The Devil's Jackals!

2Sa 11:2  And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

At that hour David saw Bathsheba.  

We are never out of the reach of temptation!  

Both at home and abroad we are liable to meet with allurements to evil. 

The morning opens with peril, and the shadows of evening find us still in jeopardy.

They are well kept, whom God keeps! 

But woe unto those who go forth into the world, or even dare to walk their own house, Unarmed. 

Those who think themselves secure, are more exposed to danger than any others. 

The armor-bearer of sin, is Self-Confidence.

David should have been engaged in fighting the Lord's battles, instead of which he tarried at Jerusalem, and gave himself up to luxurious repose--for he arose from his bed in the evening.

Idleness and luxury are the devil's jackals, and find him abundant prey.

In stagnant waters, noxious creatures swarm.

Neglected soil, soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briers.

Oh for the constraining love of Jesus to keep us active and useful!

When I see the King of Israel sluggishly leaving his couch at the close of the day and falling at once into temptation, let me Take Warning, and Set Holy Watchfulness to Guard the door!

Is it possible that the king had mounted his housetop for prayer and devotion? 

If so, what a caution is given us to count no place, however secret--a sanctuary from sin!

While our hearts are so like a tinder-box, and sparks so plentiful--we had need use all diligence in all places, to prevent a blaze.

Satan can climb housetops, and enter prayer-closets!

And even if we could shut out that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin--unless God's grace prevents it.

Reader, beware of evening temptations. 

Be not secure. The sun is down--but sin is up. 

We need a watchman for the night, as well as a guardian for the day.

O lessed Spirit, keep us from all evil this night. Amen.

~Charles Spurgeon

Fret Not Over Evil-Doers!

Psalm 37:1  A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

Do not get into a perilous heat about things. 

If ever heat were justified, it was surely justified in the circumstances outlined in the Psalm. 

Evil-doers were moving about clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day. 

Workers of iniquity were climbing into the supreme places of power, and were tyrannizing their less fortunate brethren.

Sinful men and women were stalking through the land in the pride of life and basking in the light and comfort of great prosperity, and good men were becoming heated and fretful.

Fret not thyself. Do not get unduly heated! Keep cool! 

Even in a good cause, fretfulness is not a wise help-meet. 

Fretting only heats the bearings; it does not generate the steam. 

It is no help to a train for the axles to get hot; their heat is only a hindrance. 

When the axles get heated, it is because of unnecessary friction; dry surfaces are grinding together, which ought to be kept in smooth co-operation by a delicate cushion of oil.

And is it not a suggestive fact that this word "fret" is closely akin to the word "friction," and is an indication of absence of the anointing oil of the grace of God?

In fretfulness, a little bit of grit gets into the bearings-some slight disappointment, some ingratitude, some discourtesy-and the smooth working of the life is checked. 

Friction begets heat; and with the heat, most dangerous conditions are created.

Do not let thy bearings get hot. Let the oil of the Lord keep thee cool, lest by reason of an unholy heat thou be reckoned among the evil-doers.

 ~The Silver Lining

Dear restless heart, be still; don't fret and worry so; God has a thousand ways His love and help to show;

Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.

Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile, His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile;

Just love, and love, and love, and calmly wait awhile.

Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so, He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow;

Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.

Dear restless heart, repose upon His breast this hour, His grace is strength and life, His love is bloom and flower;

Just rest, and rest, and rest, within His tender power.

Dear restless heart, be still! Don't struggle to be free; God's life is in your life, from Him you may not flee;

Just pray, and pray, and pray, till you have faith to see.

~Edith Willis Linn

GOD'S Multiplication Table

Works for the LORD often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. 

Feebleness Educates Faith, brings God near, and Wins Glory for His Name. 

Prize promises of increase! 

Mustard seed is the smallest among seeds, and yet it becomes a treelike plant, with branches which lodge the birds of heaven. 

We may begin with one, and that "a little one," and yet it will "become a thousand." 

The LORD is great at the multiplication table. 

How often did He say to His lone servant, "I will multiply thee!" 

Trust in the LORD, ye ones and twos...

For He Will Be in the midst of you If you are gathered In His Name. 

A small one. What can be more despicable in the eyes of those who count heads and weigh forces! 

Yet This Is The Nucleus Of A Great Nation. 

Only one star shines out at first in the evening, but soon the sky is crowded with Countless lights. 

Nor need we think the prospect of increase to be remote, for the promise is, "I Jehovah Will Hasten It In His Time."

There will be No Premature Haste, like that which we see at excited meetings...

It Will Be All In Due Time, But Yet There Will Be No Delay. 

When The LORD Hastens, His Speed Is Glorious.

~Charles Spurgeon

Deliverance From Dust And Chaff

Amos 9:9  For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

The Sifting Process Is Going On Still. 

Wherever we go, we are Still being Winnowed and Sifted. 

In all countries God's people are being Tried "like as corn is sifted in a sieve." 

Sometimes the devil holds the sieve and tosses us up and down at a great rate, with the earnest desire to get rid of us forever.

Unbelief is not slow to Agitate our heart and mind with its Restless Fears. 

The world lends a willing hand at the same process and shakes us to the right and to the left with great vigor. 

Worst of all, the church, so largely Apostate as it is, comes in to give a more Furious Force to the sifting process. 

Well, well! Let it go on. 

Thus is the Chaff Severed from the Wheat. 

Thus Is The Wheat Delivered From Dust And Chaff.

And how great is the Mercy which comes to us in the text, "Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth"! 

All shall be Preserved that is Good, True, Gracious. 

Not one of the least of believers lose anything worth calling a loss. 

We shall be So Kept in the Sifting that it shall be a Real Gain to us Through Christ Jesus.

~Charles Spurgeon

 

How Long Will You Love Vanity?

Psalm 4:2  O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

The Lord is often represented in His word as reasoning with us.

He manifests the deepest interest, shows intense pity, and uses many means to draw us back from the vortex of ruin.

But man, thoughtless man, silly man rushes on his way, trifles with his soul, and plays on the brink of the most dreadful precipice!

He is in love with his sin...

And therefore in love with his own destruction! 

But God does not abandon him to despair-but touchingly, tenderly, lovingly, He reasons with him and asks, "How long will you love vanity?"

Man by nature sets his heart upon what is vain and worthless-that which is not suited to, or required by, his immortal nature. 

Vanity represents that which is light, Changeable, and of Brief duration.  

Man displays his love of vanity by preferring human friendship, to God's friendship...

By thinking much more of the creature, than the Creator..

By preferring earthly riches, to heavenly riches...

By preferring carnal pleasures, to spiritual delights!

Nor only so, but he manifests his foolishness by indulging in sin, the worst of vanities!

Look at the profane swearer, the drunkard, the glutton, the proud, the lover of pleasure. 

They are in love with vanity! 

They imagine that they shall have pleasure and enjoy happiness...

But they never ponder the questions...

What shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 

God asks the lover of vanity, "How Long!" 

How long will you love vanity?

You have been doing so for years. 

Some for twenty, some for forty, and some for sixty years! 

You have manifested love to vanity...

Though warned...

Though convinced you were doing wrong...

Though you have often promised to reform. 

You are still loving vanity though mortality is at work within you, though death is very near to you, though eternity is within a step of you, though Hell is ready to receive you!

You persevere in loving vanity...

While a pardon is presented to you...

While peace with God may be enjoyed by you...

While holiness may be obtained by you...

And while Heaven is within your reach! 

How long will you love vanity?

Until some affliction unfits you to seek the world?

Until God's Spirit no longer strives with you?

Until Satan fills your heart?

Until God laughs at your calamity?

Until some sudden stroke takes you away to Hell?

How long?

Let your past foolishness suffice...

And now, while the door of mercy is open, enter!

Now, while the way of escape is clear, Flee for your life!

No one ever came too soon, thousands have Delayed too long!

No one ever regretted that he was saved too early...

Millions have Cursed their folly that they were not saved at all!

Myriads wish that they had never been born, because they persevered in such folly. 

Beware then, Beware-lest you Bitterly Regret your folly too late! 

Love Vanity No Longer!

~James Smith

Swallowed Up In A Worldly Church!

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first.  

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  

As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. 

That is why the world hates you!

John 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

John 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Such is the testimony of the Lord Jesus. 

Real Christians have Never been favorites of the world-and while it continues what it is, they Never can be. 

Nor can the pure and simple gospel be pleasant to the world, because it lays the sinner in the dust and exalts God as supreme and sovereign. 

Let us not be surprised then, if we hear worldlings speak against the gospel, and speak badly of or tell lies about  the Lord's people. 

For what the Romans told Paul, is in a good measure true in the present day, "For concerning this 'sect', we are aware that it is spoken against everywhere!" 

Act 28:22  But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

This "sect' originated with Jesus, the hated Nazarene...

Who came into the world for its good, and to save His people from their sins. 

He gathered around Him many, but they were principally the poor and unlearned. 

There was nothing in them, or about them-to recommend them to the proud and sensual world. 

They were begotten of God, and made New creatures in Christ. 

They embraced the Truth that He taught. 

They observed the Precepts that He gave.

They copied the Example that He set.

Their creed consisted pretty much in these facts ...

That man is a lost sinner, that salvation by works is impossible, and therefore it must be all of grace, or not at all...

That the Lord Jesus came into the world to take the sinner's place, fulfill the law in the sinner's stead, and die as the sinner's substitute.

By such hopes, they were animated; by such rules, they walked; and at such objects, they aimed.

And yet, they were spoken against and despised, because they poured contempt on the luxuries, pride, and honors of this world. 

They were treated as the off-scouring of all things-unfit for society, unfit to live.

1Jn 3:13  Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

And yet, like Israel in Egypt, the more they were persecuted, the more they multiplied and grew...

Until at length they spread not only over the Roman empire, but nearly over the world. 

And, had they retained...

The simplicity of their lives, the spirituality of their minds, and the correctness of their creed, they would no doubt have encircled the globe!

But at length they were...

Courted by royalty, loaded with wealth, became intoxicated with worldly honors, and then their glory departed!

They drank into the spirit of the world, conformed to its maxims and customs, sought its approbation and applause...

And so fell from their exalted station, and lost their real dignity.

The 'sect' that had been spoken against everywhere, with the exception of a few-was swallowed up in a worldly church!

There are still some, who, like the ancient sect of the Nazarenes, are spoken against everywhere.  

They will not swim with the stream. 

They will not compromise their Master's honor, or give up their Master's Truth. 

According to the light they have, they walk; and they rejoice to exalt the Savior, humble the sinner, and proclaim salvation, all of grace. 

They rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer shame, for His dear name. 

Reader! Do you belong to this sect? 

Is there Anything in your religion that is distasteful to the world?

Anything that draws forth its opposition, or excites its contempt? 

The Carnal mind is Still Enmity against God; and if we are godlike, that enmity will manifest itself against us!

If we copy Christ's example, as set before us in the gospel...

If we testify against the world, that its works are evil, and call upon it to repent, as Christ did-we shall soon be hated by the world!

~James Smith

Christ's Sword!

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Not peace, but a sword! 

Lord Jesus, this is a Hard saying! 

Teach me to Believe it, and to Submit to the ordeal-Sharp and Piercing and Painful though it may be.

Between me and my world, Christ's Sword may pierce with its remorseless edge. 

He Separates me From old sinful habits...

From old sinful employments...

From old sinful pleasures...

From old sinful friendships.

He Divides me from the society in which I was Accustomed to move. 

Your home is no longer there! He says. 

And I go out from the familiar surroundings, into an Untrodden region and realm.

Between me and my nearest and dearest, Christ's sword may pierce pitilessly. 

Perhaps the loved ones of my own house will have nothing to do with my Redeemer and Lord. 

Perhaps they see no beauty in Him, that they should desire Him. 

Then, in the deepest and noblest things, they and I will stand apart-a sundering tide rolling between us. 

And how immeasurably sad that will be!

Between me and myself, Christ's sword is sure to Pierce with a Blade that Does Not Spare! 

The I, The Self, which used to be so Vain, so Confident, so Proud-Must Be Slain Outright! 

Its days of Pride, Pleasure and Selfishness must end--until I can say...

It is No More I who live, but He-my Prophet, my Priest, my King-who lives in me!

What a change that is!

What a martyrdom!

It is painful, this stroke of Christ's sword. 

But the old confessor was right: "The nearer the sword-the nearer Heaven!"

If I am victim-I am victor too. 

Smitten down by Jesus-I am not destroyed, but Crowned!

~Alexander Smellie

What Is Satan's LIE In Connection With Life?

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?". 

 

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

 

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~

So Many Millions Of Nominal Christians!

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Never have there been so many millions of nominal Christians as there are today.

And never has there been such a small percentage of Real believers. 

Never has Christendom been so crowded with those who have a Form Of Godliness, but who are strangers to its transforming power. 

We seriously doubt whether there has ever been a time in the history of this Christian era when there were such multitudes of Deceived souls within the churches...

Who truly believe that all is well with their souls, when in fact the wrath of God abides on them!

It is not that those empty professors who call themselves Christians are all conscious hypocrites, rather they are deceived souls...

And the tragic thing is that in most churches there is nothing in the preaching which is at all calculated to un-deceive them...

Instead, there is only that which bolsters them up in their delusion! 

There is a large class in Christendom today who are satisfied with a Bare Profession. 

They have heard some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and have given an intellectual assent thereto, and they mistake that for a saving knowledge of the Truth. 

Their Minds are Instructed-but their Hearts are Not Reached, Nor their Lives Transformed! 

They are Still Worldly in their affections and ways. 

There is No Real Subjection to God...

No Holiness of walk...

No Fruit to Christ's Glory.

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

~Arthur Pink

The TESTING Of EVERYTHING!

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

EVERYTHING is going to be shaken in earth and in heaven, with a view to finding out just How Much There Is Of Christ Living In It. 

These Jewish believers were going to see the temple and the whole temple system wrecked..

And then they would Discover just how much they had got of Christ...

Or how much of their life was Bound Up with earthly things. 

They would see what was left when that was all gone. 

God is not only going to shake Judaism, but this heavenly thing. 

He will shake heaven and earth... 

And we shall find out by that shaking what we have left when the earthly system passes...

When even the representation of heavenly things in Christianity is Tested (for Christianity has developed a representation of heavenly things, just as Judaism has). 

Men have made an earthly representation of the New Testament revelation of the church, and ministry, and priesthood. 

It Is All Going To Be Tested. 

For many it is now in the Melting Pot. 

The issue is the Shaking of heaven and earth.

What have we got left? 

The issue is Christ.

Whether you like all that we have said, or agree with it or not, does not worry me...

But I am concerned that we have come to Christ...

To show that Christ in heaven is Our Life...

Christ in heaven is Our All...

And appointed to be so by God, and Nothing Here can take the place of Christ. 

God will bring everything to an End that takes the place of Christ. 

He has determined from eternity that in all things Christ should have the preeminence, and have the fullness...

And that Nothing shall glory before Him or take His Place. 

The Lord bring us into a Larger measure of Christ, and a Larger measure of Christ into us.

~T. Austin Sparks