Signs Of Being Ashamed Of Christ

1. Concealment

First, then, I wish to speak about its revelation, about the way in which this shame of Christ betrays itself: and the first feature that rises before me is concealment.

Is there any man or woman of whom you are ashamed? Think of them and call up their names while I am speaking.

Well, however else your shame may show itself, it will at least have this mark--you are ashamed to be seen with them in public.

In private, that is a different matter: you have no objection to meeting them in private.

In the pressure of a great crowd, that is a different matter, for any two may be cast together in a crowd. 

But when you are ashamed of a man you are ashamed of being openly seen with him, you are ashamed of walking in broad daylight through the streets with him; and as that is a feature of all shame between man and man, it is a mark of the man ashamed of Christ.

Remember we may be ashamed of Christ although in the quiet hour we pray in secret.

Remember we may be ashamed of Him although at the stated times we come to church.

For in the one case - in private prayer there is a solitude, and in other - in public worship is a crowd; and neither in solitude nor in the throng is the shame or glory of the heart detected.

It is as we walk through the streets of daily life; it is as we take up our task in homely scenes; it is as we go about our work and mingle with our friends - it is there that our heart's loyalty shall be seen.

If we honor Christ men will perceive the friendship. If we are ashamed of Him we shall conceal it.

2. Silence

The second feature of all shame is silence. There is a close and mysterious tie between the two.

The feeling of shame whenever it is operative has a way of putting a seal upon the lips.

A child will babble and prattle all day long, and spin out a history about its small adventures; but let it do anything of which it is ashamed, and not a word will it speak concerning that.

How many homes there are in which one son or daughter has come to disgrace, till the parents' hearts are breaking!

Does the stranger entering that home talk of the prodigal?

Is not that the one name that is never mentioned?

There are ceaseless yearnings and there are secret prayers rising to heaven daily for the wanderer; but mingling with every thought of him is shame, and one great witness of that shame is silence.

Now far be it from me even to suggest that all our silence about Christ is such.

There is a reserve which is dignified and right when we move among august and holy things.

Still, hours will come in every Christian life when confession is imperative and clearly called for, and if in such hours there be not speech but silence, the silence is the stamp and sign of shame.
     
3. Avoidance

The third witness of shame lies in avoidance. We avoid instinctively what we are ashamed of.

When an architect has designed a building of which he is proud, I can imagine his delight in looking at it.

I can imagine him going out of his way by half a dozen streets just to get one more glimpse of his conception.

But let the building be a failure, and the man ashamed of it - he is not eager to feast his eyes upon it. 

Now he does all in his power to avoid it, and he avoids it because he is ashamed.

I fancy that most of us know places such as that, for we are all the architects of our own fortunes: places that are disgraced for us by wretched memories, tarnished and desecrated by some sin; and we too, as we journey through the years, are glad to avoid such scenes, and we avoid them because we are ashamed. 

Avoidance is one sign and seal of shame. Can it be said of you that you are avoiding Christ?

If so, however you may explain it to yourself, depend upon it you are ashamed of Him.

~George H. Morrison~
     

Steady In Our Walk

In taking Christ in any new relationship, we must first have sufficient intellectual light to satisfy our mind that we are entitled to stand in this relationship. 

The Shadow of a Question here will Wreck our Confidence.

Then, having seen this, we must make the venture, the committal, the choice, and take the place just as definitely as the tree is planted in the soil, or the bride gives herself away at the marriage altar.

It must be once for all, without reserve, without recall. 

Then there is a season of establishing, settling and testing, during which we must "stay put" until the new relationship gets so fixed as to become a permanent habit.

It is just the same as when the surgeon sets the broken arm. He puts it in splints to keep it from vibration. So God has His spiritual splints that He wants to put upon His children and keep them quiet and unmoved until they pass the first stage of faith.

It is not always easy work for us, "but the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after that ye have suffered awhile, stablish, strengthen, settle you."

 ~A. B. Simpson~

There is a natural law in sin and sickness; and if we just let ourselves go and sink into the trend of circumstances, we shall go down and sink under the power of the tempter.

But there is another law of spiritual life and of physical life in Christ Jesus to which we can rise, and through which we can counterpoise and overcome the other law that bears us down.

But to do this requires real spiritual energy and fixed purpose and a settled posture and habit of faith. 

It is just the same as when we use the power in our factory. We must turn on the belt and keep it on. The power is there, but we must keep the connection; and while we do so, the higher power will work and all the machinery will be in operation.

There is a spiritual law of choosing, believing, abiding, and holding steady in our walk with God, which is essential to the working of the Holy Ghost either in our sanctification or healing.

~Days of Heaven upon Earth~

You Provoke GOD Thus To Give You Up To Your Heart's Lust!

Remember that it is one of the greatest plagues on this side hell, to be given up to our own desires, and that by your eagerness and discontents  "So I gave them up to their own heart's lust, and they walked in their own counsels:"

"Oh that my people had hearkened to me!" & Psalm. 81:12.  'Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts," & Rom. 1:24, 26. "For this cause God gave them up to vile affections," verse. 28. 

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient, 2 Thess. 2:10-l2.

God may give you that which you so eagerly desire, as he gave "Israel a king, even in his anger," Hosea. 13:10,11.

Or as he gave the Israelites "their own desire, even flesh which he rained upon them as dust, and feathered fowls as the sand of the sea; they were not estranged from their lust but while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them," Psalm. 78:27, 29-31.

"They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert, and he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls," Psalm. 106:14,15.

God may say, Follow your own lust, and if you are so eager, take that which you desire; take that person, that thing, that dignity which you are so earnest for; but take my curse and vengeance with it: never let it do you good, but be a snare and torment to you. 

"Let a fire come out of the bramble and devour you," Judges. 9:15.

~Richard Baxter~

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.