This Was His Final Verdict!

Nothing can fully satisfy a person but the Lord's love and the Lord's own self.

Christians have tried other pursuits but they have been driven out of such fatal refuges.

Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to make experiments for us all; and to do for us what we must not dare to do for ourselves.

Here is his testimony in his own words, "So I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired.

I refused my heart no pleasure.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind!

Nothing was gained under the sun!

Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher.

Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaningless! 

What! Is the whole of it meaningless?

O favored monarch...is there nothing in all your wealth?

Nothing in that wide dominion reaching from the river even to the sea?

Nothing in your glorious palaces?

Is there nothing in all your music and dancing, and wine and luxury?

Nothing! he says, "but a chasing after the wind!" 

This was his final verdict...after he had trodden the whole round of pleasure. 

To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in His love, and be fully assured of union with Him...this is all in all. 

Dear reader, you need not try other forms of pleasure in order to see whether they are better than Christ.

If you roam the whole world you will see no sights like a sight of the Savior's face!

If you could have all the comforts of life without the Savior, you would be most wretched.

But if you possess Christ...though you should rot in a dungeon...you would find it a paradise!

Though you should live in obscurity, or die with famine...yet you would be satisfied with the favor and goodness of the Lord!

~Charles Spurgeon~

Death

Life is nothing but death's hallway; and our pilgrimage on earth is but a journey to the grave. 

The pulse that preserves our life beats our death march...

And the blood which circulates our life is floating it forward to the depths of death. 

Today we see our friends in health, tomorrow we hear of their death. 

Only yesterday, we shook hands with a strong man, and today we close his eyes. 

We rode in a coach of comfort only an hour ago, and in a few more hours the black hearse must carry us to the home of the living. 

Oh, how closely allied is death to life! 

The little lamb that plays in the field must soon feel the knife. 

The cow that lows in the pasture is fattening itself for the slaughter.

Trees only grow to be cut down. 

Yes, and greater things than these feel death. 

Empires rise and flourish; they flourish only to fall into decay, they rise to fall. 

How often do we take up a history book, and read of the rise and fall of empires? 

We hear of the coronation and the death of kings. 

Death is the somber servant who rides behind the chariot of life.

See life! and death is close behind it. 

Death reaches far throughout this world, and has stamped all earthly creatures with an arrow pointing to the grave. 

Stars die; it is said that large and destructive fires have been seen in outer space...

And astronomers have marked the funerals of planets...

The decay of those mighty spheres, that we had imagined set forever in sockets of silver, to glisten as the lamps of eternity.

But blessed be God, there is one place where death is not life's brother...

Where life reigns alone...

To live is not the first syllable which is to be followed by the next, "to die."

There is a land where the death bells are never tolled...

Where grave clothes are never put on...

Where graves are never dug. 

Blessed land beyond the skies!

To reach it, we must die.

~Charles Spurgeon~

He Answers These Many Fears With A Single Golden Sentence!

Luke 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Let us mark what a gracious word of consolation this passage contains for all true believers.

The Lord Jesus well knew the hearts of His disciples.

He knew how ready they were to be filled with fears of every description...

Fears because of the fewness of their number...

Fears because of the multitude of their enemies...

Fears because of the many difficulties in their way...

Fears because of their sense of weakness and unworthiness...

He answers these many fears with a single golden sentence, "Fear not, little flock it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!"

Believers are a "little flock."

They always have been, ever since the world began.

Professing Christians, have sometimes been very many.

Baptized people at the present day, are a great company.

But True Christians, have always been very few.

It is foolish to be surprised at this.

It is vain to expect that it will be otherwise.

Our Lord has plainly told us, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Mat 7:14

All true believers have a glorious "kingdom" awaiting them!

Here upon earth they are often mocked, and ridiculed, and persecuted...and, like their Master, despised and rejected by men.

But "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us!" 

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear-then shall you also appear with Him in glory!

Believers are tenderly loved by God the Father.

It is the Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom.

He does not receive them grudgingly, unwillingly or coldly.

He rejoices over them, as members of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.

He regards them as His dear children in Christ.

He sees no spot in them.

Even now, when He looks down on them from Heaven, in the midst of their infirmities-He is well pleased.

And hereafter, when presented before His glory-He will welcome them with exceeding joy! 

Jude 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

~J. C. Ryle~

The Coneys

Conscious of their own natural defenselessness, the coneys resort to clefts in the rocky cliffs, and are secure from their enemies.

My heart, be willing to gather a lesson from these feeble folk. 

You are as weak and as exposed to peril as the timid coneys...strive to be as wise as they are to seek a shelter. 

My best security is within the fortifications of an immutable Jehovah, where His unalterable promises stand like giant cliffs of rock. 

It will be well with you, my heart, if you can always hide yourself in the bulwarks of His glorious attributes, all of which are guarantees of safety for those who put their trust in Him.

Blessed be the name of the Lord, I have done so and have found myself like David in the cave of Adullam...safe from the cruelty of my enemy.

I experience the blessedness of the man who puts his trust in the Lord...

For long ago, when Satan and my sins pursued me...I fled to the cleft of the Rock Christ Jesus!

And in His riven side I found a secure resting-place!

Dear heart, run to Him anew today, whatever your present grief may be! 

Jesus cares for you!

Jesus will console and help you!

No monarch in his impregnable fortress, is more secure than the coney in his rocky shelter. 

The leader of a thousand armies is not one whit better protected than the little dweller in the rocky cleft.

Just so, in Jesus...the weak are strong, and the defenseless are safe!

They could not be more strong if they were giants!

They could not be more safe if they were in Heaven!

Faith gives to men on earth the protection of the God of Heaven! 

More protection they cannot need, and need not wish.

The coneys cannot build a castle but they avail themselves of what is there already.

Just so, I cannot make a refuge for myself but Jesus has provided it, His Father has given it, His Spirit has revealed it...and lo, I enter it and am safe from every foe.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Do Not Yield To Discouragement

Exo 16:20  Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud and when you have found it, continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.

Do not yield to discouragement no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be.

A discouraged soul is helpless.

He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.

Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you would flee from a viper.

And be not slow in turning your back on it, unless you want to bite the dust in bitter defeat.

Search out God's promises and say aloud of each one: "This promise is mine."

If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.

The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and in-breathe Divine strength into your soul.

At first you may not be conscious of this, still as you resolutely and uncompromisingly "snub" every tendency toward doubt and depression that assails you, you will soon be made aware that the powers of darkness are falling back.

Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, God-ward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress,  and discourage us!

All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance. 

~Selected~
     
On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still gleamed like a circle of light. 

Then he slowly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky. 

He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings. 

The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle's domain.

A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength. 

In those far away heights be had played with the lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once be forgot and flew too low. 

The soul is that eagle. This is not its home. It must not lose the skyward look. 

We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ. 

We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave. 

There is no time for the soul to stampede. Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!
     
Keep looking up-The waves that roar around thy feet, Jehovah-Jireh will defeat...When looking up.
     
Keep looking up-Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul; The Light of Light shall fill thy soul...When looking up.
     
Keep looking up-When worn, distracted with the fight; Your Captain gives you conquering might...When you look up.
     

Our Holiest Example

This is the way to live. 

With God always before us, we shall have the noblest companionship...

The holiest example...

The sweetest consolation...

And the mightiest influence. 

This must be a resolute act of the mind...

I have set, and it must be maintained as a set and settled thing. 

Always to have an eye to the LORD's eye and an ear for the LORD's voice...

This is the right state for the godly man.

His God is near him, filling the horizon of his vision...

Leading the way of his life...

And furnishing the theme of his meditation. 

What vanities we should avoid...

What sins we should overcome...

What virtues we should exhibit...

What joys we should experience if we did indeed set the LORD always before us!

Why not?

This is the way to be safe.

The LORD being ever in our minds, we come to feel safety and certainty because of His being so near. 

He is at our right hand to guide and aid us...

And hence we are not moved by fear...

Nor force...

Nor fraud...

Nor fickleness. 

When God stands at a man's right hand, that man is himself sure to stand.

Come on, then, ye foemen of the truth!

Rush against me like a furious tempest, if ye will...

God upholds me...

God abides with me... 

Whom shall I fear?

~Charles Spurgeon~

In This Precious Book!

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
 
2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
 
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
 
Set a high value upon the Word of God. 

All that is necessary to make you wise to salvation is there...and there alone.

In this precious Book, you may find...
 
A direction for every doubt...
 
A solution to every difficulty... 

And a promise suited to every circumstance you can be in.

There you may be informed of your disease caused by sin...and the remedy provided by grace.

In the Scriptures, you may be instructed to know...
 
Yourselves...
 
Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge...
 
The wonders of redeeming love...
 
The glories of the Redeemer's person...
 
The happiness of the redeemed people...
 
The power of faith...

And the beauty of holiness.

All are here fully and clearly represented.

Nothing is lacking in the Scriptures to make...
 
Life useful and comfortable...
 
Death safe and desirable... 

And to bring down something of Heaven upon earth.

But this true wisdom can be found nowhere else. 

If you wander from the Scriptures...

In pursuit either of present peace, or future hope...

Then your search will surely end in disappointment.

This is the fountain of living waters!

If you forsake it, and give the preference to broken cisterns of your own devising...

Then they will fail you when you most need them.

Rejoice, therefore, that such a treasure is put into your hand...

But rejoice with trembling. 

Remember this is not all you need unless God likewise gives you a heart to use the Scriptures aright then your privilege will only aggravate your guilt and misery.

~John Newton~

The Voyage Of Life!

All TRUE believers walk by the same rule, and mind the same things: 

The Word of God is their compass...
 
Jesus is both their polar star and their sun of righteousness... 

Their hearts and faces are all set Zion-ward.
 
Thus far they are as one body, animated by one spirit. 

Yet their experience, formed upon these common principles-is far from being uniform.

The Lord, in His first call, and His following dispensations, has a regard to the situation, temper, and talents of each...

And to the particular services or trials which He has appointed them for. 

Though all believers are tried at times yet some pass through the voyage of life much more smoothly than others. 

But he "who walks upon the wings of the wind, and measures the waters in the hollow of His hand," will not allow any of whom He has taken charge, to perish in the storms...

Though, for a season, perhaps, many of them are ready to give up all hopes.

We must not, therefore, make the experience of others, in all respects-a rule to ourselves.
 
Nor are we to make our own experience a rule to others.

~John Newton~

Pardon And Forgiveness

Psalm 103:9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

He will chide sometimes, or He would not be a wise Father for such poor, erring children as we are. 

His chiding is very painful to those who are true, because they feel how sadly they deserve it and how wrong it is on their part to grieve Him.

We know what this chiding means, and we bow before the LORD, mourning that we should cause Him to be angry with us. 

But what a comfort we find in these lines! "Not always" will He chide.

If we repent and turn to Him with hearts broken for sin and broken from sin, He will smile upon us at once.

It is no pleasure to Him to turn a frowning face toward those whom He loves with all His heart:

It is His joy that our joy should be full. 

Come, let us seek His face. 

There is no reason for despair, nor even for despondency.

Let us love a chiding God, and before long we shall sing, "Thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me."

Be gone, ye dark forebodings, ye ravens of the soul! 

Come in, ye humble hopes and grateful memories, ye doves of the heart! 

He who pardoned us long ago as a judge will again forgive us as a father, and we shall rejoice in His sweet, unchanging love.

~Charles Spurgeon~

From Obedience To Blessing

Hag 2:19  Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

Future things are hidden from us. 

Yet here is a glass in which we may see the unborn years. 

The LORD says, "From this day will I bless you."

It is worthwhile to note the day which is referred to in this promise. 

There had been failure of crops, blasting, and mildew, and all because of the people's sin. 

Now, the LORD saw these chastened ones commencing to obey His word and build His temple, and therefore He says, "From the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider."

From this day will I bless you.

If we have lived in any sin, and the Spirit leads us to purge ourselves of it, we may reckon upon the blessing of the LORD. 

His smile, His Spirit, His grace, His fuller revelation of His truth will all prove to us an enlarged blessing. 

We may fall into greater opposition from man because of our faithfulness...

But we shall rise to closer dealings with the LORD our God and a clearer sight of our acceptance in Him. 

LORD, I am resolved to be more true to Thee and more exact in my following of Thy doctrine and Thy precept; 

And I pray Thee, therefore, by Christ Jesus, to increase the blessedness of my daily life henceforth and forever.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Unfailing Watch

Jehovah is "the Keeper of Israel."  

No form of unconsciousness ever steals over Him, neither the deeper slumber nor the slighter sleep. 

He Never fails to watch the house and the heart of His people. 

This is a sufficient reason for our resting in perfect peace.

Alexander said that he slept because his friend Parmenio watched; 

Much more may we sleep because our God is our guard.

Behold is here set up to call our attention to the cheering truth.

Israel, when he had a stone for his pillow, fell asleep...

But His God was awake and came in vision to His servant.

When we lie defenseless, Jehovah Himself will cover our head.

The LORD keeps His people...

As a rich man keeps his treasure...

As a captain keeps a city with a garrison...

As a sentry keeps watch over his sovereign...

NONE can harm those who are in such keeping.

Let me put my soul into His dear hands. 

He Never forgets us...

Never ceases actively to care for us...

Never finds Himself unable to preserve us. 

O my LORD, Keep Me, lest I wander and fall and perish.

Keep me, that I may keep Thy commandments.

By Thine unslumbering care prevent my sleeping like the sluggard and perishing like those who sleep the sleep of death.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Walk Without Stumbling

Psa 121:3  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 

If the LORD will not suffer it, neither men nor devils can do it. 

How greatly would they rejoice if they could...

Give us a disgraceful fall,...

Drive us from our position...

And bury us out of memory! 

They could do this to their heart's content were it not for one hindrance...

And only one...

The LORD will not suffer it...

And if He does not suffer it, we shall not suffer it. 

The way of life is like traveling among the Alps. 

Along the mountain path one is constantly exposed to the slipping of the foot. 

Where the way is high the head is apt to swim, and then the feet soon slide...

There are spots which are smooth as glass and others that are rough with loose stones...

And in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. 

He who throughout life is enabled to keep himself upright and to walk without stumbling has the best of reasons for gratitude. 

What with pitfalls and snares, weak knees, weary feet, and subtle enemies...

No child of God would stand fast for an hour were it not for the faithful love which will not suffer his foot to be moved.

Amidst a thousand snares I stand Upheld and guarded by thy hand;

That hand unseen shall hold me still, And lead me to thy holy hill.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Arm Of The Lord~The Principles Of The Revealing Of His Arm

Now we come back to our initial question: What are the principles upon which the Arm of the Lord will be revealed?

As I have said, we think we are very familiar with the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.

But when we read it, we are usually so taken up with those vividly descriptive words concerning the sorrows and the sufferings and the sin-bearing of the One who is in view...With the Person and the experiences of this suffering Servant of Jehovah...

That we almost entirely lose sight of the tremendous significance of that fundamental opening question: "To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

And yet the whole chapter would have very little value and meaning but for that question.

Think about it again: Supposing all that is described there - His sufferings, His sorrows, and His sin-bearing - had taken place, and then the Arm of the Lord had not been revealed on His behalf, what were the value of it all?

It has happened - but where is the vindication?

What is the verdict of God upon it?

For, although the content of the chapter is so tremendous, and so overwhelmingly moving in its tragedy, it all relates to this one thing: "To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

The answer is: To that very One who is described here in such vivid detail.

The Arm of the Lord is revealed to the One who, with such fulness and such pathos, is here brought into view, as the object of all this tragedy, affliction, misunderstanding and misrepresentation.

It is to that One that the Arm of the Lord is revealed.

The prophet is viewing the reaction of the whole world, Israel and Gentile alike, to the report, the proclamation.

Who has believed our report? he asks.

Who has believed the message that we have proclaimed?

It is all looking on to the day of the Son of Man.

The messengers have gone out; the proclamation has been made - and what a proclamation it was!

It was made on the Day of Pentecost; it went out from Jerusalem into all the regions round about.

But - who believed it?

What was the reaction to it, from Israel and the Gentiles?

The prophet, in his wonderfully vivid, inspired foreknowledge of, and insight into, the reactions of the world to the message of the Gospel, asks the question, and answers it in the whole chapter.

But he asks also: "To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

The world has so reacted the vast majority have refused and rejected the message...

They have put a totally false construction upon the afflictions of the Suffering One.

Nevertheless, it is to this One that the Arm of the Lord is revealed;

It is alongside of this One that Jehovah stands.

 ~T. Austin Sparks~

In God's Time

Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. 

Mercy may seem slow, but it is sure. 

The LORD in unfailing wisdom has appointed a time for the outgoings of His gracious power...

And God's time is the best time. 

We are in a hurry; the vision of the blessings excites our desire and hastens our longings...

But the LORD will keep His appointments. 

He never is before His time...

He never is behind...

God's word is here spoken of as a living thing which will speak and will come.

It is never a dead letter, as we are tempted to fear when we have long watched for its fulfillment. 

The living word is on the way from the living God, and though it may seem to linger, it is not in reality doing so. 

God's train is not behind time.

It is only a matter of patience, and we shall soon see for ourselves the faithfulness of the LORD.

No promise of His shall fail; "it will not lie." 

No promise of His will be lost in silence; "it shall speak." 

What comfort it will speak to the believing ear! 

No promise of His shall need to be renewed like a bill which could not be paid on the day in which it fell due - "it will not tarry."

Come, my soul, canst thou not wait for thy God?

Rest in Him and be still in unutterable peacefulness.

~Charles Spurgeon~