We May Speak For GOD

Jer 15:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

Poor Jeremiah!

Yet why do we say so?

The weeping prophet was one of the choicest servants of God and honored by Him above many. 

He was hated for speaking the truth.

The word which was so sweet to him was bitter to his hearers...

Yet he was accepted of his LORD.

He was commanded to abide in his faithfulness...

And then the LORD would continue to speak through him.

He was to deal boldly and truthfully with men... 

And perform the LORD's winnowing work upon the professors of his day...

And then the LORD gave him this word: "Thou shalt be as my mouth." 

What an honor!

Should not every preacher, yea, every believer, covet it?

For God to speak by us, what a marvel!

We shall speak sure, pure truth; and we shall speak it with power.

Our word shall not return void...

It shall be a blessing to those who receive it...

And those who refuse it shall do so at their peril.

Our lips shall feed many.

O dear reader, pray that it may be so with all the sent servants of our LORD. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

This Protecting Faith Has To Be Taken Up

Ephesians 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

One should notice, too, that this protecting faith is one that we require to make our own.

In the apostle's words, we have to take it up, in the same way as we take up our cross.

There is a faith that is part and parcel of our being.

It is ours without any conscious effort.

We believe quite naturally when the sower sows his seed that there will be a harvest in the autumn.

But to believe, when life is stern and sorrowful, that God is with us and loves us as a Father, that is not natural to sinful man.

We have to take it up, in the apostle's words.

We have to use our will in a deliberate effort, if such a faith is to be part of life.

And it is just there that the Lord Jesus makes all the difference to us in our weakness, for God commendeth His love to us in this, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

~George H. Morrison~
 

Satan's Lie

What is Satan's lie in connection with life? 

He offers false life, another kind of life that looks like the true one. 

Satan falsifies true life, and, instead of being spiritual life, it is just soul life. 

Do you know the difference between spiritual life and soul life?

Satan attacked the soul life of Adam. 

You know what the soul is, do you not?

It is your reason, your emotions, your will. 

Satan began by REASONING with Adam, and, oh, what a dangerous thing it is to argue with Satan! 

Never reason with the devil, or, in other words, do not listen to his arguments! 

There is a sting in his tail! 

So Satan first came to man's reason and started an argument: "Yea, hath God said?" (Genesis 3:1). 

Immediately a question about God was lodged in the mind. 

There is a terrible destiny bound up with that question!

Then Satan appealed to Adam's FEELINGS, and, pointing to the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: 'You see how lovely and full of juice that fruit is! How much it is to be desired!' 

So Adam looked at the fruit and said: 'How lovely! I think I would like some of that.' 

His emotions went out to it, and when Satan has got your mind and your emotions, it is not far to your WILL!

The next thing was that Adam took the fruit. 

He used his will, and the damage was done.

It is all symbolic, but, you see, it contains eternal principles. 

The whole kingdom and reign of Satan are built upon that basis. 

The mind, the heart and the will of humanity are captured by the devil, but it is false life. 

What about all the emotion in the world, even in Christianity? 

There is a vast difference between spiritual, eternal life, and soul life. 

There is such a thing as false life, and that thing is the master-stroke of Satan! 

You will remember that there was a time in the history of Israel in the wilderness when certain sons of Aaron brought false fire and offered it upon God's altar. 

You know what happened! 

You know all about God's jealousy. 

There is a vast amount of false fire in this world today. 

It looks like true life, true fire, what is of God, but there is a lie in it, and the fruit of that tree is bitter fruit in the end. 

~T. Austin Sparks~