An infallible test of our real self

An infallible test of our real self


(J. R. Miller, "Psalm 19" 1912)

We have a beautiful prayer at the close of Psalm 19: 

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." There could be no higher standard of life, than is set for us in this prayer.

The conduct may be blameless—while the thoughts are stained with sin. It is easier to keep our acts without fault—than to keep our feelings, our desires, and our affections pure. We may do no outward act of cruelty or unkindness; while our hearts may be full of jealousies, envies, and all selfishness. We are to seek that our thoughts be so white and clean—that they will be acceptable in God's sight.

The prayer covers our words, our thoughts, and our meditations; each a closer test than the one before. 

It is a great thing to be faultless in speech—but perfect grammar is not enough. Our words may be beautiful and graceful—and yet our thoughts may be full of hypocrisy, of deceit, of all evil! The prayer here is that our thoughts may please God. This is a higher spiritual attainment, than merely faultless words.

Then, a still higher test of life—is our meditation. 

Meditations are our deepest thoughts, the quiet ponderings of our hearts. Meditation is almost an obsolete word in these times of hustle and bustle. The word belongs rather to the days when men had much time to think—and think deeply. We meditate when we are alone, when we are shut away from others. Our minds then follow the drift of our own desires, dispositions, and imaginations. If our hearts are clean and good—our meditations are pure and holy. But if our hearts are evil and unclean—our meditations are of the same moral quality. Thus, our meditations are an infallible test of our real self. "As a man thinks in his heart—so is he." Proverbs 23:6

This prayer is, therefore, for a life of the highest character—one acceptable to God, not only in words and thoughts—but also in meditations. Such a life, everyone who loves God and would be like God—should seek to live!

"(but they are but vain words)" Isaiah 36:5

OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (20)

"(but they are but vain words)" Isaiah 36:5

WE have now reached that part of the Old Testament in which there are few parenthetical statements, so perhaps I may be permitted to make use of this one which is only to be found in the Authorised Version.

IT is part of the harangue made by the multilingual Rabshakeh, who was Sennacherib's Public Relations Officer. The all conquering Assyrians found Jerusalem a very hard nut to crack, so they tried cajoling threats when they did not quite know how to use their customary force. This is a constant stratagem of our spiritual enemies, and it is sometimes successful.

THE point of emphasis being made was that it would only be a vain matter of empty words if the Jews claimed to have resources in themselves. 'You are saying', reasoned Rabshakeh, 'that you have counsel and strength for this war, but your claims are absurd.' This would have been quite true if it had been Hezekiah's position, but it was not. He made no such claims.

HAD he made them, it would indeed have been a foolish boast. The might and experience of the Assyrians were all too great for any resistance by puny little Jerusalem. If the Jews had relied on their own skill and strength, they would undoubtedly have been defeated. But they were not defeated. God's people never need be defeated. There is another factor in their spiritual warfare, a factor of which the natural mind has no knowledge. Defeat is turned into total victory when the Lord is brought into the fight.

CLEAR and persuasive as were the arguments of the loud-mouthed Rabshakeh, they in their turn proved to be quite vain, for Hezekiah had ample resources to withstand the attack, though those resources were in the Lord and not in himself.

HEZEKIAH did not say that he had them. He never used the words which the lying Rabshakeh tried to put into his mouth. What he did say was that he had no strength (37:3), his only hope being in God's ability to answer prayer or perhaps in His willingness to do so. Hezekiah himself was not too sanguine. "It may be" he suggested. Isaiah the prophet had a much more robust faith. But little faith or great faith, the two men prayed and sought help from heaven. The answer came quickly and comprehensively (2 Chronicles 32:21). And it was all because they prayed.

IF Hezekiah had said, or even thought, what was alleged by Rabshekah, he would have indeed been frustrated. His words would have been vain. And if we say or think in those terms, imagining that we can tackle the task, there can be no hope of victory for us. Our way, like that of Hezekiah, must be the way of humbling and prayer. What a pity we so seldom take it!

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Disturbing the hornet's nest?

Disturbing the hornet's nest?

(Krummacher, "The Suffering Savior")

The world feels that the teachings of Christ...
  destroy their false peace,
  condemn their carnality, and
  demand the sacrifice of their idols.
Hence they are averse to, and incensed against Him.

The Christian religion disturbs the hornet's
nest, tears away the plasters and coverings
from secret wounds, and awakens conscience,
which had been rendered lethargic by a variety
of magic potions.
Hence their hatred and animosity to it.

The Light That Fails

The Light That Fails

By Oswald Chambers


'We all with open face beholding ... the glory of the Lord.'
2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so much alone that he never knows he is alone. In the first phases of Christian life disheartenments come, people who used to be lights flicker out, and those who used to stand with us pass away. We have to get so used to it that we never know we are standing alone. "All men forsook me . . notwithstanding the Lord stood with me" (2 Tim. 4:16-17). We must build our faith, not on the fading light, but on the light that never fails. When "big" men go we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, the one thing that remains is looking in the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking God sternly in the face about yourself and about your doctrine, and every time you preach see that you look God in the face about things first, then the glory will remain all through. A Christian worker is one who perpetually looks in the face of God and then goes forth to talk to people. The characteristic of the ministry of Christ is that of unconscious glory that abides. "Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him."

We are never called on to parade our doubts or to express the hidden ecstasies of our life with God. The secret of the worker's life is that he keeps in tune with God all the time.

The Trial of Faith

The Trial of Faith
By Andrew Bonar


Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 1 Peter 1:6,7

The prevailing state of our mind should be great joy - 'Wherein ye greatly rejoice.' Have you got at the Gospel at all if you have not great joy, if it does not every day make you glad? Our joy comes from a great Fountain - Christ Himself. Are you a disciple? Then can you bear to live below this standard? In spite of this joy you may be 'in heaviness through manifold trials.' Indeed, it is your great joy that enables you to bear them. What is the trial of faith? It is the outward pressure of circumstances, the waves dashing upon you as you stand on the Rock of Ages. Christ was tried. He was the crystal vessel, full of the purest water, and Satan was allowed to shake it to see if there was any mud in it, and there was not. The trial of faith came to Abraham in a strange way, threatening to bereave him of his beloved son. Abraham stood the test, and went on step by step till God said, 'Now I know that thou fearest Me,' etc., and the trial ended in 'praise, and honour, and glory.' 

The 'trial of faith' may come in disappointment in those we trusted in; it may come directly from the devil it may come from the state of the church; it may come from persecutions, bonds, imprisonments. It is quite natural to feel these trials. Down in the trough of the wave, then up again on the crest; that was Paul's experience. Then it is only 'for a season.'

I. God's deep interest in the trial of faith. - He says it is much more important than the goldsmith's trial of his gold. It is said that the goldsmith waits till he sees his face reflected in the gold, then he knows it is ready to be taken out. If we had seen with what intense interest the Father watched His beloved Son when He was 'tried' on the mount of temptation and on Mount Calvary! So with the members of His body. It is said, 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,' and the word is literally 'deathpangs' - what they may be suffering at the time of their death. The Lord watches them with intense interest. You have multiplied trials; are you murmuring? Do you say 'It is very hard'? Would you say that to God? He is standing by and saying, 'See how faith sustains this disciple of mine!' Catch His eye, and you will be able to bear the 'trial.'

II. The result of this process. - 'Unto praise and honour and glory,' etc. This means to our praise, to our honour, to our glory. It will be to God's praise and honour and glory, for we will see that all His ways are excellent. An old Puritan says, 'A stick in the water looks crooked. Take it out, and it is quite straight.' So it will be when we look at God's dealings with us. When we see all, we will say of our bitterest sorrows that it would have been unkind in God not to have sent them. But it will be to our praise and honour and glory too. Angels will serve us all the more willingly because we never permitted a doubt or surmise of God's love to enter our mind. We shall have the greater glory, the more we have borne the trial of our faith. We are to be rewarded, not only for work done, but for burdens borne, and I am not sure but that the brightest rewards will be for those who have borne burdens without murmuring. Are you not often saying, 'Oh, that that day would arrive, when God will reveal His Son Jesus Christ!' On that day He will take the lily that has been growing so long among thorns and lift it up to the glory and wonder of all the universe, and the fragrance of that lily will draw forth ineffable praises from all the hosts of heaven.

Is it not worth while being 'tested' for a season ?


Transcribed from Reminiscences of Andrew A. Bonar D.D.

The Inseparability of Faith and Obedience

The Inseparability of Faith and Obedience

By A.W. Tozer


The truth is that faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin and are always found together in the Scriptures. As well try to pry apart the two sides of a half-dollar as to separate obedience from faith. The two sides, while they remain together and are taken as one, represent good sound currency and constitute legal tender everywhere in the United States. Separate them and they are valueless. Insistence upon honoring but one side of the faith-obedience coin has wrought frightful harm in religious circles.

 Faith has been made everything and obedience nothing. The result among religious persons is moral weakness, spiritual blindness and a slow but constant drift away from New Testament Christianity.
Our Lord made it very plain that spiritual truth cannot be understood until the heart has made a full committal to it. "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own" (John 7:17). The willing and the doing (or at least the willingness to do) come before the knowing. Truth is a strict master and demands obedience before it will unveil its riches to the seeking soul.

For those who want chapter and verse here are a few, and there are plenty more: Matthew 7:21; John 14:21; First John 2:4, 3:24, 5:2; First Peter 1:2; James 2:14-26; Romans 1:5; and Acts 5:32.

To sum it up, saving faith is impossible without willing obedience. To try to have one without the other is to be not a Christian, but a student of Christianity merely.

Justification by Faith, Out of Date?

Justification by Faith, Out of Date?

By Billy Graham

      We have been saved by grace through faith. The apostle Paul emphatically states, "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified." (Galatians 2:16).

      Justification is a legal standing with God based upon Christ's death and resurrection and our faith in Him. The word Paul uses (dikaioo), comes from Roman legal courts meaning to declare to be righteous, or to pronounce righteous. Therefore, justification is the legal and formal acquittal from guilt by God who is Judge. It is the pronouncement of the sinner as righteous, who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

      Let's suppose for a moment that I died tonight and stood before the Lord God who is the Supreme Judge of the Universe. No doubt He would ask me, "Wil Pounds, why should I let you into my heaven? You are a guilty sinner. How do you plead?"

      My response would be, "I plead guilty, Your Honor."

      My advocate, Jesus Christ, who is standing there beside me speaks up for me. He says, "Your Honor. It is true that Wil Pounds is a grievous sinner. He is guilty. However, Father, I died for him on the cross and rose from the dead. Wil Pounds has put his faith and trust in Me and all that I have done for Him on the Cross. He is a believer. I died for him, and he has accepted Me as his substitute."

      The Lord God turns to me and says, "Is that true?"

      I will respond to Him, "Yes sir! That is the truth. I am claiming the shed blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse me of all my sins. I have put my faith in Jesus to save me for all eternity. This is what You have promised in Your Word. Jesus said, 'For God so loved the world (and this includes Wil Pounds), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'"

      The Lord God responds: "Acquitted! By order of this court I demand that you be set free. The price has been paid by My Son."

      Furthermore, I get to go home and live with the Judge!

      Justification means that at the moment of salvation God sovereignly declares the believing sinner righteous in His sight. The believing sinner is declared to be righteous in His standing before God. From that moment on throughout life, through death, that sinner who has believed is now and forever right before God. God accepts him, and he stands acquitted of his sins.

      A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (Galatians 2:16).