Joe 2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Garment-rending and other external signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are frequently hypocritical.
True repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common.
Unsaved men will attend to the most multiplied and minute religious ceremonies and regulations—for such things are pleasing to their flesh.
But true godliness is too humbling, too heart-searching, too spiritual for the tastes of carnal men!
They prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly.
External religious rituals are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up.
But they are ultimately delusive, for at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than religious ceremonies and rituals to lean upon.
Apart from vital godliness all religion is utterly vain!
When offered without a sincere heart, every form of religious worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of God!
Heart-rending is divinely wrought and solemnly felt. It is a secret grief which is personally experienced, not in mere form but as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy Spirit upon the inmost heart of each believer.
It is not a matter to be merely talked of but keenly and sensitively felt in every living child of the living God.
It is powerfully humiliating and sin-purging! But also, it is sweetly preparative for those gracious consolations which proud unhumbled souls are unable to receive!
This heart-rending distinctly belongs to the elect of God and to them alone.
The text commands us to rend our hearts but they are naturally as hard as marble! How then, can this be done?
We must take them to Calvary! A dying Savior's voice rent the rocks once and it is just as powerful now.
O blessed Spirit, let us effectually hear the death-cries of Jesus and our hearts shall be rent!
~Charles Spurgeon~
Isa 54:1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
Though we have brought forth some fruit unto Christ, and have a joyful hope that we are “plants of his own right hand planting,” yet there are times when we feel very barren.
Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, each grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops.
We are like flowers in the hot sun, requiring the refreshing shower. In such a condition what are we to do?
The text is addressed to us in just such a state. “Sing, O barren,
break forth and cry aloud.”
But what can I sing about? I cannot talk about the present, and
even the past looks full of barrenness.
Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ. I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me; or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith he loved his people when he came from the heights of heaven for their redemption.
I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there.
Go to Calvary again. Perhaps that very cross which gave thee life may give thee fruitfulness.
What is my barrenness? It is the platform for his fruit-creating power.
What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of his everlasting love.
I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding, I will tell him that I am still his child, and in confidence in his faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud.
Sing, believer, for it will cheer thine own heart, and the hearts of other desolate ones.
Sing on, for now that thou art really ashamed of being barren, thou wilt be fruitful soon; now that God makes thee loath to be without fruit he will soon cover thee with clusters.
The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord’s visitations are delightful.
A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is where we need to be, for in him is our fruit found.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
There are only two GATES:
One of them wide. Its name is Self-my own desires, my own proud thoughts, my own righteousness, my own beloved and darling sins, my own plans and pleasures.
The other gate is narrow. Its name is Christ-Christ
sought with repentance and godly sorrow--Christ followed at any
hazard. It is the gate of the crucifixion of Self!
There are only two WAYS:
One of them is broad, easy, pleasant, comfortable,
pleasing to the flesh, thronged with multitudes-a primrose
path, but always tending downward, and bringing disastrous
consequences.
The other way is difficult and narrow, as it were
through a gorge between craggy cliffs which nearly meet, haunted
by dangers and enemies, chosen by comparatively few. The
Christian's toilsome pilgrimage and dangerous journey-ah, how
the road climbs up and up!
There are only two ENDS:
One of them is destruction-dark, hopeless, irretrievable, the death of peace, the death of hope, the death of every good impulse, the death of the soul!
The other end is life-life at its fullest, sublimest, sweetest, life without sin and without sorrow, life in the land of life and glory, life in the presence of Christ to all eternity!
Consciously, deliberately, unequivocally, may I seek. . .the narrow gate, the difficult way, the end which is everlasting life!
~Alexander Smellie~
Should it be according to thy mind? Job 34:33
We are prone to be fretful, to complain of the dispensations of Divine Providence, and to reflect harshly upon the Lord's dealings with us.
We want our own way We wish to carve for ourselves.
We would be treated as God's favorites.
We want our ease, and prosperity, and pleasure, consulted in all things.
And if this does not appear to be done...if our wills are crossed, if our schemes are frustrated, if our purposes are broken off...then we stumble, think ourselves badly treated, and look for everybody to sympathize with us.
Under these circumstances, God comes to us as we sit among our broken cisterns, surrounded by our dethroned idols - and puts this question to us: "Should it be according to your mind?"
Are you wiser than God? Are you kinder than God? Are you holier than God? Are you more just than God? Are you better informed than God?
May not your mind be dark, or selfish, or foolish?
Should it then be according to your mind?
Should you reign or God?
Remember that God acts in the highest wisdom; His motives are grace and justice; and all His purposes are worthy of Himself.
The least the Christian can do is to submit and to prefer God's wisdom, way, and work to his own.
Seeing God has so arranged all events, that all things must work together for the good of His people they, at least, should daily say, "Father, may Your will be done!"
O my soul, seek grace from God, not only to submit and be resigned to the dispensations of Divine Providence but to acquiesce in them, and be pleased with the whole of them!
Your good is consulted — your best interests are secured; and soon, very soon, it will be seen that infinite wisdom and mercy, grace and goodness, have marked out every step of your road!
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
~James Smith~1858
A moment under our Father's anger seems very long, and yet it is but a
moment after all. If we grieve His Spirit, we cannot look for His
smile; but He is a God ready to pardon, and He soon puts aside all
remembrance of our faults.
When we faint and are ready to die because of
His frown, His favor puts new life into us.
This verse has another note
of the semi-quaver kind. Our weeping night soon turns into joyous day.
Brevity is the mark of mercy in the hour of the chastisement of
believers.
The LORD loves not to use the rod on His chosen; He gives a
blow or two, and all is over; yea, and the life and the joy, which
follow the anger and the weeping, more than make amends for the salutary
sorrow.
Come, my heart, begin thy hallelujahs! Weep not all through the
night, but wipe thine eyes in anticipation of the morning.
These tears
are dews which mean us as much good as the sunbeams of the morrow.
Tears
clear the eyes for the sight of God in His grace and make the vision of
His favor more precious.
A night of sorrow supplies those shades of the
pictures by which the highlights are brought out with distinctness. All
is well.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Sorrow was beautiful, but his beauty was the beauty of the
moonlight shining through the leafy branches of the trees in the
woods.
His gentle light made little pools of silver here and there on the soft green moss of the forest floor. And when he sang, his song was like the low, sweet calls of the nightingale, and in his eyes was the unexpectant gaze of someone who has ceased to look for coming gladness.
He could weep in tender sympathy with those who weep, but to rejoice with those who rejoice was unknown to him.
Joy was beautiful, too, but hers was the radiant beauty of a
summer morning. Her eyes still held the happy laughter of
childhood, and her hair glistened with the sunshine’s kiss.
When she sang, her voice soared upward like a skylark’s, and her steps were the march of a conqueror who has never known defeat.
She could rejoice with anyone who rejoices, but to weep with
those who weep was unknown to her.
Sorrow longingly said,“We can never be united as one.” “No, never,” responded Joy, with eyes misting as she spoke,“for my path lies through the sunlit meadows, the sweetest roses bloom when I arrive, and songbirds await my coming to sing their most joyous melodies.”
Yes, and my path, said Sorrow, turning slowly away, “leads
through the dark forest, and moonflowers, which open only at
night, will fill my hands.
Yet the sweetest of all earthly songs-the love song of the night will be mine.
So farewell, dear Joy, farewell.”
Yet even as Sorrow spoke, he and Joy became aware of someone
standing beside them. In spite of the dim light, they sensed a kingly Presence, and suddenly a great and holy awe overwhelmed them.
They then sank to their knees before Him. “I see Him as the King of Joy,” whispered Sorrow, for on His head are many crowns, and the nailprints in His hands and feet are the scars of a great victory.
And before Him all my sorrow is melting away into deathless love and gladness. I now give myself to Him forever.
No, Sorrow, said Joy softly, “for I see Him as the King of
Sorrow, and the crown on His head is a crown of thorns, and
the nailprints in His hands and feet are the scars of terrible agony. I also give myself to Him forever, for sorrow with Him
must be sweeter than any joy I have ever known.”
Then we are one in Him, Joy cried in gladness, “for no
one but He could unite Joy and Sorrow.”
Therefore they walked hand in hand into the world, to follow Him through storms and sunshine, through winter’s severe cold and the warmth of summer’s gladness, and to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”
Does Sorrow lay his hand upon your shoulder, And walk with you in silence on life’s way,
While Joy, your bright companion once, grown colder, Becomes to you more distant day by day?
Run not from the companionship of Sorrow, He is the messenger of God to thee; And you will thank Him in His great tomorrow
For what you do not know now, you then will see; He is God’s angel, clothed in veils of night, With whom “we walk by faith” and “not by sight."
2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Psa 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
God’s glory is the result of his nature and acts. He is glorious in his character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that he must be glorious.
The actions which flow from his character are also glorious; but while he intends that they should manifest to his creatures his goodness, and mercy, and justice, he is equally concerned that the glory associated with them should be given only to himself.
Nor is there aught in ourselves in which we may glory; for who maketh us to differ from another?
And what have we that we did not receive from the God of all grace?
Then how careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord!
The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High.
Shall the insect of an hour glorify itself against the sun which warmed it into life?
Shall the potsherd exalt itself above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel?
Shall the dust of the desert strive with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean struggle with the tempest?
Give unto the Lord, all ye righteous, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto him the honour that is due unto his name.
Yet it is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this sentence—“Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be glory.”
It is a lesson which God is ever teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by most painful discipline.
Let a Christian begin to boast, “I can do all things,” without adding “through Christ which strengtheneth me,” and before long he will have to groan, “I can do nothing,” and bemoan
himself in the dust.
When we do anything for the Lord, and he is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown at his feet, and exclaim, “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me!”
~Charles Spurgeon~
Jesus gave the church His Name. The Name of Jesus is
above every name. At that Name beings in heaven, in earth, and under the
earth must bow. See Philippians 2:9-11.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
That Name is Dominion.
Before He was crucified, Jesus spoke to His followers
of the soon coming day when He would give them the power of attorney to
use His exalted Name. They would use it in prayer (See John 16: 23-24)
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Jesus spoke of His followers doing the works that He did, and greater works, because He was going unto His Father.
In the next breath He said:
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
After
His death, burial, and resurrection, and before He ascended to sit down
at the right hand of the Father, Jesus told His disciples to "Go...And
Teach All Nations" (Matthew 28:19)
The gospel of Mark records the signs that would follow the believers as they carried out Jesus' orders:
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mar
16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar
16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover.
~Lester Sumrall~
The devil seeks to enthrone himself in the three areas of man's soul-the mind, the emotions, and the will.
1.The Mind: God wants the human mind under divine subjection. It should be directed through the human spirit by the Holy Spirit.
But the devil wants to capture the human mind because the mind of man is so important. It is a perpetual battlefield.
The mind suffers great onslaughts from the powers of darkness than any other part of the human personality.
Christians are commanded to renew their minds. (See Romans 12:2 How? With the Word of God.
We are to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
We are to control what our minds think. (See Philippians 4:8.)
The mind, when yielded to your human spirit that is yielded to the Holy Spirit, is active and powerful.
You can even have the mind of Christ! (See 1 Corinthians 2:16).
2.The emotions: If man does not dominate his emotions, his life will be one of defeat.
Emotions dominated by a source other than God or the man himself causes stress. Stress, doctors say, is what kills man.
Having dominion gives you the ability to relax. Relaxing means releasing. Relaxing gives your total being over to God for His care.
3.The will: No one can fully know dominion and retain stubbornness of will.
The Bible speaks of those who are self-willed. (See 2 Peter 2:10)
Their natural human nature is in rulership and God's Spirit of Dominion is defeated and subjected to the smaller nature of man.
Who is ruling your life? God's Spirit of Dominion or your human nature?
~Lester Sumrall~
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Many professed Christians are always doubting and fearing, and they forlornly think that this is the necessary state of believers.
This is a mistake, for “all things are possible to him that believeth”; and it is possible for us to mount into a state in which a doubt or a fear shall be but as a bird of passage flitting across the soul, but never lingering there.
When you read of the high and sweet communions enjoyed by favoured saints, you sigh and murmur in the chamber of your heart, “Alas! these are not for me.” O climber, if thou hast but faith, thou shalt yet stand upon the sunny pinnacle of the temple, for “all things are possible to him that believeth.”
You hear of exploits which holy men have done for Jesus; what they have enjoyed of him; how much they have been like him; how they have been able to endure great persecutions for his sake; and you say, “Ah! as for me, I am but a worm; I can never
attain to this.”
But there is nothing which one saint was, that you may not be. There is no elevation of grace, no attainment of spirituality, no clearness of assurance, no post of duty, which is not open to you if you have but the power to believe.
Lay aside your sackcloth and ashes, and rise to the dignity of your true position; you are little in Israel because you will
be so, not because there is any necessity for it.
It is not meet that thou shouldst grovel in the dust, O child of a King. Ascend! The golden throne of assurance is waiting for you!
The crown of communion with Jesus is ready to bedeck your brow. Wrap yourself in scarlet and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day; for if thou believest, thou mayst eat the fat of kidneys of wheat; thy land shall flow with milk and honey, and thy soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.
Gather golden sheaves of grace, for they await thee in the fields
of faith. “All things are possible to him that believeth.”
~Charles Spurgeon~
Surrender. Now,
whether you like that or not, it is right; it is true, whichever
word you prefer: surrender or yielding.
The New Testament seems to
use 'yielding' more than surrender.
I
speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness
and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as
servants to righteousness unto sanctification."
Note:
sanctification; yielding unto sanctification.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Now, what does this
yielding or surrendering carry with it?
Romans 12:1: "Present,
yield your bodies", there is a first connection.
1 Cor. 6:19,20:
"Know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost?"
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Now I am putting the emphasis on this because it is here
that the emphasis is not always put and not sufficiently put.
We perhaps very often accept the surrender or yielding of what we
call our "hearts" to the Lord, or our spirit to the Lord.
And we
think of consecration or sanctification (or surrender or yielding)
as something that is inward; and rightly so.
But it is the whole
being God claims: spirit, soul and body - that is what is
meant by entire consecration - by entire sanctification, that the
whole man or woman, spirit, soul and body is given to the Lord.
And to me it is a tremendous thing that God says, "Your bodies are
a temple of the Holy Spirit" and not just in the sense that the
Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and our hearts are in our bodies
and in that way logically our bodies become a temple of the Holy
Spirit.
No, in a more direct and immediate way God demands that
these bodies should be wholly under the control, government, and
sanctifying beauty of the Holy Spirit; that we cannot do one thing
with our bodies and another thing with our souls and spirits, that
we cannot be Christians somewhere inside and otherwise outside -
that the whole being is God's.
~T. Austin Sparks~
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
In divine providence, nothing comes a moment too soon or too late but everything comes in its own complete time.
God's clock is never too slow. Every link of the chain of God's
providence, fits into its own place.
We do not see God's hand at the time. Not until afterward, will you
see that your disappointments, hardships, trials, and the wrongs inflicted
on you by others are parts of God's good providence toward you, and full
of blessing.
Not until afterward will you see it, but the "afterward"
is secure to faithful followers of Christ.
The "afterward" of every
disappointment or sorrow is blessing and good. We only need to learn to
wait in patience for Him.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
~J. R. Miller~
Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Have you prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no manifestation?
Are
you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the point of giving
it all up?
Perhaps you have not waited in the right way? This would take
you out of the right place the place where He can meet you.
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Patience takes away worry. He said He would
come, and His promise is equal to His presence.
Patience takes away
your weeping. Why feel sad and despondent?
He knows your need better
than you do, and His purpose in waiting is to bring more glory out of it
all.
Patience takes away self-works. The work He desires is that you
"believe" (John 6:29), and when you believe, you may then know that all
is well.
Patience takes away all want. Your desire for the thing you
wish is perhaps stronger than your desire for the will of God to be
fulfilled in its arrival.
Patience takes away all
weakening. Instead of having the delaying time, a time of letting go,
know that God is getting a larger supply ready and must get you ready
too.
Patience takes away all wobbling. "Make me stand upon my standing"
(Daniel 8:18 ). God's foundations are steady; and when His
patience is within, we are steady while we wait.
Patience gives worship.
A praiseful patience sometimes "long-suffering with joyfulness" (Col.
1:11) is the best part of it all.
Let (all these phases of) patience
have her perfect work
(James 1:4), while you wait, and you will find
great enrichment.
~C. H. P.~
Hold steady when the fires burn, When inner lessons come to learn, And from this path there seems no turn "Let patience have her perfect work."--L.S.P.
