Jun 17
8
THE DOG FOLLOWS HIS MASTER
By Henry Mahan
Song by John Newton
So long as two men are walking together, you cannot tell which one of
them the dog belongs to. But let the two men part company and it then
becomes evident; the dog will follow his master! The dog does not
hesitate, debate, or remain undecided; he quickly follows the one he loves.
Where Christ and men separate; where the Word of God and the traditions
of men divide; where the ways of God and ways of the flesh part, the
servant of Christ does not hesitate, debate, or remain undecided; he
follows Christ, whom he loves, regardless of the cost.
The master may go to a simple cottage, a meal of dry bread, and a
lonesome existence while his companion enjoys all the luxuries of the
world. But the faithful dog cares little for these things so long as he
is with his master.
“Content with beholding His face,
My all to His pleasure resigned;
No changes of season or place,
Would make any change in my mind;
While blest with a sense of His love,
A palace a toy would appear;
And prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.”
“When They Heard This”
(Acts 2:37) “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,
what shall we do?”
Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost is one of the best that has ever
been preached. Through it 3000 were brought to conviction, to
conversion, to faith in and union with Christ. It is plain and clear. It
hit them hard. It was very personal. It was to the point. It was full of
Scripture.
It was a powerful sermon because Peter believed what he was saying. He
knew that these, with wicked hands, had crucified our Lord and Saviour.
He knew that the Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the grave, and
returned to Heaven.
It was a powerful sermon because it was full of Scripture. He quotes
Psalm after Psalm, for that is the best way to preach.
It was a powerful sermon because he was filled with the spirit. He had
heard “the sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,” which “filled
all the house where they were sitting.” He was so filled with God’s
Spirit in his preaching that many cried out, “Men and brethren, what
shall we do?”
“They were pricked in their heart” – and this is painful. The best
preaching is that which pricks our heart. This is the only kind of
impression that is a saving impression. It is not if I please your ears,
your eyes, your sense of smell, but if your heart is pricked.
Many attempts are made to make people religious from the outside. It is
done with clothes, and how you wear you hair. How can our heart be
affected by what we wear? None have ever been brought to Christ that way.
Some say salvation comes by eating or not eating, by drinking or not
drinking. Our Lord said, it is “Not that which goeth into the mouth
defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, that defileth a
man.” It is the heart which must be changed. If your conversion is
produced in the flesh, it will only be concerned with fleshly things.
Never be satisfied with a religion which does not affect your heart.
Never be satisfied with worship that is not from the heart. If you are
to be blessed by the hearing of this Gospel, then you must be pricked in
your heart.
When Peter preached in Acts 5:33, we find that, “When they heard that,
they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.” Did you
notice the difference in some being pricked in their heart, and the
others only cut to their heart? Being only cut to their heart, it did
not go all the way – and since it did not go all the way, they were not
converted, but tried to kill the preachers. These are the 2 impressions
the preaching of the Gospel always makes. If the Sword of the Spirit
does not prick you in the heart, no lasting, saving work will be done.
When these heard that Jesus was the Christ, they bowed to Him. That is
what Peter told them. He told them who Christ was, what He came to do,
WHAT He did, WHO sent Him, and WHERE He is now. He spoke of Christ. That
is all he talked about, for it was the preaching of Christ alone that
pricked their hearts. And this is what we are to preach, for nothing
will more pierce your heart than the discovery of God’s great love in
giving His well-beloved Son to die for you. If that does not prick your
heart, nothing will.
Milton W. Howard is pastor of Kitchens Creek Baptist Church in Ball
(John MacDuff, “The Precepts of Jesus”
A guide through life to immortality!)
“Who would not fear You, O King of nations?”
Jeremiah 10:7
How reasonable it is, that this glorious Being, whose
greatness is unsearchable—should be regarded with
feelings of the profoundest reverence. It is, indeed, His
due, and as such He claims it from all His creatures.
“Concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There
is no fear of God before his eyes.” Psalm 36:1
To have no fear of God before their eyes—is at once
the greatest injustice, and the most unutterable folly!
All who have the impudence to lift up their puny
arms in rebellion against Him, are engaged in a
conflict, which, if persisted in, is sure to terminate
in their utter destruction!
Reader, think of His incomprehensible greatness
and majesty. Think of Him as the High and Lofty
One who inhabits eternity—
the heavens His throne,
the earth His footstool,
the light His garment,
the clouds His chariot,
the thunder His voice!
Viewing Him thus—it will be impossible for you to
treat Him with indifference, far less with scornful
disdain. If you are only brought in some measure,
to realize the fact of God’s greatness and majesty,
you cannot fail to acknowledge that He is greatly
to be feared, and to be held in reverence by all
His creatures.
Just so, with all the other attributes of His nature.
Who can think of His power so mighty, so irresistible
—a power which is able to crush us into atoms with
infinitely greater ease than we can tread the crawling
worm beneath our feet—and not fear Him?
Who can think of His knowledge, nothing being
hidden from His omniscient glance, the darkness of
midnight and the splendor of noon, being altogether
alike to Him—and not fear Him?
Who can think of the terrors of His avenging justice,
and not fear Him—especially, as when He proclaims
from His exalted throne, “There is no god other than
Me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the
one who wounds and heals; no one delivers from
My power! As surely as I live, when I sharpen My
flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will
bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those
who hate Me!” Deuteronomy 32:39-41
Our God is, truly, a consuming fire! It is most befitting
for us, to regard Him with reverence and godly fear!
It is not those who can deprive us of our present life,
whom we should so much dread. Limited, and of brief
duration—is the power of all mortal foes at best. “Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that
can do no more. But I will show you whom you should
fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has
power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, Fear
Him!” Luke 12:4-5
“WALKING IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD”
Acts 9:31
Believers are men and women who walk in the fear of the Lord. God’s
people do not have a slavish dread of God. We are not afraid to speak to
him and about him. We are not afraid that he will become angry with us,
disinherit us, or punish us for sin. Faith in Christ removes that kind
of terrifying fear. Yet, the believer does not think, talk about, or
speak to God carelessly, flippantly, without reverence for his infinite,
glorious, righteous Being. A true, heart knowledge of the Triune God
will produce godly fear in a man’s heart.
The fear of the Lord is simply REVERENCE for him. It is much like the
reverence a son has for his father, involving both love and respect. God
has won the admiration of his children’s hearts, causing us to reverence
him. We reverence his name, his Being, his Word, and his works. All that
God is, all that has to do with him, all that he says, and all that he
does is held in high esteem by those who know him. This fear of the Lord
shows itself in many ways. To fear God is to HATE EVIL. The man who
knows God hates the evil of his own heart and life, hates the evil
performed by others, hates the evil of false doctrine, which robs God of
his glory, and hates those who perpetrate such evil. “Do not I hate
them, O Lord, that hate thee?…I hate them with perfect hatred: I count
them mine enemies” (Ps. 139:21-22). Those who fear the Lord are CAREFUL
NOT TO OFFEND HIM. We cherish our fellowship with the eternal God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And we take care not to grieve and offend
him, because we want nothing to hinder the fellowship we enjoy. The
heart that fears the Lord WITHHOLDS NOTHING FROM HIM, no matter how dear
and valuable, when he calls for it. To fear the Lord is to WORSHIP HIM.
It is to worship God, as he is revealed in Scripture, in our hearts.
Such fear of the Lord is PROGRESSIVE. Believers walk in the fear of the
Lord. The more a man knows him, the more he fears him. God, grant that I
may be found “walking in the fear of the Lord.” Amen.
Don Fortner.
One That Feared God
Acts 10: 1, 2
The apostle Paul declares that with all men born of Adam, “There is no
fear of God before their eyes” (Rom 3: 18.) Luke says of Cornelius that
he was “one that feared God with all his house.” The Holy Spirit
declares to us by this statement that Cornelius was a believer.
Cornelius did not yet know that the Messiah had come, but he worshipped
Jehovah by faith in that Messiah to come, as did all who truly
worshipped God before Christ came. He reverenced God as so absolutely
holy, so absolutely in control of all things, and so absolutely powerful
to save according to his promise that his only concern in this world was
bowing to the LORD. His preeminent concern for everyone in his household
over whom he had any influence was that they know the true and living
God. Because Cornelius stood in awe of God, the High and Lofty One,
Cornelius was not concerned with the favor or disfavor of men. He was
not afraid of telling men “no” when they interfered with him worshipping
his God. He was not afraid of insisting that those in his household come
with him to the place they worshipped. A God-wrought fear results in
trusting God without compromise in the face of even our most intimate
loved ones who oppose the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ
Jesus. Where you find compromise in these areas it is due to an
inordinate reverence and fear of man rather than a fear of God. Oh how
great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of
men! (Ps 31: 19.) Clay Curtis.