a great system which is a very complicated thing...

And a great deal of it is not of the Lord.

It is something that man has brought in. 

Man has put his hand upon the things of the Lord...

And man has made things according to his own mind...

And therefore a great deal has come in which is of man and not of the Lord. 

And when we say that, we are not only thinking of Christianity in general, we are thinking of ourselves.

This is true of ourselves. 

We have all come into something called Christianity...

And we have all taken on something of Christianity...

And there may be a great deal that we have to get rid of...

And come back to the simple fundamental reality. 

And the fundamental reality of all realities is the Presence Of The LORD. 

We have got to know that the Lord is with us...

And that the Lord is with us in all that we do...

That this did not originate in our mind. 

It did not originate in our will, it did not originate in our emotion.

It did not come from our soul, this thing has come from the Lord in every detail, like the tabernacle. 

Just like Jesus Christ, in every detail it has to come to us from God.

That ought to send us back to our knees – to go through all our work. 

It may be necessary for us, from time to time, to stand back and ask the Lord about all that we are doing...

Is this out from God, or is it something out from ourselves?

Is this way of doing things the mind of God, or is it our mind?

Is the Lord in this, or have we come into it?

You see, that is a great deciding matter. 

Make no mistake about it! 

Everything that is only of man is going to perish. 

Sooner or later it will be shaken.

Every man's work shall be tried in the fire, says the Word of God.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The King's Highway

Isa 35:8  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 

The way of holiness is so straight and plain that the simplest minds cannot go astray if they constantly follow it. 

The worldly wise have many twists and turns, and yet they make terrible blunders and generally miss their end. 

Worldly policy is a poor, shortsighted thing, and when men choose it as their road, it leads them over dark mountains. 

Gracious minds know no better than to do as the LORD bids them...

But this keeps them in the King's highway and under royal protection.

Let the reader never for a moment attempt to help himself out of a difficulty by a falsehood or by a questionable act...

But let him keep in the middle of the high road of truth and integrity, and he will be following the best possible course. 

In our lives we must never practice circular sailing nor dream of shuffling. 

Be just and fear not, Follow Jesus and heed no evil consequences. 

If the worst of ills could be avoided by wrongdoing, we should, in the very attempt, have fallen into an evil worse than any other ill could be. 

God's way must be the very best way. 

Follow it though men think you a fool, and you will be truly wise.

LORD, lead Thy servants in a plain path because of their enemies.

~Charles Spurgeon~