One Thing # 1
"One thing you lack" (Mark 10:21).
Those words addressed by our Lord to the rich young ruler who had approached Him with such apparent eagerness and earnestness, and in whom there were some admirable qualities which are rarely found in young men, especially those of affluence. He occupied an honorable position, for Luke 18:18 informs us he was a "ruler." He had a clean moral record, for when Christ quoted to him the last six of the Commandments, he answered, "All these have I kept from my youth up" (Luke 18:21), outwardly, his life was blameless. He was fearless, for he sought not unto Christ "by night" as Nicodemus did - but openly and publicly. He was no dilatory seeker, for he had come "running" (Mark 10:17). He was humble and reverent, for he "kneed to Christ, especially when the eyes of their fellows be upon them! He came to Christ inquiring the way of salvation: "What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" (Matt. 19:16). What more could be required of him?
There was a fatal defect, for the sequel informs us that he turned from Christ, and "went away sad" (Mark 10:22). What was wrong with him? "One thing you lack - Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth." (Mark 10:21-22). There was a struggle between his convictions and his corruptions; he desired to serve two masters - God and mammon; and when Christ told him that was impossible, he was chagrined.
His fatal deficiency may be described in a variety of ways. He had no conviction that he was a ruined, lost and hell-deserving sinner, no consciousness that he was a spiritual leper in the sight of God, no realization of his utter helplessness to better his condition. Though religious, he was still in nature's darkness, and therefore, his affections were not raised above the vanities of this world. There was no love for God within him; and consequently, he was unwilling to deny himself, abandon his idols, and give God His rightful place in his life - serving, pleasing, and enjoying Him. He lacked a real and unreserved surrender of his heart to God.
Reader, is that the case with you? "One thing I know" (John 9:25). That was the confession of one upon whom our Lord had wrought a miracle of grace, namely, the man who was "blind from his birth" (John 9:1), to whom the Saviour gave sight. But no sooner was he made the recipient of the great mercy, than he encountered opposition.
First, some his neighbors doubted his identity; but he reassured them. Then the Pharisees challenged him, but his parents avowed he was their son, and that his eyes had been opened. Then the Pharisees told him that his Benefactor was "a sinner." To which he replied, "One thing I do know. I was once blind - but now I see!" (John 9:25). That is the assertion, or at any rate, should be, of every truly regenerated person. Though unable to refute the sophistries of those who oppose the truth - he may appeal to his actual experience and the great change which God has wrought in him - a change apparent to those best acquainted with him. He cannot explain the process - but he is sure of the effects. He may not know the time when he passed from death unto life - but he does know that once he was blind to: the glory of God, his own depravity, and the suitability of Christ - but he is no longer spiritually blind. His eyes have been opened to see the sinfulness of sin and the sufficiency of Christ's atoning blood.
Is that the case with you, my reader? "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple" (Psalm 27:4). That expresses the paramount longing and dominant aim of each renewed soul, while his case remains a normal and healthy one. All his yearnings are concentrated into this; and after the attainment thereof, all his energies are directed, for that which is ardently desired will be diligently sought. "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" is but the Old Testament way of saying, "That I may enjoy unbroken and close communion with God." That desire evidences his love to God.
"As the deer pants for streams of water - so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God!" (Psalm 42:1, 2). Previously, the majesty and almightiness of God terrified him, His sovereignty and justice repelled, his holiness and immutability were distasteful; but now the one quickened by Him exclaims, "My soul follows hard after You" (Psalm 63:8), esteeming fellowship with Him far above all the pleasures and treasures of this perishing world. Is that the case with you, dear reader?
"But one thing is needful" (Luke 10:42). We may regard these words as the Lord's intimation of how the desire of Psalm 27:4 may be realized. They were spoken first to the restless and feverish Martha, who was "cumbered (weighted down) about much serving" and was "anxious and troubled about many things" (Luke 10:40-41). What that "one thing" was, Christ explained in the words at once following: "Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
"But one thing is needful;" how that would banish anxious care, did we but apprehend it! How many distractions would our hearts be freed from if we bowed to our Lord's dictum! There are a great many duties which the Christian has to perform - but Christ would bring our hearts from everything else, simply to this: to be absorbed with Himself, to receive from His fullness, to commune with Him, to be instructed by Him. That is the one thing needful for a God-honoring, fruitful, happy life. Have you, my reader, been let into that secret experimentally?
There are many things that we are obligated to hold in our remembrance: such as the Word of God, His manifold mercies, our past sins and failures - that a due recollection of them may humble us in the present and for the future.
But there are other things which, in a certain sense, the believer needs to forget, namely, his past services unto the Lord, his attainments in grace, his victories over temptation - so that they be not made a matter of delight, nor rested in as a substitute for present exertion. The Christian should ever be conscious of his imperfections, and seek to rectify them; and so far from being content with his present knowledge, grace, and love - must press after a higher measure thereof. Are you, my reader, intent upon this one thing - and diligently attending unto the same?
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Love Reproving # 4
Love Reproving # 4
Is it possible to be too critical of Christians? It is certainly possible to expect too much from them - and then be irritated because they fail to produce what we look for. If our thoughts be governed by Scripture, which declares, "We all stumble in many ways? (James 3:2); if we bear in mind the frailties - some of them glaring ones - of the most eminent characters mentioned in the Word; if we constantly remind ourselves of how far short we come of the standard God has set before us - then we ought to be preserved from looking for anything approaching perfection in Christians. They too are men and women of "like passions" as ourselves. Hence the force of "bearing with one another in love" (Eph. 4:2); yet that must not be twisted into "winking at one another's faults" or condoning sin - under the pretense of love.
No, we cannot "always tell" whether a professing Christian is a regenerate or unregenerate person, and therefore it behooves us to be cautious and conservative, lest we be guilty of giving that which is holy - unto dogs (Matt. 7:6). It is a very serious and solemn matter to encourage a deluded soul in his deception, as we do when we lead him to believe that we regard him as a Christian. But how is this to be avoided? By a withholding the tokens of fellowship; for example, refusing to address as brother or sister - from all whom we stand in doubt of, especially from those whose walk is manifestly worldly and contrary to the precepts of Scripture. While we cannot read the hearts of those we mix with - we can test their outward life by the Word, and if its general tenor is opposed to the requirements of holiness, and is contrary to the example of Christ - we certainly are not warranted in regarding them as children of God.
Certainly we should be "loving" in rebuking sin. It is in love, that God chastens His people, that they "might be partakers of His holiness" (Heb. 12:6, 10). We are bidden to "speak the Truth in love," and Christ was doing so - as truly when denouncing the pharisees in Matthew 23 - as when He was comforting His disciples in John 14. But does that mean that His countenance, the tone of His voice, or His general bearing was the same? He ever spoke the Truth in love - but if some would re-read the four Gospels with this particular thought in mind - it might cause them to revise, or at least modify their present conception of what "speaking the truth in love" really is. Something depends upon the particular fault committed. Mole hills are not to be magnified into mountains. There are times when it is fitting to rebuke "sharply" (Titus 1:13), as Christ did in Luke 24:25. But for the most part, it should be done in "the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1). There is a happy medium between harshness and firmness, as there is between sentimentality and tenderness.
We know of a small church, far removed from these parts, the pastor and members of which are seeking to act one toward another in a spirit and manner which we deem highly commendable. Its minister tells us "I have never seen a congregation more pliable to the Word of God, more willing to rectify wrongs - endeavoring to walk as Christ would have them walk. Each member is interviewed by the joint-elders group concerning their position listed in the church discipline; and further, each one applying for membership specifies that it is his desire to have a pastor who will deal with the sin problems of that member, as a shepherd would the problems of the sheep." That admirably expresses our own convictions - love ministering to the needy - as a shepherd to the sheep.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Is it possible to be too critical of Christians? It is certainly possible to expect too much from them - and then be irritated because they fail to produce what we look for. If our thoughts be governed by Scripture, which declares, "We all stumble in many ways? (James 3:2); if we bear in mind the frailties - some of them glaring ones - of the most eminent characters mentioned in the Word; if we constantly remind ourselves of how far short we come of the standard God has set before us - then we ought to be preserved from looking for anything approaching perfection in Christians. They too are men and women of "like passions" as ourselves. Hence the force of "bearing with one another in love" (Eph. 4:2); yet that must not be twisted into "winking at one another's faults" or condoning sin - under the pretense of love.
No, we cannot "always tell" whether a professing Christian is a regenerate or unregenerate person, and therefore it behooves us to be cautious and conservative, lest we be guilty of giving that which is holy - unto dogs (Matt. 7:6). It is a very serious and solemn matter to encourage a deluded soul in his deception, as we do when we lead him to believe that we regard him as a Christian. But how is this to be avoided? By a withholding the tokens of fellowship; for example, refusing to address as brother or sister - from all whom we stand in doubt of, especially from those whose walk is manifestly worldly and contrary to the precepts of Scripture. While we cannot read the hearts of those we mix with - we can test their outward life by the Word, and if its general tenor is opposed to the requirements of holiness, and is contrary to the example of Christ - we certainly are not warranted in regarding them as children of God.
Certainly we should be "loving" in rebuking sin. It is in love, that God chastens His people, that they "might be partakers of His holiness" (Heb. 12:6, 10). We are bidden to "speak the Truth in love," and Christ was doing so - as truly when denouncing the pharisees in Matthew 23 - as when He was comforting His disciples in John 14. But does that mean that His countenance, the tone of His voice, or His general bearing was the same? He ever spoke the Truth in love - but if some would re-read the four Gospels with this particular thought in mind - it might cause them to revise, or at least modify their present conception of what "speaking the truth in love" really is. Something depends upon the particular fault committed. Mole hills are not to be magnified into mountains. There are times when it is fitting to rebuke "sharply" (Titus 1:13), as Christ did in Luke 24:25. But for the most part, it should be done in "the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1). There is a happy medium between harshness and firmness, as there is between sentimentality and tenderness.
We know of a small church, far removed from these parts, the pastor and members of which are seeking to act one toward another in a spirit and manner which we deem highly commendable. Its minister tells us "I have never seen a congregation more pliable to the Word of God, more willing to rectify wrongs - endeavoring to walk as Christ would have them walk. Each member is interviewed by the joint-elders group concerning their position listed in the church discipline; and further, each one applying for membership specifies that it is his desire to have a pastor who will deal with the sin problems of that member, as a shepherd would the problems of the sheep." That admirably expresses our own convictions - love ministering to the needy - as a shepherd to the sheep.
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Glimpses At Life's Windows # 2
Glimpses At Life's Windows # 2
The grave would not then be the end of anything - except of mortality and of the sins, weights and infirmities which belong to this earthly state. It would break up no plans. It would cut off nothing. If we see life only as a narrow stage bounded by the curtain that falls at death, ending there forever - how poor and little and limited does existence appear! We can have no plans that require more than earth's brief day for their completion. We can start no work that cannot be finished before the end comes. We may cherish no joys that will reach over into the life hereafter. We may sow no seeds that will not come to harvest this side of the grave. Our souls may be thrilled by no aspirations and hopes that have their goal beyond the shadows.
But how different if we see life - with the veil torn away! The future is as much in our vision and as real - as the little present. We may begin works here which shall require ten thousand years to complete. There is no hurry - for we shall have all eternity in which to work. We may scatter seeds which we know shall not come to harvest for long ages. We may cherish hopes and aspirations whose goals lie far away in the life to come. We may endure sacrifices, hardships and toils which cannot bring any recompense or reward in this world, knowing that in the long yearless future - we shall find glorious return.
Life may seem a failure here - crushed like a lily under the heel of wrong or sin - broken, trampled, torn. But it may yet become a glorious success. Many of the truest and best of God's children, know only defeat in this world. They are evermore beaten back and thrust down. The burdens are too heavy for them. They are overmastered by sorrows. The world's enmity treads them in the dust. They are not worldly-wise, and while others march by to great earthly success - they live obscurely, oppressed, cheated, wronged, and lie buried away in the darkness of failure!
If the vista did not reach beyond the bare and cold room in which these unsuccessful ones breathe their last - we might drop a tear of pity over their sad story of defeat. But when the curtain is lifted - and we see millions of years of existence for them on the other side - we dry our tears. There will be time enough for them to retrieve the failure of earth. Through the love and grace of Christ, the defeated Christian life that goes out in the darkness here - may be restored to beauty and power, and in the long ages beyond death may realize all the hopes that seemed utterly wrecked in this world.
Indeed, it may be that those who have failed here, as men phrase it, are the very ones who shall win the highest success in the after-life, if they have kept their garments clean amid the struggles and toils. Certainly, for the Christian, the realization of the truth of immortality takes away the bitterness of earthly defeat. There will be time enough for victory, and for the most glorious success - in the unending eternity!
Death only sweeps away the limitations, breaks down the walls, shatters the crust of mortality, washes out the stains - and then life expands into perfect freedom, fullness, joy and power. The translation of a Christian life from earth to heaven - is but like the removal of a tender plant from a cold northern garden, into a tropical garden, where it puts out most luxuriant growths!
In the highest sense - do we work for eternity. In a truer and deeper way than we know, and in remoter ages than we can count - shall we find our songs from beginning to end - in the hearts of our friends. In frescoing, when the artist lays on his colors they sink away and leave no trace - but they reappear by and by in beauty. Just so - we touch lives today and there is no impression that we can see. The very memory seems to fade out. But in eternity it will be manifest. The brightest clouds in the glowing west lose their splendor while you gaze - but work done in human souls will appear in unfading hues, brightening forever.
Thus the glimpses we get through the little dim windows in the walls of our earthly life - should give a new meaning to our existence here, and to all our multiplied relationships. With immortality glowing before us, our brief years on earth should be marked by earnestness, reverence, love and faithfulness. Soon we shall break out of our narrow circle - and traverse the boundless fields that we see now only in the far-away and momentary glimpse. But it will be a blessed thing if we can get into our hearts even here, something of the personal consciousness of our immortality, with its limitless possessions and possibilities, and feel something in our souls - of the power of an endless life!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
The grave would not then be the end of anything - except of mortality and of the sins, weights and infirmities which belong to this earthly state. It would break up no plans. It would cut off nothing. If we see life only as a narrow stage bounded by the curtain that falls at death, ending there forever - how poor and little and limited does existence appear! We can have no plans that require more than earth's brief day for their completion. We can start no work that cannot be finished before the end comes. We may cherish no joys that will reach over into the life hereafter. We may sow no seeds that will not come to harvest this side of the grave. Our souls may be thrilled by no aspirations and hopes that have their goal beyond the shadows.
But how different if we see life - with the veil torn away! The future is as much in our vision and as real - as the little present. We may begin works here which shall require ten thousand years to complete. There is no hurry - for we shall have all eternity in which to work. We may scatter seeds which we know shall not come to harvest for long ages. We may cherish hopes and aspirations whose goals lie far away in the life to come. We may endure sacrifices, hardships and toils which cannot bring any recompense or reward in this world, knowing that in the long yearless future - we shall find glorious return.
Life may seem a failure here - crushed like a lily under the heel of wrong or sin - broken, trampled, torn. But it may yet become a glorious success. Many of the truest and best of God's children, know only defeat in this world. They are evermore beaten back and thrust down. The burdens are too heavy for them. They are overmastered by sorrows. The world's enmity treads them in the dust. They are not worldly-wise, and while others march by to great earthly success - they live obscurely, oppressed, cheated, wronged, and lie buried away in the darkness of failure!
If the vista did not reach beyond the bare and cold room in which these unsuccessful ones breathe their last - we might drop a tear of pity over their sad story of defeat. But when the curtain is lifted - and we see millions of years of existence for them on the other side - we dry our tears. There will be time enough for them to retrieve the failure of earth. Through the love and grace of Christ, the defeated Christian life that goes out in the darkness here - may be restored to beauty and power, and in the long ages beyond death may realize all the hopes that seemed utterly wrecked in this world.
Indeed, it may be that those who have failed here, as men phrase it, are the very ones who shall win the highest success in the after-life, if they have kept their garments clean amid the struggles and toils. Certainly, for the Christian, the realization of the truth of immortality takes away the bitterness of earthly defeat. There will be time enough for victory, and for the most glorious success - in the unending eternity!
Death only sweeps away the limitations, breaks down the walls, shatters the crust of mortality, washes out the stains - and then life expands into perfect freedom, fullness, joy and power. The translation of a Christian life from earth to heaven - is but like the removal of a tender plant from a cold northern garden, into a tropical garden, where it puts out most luxuriant growths!
In the highest sense - do we work for eternity. In a truer and deeper way than we know, and in remoter ages than we can count - shall we find our songs from beginning to end - in the hearts of our friends. In frescoing, when the artist lays on his colors they sink away and leave no trace - but they reappear by and by in beauty. Just so - we touch lives today and there is no impression that we can see. The very memory seems to fade out. But in eternity it will be manifest. The brightest clouds in the glowing west lose their splendor while you gaze - but work done in human souls will appear in unfading hues, brightening forever.
Thus the glimpses we get through the little dim windows in the walls of our earthly life - should give a new meaning to our existence here, and to all our multiplied relationships. With immortality glowing before us, our brief years on earth should be marked by earnestness, reverence, love and faithfulness. Soon we shall break out of our narrow circle - and traverse the boundless fields that we see now only in the far-away and momentary glimpse. But it will be a blessed thing if we can get into our hearts even here, something of the personal consciousness of our immortality, with its limitless possessions and possibilities, and feel something in our souls - of the power of an endless life!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
Glimpses at Life's Windows # 1
Glimpses at Life's Windows # 1
No one can ponder the great theme of immortality for an hour - and not feel the stir and glow of a better, nobler life in him. In our more commonplace moods, we are like men shut up in a narrow cell. We see for the time nothing but the little patch of dusty floor at our feet - and the cold, cheerless walls that encircle us. We are occupied with our little round of duties. Burdens press, sorrows pour bitter tears into our cup, our hopes are shattered; or we have our short-lived joys - we see our plans succeed, and play at living like children in their make-believe games. Now and then we have intimations of a wider and more glorious world outside our walls, stretching away beyond the small circle in which we dwell. Faint voices appear to come to us from without. Or there are glimmerings as if of memory, like the visionary gleams of a past and forgotten life, which flash before us in our higher moods.
But to most of us, pent up in this earthly life - these are only merest intimations, faintest whispers, dreamlike suggestions. We go on living in our narrow sphere, oppressed by its limitations; our faculties and powers stunted by its gloom.
Did you ever climb the winding staircase in the interior of some great monument or tower? At intervals, as you ascended, you came to a window which let in a little light, and through which, as you looked out, you had a glimpse of a great expanse of fair and lovely world outside the dark tower. You saw green fields, rich gardens, picturesque landscapes, streams flashing like flowing silver in the sunshine, the blue seas yonder; and far away, on the other hand, the shadowy forms of great mountains. How little, how dark, how poor and cheerless, seemed the close, narrow limits of your staircase as you looked out upon the illimitable view that stretched from your window!
Life in this world is like the ascent of such a column. But while we clime heavily and wearily up its steep, dark stairway - there lies, outside the thick walls, a glorious world reaching away into eternity, beautiful and filled with the rarest things of God's love. And thoughts of immortality, when they come to us, are little windows through which we have glimpses of the infinite sweep and stretch of life beyond this hampered, broken, fragmentary existence of earth.
The doctrine of the resurrection is one of these windows. It opens to us a vista running way beyond the grave. Death is a mere episode, a mere experience, an incident on the way. Even the grave, which seems to quench all the light of life, is but a chamber in which we shall disrobe ourselves of the infirmities, blemishes and imperfections of mortality - and be re-clothed in the holy, spotless vesture of immortality.
Thus we sleep at night, and sleep seems like death; but we awake in the morning, our life unharmed, unwasted, made fairer, fuller, fresher, stronger.
Thus winter comes, and the leaves fall, the flowers fade, the plants die - and snow wraps the earth in a blanket of death. But spring comes again, and the buds burst out anew, the flowers lift their heads and the grasses shoot up once more. From beneath the great snow drifts - the gentlest and most delicate forms of life come as fresh and fragrant as if they had been nourished in a conservatory. Nature rises from the grave of winter in new beauty and luxuriance. In place of the sere leaves, and faded loveliness, and exhausted vigor of the autumn - there is now all the splendor of new creation! Every leaf is green, every pore is flowing full of vital sap, and every flower pours sweetest fragrance on the air.
The grave is but life's winter, from whose darkness and chill we shall come with unwasted beauty. Then, way beyond this strange experience, as we look out at the window again - we see life going on, expanding, deepening, enriching.
When the truth of immortal existence comes into our personal consciousness, it opens a wonderful vista before us. It gives life a new glory. It furnishes one of the most powerful motives for noble living.
The weakness of most lives, even of most Christian lives, is the absence of this motive. For, however firmly we may cling to the truth of immortality as a belief, there are but few lives in which it is so realized as to be a ruling inspiration, a strong, masterful conviction.
How it would widen out all our thoughts, conceptions, hopes and plans - if the walls that divide life here and hereafter were broken down and our eyes could see our own existence in perspective, stretching away into eternity, as real, as personal, as fraught with interest beyond the grave - as on this side of it! How it would lift up, dignify, ennoble, inspire, awaken and deepen all our life - if we could but hold the truth of personal immortality in our consciousness all the while as vividly and as really, as we hold tomorrow!
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 2)
No one can ponder the great theme of immortality for an hour - and not feel the stir and glow of a better, nobler life in him. In our more commonplace moods, we are like men shut up in a narrow cell. We see for the time nothing but the little patch of dusty floor at our feet - and the cold, cheerless walls that encircle us. We are occupied with our little round of duties. Burdens press, sorrows pour bitter tears into our cup, our hopes are shattered; or we have our short-lived joys - we see our plans succeed, and play at living like children in their make-believe games. Now and then we have intimations of a wider and more glorious world outside our walls, stretching away beyond the small circle in which we dwell. Faint voices appear to come to us from without. Or there are glimmerings as if of memory, like the visionary gleams of a past and forgotten life, which flash before us in our higher moods.
But to most of us, pent up in this earthly life - these are only merest intimations, faintest whispers, dreamlike suggestions. We go on living in our narrow sphere, oppressed by its limitations; our faculties and powers stunted by its gloom.
Did you ever climb the winding staircase in the interior of some great monument or tower? At intervals, as you ascended, you came to a window which let in a little light, and through which, as you looked out, you had a glimpse of a great expanse of fair and lovely world outside the dark tower. You saw green fields, rich gardens, picturesque landscapes, streams flashing like flowing silver in the sunshine, the blue seas yonder; and far away, on the other hand, the shadowy forms of great mountains. How little, how dark, how poor and cheerless, seemed the close, narrow limits of your staircase as you looked out upon the illimitable view that stretched from your window!
Life in this world is like the ascent of such a column. But while we clime heavily and wearily up its steep, dark stairway - there lies, outside the thick walls, a glorious world reaching away into eternity, beautiful and filled with the rarest things of God's love. And thoughts of immortality, when they come to us, are little windows through which we have glimpses of the infinite sweep and stretch of life beyond this hampered, broken, fragmentary existence of earth.
The doctrine of the resurrection is one of these windows. It opens to us a vista running way beyond the grave. Death is a mere episode, a mere experience, an incident on the way. Even the grave, which seems to quench all the light of life, is but a chamber in which we shall disrobe ourselves of the infirmities, blemishes and imperfections of mortality - and be re-clothed in the holy, spotless vesture of immortality.
Thus we sleep at night, and sleep seems like death; but we awake in the morning, our life unharmed, unwasted, made fairer, fuller, fresher, stronger.
Thus winter comes, and the leaves fall, the flowers fade, the plants die - and snow wraps the earth in a blanket of death. But spring comes again, and the buds burst out anew, the flowers lift their heads and the grasses shoot up once more. From beneath the great snow drifts - the gentlest and most delicate forms of life come as fresh and fragrant as if they had been nourished in a conservatory. Nature rises from the grave of winter in new beauty and luxuriance. In place of the sere leaves, and faded loveliness, and exhausted vigor of the autumn - there is now all the splendor of new creation! Every leaf is green, every pore is flowing full of vital sap, and every flower pours sweetest fragrance on the air.
The grave is but life's winter, from whose darkness and chill we shall come with unwasted beauty. Then, way beyond this strange experience, as we look out at the window again - we see life going on, expanding, deepening, enriching.
When the truth of immortal existence comes into our personal consciousness, it opens a wonderful vista before us. It gives life a new glory. It furnishes one of the most powerful motives for noble living.
The weakness of most lives, even of most Christian lives, is the absence of this motive. For, however firmly we may cling to the truth of immortality as a belief, there are but few lives in which it is so realized as to be a ruling inspiration, a strong, masterful conviction.
How it would widen out all our thoughts, conceptions, hopes and plans - if the walls that divide life here and hereafter were broken down and our eyes could see our own existence in perspective, stretching away into eternity, as real, as personal, as fraught with interest beyond the grave - as on this side of it! How it would lift up, dignify, ennoble, inspire, awaken and deepen all our life - if we could but hold the truth of personal immortality in our consciousness all the while as vividly and as really, as we hold tomorrow!
~J. R. Miller~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Spiritual Fluctuations
Spiritual Fluctuations
"Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God" (Psalm 55:19). As there are some people who uniformly enjoy good health - so there is a class of religious professors who appear to maintain one steady level of experience. There is no rise and fall of their emotional thermometer, no ebbs and flows in the tide of their energy, no ups and downs in their history. Their faith (such as it is) does not flag, their "assurance" is never eclipsed by the dark clouds of unbelief, their zeal continues lively to the end. Are such people be be envied or pitied? Perhaps such a question seems senseless. Does not the timid and trembling believer, whose case varies as often and as radically as the weather, frequently wish that his experience approximated far more closely, to that which we have just described?
Surely such a uniform level of experience, is greatly to be coveted. What more desirable than unruffled peace, unbroken confidence, uninterrupted joy! Ah - but all is not gold that glitters! Much which passes in the churches for the coin of Canaan lacks a genuine ring to it. We must needs inquire - Is such a peace that of the graveyard - or the peace of Heaven? Is such confidence a carnal one - or the fruit of the Spirit? Is it a delusive or a substantial joy? In order to ascertain this, the question has to be raised - Is the fear of God upon such characters? Do they furnish any clear evidence that it is so? The solemn declaration of our text demands an impartial answer to these queries.
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his conflicts with sin! At conversion, it often seems as though the believer is completely delivered from all his spiritual enemies. His heart has been so melted and drawn out Godwards, his sense of Christ dying on the Cross, has imparted such a hatred and horror of evil, that he is filled with a desire and determination to live henceforth unto the pleasing of his Lord. He feels that the Song of Israel on the farther shores of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) is exactly suited to express his case. But how soon he discovers that the Wilderness of Sin lies between him and the Promised Land, and that though the Egyptians are dead, there are Amalekites to assail him! (Ex. 17:8). True, God grants him many a token of His favor along the way, and at each gracious reviving, indwelling sin appears to slumber; but soon after it awakens and rages worse than ever, and, "I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14) becomes his cry!
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his enjoyment of the Scriptures! Often he is able to feelingly exclaim, "More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10). But alas, it is by no means always so. When fellowship with God is broken - our relish is lost for His Word, and it becomes more or less neglected. Sad to relate, it was thus with Israel of old. And, when the Lord chastens His child because of his waywardness, so far from His Word affording comfort - it pricks, condemns, and terrifies! How many a backslider has turned to the Word only to feel that the solemn curses pronounced upon the hypocrite and the apostate apply to his case!
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his faith! On some occasions his heart goes out instinctively to God so that he can exclaim, "I will trust and not be afraid" (Isaiah 12:2); but at other times he is filled with doubts and fears, and is quite unable to lay hold of the Divine promises. Now is this always explainable from the human side: when a Christian is walking closely with God and is conscious of no transgression - yet he is not lord of his faith, and is painfully reminded of the fact.
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his prayer life! One day he is favored with real freedom, and his devotions are delightful - but another day he is bound in his heart, and his attempts at supplication are wearisome. O how different it is, when the believer is favored with conscious access to God, and an answer of peace is granted him, from feeling that the Lord is far off and the heavens above are as brass. And what a sore trial it is for the Christian, when such an experience is protracted: then it is that he cries, "Oh that I were as in months past!" (Job 29:2).
What "changes" the true Christian often experiences in his outward lot! For a time - perhaps for years - the smile of Providence is upon him, and then all is drastically altered. One trouble follows another until the sorely tried soul is ready to say with Jacob, "all these things are against me!" (Gen. 42:36). The strain of financial reverses and family bereavements undermines his health, and satan takes full advantage of his low spirits and shattered nerves. Thoroughly dejected, he asks, "where are your former loving kindnesses to me?" (Psalm 89:49).
But such "changes" or afflictions are helpful - for they deeply exercise an honest heart, humble him before the Lord, cause him to tread more softly, and deepen his fear of God. Long continued ease and comfort, produce the worst effects upon the godless. But the spiritual fluctuations to which we have alluded, are a part of God's discipline for the believer's growth in piety!
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
"Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God" (Psalm 55:19). As there are some people who uniformly enjoy good health - so there is a class of religious professors who appear to maintain one steady level of experience. There is no rise and fall of their emotional thermometer, no ebbs and flows in the tide of their energy, no ups and downs in their history. Their faith (such as it is) does not flag, their "assurance" is never eclipsed by the dark clouds of unbelief, their zeal continues lively to the end. Are such people be be envied or pitied? Perhaps such a question seems senseless. Does not the timid and trembling believer, whose case varies as often and as radically as the weather, frequently wish that his experience approximated far more closely, to that which we have just described?
Surely such a uniform level of experience, is greatly to be coveted. What more desirable than unruffled peace, unbroken confidence, uninterrupted joy! Ah - but all is not gold that glitters! Much which passes in the churches for the coin of Canaan lacks a genuine ring to it. We must needs inquire - Is such a peace that of the graveyard - or the peace of Heaven? Is such confidence a carnal one - or the fruit of the Spirit? Is it a delusive or a substantial joy? In order to ascertain this, the question has to be raised - Is the fear of God upon such characters? Do they furnish any clear evidence that it is so? The solemn declaration of our text demands an impartial answer to these queries.
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his conflicts with sin! At conversion, it often seems as though the believer is completely delivered from all his spiritual enemies. His heart has been so melted and drawn out Godwards, his sense of Christ dying on the Cross, has imparted such a hatred and horror of evil, that he is filled with a desire and determination to live henceforth unto the pleasing of his Lord. He feels that the Song of Israel on the farther shores of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) is exactly suited to express his case. But how soon he discovers that the Wilderness of Sin lies between him and the Promised Land, and that though the Egyptians are dead, there are Amalekites to assail him! (Ex. 17:8). True, God grants him many a token of His favor along the way, and at each gracious reviving, indwelling sin appears to slumber; but soon after it awakens and rages worse than ever, and, "I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14) becomes his cry!
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his enjoyment of the Scriptures! Often he is able to feelingly exclaim, "More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10). But alas, it is by no means always so. When fellowship with God is broken - our relish is lost for His Word, and it becomes more or less neglected. Sad to relate, it was thus with Israel of old. And, when the Lord chastens His child because of his waywardness, so far from His Word affording comfort - it pricks, condemns, and terrifies! How many a backslider has turned to the Word only to feel that the solemn curses pronounced upon the hypocrite and the apostate apply to his case!
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his faith! On some occasions his heart goes out instinctively to God so that he can exclaim, "I will trust and not be afraid" (Isaiah 12:2); but at other times he is filled with doubts and fears, and is quite unable to lay hold of the Divine promises. Now is this always explainable from the human side: when a Christian is walking closely with God and is conscious of no transgression - yet he is not lord of his faith, and is painfully reminded of the fact.
What "changes" the real Christian experiences in his prayer life! One day he is favored with real freedom, and his devotions are delightful - but another day he is bound in his heart, and his attempts at supplication are wearisome. O how different it is, when the believer is favored with conscious access to God, and an answer of peace is granted him, from feeling that the Lord is far off and the heavens above are as brass. And what a sore trial it is for the Christian, when such an experience is protracted: then it is that he cries, "Oh that I were as in months past!" (Job 29:2).
What "changes" the true Christian often experiences in his outward lot! For a time - perhaps for years - the smile of Providence is upon him, and then all is drastically altered. One trouble follows another until the sorely tried soul is ready to say with Jacob, "all these things are against me!" (Gen. 42:36). The strain of financial reverses and family bereavements undermines his health, and satan takes full advantage of his low spirits and shattered nerves. Thoroughly dejected, he asks, "where are your former loving kindnesses to me?" (Psalm 89:49).
But such "changes" or afflictions are helpful - for they deeply exercise an honest heart, humble him before the Lord, cause him to tread more softly, and deepen his fear of God. Long continued ease and comfort, produce the worst effects upon the godless. But the spiritual fluctuations to which we have alluded, are a part of God's discipline for the believer's growth in piety!
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Returning to Our First Love # 5
Returning to Our First Love # 5
Two feelings are predominant in the exercises of a returning backslider: shame and a lively feeling of the baseness of ingratitude. Such a soul is ashamed to look up, and is often so confounded and overwhelmed with this feeling, that it remains silent before God. This frame of mind is vividly described by Ezekiel in the following language: "That you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done" (Ezekiel 16:63).
The mercy of God in graciously receiving the returning backslider appears to him more astonishing than it did upon his first being converted, and his admiration of the patience of the Lord is greatly enhanced. It is true, then, that God in His wisdom overrules even the falls and declensions of His people to increase their humility and watchfulness.
The reclaimed backslider is also rendered more charitable and forbearing to his brethren, when they appear delinquent in duty or are overtaken in a fault.
Let all churches make the inquiry seriously and honestly, whether they have not left their first love.
With many, the fact is notorious - their departure from God is both visible and great. Where is now that fervent affection and ardent zeal which once characterized them? Where now is that spirit of earnest, wrestling prayer, which seemed as if it would give God no rest until He should cause the righteousness of Zion to go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns? Where now is that fruitfulness in works of piety, mercy, and benevolence which adorned your profession?
"Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen - repent and do the first works." Otherwise, the threatening against Ephesus, so fearfully executed, may be realized in your case. Your candlestick may be removed. Error may overspread the church. Faithful ministers may be withdrawn, and false teachers may come in their place.
For your own sakes, and that of your posterity, awake out of your sleep! Seek the Lord for the return of His grieved Spirit. Cry mightily to God for His reviving influences.
As every church consists of individuals - I would call upon all professors to consider their ways. Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith, and whether you are in a growing, thriving condition; for if not, you are surely in a state of declension.
There is no standing still in religion. If you are not pressing forward, you are certainly retrograding. You are, this day, solemnly called upon to remember the times and seasons which are past - to remember the love and joy of your espousals unto Christ, when the candle of the Lord shone upon your tabernacle, and when your chief delight was in the service of God; when the very name of Jesus was as ointment poured forth - when He gave you songs in the night; and in the morning, your first thoughts spontaneously arose to God your Redeemer.
But how is it with you now? What does your conscience testify as to your present condition? What testimony would your prayer closet give, if it could speak? Alas! What a change! Where now are your religious comforts? What has become of that sweet peace you once enjoyed? Perhaps you even doubt of the reality of your former experiences. You have, like the virgins in the parable, fallen into a slumbering state, in which the solemn truths of religion are dimly perceived, and make but a slight and transient impression on your mind when they occur to your thoughts.
To you I would say, "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (Eph. 5:14). Remember from where you have fallen; repent and do your first works.
Your present situation is one of extreme danger. While in this deadening state, you cannot possess satisfactory evidence of the genuineness of your piety. While in this state you cannot glorify God, nor be useful to men according to you ability and opportunity. And how sad your condition, if death should find you in this unprepared state! "Oh, that they were wise - that they would consider their latter end!" (Deu. 32:29).
If there should be any who have been made sensible of their sinful departure from God, and who are sunk in discouragement and agonized with fear, lest they have sinned beyond the reach of mercy and bounds of forgiveness, and who, by these views are prevented from returning - to such I would say, "Do not dishonor God by entertaining such harsh and unbelieving thoughts. His mercy is infinite. As high as are the heavens above the earth - so high are His thoughts of mercy above our conception. He has left special promises for the encouragement of such as you, and He has never rejected one who came back to Him. You cannot gratify the heart of your sympathizing Saviour more than by exercising confidence in His power and willingness to save you."
I would conclude by addressing you in the language of God by the prophet Hosea: "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips" (Hosea 14:1-2).
~Archibald Alexander~
(The End)
Two feelings are predominant in the exercises of a returning backslider: shame and a lively feeling of the baseness of ingratitude. Such a soul is ashamed to look up, and is often so confounded and overwhelmed with this feeling, that it remains silent before God. This frame of mind is vividly described by Ezekiel in the following language: "That you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done" (Ezekiel 16:63).
The mercy of God in graciously receiving the returning backslider appears to him more astonishing than it did upon his first being converted, and his admiration of the patience of the Lord is greatly enhanced. It is true, then, that God in His wisdom overrules even the falls and declensions of His people to increase their humility and watchfulness.
The reclaimed backslider is also rendered more charitable and forbearing to his brethren, when they appear delinquent in duty or are overtaken in a fault.
Let all churches make the inquiry seriously and honestly, whether they have not left their first love.
With many, the fact is notorious - their departure from God is both visible and great. Where is now that fervent affection and ardent zeal which once characterized them? Where now is that spirit of earnest, wrestling prayer, which seemed as if it would give God no rest until He should cause the righteousness of Zion to go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns? Where now is that fruitfulness in works of piety, mercy, and benevolence which adorned your profession?
"Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen - repent and do the first works." Otherwise, the threatening against Ephesus, so fearfully executed, may be realized in your case. Your candlestick may be removed. Error may overspread the church. Faithful ministers may be withdrawn, and false teachers may come in their place.
For your own sakes, and that of your posterity, awake out of your sleep! Seek the Lord for the return of His grieved Spirit. Cry mightily to God for His reviving influences.
As every church consists of individuals - I would call upon all professors to consider their ways. Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith, and whether you are in a growing, thriving condition; for if not, you are surely in a state of declension.
There is no standing still in religion. If you are not pressing forward, you are certainly retrograding. You are, this day, solemnly called upon to remember the times and seasons which are past - to remember the love and joy of your espousals unto Christ, when the candle of the Lord shone upon your tabernacle, and when your chief delight was in the service of God; when the very name of Jesus was as ointment poured forth - when He gave you songs in the night; and in the morning, your first thoughts spontaneously arose to God your Redeemer.
But how is it with you now? What does your conscience testify as to your present condition? What testimony would your prayer closet give, if it could speak? Alas! What a change! Where now are your religious comforts? What has become of that sweet peace you once enjoyed? Perhaps you even doubt of the reality of your former experiences. You have, like the virgins in the parable, fallen into a slumbering state, in which the solemn truths of religion are dimly perceived, and make but a slight and transient impression on your mind when they occur to your thoughts.
To you I would say, "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (Eph. 5:14). Remember from where you have fallen; repent and do your first works.
Your present situation is one of extreme danger. While in this deadening state, you cannot possess satisfactory evidence of the genuineness of your piety. While in this state you cannot glorify God, nor be useful to men according to you ability and opportunity. And how sad your condition, if death should find you in this unprepared state! "Oh, that they were wise - that they would consider their latter end!" (Deu. 32:29).
If there should be any who have been made sensible of their sinful departure from God, and who are sunk in discouragement and agonized with fear, lest they have sinned beyond the reach of mercy and bounds of forgiveness, and who, by these views are prevented from returning - to such I would say, "Do not dishonor God by entertaining such harsh and unbelieving thoughts. His mercy is infinite. As high as are the heavens above the earth - so high are His thoughts of mercy above our conception. He has left special promises for the encouragement of such as you, and He has never rejected one who came back to Him. You cannot gratify the heart of your sympathizing Saviour more than by exercising confidence in His power and willingness to save you."
I would conclude by addressing you in the language of God by the prophet Hosea: "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips" (Hosea 14:1-2).
~Archibald Alexander~
(The End)
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Love Reproving # 3
Love Reproving # 3
John, the apostle of love, began his third epistle with these words, "The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the Truth." What a needed word is this for today, when so much that passes for love, even in avowedly Christian circles, is nothing but a sickly sentimentality at the expense of the Truth. One of the outstanding cries in the religious world, is to this effect - "though we have differed in our beliefs and practices, let us now sink our differences and come together in love." When I was the pastor of a church in Sydney, I was regarded as a narrow-minded bigot, because on what Rome calls "good Friday" I refused to take part in an "ecumenical Communion service," where Fundamentalists, Liberals, Unitarians, and Evolutionists were invited to gather together, and thereby express "brotherly love" for one another. What a travesty and mockery! The wisdom which is from above is "first pure, then peaceable" (James 3:17). The more I am walking in the Truth and the more my brother is doing the same - the more cause have we to love one another.
It may be helpful to answer the opening question by changing the form of it - "Is it possible to be too critical of myself? May I permit myself a certain amount of indulgence, exclude some part of my life from the control of God, be less strict about some matter than others? In the light of such verses as "Catch the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines" (Song 2:15), "grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:15), "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31) - is there any difficulty in countenancing a lower standard for others than I seek to apply to myself? Am I not required to love my neighbor as myself? And am I doing so - if I gloss over something in him which I know to be against his or her spiritual interests and can only work ill for him? If it is my plain duty to warn him against physical evils - then on what ground am I justified in being silent when I see spiritual danger menacing him?
But let it be pointed out, that I certainly am not warranted in being "critical" about the conduct of others, unless I am accustomed to unsparingly judge myself. It is the very worst species of hypocrisy to point the finger of condemnation at another, while I am guilty of something equally as bad. I must first cast the beam out of my own eye - before I am qualified to perform so delicate an operation as seeking to remove a mote from my brother's eye - that is cause for humility; and if the humility is real and deep - it will preserve me from acting proudly and haughtily when seeking not to criticize, but "help" my brother. Nothing is more unChristianlike than for me to berate an erring one in a spirit of self-righteousness and in tones of self-superiority, rather than in the spirit of "consider yourself, lest you also be tempted" (Gal. 6:1). If I am to wash my brother's feet from the defilements of the way - then I must needs take the place of lowliness in order to serve him.
On the other hand, we must guard against going to an opposite extreme. If pride and haughtiness are to be reprehended; than mock humility or even an undue occupation with our own frailty and faultiness, is not to be commended. If we must wait until we are blameless, then there are many precepts of Scripture we cannot act upon. If we must tarry until our own character and conduct be faultless then we are disqualified from rebuking anybody. We greatly fear that many have created their own difficulty or deterrent through a wrongful appropriation of those words "he who is without sin - let him first cast a stone" (John 8:7). How often have we heard professing Christians say, when it had become their manifest duty to admonish another, "Who am I - to cast stones at others?" It should be remembered, that John 9:7 was not spoken to conscientious saints, jealous of the honor of the Lord, anxious to promote the good of others - but to hypocritical pharisees, who were deliberately seeking to ensnare Christ.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
John, the apostle of love, began his third epistle with these words, "The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the Truth." What a needed word is this for today, when so much that passes for love, even in avowedly Christian circles, is nothing but a sickly sentimentality at the expense of the Truth. One of the outstanding cries in the religious world, is to this effect - "though we have differed in our beliefs and practices, let us now sink our differences and come together in love." When I was the pastor of a church in Sydney, I was regarded as a narrow-minded bigot, because on what Rome calls "good Friday" I refused to take part in an "ecumenical Communion service," where Fundamentalists, Liberals, Unitarians, and Evolutionists were invited to gather together, and thereby express "brotherly love" for one another. What a travesty and mockery! The wisdom which is from above is "first pure, then peaceable" (James 3:17). The more I am walking in the Truth and the more my brother is doing the same - the more cause have we to love one another.
It may be helpful to answer the opening question by changing the form of it - "Is it possible to be too critical of myself? May I permit myself a certain amount of indulgence, exclude some part of my life from the control of God, be less strict about some matter than others? In the light of such verses as "Catch the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines" (Song 2:15), "grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:15), "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31) - is there any difficulty in countenancing a lower standard for others than I seek to apply to myself? Am I not required to love my neighbor as myself? And am I doing so - if I gloss over something in him which I know to be against his or her spiritual interests and can only work ill for him? If it is my plain duty to warn him against physical evils - then on what ground am I justified in being silent when I see spiritual danger menacing him?
But let it be pointed out, that I certainly am not warranted in being "critical" about the conduct of others, unless I am accustomed to unsparingly judge myself. It is the very worst species of hypocrisy to point the finger of condemnation at another, while I am guilty of something equally as bad. I must first cast the beam out of my own eye - before I am qualified to perform so delicate an operation as seeking to remove a mote from my brother's eye - that is cause for humility; and if the humility is real and deep - it will preserve me from acting proudly and haughtily when seeking not to criticize, but "help" my brother. Nothing is more unChristianlike than for me to berate an erring one in a spirit of self-righteousness and in tones of self-superiority, rather than in the spirit of "consider yourself, lest you also be tempted" (Gal. 6:1). If I am to wash my brother's feet from the defilements of the way - then I must needs take the place of lowliness in order to serve him.
On the other hand, we must guard against going to an opposite extreme. If pride and haughtiness are to be reprehended; than mock humility or even an undue occupation with our own frailty and faultiness, is not to be commended. If we must wait until we are blameless, then there are many precepts of Scripture we cannot act upon. If we must tarry until our own character and conduct be faultless then we are disqualified from rebuking anybody. We greatly fear that many have created their own difficulty or deterrent through a wrongful appropriation of those words "he who is without sin - let him first cast a stone" (John 8:7). How often have we heard professing Christians say, when it had become their manifest duty to admonish another, "Who am I - to cast stones at others?" It should be remembered, that John 9:7 was not spoken to conscientious saints, jealous of the honor of the Lord, anxious to promote the good of others - but to hypocritical pharisees, who were deliberately seeking to ensnare Christ.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
Returning to Our First Love # 4
Returning to Our First Love # 4
When aged Christians warned us of our danger, we were disposed to think that their solicitude in our behalf was superfluous, for we were confident that we would never decline from the walk of faith. Our foresight was, indeed, short; by insensible degrees we left our first love and have wandered like straying sheep.
But now, again, the Good Shepherd causes us to hear His voice. And His first call to us is to "Remember!" - to remember from whence we have fallen.
This is in order to the next step, which is to REPENT. Be sorry for what you have done. We should be willing to admit the painful, humbling conviction that we have grievously and foolishly sinned in departing from the living God. Sin is embittered to none more than to the penitent backslider; especially the sin of ingratitude breaks his own heart. He is astonished at his own blindness and unbelief which prevented him from seeing the snare which the enemy spread to entangle his feet. Oh what stupidity, after having tasted the joy of pardoned sin and after being favored with the Spirit of adoption, to turn again to folly!
This fills him, on the recollection, with astonishment and regret; and he now asks himself, "What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?" (Romans 6:21). Where now are the promised pleasures of sin? Alas! That which was sweet in the mouth, is turned to gall and wormwood in the stomach! Remember, then, from where you have fallen and repent.
But our obedience must not be confined to the feelings and affections of the heart, however pious and penitent these may be. A good tree will produce good fruit. Our Lord, therefore, adds, "And DO THE FIRST WORKS." Immediately, on a sinner's first conversion, he begins to work. "Lord, what will You have me to do?" is the language of every renewed heart. "He who has My commandments and keeps them," says our Lord, "It is he who loves Me" (John 14:21). "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).
But in a state of backsliding, the commandments of Christ are neglected, or obeyed in a very imperfect manner. Undue conformity to the world takes the place of self-denial, and formality is substituted for spirituality in the worship of God.
But when the backslider is reclaimed - which is really like a new conversion - he is again led to engage cordially in the service of God. He now returns to the performance of his first works, as well as to the exercise of his first love. He again abounds in prayer and praise, makes the Sabbath a delight and counts it honorable, draws near to God in the Holy Supper, and is found walking blameless in all the commandments of the Lord. He does justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God.
The heart of a reclaimed backslider is sure to be more humble and distrustful of itself than before. There is also, now, more caution and watchfulness in regard to the heart. It has been found to be "deceitful above all things," and therefore ought not to be trusted! The vain self-confidence of such is now completely cured. The reclaimed penitent knows experimentally that his standing is not in himself - that unless he is preserved by the grace of God, he will certainly fall away again.
The penitent backslider is especially on his guard against those wins and temptations by which he was overcome when he departed from God, so that in all his future life, he is more secure from these than from other sins.
~Archibald Alexander~
(continued with # 5)
When aged Christians warned us of our danger, we were disposed to think that their solicitude in our behalf was superfluous, for we were confident that we would never decline from the walk of faith. Our foresight was, indeed, short; by insensible degrees we left our first love and have wandered like straying sheep.
But now, again, the Good Shepherd causes us to hear His voice. And His first call to us is to "Remember!" - to remember from whence we have fallen.
This is in order to the next step, which is to REPENT. Be sorry for what you have done. We should be willing to admit the painful, humbling conviction that we have grievously and foolishly sinned in departing from the living God. Sin is embittered to none more than to the penitent backslider; especially the sin of ingratitude breaks his own heart. He is astonished at his own blindness and unbelief which prevented him from seeing the snare which the enemy spread to entangle his feet. Oh what stupidity, after having tasted the joy of pardoned sin and after being favored with the Spirit of adoption, to turn again to folly!
This fills him, on the recollection, with astonishment and regret; and he now asks himself, "What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?" (Romans 6:21). Where now are the promised pleasures of sin? Alas! That which was sweet in the mouth, is turned to gall and wormwood in the stomach! Remember, then, from where you have fallen and repent.
But our obedience must not be confined to the feelings and affections of the heart, however pious and penitent these may be. A good tree will produce good fruit. Our Lord, therefore, adds, "And DO THE FIRST WORKS." Immediately, on a sinner's first conversion, he begins to work. "Lord, what will You have me to do?" is the language of every renewed heart. "He who has My commandments and keeps them," says our Lord, "It is he who loves Me" (John 14:21). "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).
But in a state of backsliding, the commandments of Christ are neglected, or obeyed in a very imperfect manner. Undue conformity to the world takes the place of self-denial, and formality is substituted for spirituality in the worship of God.
But when the backslider is reclaimed - which is really like a new conversion - he is again led to engage cordially in the service of God. He now returns to the performance of his first works, as well as to the exercise of his first love. He again abounds in prayer and praise, makes the Sabbath a delight and counts it honorable, draws near to God in the Holy Supper, and is found walking blameless in all the commandments of the Lord. He does justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God.
The heart of a reclaimed backslider is sure to be more humble and distrustful of itself than before. There is also, now, more caution and watchfulness in regard to the heart. It has been found to be "deceitful above all things," and therefore ought not to be trusted! The vain self-confidence of such is now completely cured. The reclaimed penitent knows experimentally that his standing is not in himself - that unless he is preserved by the grace of God, he will certainly fall away again.
The penitent backslider is especially on his guard against those wins and temptations by which he was overcome when he departed from God, so that in all his future life, he is more secure from these than from other sins.
~Archibald Alexander~
(continued with # 5)
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Love Reproving # 2
Love Reproving # 2
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God - and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7). Christian love is not a thing of nature - but is entirely supernatural. It is not a part of our "personality" or anything which issues from our "disposition," but is a Divine communication received at the new birth. It is neither a sentiment nor an emotion - but a holy principle which is spiritual in its origin, its nature, its characteristics, and its manifestations.
But alas, many of God's own children are today so ill-taught, so ignorant, and so carnal - that they are unable to recognize true Christian love when they see it in exercise. Their thinking is so much colored by the world, they are so much corrupted by mingling with hollow professors - that they mistake pleasant personality and cordiality - for spiritual love. They forget that some who make no profession at all, are naturally congenial, kind, warm-hearted, courteous, and sympathetic. Christian love is neither the milk of human kindness - nor creature congeniality. Much that passes for Christian love - is merely the amiability and affability of the flesh!
How are we to know when we truly "love one another"? When we feel our hearts drawn out to them because of their affableness, their charming demeanor, their "sweet" ways? NO! for appearances are deceptive. A winsome smile, a hearty hand-shake, a kiss - is no sign of the new nature - as Judas' kissing of Christ demonstrated. Nor does a polite demeanor or honeyed-mouth expressions prove anything to the point - rather does the Christian need to be doubly on his guard in the company of those who flatter him - ponder Proverbs 20:19; 26:28; Psalm 12:3.
Then how are we to know when we "love one another" - and when they love us? When we truly seek their highest good - when we aim at their spiritual well-being. The one who evidences the most spiritual love for me - is he who is ever seeking to promote my eternal interests - by wise counsels, by beneficial warnings, by timely rebukes, by godly encouragements.
And if I am spiritual - I shall love others for their piety, heavenly-mindedness, and faithfulness.
"Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend - but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Proverbs 27:25, 26). Ah, my reader, as little as you may like it - the one who "wounds" you the most - may be the best friend you have, and who has the most spiritual love for you. But the one who winks at your faults, is silent about your sins, and refuses to rebuke you for what is dishonoring to God - is your enemy and hates you!
Alas, what a low plane even the people of God are now living upon. Many of them are so easily ruffled - that with the least criticism of them - they are "hurt," and offended; which shows they have more self-love than the love of God in them. O for grace to say with the Psalmist, "Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me - it is soothing medicine; Don't let me refuse it" (141:5). "Rebuke a wise man - and he will love you" (Proverbs 9:8), how few of the "wise" are now left!
To come more immediately to the opening questions, "Is it possible to be too critical of Christians nowadays? Why the qualifying "nowadays"? Has God lowered His standard to meet these evil times? Is it permissible or expedient for me to compromise because the present generation is so lax and carnal? Do not the days in which our lot is cast, call for a clearer drawing of the line between the Church and the world? If so, should not this help to determine my conduct toward the individual?
We are mindful that large numbers hold the view that God requires less from people in degenerate times - but we know of nothing in His Word which supports them! Rather are such days the very time when the Christian most needs to show his colors, when shallowness and hollowness marks the religious profession all around, there is greater urgency for us to make manifest the reality that we are "strangers and pilgrims" in this world. The Scriptures are just as much the Rule - and the sole rule for us to walk by - as they were for our more godly forebears. In the Day to come, we shall be judged by them as truly as they will be. It is never right to do wrong - nor to condone wrong.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God - and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7). Christian love is not a thing of nature - but is entirely supernatural. It is not a part of our "personality" or anything which issues from our "disposition," but is a Divine communication received at the new birth. It is neither a sentiment nor an emotion - but a holy principle which is spiritual in its origin, its nature, its characteristics, and its manifestations.
But alas, many of God's own children are today so ill-taught, so ignorant, and so carnal - that they are unable to recognize true Christian love when they see it in exercise. Their thinking is so much colored by the world, they are so much corrupted by mingling with hollow professors - that they mistake pleasant personality and cordiality - for spiritual love. They forget that some who make no profession at all, are naturally congenial, kind, warm-hearted, courteous, and sympathetic. Christian love is neither the milk of human kindness - nor creature congeniality. Much that passes for Christian love - is merely the amiability and affability of the flesh!
How are we to know when we truly "love one another"? When we feel our hearts drawn out to them because of their affableness, their charming demeanor, their "sweet" ways? NO! for appearances are deceptive. A winsome smile, a hearty hand-shake, a kiss - is no sign of the new nature - as Judas' kissing of Christ demonstrated. Nor does a polite demeanor or honeyed-mouth expressions prove anything to the point - rather does the Christian need to be doubly on his guard in the company of those who flatter him - ponder Proverbs 20:19; 26:28; Psalm 12:3.
Then how are we to know when we "love one another" - and when they love us? When we truly seek their highest good - when we aim at their spiritual well-being. The one who evidences the most spiritual love for me - is he who is ever seeking to promote my eternal interests - by wise counsels, by beneficial warnings, by timely rebukes, by godly encouragements.
And if I am spiritual - I shall love others for their piety, heavenly-mindedness, and faithfulness.
"Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend - but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Proverbs 27:25, 26). Ah, my reader, as little as you may like it - the one who "wounds" you the most - may be the best friend you have, and who has the most spiritual love for you. But the one who winks at your faults, is silent about your sins, and refuses to rebuke you for what is dishonoring to God - is your enemy and hates you!
Alas, what a low plane even the people of God are now living upon. Many of them are so easily ruffled - that with the least criticism of them - they are "hurt," and offended; which shows they have more self-love than the love of God in them. O for grace to say with the Psalmist, "Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me - it is soothing medicine; Don't let me refuse it" (141:5). "Rebuke a wise man - and he will love you" (Proverbs 9:8), how few of the "wise" are now left!
To come more immediately to the opening questions, "Is it possible to be too critical of Christians nowadays? Why the qualifying "nowadays"? Has God lowered His standard to meet these evil times? Is it permissible or expedient for me to compromise because the present generation is so lax and carnal? Do not the days in which our lot is cast, call for a clearer drawing of the line between the Church and the world? If so, should not this help to determine my conduct toward the individual?
We are mindful that large numbers hold the view that God requires less from people in degenerate times - but we know of nothing in His Word which supports them! Rather are such days the very time when the Christian most needs to show his colors, when shallowness and hollowness marks the religious profession all around, there is greater urgency for us to make manifest the reality that we are "strangers and pilgrims" in this world. The Scriptures are just as much the Rule - and the sole rule for us to walk by - as they were for our more godly forebears. In the Day to come, we shall be judged by them as truly as they will be. It is never right to do wrong - nor to condone wrong.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
Returning to Our First Love # 3
Returning to Our First Love # 3
The undue love of the world, whether of its riches, its honors, or its pleasures - will soon injuriously influence the love of the soul to its Saviour. The thoughts are too much drawn off from the contemplation of divine things, and the relish for spiritual duties and enjoyments is insensibly diminished. The duties of the closet are no longer anticipated with delight; and the hours consecrated to private devotion, which used to be the most pleasant in the whole day, do not now afford the same comfort as formerly. The lack of enjoyment in religious duties, the wandering thoughts in the midst of them, and the lack of lively feeling naturally tend to produce a backwardness to engage in them; so that were not the person forced, as it were, by conscience to enter his closet, he would often omit the duty altogether.
But when secret prayer is attended to, the person on whom the world has had an undue influence, hurries over the service; and often the omission would be better than the performance, where the service is merely formal, and the knee is bowed and words uttered without one devotional emotion. Worldly company and too much occupation in secular affairs, are almost sure to deaden our pious affections and to disqualify us for spiritual exercises.
But where there is any spiritual life, there will be seasons of uneasiness and an irrepressible feeling that all is not right. These, however, are but waking moments in the sleep of carnal security, into which the soul has fallen. For the most part, the conscience is lulled into a false security and is so little awake to give warning of danger that many things now appear to give lawful and innocent, which would have been avoided as highly criminal in the time of its first love!
Indeed, while in this state of slumbering, you can perceive very little difference between the declining professor and the mere moralist who makes no pretensions to religion.
Many leave their first love to Christ, who never fall into open transgression, but some are not so much favored. They are "overtaken in a fault," under some sudden temptation, as Peter. Others gradually sink into a state of carnal security, until like David, they become entangled by some insidious lust. When off their guard, the enemy comes in and presenting the bait of sensual pleasure, they are overcome and remain for a season under the dominion of sin. Often it becomes necessary to exclude such from the communion of the church, for conduct which is dishonorable to their sacred profession. This judicious exercise of discipline is sometimes made the effectual means of recovering true Christians from a state of shameful backsliding. Discipline is not intended for the destruction of those on whom it is exercised, but that they may be saved by destruction of their pride and sinful propensities.
The most common means of restoring backsliders, is God's rod of affliction. The reason why God scourges every son who He receives, is that all have faults and imperfections, which a kind Father aims to correct by the use of the rod.
The last thing which we propose to consider is the return of the soul to its first love. Backsliding Christians might, in justice, be cast off forever; but God, who has entered into covenant with His people, is faithful; and one of the promises of the new covenant is that He will "heal their backsliding" (Hosea 14:4).
The good Shepherd looks after His wandering sheep and restores them. But this He does by bringing them to a deep conviction of their sin. Their renewed conversion is, like the first, attended with many painful and anxious feelings; but after many discouragements, they are enabled to come to Christ and cast themselves upon His mercy. And to their astonishment, their reception is most gracious. They are welcomed as though they had never offended, and are restored to the joy of the divine favor.
But let us attend to the directions given in the text to the Ephesian Christians.
The first is to REMEMBER from where we have fallen. In a state of declension, there is a strange forgetfulness of former experience in the divine life. It is, therefore, very significantly represented by a state of sleep. The very first step toward a return to God is to be awakened from this spiritual slumber, to remember what we once possessed and enjoyed, and to compare out present condition with our former. This awakened recollection will lead the soul to understand the cause of its departure from God, and to trace all the steps of its retrograde course. Memory is a valuable faculty of our minds, and its exercise is of much avail in religion.
Readers, our exalted Saviour seems to address this word to us. Let us, then, remember what we once were: what lively feelings of penitence, love, and joy sweetly mingled their emotions in our early experience in religion. Let us remember what hopes we then cherished, what resolutions we formed - yes, what solemn vows we made and recorded in the house of God. Did we then suppose that we could ever become so cold and indifferent in our religious feelings, as at present?
~Archibald Alexander~
(continued with # 4)
The undue love of the world, whether of its riches, its honors, or its pleasures - will soon injuriously influence the love of the soul to its Saviour. The thoughts are too much drawn off from the contemplation of divine things, and the relish for spiritual duties and enjoyments is insensibly diminished. The duties of the closet are no longer anticipated with delight; and the hours consecrated to private devotion, which used to be the most pleasant in the whole day, do not now afford the same comfort as formerly. The lack of enjoyment in religious duties, the wandering thoughts in the midst of them, and the lack of lively feeling naturally tend to produce a backwardness to engage in them; so that were not the person forced, as it were, by conscience to enter his closet, he would often omit the duty altogether.
But when secret prayer is attended to, the person on whom the world has had an undue influence, hurries over the service; and often the omission would be better than the performance, where the service is merely formal, and the knee is bowed and words uttered without one devotional emotion. Worldly company and too much occupation in secular affairs, are almost sure to deaden our pious affections and to disqualify us for spiritual exercises.
But where there is any spiritual life, there will be seasons of uneasiness and an irrepressible feeling that all is not right. These, however, are but waking moments in the sleep of carnal security, into which the soul has fallen. For the most part, the conscience is lulled into a false security and is so little awake to give warning of danger that many things now appear to give lawful and innocent, which would have been avoided as highly criminal in the time of its first love!
Indeed, while in this state of slumbering, you can perceive very little difference between the declining professor and the mere moralist who makes no pretensions to religion.
Many leave their first love to Christ, who never fall into open transgression, but some are not so much favored. They are "overtaken in a fault," under some sudden temptation, as Peter. Others gradually sink into a state of carnal security, until like David, they become entangled by some insidious lust. When off their guard, the enemy comes in and presenting the bait of sensual pleasure, they are overcome and remain for a season under the dominion of sin. Often it becomes necessary to exclude such from the communion of the church, for conduct which is dishonorable to their sacred profession. This judicious exercise of discipline is sometimes made the effectual means of recovering true Christians from a state of shameful backsliding. Discipline is not intended for the destruction of those on whom it is exercised, but that they may be saved by destruction of their pride and sinful propensities.
The most common means of restoring backsliders, is God's rod of affliction. The reason why God scourges every son who He receives, is that all have faults and imperfections, which a kind Father aims to correct by the use of the rod.
The last thing which we propose to consider is the return of the soul to its first love. Backsliding Christians might, in justice, be cast off forever; but God, who has entered into covenant with His people, is faithful; and one of the promises of the new covenant is that He will "heal their backsliding" (Hosea 14:4).
The good Shepherd looks after His wandering sheep and restores them. But this He does by bringing them to a deep conviction of their sin. Their renewed conversion is, like the first, attended with many painful and anxious feelings; but after many discouragements, they are enabled to come to Christ and cast themselves upon His mercy. And to their astonishment, their reception is most gracious. They are welcomed as though they had never offended, and are restored to the joy of the divine favor.
But let us attend to the directions given in the text to the Ephesian Christians.
The first is to REMEMBER from where we have fallen. In a state of declension, there is a strange forgetfulness of former experience in the divine life. It is, therefore, very significantly represented by a state of sleep. The very first step toward a return to God is to be awakened from this spiritual slumber, to remember what we once possessed and enjoyed, and to compare out present condition with our former. This awakened recollection will lead the soul to understand the cause of its departure from God, and to trace all the steps of its retrograde course. Memory is a valuable faculty of our minds, and its exercise is of much avail in religion.
Readers, our exalted Saviour seems to address this word to us. Let us, then, remember what we once were: what lively feelings of penitence, love, and joy sweetly mingled their emotions in our early experience in religion. Let us remember what hopes we then cherished, what resolutions we formed - yes, what solemn vows we made and recorded in the house of God. Did we then suppose that we could ever become so cold and indifferent in our religious feelings, as at present?
~Archibald Alexander~
(continued with # 4)
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