Truth Established

Truth wears well. Time tests it, but it endures the trial very well.

If then, I have spoken the truth and have for the present to suffer for it, I must be content to wait.

If also I believe the truth of God and endeavor to declare it, I may meet with much opposition, but I need not fear, for ultimately the truth must prevail.

What a poor thing is the temporary triumph of falsehood! “a lying tongue is but for a moment!”

It is a mere gourd which comes up in a night and perishes in a night; and the greater its development the more obvious its decay.

On the other hand, how worthy of an immortal being is the affirmation and defense of that truth which can never change; the everlasting gospel, which is established in the immutable truth of an unchanging God!

An old proverb says, “He that speaks truth shames the devil.”

Certainly, he that speaks the truth of God will put to shame all the devils in hell and confound all the seed of the serpent which now hiss out their falsehoods.

Dear friend, take care that you are always on the side of truth, both in small things and great; but specially, on the side of Him by whom grace and truth have come among men!

~Charles Spurgeon~

Past Deliverance Begets Faith

1Sa 17:37  David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

This is not a promise if we consider only the words, but it is truly so as to its sense; for David spoke a word which the LORD endorsed by making it true.

He argued from past deliverance's that he should receive help in a new danger.

In Jesus all the promises are "Yea" and "Amen" to the glory of God by us, and so the LORD's former dealings with His believing people will be repeated.

Come, then, let us recall the LORD's former lovingkindness.

We could not have hoped to be delivered aforetime by our own strength; yet the LORD delivered us. 

Will He not again save us? We are sure He will. As David ran to meet his foe, so will we.

The LORD has been with us, He is with us, and He has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," Why do we tremble? Was the past a dream?

Think of the dead bear and lion. Who is this Philistine? True, he is not quite the same, and is neither bear nor lion; but then God is the same, and His honor is as much concerned in the one case as in the other.

He did not save us from the beasts of the forest to let a giant kill us. Let us be of good courage.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The OBJECT Of Our LORD In Drinking This Cup.

The object of our LORD in drinking this cup, was that He might empty at one draught that cup of wrath, which His people must forever have been drinking-and yet never have exhausted!

O blessed Jesus, in Your wondrous love You have taken the poison that You may give to me the cup of salvation.

You have drained to the very dregs that cup in which was the curse due to my sin...that You may give to me the cup of blessing, of peace, of everlasting life.

To my lips, You now hold the cup which is full to the brim of everlasting consolation!

You give me Your Word so rich in promise and in hope.

You grant to me in overflowing abundance pardoning mercy which can cover all my iniquity.

You hold out to me the assurance that my strength shall be equal to my day, and that Your Spirit shall prepare me for Your presence in glory.

Oh, how can I thank You enough for all this love of Yours!

And now what is my cup of sorrow or suffering compared to Yours?

You, the sinless one...for me did drink the cup which was all bitterness.

I, the sinful one, have my cup of trial mingled with so many mercies, so many alleviations.

If I have pain and weariness to bear - have I not seasons of rest?

Have I not the aid of medicine, and skillful advice to promote my recovery or to lessen my sufferings?

Have I not those about me who love to minister to my needs? 

Have I not kind affection to be as a gleam of sunshine in the darkness?

Or at least have I not His presence with me, who has promised that He will be my Eternal refuge, and underneath shall be His everlasting arms?

And is it not a Father's hand that gives the cup?

And may I not thus know that love has prepared it?

Whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.

And surely I need it, as the draught of healing - to cure the deep-rooted maladies of my soul.

Is there no pride in me that needs to be subdued - that I may be as a little child, content to be led by a Father's hand?

Is there not too much readiness to hearken to the siren voice of man's praise, that needs to be cast out - that I may seek only the praise that comes from above?

Is there not too much carefulness as to this world's business and duties, that requires so to be brought under control, that I may realize continually that one thing is needful - to walk with God and to seek first His kingdom and righteousness?

Is there not too frequent forgetfulness of the Best Friend that must be so overcome that Jesus must be all my salvation and all my desire?

And what will teach me these precious lessons - if it is not the days of adversity and trial?

These cheerless and desolate days, these hours of bitter tears come not by chance - but are sent to us in divine faithfulness and love.

~George Everard~

Out Of Wounding

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The best things of life come out of wounding.

Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread. Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odors are set free.

The ground must be broken with the sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed.

It is the broken heart that pleases God. The sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow.

Human nature seems to need suffering to fit it for being a blessing to the world.
  
Beside my cottage door it grows, The loveliest, daintiest flower that blows, A sweetbriar rose. At dewy morn or twilight's close, The rarest perfume from it flows, This strange wild rose.

But when the rain-drops on it beat, Ah, then, its odors grow more sweet...About my feet.

Ofttimes with loving tenderness, Its soft green leaves I gently press, In sweet caress.

A still more wondrous fragrance flows The more my fingers close And crush the rose.

Dear LORD, oh, let my life be so Its perfume when tempests blow, The sweeter flow.

And should it be Thy blessed will, With crushing grief my soul to fill, Press harder still.

And while its dying fragrance flows I'll whisper low, 'He loves and knows His crushed briar rose.

If you aspire to be a son of consolation; if you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy;

If you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart;

If you would pass through the intercourse of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain;

You must be content to pay the price of a costly education--like Him, you must suffer

~F. W. Robertson~

Meant to be Used

2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

When a shipwright builds a vessel, does he build it to keep it upon the stocks? Nay, he builds it for the sea and the storm. 

When he was making it, he thought of tempests and hurricanes; if he did not, he was a poor shipbuilder.

When God made thee a believer, He meant to try thee; and when He gave thee promises, and bade thee trust them, He gave such promises as are suitable for times of tempest and tossing.

Dost thou think that God makes shams like some that have made belts for swimming, which were good to exhibit in a shop, but of no use in the sea?

We have all heard of swords which were useless in war; and even of shoes which were made to sell, but were never meant to walk in.

God's shoes are of iron and brass, and you can walk to Heaven in them without their ever wearing out; and His life-belts, you may swim a thousand Atlantics upon them, and there will be no fear of your sinking.

His Word of promise is meant to be tried and proved.

There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for His people to make a show-thing of Him, and not to use Him.

He loves to be employed by us. Covenant blessings are not meant to be looked at only, but to be appropriated.

Even our Lord Jesus is given to us for our present use. Thou dost not make use of Christ as thou oughtest to do.

O man, I beseech you do not treat God's promises as if they were curiosities for a museum; but use them as every day sources of comfort.

Trust the Lord whenever your time of need comes on.

~C. H. Spurgeon~

Go to the deeps of God's promise, And claim whatsoever ye will; The. blessing of God will not fail thee, His Word He will surely fulfill.

Now can God say no to something He has promised?

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~

The Peril Of A Question~As To Fellowship

Introduce a question amongst the LORD'S people, and see what happens.

Introduce a question, get any kind of suspicion amongst believers of one another, a question about one another, doubts about one another, anything like that coming up. What is the end?
 
Well, to begin with, it is weakness, and it is a weakness that means that things are not safe, things cannot carry a weight, cannot take responsibility.

Something is going to break somewhere.

It is a question mark, it is weakness.

It is something bent, and from that point onward everything grows if it is allowed-weakness, doubts, fears, suspicions, separations, disintegration, the end, everything is nullified, and it all began with a question.

If we are going to have any questioning at all, let us question our questions and prove them.

If Christians today would be doing that where insinuations, suggestions, rumours, reports and what not are going about, if only Christians would question the questions, and say, ‘Look here, we have got to make sure about this, it sounds as plausible as the devil’s first question, it seems perfectly harmless, but let us make sure as to one another, and as to all concerned, nail that question.

If you have any reason to believe that that question being given place is going to lead to disintegration, the break-up of fellowship, nail it as from the devil, and have nothing to do with it. 

Oh, what a different history if only Eve had turned at once and said, ‘Yes, GOD has said, and that is the end of the whole matter.’ GOD said. Let us be like that.
 
It is not necessary to remind you of the tremendous emphasis in the New Testament upon certainty, assurance, standing fully assured, having confidence, “casting not away your confidence” (Heb. 10:35)

Oh, what a lot there is, and if you look again you will find that it all relates to this matter of power, authority over the enemy and his works, and in the doing of the work of GOD.

What a lot a question can lead to if it is not, as we say, nipped in the bud, challenged at once, if it is allowed a place.

The LORD make us such as are not prepared just to accept anything that the enemy likes to offer in the most beautiful garb without first of all wanting to know where it is going to lead to, what the result of it will be if we do accept it.
 
~T. Austin Sparks~

The LORD Jesus The Answer To The Question~Hath GOD Said?

There is another side, and if we did but realize it, if only we could grasp it, the whole purpose of the coming and the work of the LORD Jesus was to answer that question.

His coming from GOD, His taking man-form, His being subjected to the testings and temptings of this same sinister being...

His going to the Cross, and crying in His last agony another question~“My God, why …”, was all to answer this question, and He has answered it.

The deepest meaning of Christ in every way is the answer to this challenge of Satan~“Has God said?” 

Yes, the answer is in Him. What is His Name, His title?

His final and all-inclusive title is the Amen, and, as you know, that simply means the great...yes, the great Verily, Verily, the Amen.

What is His categorical language?~“Verily, verily, I say unto you”, and those who know, know that the word Amen and the word Verily are the same word in the original.

He was only saying, “Amen, amen, I say unto you”. This is final, there is no question about this, no place for doubt in this, there is no room whatever for uncertainty here. “Verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto you”.

His Person...if you follow the LORD Jesus in His life here in His Person there is one thing that you have to conclude about Him...

He is a man without any questions. He is not a man with a question.

If ever there was a man assured, confident and certain, He was that one. There never has been another with such absolute certainty.

In His very Person He is a man Who is not divided at all. He is integrated, He is whole, He is one, and the integrating factor is His absolute certainty.

He knows, or, in other words again, He is a man without a question.

Therefore He is a man without any weakness, because it is questions that mean weakness.

Where there is a question, there is weakness. Where a thing is still open and unsettled, there is weakness.

There is nothing weak about Him.

He spoke as one having authority (Matt. 7:29), and I am quite certain that if we knew why people said that about Him, we should arrive at this...

This man knows what He is talking about, He is sure of His ground, He is not quoting others, thought they may be the authorities.

This man knows in Himself. He spoke as a man having authority.
 
And this certainty, this assurance, this confidence, this integration of His being was His power, His power with men, His power over the devil.

The devil had no foothold here in this way of a question. He could not get in at all.

He tried to get in,,,“If you are the Son” (Matt. 4:3 etc.). That is only another form of saying, “Has GOD said?” because only just prior to that GOD had said, “This is My beloved Son.”

It is only just assailing in another way. “Has God said?”...

He did not get in there, and therefore the one who sought to get
that foothold on a question at the beginning was himself cast out in the end by this power of an integrated life.

Here is the answer to the question, and the answer is in
Himself.
 
But then you say, that may be very true theoretically, actually, but what is the value of that to us?

Oh, everything, everything! Dear friends, you know, those who know the LORD, know quite well that one of the very first features of the Christian life when we really do receive the LORD Jesus into our life is the consciousness that the great big
question has been answered.

We put that in many ways. Now we have come to rest, now
we know, we have assurance.

You ask us how we know; we cannot tell you, but we know. 

There is a sense of our questions having been answered, our doubts having been dealt with.

Something has happened that has brought to us the rest of a conscious assurance, certainty, confidence. 

It is just a mighty sense, but there it is, and that is the
secret of Christian joy.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Obedience Brings Blessing

Deu 12:28  Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of GOD.

We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the LORD, giving our attention not to portions of it but to "all these words."

There must be no picking and choosing but an impartial respect to all that GOD has commanded.

This is the road of blessedness for the Father and for His children.

The LORD's blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation.

If they walk uprightly before Him, He will make all men know that they are a seed which the LORD has blessed.

No blessing can come to us or ours through dishonesty or double dealing.

The ways of worldly conformity and unholiness cannot bring good to us or ours.

It will go well with us when we go well before GOD.

If integrity does not make us prosper, knavery will not.

That which gives pleasure to GOD will bring pleasure to us.

~Charles Spurgeon~
   
  

Beware Of The Cravings Of Appetite.

Gen 27:34  And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
 
On this incident the writer to the Hebrews found the impressive lesson, that the choices of the past may cast a bitter and irrevocable shadow on all our future.

When he afterward desired to inherit blessing he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
 
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Beware of the cravings of appetite. - In an evil moment Esau yielded to these, and sold his birthright to secure their gratification;

He found afterward that the choice made in that hour was irrevocable. 

How needful that we watch and pray, lest we fall into temptation!

There are four facts which, when borne in mind, guard us against the sudden oversetting of passionate appetite.

We were once dead in sins. - Surely we do not want to go back again to the charnel-house with its corruption.

In Him we have met the demands of GOD'S holy law; but surely that must be an awful thing which cost our Saviour so dearly.

We died to sin with the LORD JESUS. - We have passed with Him on to Resurrection ground; so that we belong to the new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

We are called on to reckon ourselves dead to sin.

The nearer we live to GOD, the more sensitive we shall be to the most distant suggestion of evil, closing doors and windows against its entrance, reckoning ourselves "not at home" to it, and yielding our members as instruments of righteousness unto GOD.

~F. B. Meyer~

God Is Looking

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.  2Ch 16:9  

GOD is looking for a man, or woman, whose heart will be always set on Him, and who will trust Him for all He desires to do. 

GOD is eager to work more mightily now than He ever has through any soul. The clock of the centuries points to the eleventh hour.

The world is waiting yet to see what GOD can do through a consecrated soul.

Not the world alone, but GOD Himself is waiting for one, who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who have ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp GOD'S own purposes; and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power, will, without hindering, continue to let GOD do exploits.

~C. H. P.~

There is no limit to what GOD can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory.

In an address given to ministers and workers after his ninetieth birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself: "I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July, 1829...

The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone.

GOD, GOD alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. 

And by the grace of GOD this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of GOD.

I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to GOD, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of GOD?

I read a little of the Scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, GOD is an infinitely lovely Being.

Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!' 

~Selected~

I pray to GOD this day to make me an extraordinary Christian. 

~George Whitefield~

A Man Without Fear

                                                       
Exo 3:12  And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
 
Of course, if the LORD sent Moses on an errand, He would not let him go alone.

The tremendous risk which it would involve and the great power it would require would render it ridiculous for GOD to send a poor lone Hebrew to confront the mightiest king in all the world and then leave him to himself.

It could not be imagined that a wise GOD would match poor Moses with Pharaoh and the enormous forces of Egypt. Hence He says, "Certainly I will be with thee," as if it were out of the question that He would send him alone.

In my case, also, the same rule will hold good. If I go upon the LORD's errand with a simple reliance upon His power and a single eye to His glory, it is certain that He will be with me.

His sending me binds Him to back me up. Is not this enough? What more can I want?

If all the angels and arch- angels were with me. I might fail; but if He is with me, I must succeed. 

Only let me take care that I act worthily toward this promise. Let me not go timidly, halfheartedly, carelessly, presumptuously.

What manner of person ought he to be who has GOD with him! In such company it behoveth me to play the man and, like Moses, go in unto Pharaoh without fear.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The One To Whom GOD Will Commit Himself

                                                                                 
The LORD Jesus did come, and He did come to show in Himself the kind of person to whom GOD would commit Himself, to whom GOD would let go Himself.

It is a tremendous thing for such as GOD to let himself go to someone else, commit Himself, so to speak, to put Himself into the hands of another with perfect assurance and content and say, "I can trust Myself with that one, I need not be reserved where they are concerned.

I can give them My secrets, I can open up to them My hidden things, I can trust them with blessing, with power, with scope for service, ways of usefulness:

I know quite well self will not come in there; it is safe".

Who of us could say that of ourselves? I cannot; I do not think you can.
 
But what leads to this?

Is it not our deep, agonizing concern before GOD that He will be able to commit Himself to us that we might be the more to His glory and more used by Him?

Does that not concern you?

Do you, with me, desire above all other things that the LORD should be able to be with us and to make us a blessing and to use us and to open the way before us, and not all the time to have to say, "I must go steady there, they are taking it into their own hands to get glory for themselves. 

They have become masters instead of servants"?

Are you concerned about that?

If you are not, of course this word has nothing for you, but if so, surely this is a word to our hearts.

How will the LORD commit Himself?

The LORD Jesus is the great example. He came to show, for GOD was with Him.

That was the testimony of the apostles. He "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38).

Oh, that is what we are after in our hearts, not the using, not the fame, not the popularity, the publicity, no, but just that God should get glory and have His way.

He puts His finger upon the secret - the single eye, purity of heart.
 
I am not, for a moment, questioning your motives.

I cannot question my own motives as I know them on the surface.

You would all say, "All that I am and all I have is for the Lord; it is at the Lord's disposal. I do not want to have any secondary interest at all." 

We are all like that, but so often we are our own greatest enemies, and I am not speaking to you about the things of which you may be conscious.

We shall, of course, have to face things which come into this realm as we know them; as we are able to discern them, we have to face them quite seriously.

But I know this, that The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer. 17:9)

Deceitful - and we really do not always know our own motives, 

And the motive is only manifest sometimes when the LORD has given us a little extra rope of liberty and blessing,

And then we begin to be very pleased with it and with ourselves, instead of humbly, broken-heartedly, going down before the LORD in worship that such as we, could ever be considered in the realm of His using.

It is what is there. That is why I speak of circumcision of heart, getting right down inside.
 
Well, the opposite to singleness, of course, is dividedness, 

And you know how often the LORD Jesus, when He was here in the flesh, used that word "cannot",

And how often He used the phrase that is here in our portion: "No man does this or that to things." "Men do not put new wine into old bottles" (Matt. 9:17) — two opposite things; 

Men do not put a piece of new cloth upon an old garment (Matt. 9:16) - two different things.

Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). 

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33
These "cannots" just touch this: there can be no two things where the LORD is concerned, only one thing, singleness of eye.

Pride and jealousy are only forms of self-interest.

When David returned from slaying the giant, the women came out and sang, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands" (1 Sam. 18:7).

Saul said, "They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands 

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward", eyed him with an evil eye.

He was jealous, and I think it was David's singleness of eye that was the great characteristic of his life.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Rest On A Promise

Gen 28:13  And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
 
No promise is of private interpretation: it belongs not to one saint but to all believers.

If, my brother, thou canst in faith lie down upon a promise and take thy rest thereon, it is thine. 

Where Jacob "lighted" and tarried and rested, there he took possession. Stretching his weary length upon the ground, with the stones of that place for his pillows, he little fancied that he was thus entering into ownership of the land; yet so it was.

He saw in his dream that wondrous ladder which for all true believers unites earth and heaven, and surely where the foot of the ladder stood he must have a right to the soil, for other wise he could not reach the divine stair- way.

All the promises of GOD are "Yea" and "Amen" in Christ Jesus, and as He is ours, every promise is ours if we will but lie down upon it in restful faith.

Come, weary one, use thy LORD's words as thy pillows, Lie down in peace.

Dream only of Him. Jesus is thy ladder of light.

See the angels coming and going upon Him between thy soul and thy GOD, and be sure that the promise is thine own GOD-given portion and that it will not be robbery for thee to take it to thyself, as spoken specially to thee.

~Charles Spurgeon~