Enemies At Peace

I must see that my ways please the LORD. 

Even then I shall have enemies; and, perhaps, all the more certainly because I endeavor to do that which is right. 

But what a promise this is!

The LORD will make the wrath of man to praise Him and abate it so that it shall not distress me.

He can constrain an enemy to desist from harming me, even though he has a mind to do so. 

This He did with Laban, who pursued Jacob but did not dare to touch him. 

Or He can subdue the wrath of the enemy and make him friendly...

As He did with Esau, who met Jacob in a brotherly manner...

Though Jacob had dreaded that he would smite him and his family with the sword. 

The LORD can also convert a furious adversary into a brother in Christ and a fellow worker, as He did with Saul of Tarsus. 

Oh, that He would do this in every case where a persecuting spirit appears!

Happy is the man whose enemies are made to be to him what the lions were to Daniel in the den, quiet and companionable!

When I meet death, who is called the last enemy, I pray that I may be at peace. 

Only let my great care be to please the LORD in all things. 

Oh, for faith and holiness; for these are a pleasure unto the Most High! 

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Bible's Supreme Place

Psalm 119:165  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Yes, a true love for the great Book will bring us great peace from the great God and be a great protection to us.

Let us live constantly in the society of the law of the LORD, and it will breed in our hearts a restfulness such as nothing else can. 

The Holy Spirit acts as a Comforter through the Word and sheds abroad those benign influences which calm the tempests of the soul.

Nothing is a stumbling block to the man who has the Word of God dwelling in him richly. 

He takes up his daily cross, and it becomes a delight. 

For the fiery trial he is prepared and counts it not strange, so as to be utterly cast down by it. 

He is neither stumbled by prosperity As so many are...

Nor crushed by adversity as others have been...

For he lives beyond the changing circumstances of external life. 

When his LORD puts before him some great mystery of the faith which makes others cry, "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"...

The believer accepts it without question...

For his intellectual difficulties are overcome by his reverent awe of the law of the LORD...

Which is to him the supreme authority to which he joyfully bows. 

LORD, work in us this love, this peace, this rest, this day. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Sensitive To Warning

2Ki 22:19  Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. 

Many Despise Warning and Perish. 

Happy is he who Trembles at the Word of God.

Josiah did so, and he was spared the sight of the evil which the LORD determined to send upon Judah because of her great sins.

Have you this tenderness?

Do you practice this self-humiliation?

Then you also shall be spared in the evil day. 

God sets a mark upon the men that sigh and cry because of the sin of the times. 

The destroying angel is commanded to keep his sword in its sheath till the elect of God are sheltered: 

These are best known by their godly fear and their trembling at the Word of the LORD. 

Are the times threatening?

Does infidelity advance with great strides, and do you dread national chastisement upon this polluted nation?

Well you may. 

Yet rest in this promise: "Thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace: and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which l will bring upon this place." 

Better still, the LORD Himself may come, and then the days of our mourning shall be ended.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Lead The Way

Deu 28:13  And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

If we obey the LORD, He will compel our adversaries to see that His blessing rests upon us. 

Though this be a promise of the law, yet it stands good to the people of God; for Jesus has removed the curse, but He has established the blessing.

It is for saints to lead the way among men by holy influence...

They are not to be the tail, to be dragged hither and thither by others. 

We must not yield to the spirit of the age, but compel the age to do homage to Christ.

If the LORD be with us, we shalt not crave toleration for religion...

But we shall seek to seat it on the throne of society. 

Has not the LORD Jesus made His people priests?

Surely they are to teach and must not be learners from the philosophies of unbelievers. 

Are we not in Christ made kings to reign upon the earth? 

How, then can we be the servants of custom, the slaves of human opinion?

Have you, dear friend, taken up your true position for Jesus? 

Too many are silent because timid, if not cowardly. 

Should we allow the name of the LORD Jesus to be kept in the background? 

Should our religion drag along as a tail? 

Should it not rather lead the way and be the ruling force with ourselves and others?

~Charles Spurgeon~

Established and Kept

Men are often as devoid of reason as of faith.

There are with us still "unreasonable and wicked men." 

There is no use in arguing with them or trying to be at peace with them...

They are false at heart and deceitful in speech. 

Well, what of this? 

Shall we worry ourselves with them?

No; let us turn to the LORD, for He is faithful.

No promise from His Word will ever be broken. 

He is neither unreasonable in His demands upon us nor unfaithful to our claims upon Him. 

We have a faithful God. 

Be this our joy.

He will stablish us so that wicked men shall not cause our downfall...

And He will keep us so that none of the evils which now assail us shall really do us damage.

What a blessing for us that we need not contend with men but are allowed to shelter ourselves in the LORD Jesus, who is in truest sympathy with us. 

There is one true heart, one faithful mind, one never changing love; there let us repose.

The LORD will fulfill the purpose of His grace to us, His servants...

And we need not allow a shadow of a fear to fatal upon our spirits.

Not all that men or devils can do can hinder us of the divine protection and provision. 

This day let us pray the LORD to stablish and keep us. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Continue Upright

This is as good as a promise, for it declares a present fact, which will be the same throughout all ages.

God takes great pleasure in the prayers of upright men...

He even calls them His delight.

Our first concern is to be upright.

Neither bending this way nor that...

Continue upright; not crooked with policy...

Nor prostrate by yielding to evil...

Be you upright in strict integrity and straightforwardness.

If we begin to shuffle and shift, we shall be left to shift for ourselves.

If we try crooked ways, we shall find that we cannot pray...

And if we pretend to do so, we shall find our prayers shut out of  heaven.

Are we acting in a straight line and thus following out the LORD's revealed will?

Then let us pray much and pray in faith.

If our prayer is God's delight, let us not stint Him in that which gives Him pleasure.

He does not consider the grammar of it, nor the metaphysics of it, nor the rhetoric of it; in all these men might despise it.

He, as a Father, takes pleasure in the lispings of His own babes, the stammerings of His newborn sons and daughters.

Should we not delight in prayer since the LORD delights in it?

Let us make errands to the throne.

The LORD finds us enough reasons for prayer... and we ought to thank Him that it is so.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The SWORD Of GOD'S TRUTH!

Their Speech Is Filled With Flattery.

Psalm 5:9  For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

This is the identifying mark of the "hireling," the false pastor.

He aims at pleasing his hearers...

Making them feel satisfied with themselves...

Ever patting them on the back.

But he who has My Word--let him speak My Word faithfully.

Jer 23:28  The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

No matter how unpalatable it may be to the flesh...

How much of a weariness to those who wish to have their ears tickled with novelties...

Or how loud the outcry against it is!

Ministerial faithfulness includes...

Loyalty to his Master...

Devotion to HIS interests...

Steadfast adherence to the preaching of His Word...

Dispensing the truth unto those whose souls are committed to Him...

Not mixing it with his speculations...

Much less substituting false doctrine.

A far higher motive than the pleasing of his hearers must actuate and regulate ministerial service. 

Faithful preaching will render the minister unpopular, and will empty churches...not fill them!

John 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Souls are caught fast in the meshes of Satan's lies... 

And nothing but The Sword Of God's Truth can cut them free!

A faithful man--who can find?

Pro 20:6  Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

Why is this? Because it is the part of fallen human nature to take the line of least resistance, and choose the path easiest to the flesh.

But remember, my reader, whoever you are, that, Lying lips are abomination to the Lord-but those who deal faithfully are His delight. 

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Be faithful unto death-and I will give you a crown of life!

~Arthur Pink~

My Grace Is Sufficient For Thee

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

If none of God’s saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. 

When we find the wanderer who has not where to lay his head, who yet can say, “Still will I trust in the Lord;”...

When we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who still glories in Jesus...

When we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ...

Oh! what honour it reflects on the gospel. 

God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. 

Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good...

And that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring...

That their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as he is pleased to keep them in it. 

This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace. 

There is a lighthouse out at sea...

It is a calm night...I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm...

The tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. 

So with the Spirit’s work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong...

If the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. 

The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast, unmoveable...
 
Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory.
 
He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. 

No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. 

If then, yours be a much tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God.
 
As for his failing you, never dream of it...hate the thought. 

The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.

~Charles Spurgeon~

He Will Never Trifle With Men's Souls!

It is very strange that people who modestly decline to risk an opinion on matters which do not closely concern them at all, such as philosophy or science for instance-are often ready and eager to pronounce with finality on matters of religion, which above all else is vital to their welfare for this world and that which is to come.

This follows the popular notion that everyone is capable of discovering the true way to Heaven for himself--and that one man's belief is as good as another's.

A second tenet in this creed, is that no one has the right to question the belief of anyone else, or to try to influence him in any way in religious matters.

This leads naturally to the third tenet, which is that we should practice complete acceptance toward every expression of religious belief, however base or ill-founded it may be, and accept it as a legitimate way of worshiping God, even if it isn't ours.

All this has about it a certain savor of charity and slips well off the lips of politicians, who are forced to try to please everyone--and liberal ministers who find it profitable to do so. 

But the True Christian can Never bring himself to Sell Out his soul in that manner. 

The man who has heard the voice of Jesus saying, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me"--can never get the consent of his heart to thus trifle with religion.

He has been smitten with the love of God, and the wonder of the cross--and he can never again be flexible in things which concern his soul and the souls of his fellow men.

He will live beside, be patient with, minister to, pray for and love any religionist of whatever color or creed--from a Catholic Cardinal, to a medicine man from the bush--but Never will he Compromise the Truth to stay on good terms with anyone.

He will never trifle with men's souls!

~A. W. Tozer~

And Scarcely Anyone Appears To Care!

The only power God recognizes in His Church, is the power of His Spirit. 

Whereas the only power actually recognized today by the majority of evangelicals, is the power of man.

God does His work by the operation of the Spirit--while Christian leaders attempt to do theirs by the power of trained intellect.

Bright personality, has taken the place of the divine influence. 

But only what is done through the Eternal Spirit, will abide eternally.

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was... 

A device for wasting time...
 
A refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience...

A scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.
                                        
But of late she appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god entertainment--she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his power.

Christianity is so entangled with the world, that millions never guess how radically they have missed the New Testament pattern. 

Compromise is everywhere!

Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard.
 
Worldliness is an accepted part of our way of life.
 
Our religious mood is social, instead of spiritual.
 
We have lost the art of worship.
 
We are not producing saints.
 
Our models are successful business men, celebrated athletes and theatrical personalities.
 
We carry on our religious activities after the methods of the modern advertiser.
 
Our homes have been turned into theaters.
 
Our literature is shallow, and our hymnody borders on sacrilege.
 
And scarcely anyone appears to care!

~A. W. Tozer~

Details

Psa 139:1  O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

God also has a way of searching us by lifting our eyes from the detail to the whole. 

He sets the detail in its true perspective, and seeing it thus, we come to see ourselves. 

You know how the writer of this psalm proceeds: "Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising," he says. 

These are details, little particular actions, the unconsidered events of every day. 

But the writer does not stop with these details-he passes on to the survey of his life...

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

You will remember that it was through details that Christ revealed the Samaritan woman to herself. 

She had been hiding her guilt from her own eyes by busying herself in the details of the day. 

And then came Jesus with His enlarged vision in which the days are all parts of the one life, and in the eyes of Christ she saw herself because she saw the details as a whole.

Come, see a man, she went and cried, "who told me all things that ever I did."

Actually, it was an exaggeration, for Christ had not spoken to her very long. 

But when you get down to the spirit of the words, you never think of their exaggeration for they reveal the way that Jesus took in searching her and showing her to herself. 

He would not let her hide in the detail...

He wanted her to have a vision of the whole. 

He wanted to show her what her life was like when looked at closely. 

And so this woman was searched and self-revealed through detail in its true perspective, and her conscience, which had long been slumbering, awoke.

I think that is often the way the Lord deals with you and me...

We are all prone to be blinded by details so that we scarcely realize what we are doing. 

There are lines of behavior which we would never take, if we only realized all that they meant.

There are habits and certain sins to which we would never yield if we only saw them in their vile completeness. 

But the present is so tyrannical and sweet and the action of the hour is so absorbing, that we cannot see the forest for the trees, nor see ahead the path that we are taking.

We often say when looking back upon our sufferings, "We wonder how we ever could have borne it." 

One secret of our bearing it was that we only suffered one moment at a time. 

And in looking back upon our foolish past, we sometimes say, How could we have ever done it!..

And one secret of our doing it was that we only acted one moment at a time. 

When a man is dimly conscious that he is wrong, he has a strange ability to forget yesterday. 

When a man is hurrying to fulfill his passion, he shuts his ears to the call of tomorrow. 

And the work of God is to revive that yesterday and tear the curtain from the sad tomorrow and show a man his action of today set in the general story of his life. 

Sometimes He does it through sickness...

Sometimes in a quiet hour such as this...

Sometimes He does it in a mysterious way by the immediate working of the Holy Ghost.

But when He does it, then we know ourselves and see things as they are, and we are ashamed. 

Only then we can cry with David, "O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me."

~George H. Morrison~
     

Go Forward In Faith

Jos 3:13  And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
 
The Israelites were not to wait in the camp until the Jordan was opened but to “walk by faith”.

2Co 5:7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

They were to break camp, pack up their belongings, form a marching line,and actually step into the river before it would be opened.
 
If they had come down to the riverbank and then stopped, waiting for the water to divide before stepping into it, they would have waited in vain.

They were told to “set foot in the Jordan” before “its waters...will be cut off.”
 
We must learn to take God at His word and walk straight ahead in obedience, even when we can see no way to go forward.
 
The reason we are so often sidetracked by difficulties is that we expect to see barriers removed before we even try to pass through them.
 
If we would only move straight ahead in faith, the path would be opened for us. 

But we stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles at all. 

~From Evening Thoughts~
 
What a lesson Christopher Columbus taught the world...a lesson of perseverance in the face of tremendous difficulties!
 
Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind the gates of Hercules; 

Before him not the ghost of shores, Before him only shoreless seas.
 
The good Mate said:“Now we must pray, For lo! the very stars are gone.
 
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?” “Why, say,‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”

My men grow mutinous day by day;  My men grow ghastly pale and weak!”
 
The strong Mate thought of home; What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight only seas at dawn?

Why, you shall say at break of day, ‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!’”
 
They sailed.They sailed.Then spoke the Mate: “This mad sea shows its teeth tonight.
 
He curls his lip, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
 
Brave Admiral, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?”
 
The words leapt like a leaping sword: “Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!”
 
Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck And peered through darkness.

Ah! that night Of all dark nights! 

And then a speck...A light! A light! A light! A light!
 
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn.
 
He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!”
 
~J. R. Miller~
 
Faith that goes forward triumphs.

Return From Backsliding

 Job 22:23  If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

Eliphaz, in this utterance, spoke a great truth, which is the summary of many an inspired Scripture. 

Reader, has sin pulled you down? 

Have you become like a ruin?

Has the hand of the LORD gone out against you so that in estate you are impoverished and in spirit you are broken down? 

Was it your own folly which brought upon you all this dilapidation? 

Then the first thing to be done is to return to the LORD. 

With deep repentance and sincere faith find your way back from your backsliding. 

It is your duty, for you have turned away from Him whom you professed to serve.

It is your wisdom, for you cannot strive against Him and prosper. 

It is your immediate necessity...

For what He has done is nothing compared to what He may do in the way of chastisement, since He is Almighty to punish.

See what a promise invites you!

You shall be "built up."

None but the Almighty can set up the fallen pillars and restore the tottering walls of your condition...

But He can and He will do it if you return to Him. 

Do not delay. 

Your crushed mind may quite fail you if you go on to rebel;...

But hearty confession will ease you, and humble faith will console you. 

Do this, and all will be well.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Trials Are Medicinal!

Trials are medicinal. 

They are designed by God to correct or to restrain or to cure...the maladies of our souls.

Though He puts forth His hand, and seems to threaten our dearest comforts...

Yet when we remember that it is His hand...

When we consider that it is His design, His love, His wisdom, and His power...

We cannot refuse to trust Him!

Every affliction in the life of the believer is designed by God and sovereignly implemented by Him.

Psa 119:67  Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.

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

Psa 119:75  I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

Christ's suffering was punitive...

The Christian's suffering is restorative.

The cup which Christ drank, was filled with Divine wrath...

The cup of suffering which God calls His children to drink, is only medicinal to promote their chief good.

Like heavy weights on a grandfather clock...trials are necessary for the Christian life to operate properly.

God will allow nothing to grieve us-but what He intends to employ as means for our greater advantage. 

~John Newton~