Oct 18
28
“The Wrath to Come” (1 Thess. 1:10)
God poured out His wrath upon the old world and destroyed all mankind except those who were in the Ark with Noah. God poured out His wrath upon His Son, when He died upon the cross bearing the sins of His people.
Some may persuade themselves that He has no more wrath to pour out, but they deceive themselves. The apostle assures us in this Scripture that He still has wrath to pour out, there is still “wrath to come”. Upon whom will it come? Just as his wrath was poured out upon all who were not in the ark, so it will be poured out upon all those who are not in Christ.
There is one refuge and one only to flee to from the wrath to come, and that is God’s Son, who is the only Savior of sinners. David Pledger
WHO is spreading lies across America and throughout the world? Who is it that is telling around that the Lord Jesus Christ ransomed some who are not ransomed? Redeemed some who are not actually redeemed? Atoned for the sins of some whose sins are not covered? Purged the sins of some whose sins have not been purged? Became a Substitute for some who must yet answer unto God for themselves? Died for the sins of some who must yet die for their own sins? And prays for some who shall never benefit from His prayers?
WHO dares to utter such blasphemy against the living God? Who would so impugn and malign God in His wisdom and purpose, holiness and justice, love, power and grace? Who would be so irreverent and impudent as to speak, or even believe such things?
WHO? The vast majority of preachers throughout the world – most of our religious neighbours and those who preach to them! Pity them but do not excuse them… they ought to be ashamed of themselves! To say that Christ suffered and died for those who had already been in hell 4,000 years when He died, or to say that His soul was made an offering for sin for those whom God knew – being omniscient – would never believe the gospel when they heard it, or that God ever purposed anything that He shall not bring to pass, is a confession of one’s ignorance of the God of the Bible.
Maurice Montgomery
“Preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.” Jude 1
What a mercy it is for God.’s people that before they have a vital union with
Christ, before they are grafted into him experimentally, they have an eternal,
immanent union with him before all worlds. It is this eternal union that
brings them into time existence. It is by virtue of this eternal union that they
come into the world at such a time, at such a place, from such parents, under
such circumstances, as God has appointed. It is by virtue of this eternal
union that the circumstances of their time-state are ordained. By virtue of
this eternal union they are preserved in Christ before they are called; they
cannot die till God has brought about a vital union with Christ. Whatever
sickness they may pass through, whatever injuries they may be exposed to,
whatever perils assault them on sea or land, fall they will not, fall they
cannot, till God.’s purposes are executed in bringing them into a vital union
with the Son of his love. Thus, this eternal union watched over every
circumstance of their birth, watched over their childhood, watched over their
manhood, watched over them till the appointed time and spot, when “the
God of all grace,” according to his eternal purpose, was pleased to quicken
their souls, and thus bring about an experimental union with the Lord of life
and glory.
J. C. Philpot
The religion which I want
(Letters of J. C. Philpot)
I am quite sick of modern religion–it is such
a mixture, such a medley, such a compromise.
I find much, indeed, of this religion in my own
heart, for it suits the flesh well–but I would
not have it so, and grieve it should be so.
The religion which I want is that of the Holy Spirit.
I know nothing but what He teaches me.
I feel nothing but what He works in me.
I believe nothing but what He shows me.
I only mourn when He smites my rocky heart.
I only rejoice when He reveals the Savior.
This religion I am seeking after, though miles and
miles from it–but no other will satisfy or content me.
When the blessed Spirit is not at work in me,
and with me, I fall back into all the . . .
darkness,
unbelief,
earthliness,
idleness,
carelessness,
infidelity, and
helplessness
of my Adam nature.
True religion is a supernatural and mysterious thing.
He has a healing balm for all
(John MacDuff, “The Throne of Grace”)
“The Holy Spirit helps us in our distress.” Rom. 8:26
You cannot live without the Holy Spirit.
There cannot be . . .
one heavenly aspiration,
one breathing of love,
one upward glance of faith
without His gracious influences.
Apart from Him, there is . . .
no preciousness in the Word,
no blessing in ordinances,
no permanent, sanctifying results in affliction.
The Holy Spirit . . .
directs His people to the waters of comfort,
gives new glory to the promises, and
invests the Savior’s character and work,
with new loveliness and beauty.
Come, then, with your affliction!
Come with your infirmity!
Come with your need!
Come with your wounded spirit!
Come with your broken heart!
Whatever, then, be your present situation,
seek the promised help of the Holy Spirit.
He has a healing balm for all . . .
the weak,
the tempted,
the sick,
the sorrowing,
the bereaved,
the dying.
“The Holy Spirit helps us in our distress.” Rom. 8:26
That Heavenly Teacher
(Philpot, “Daily Words for Zion’s Wayfarers”)
We do not learn that we are sinners merely
by reading it in the Bible. It must be wrought,
I might say, burnt into us.
Nor will anyone sincerely and spiritually cry for
mercy, until sin is spiritually felt and known . . .
in its misery,
in its dominion,
in its guilt,
in its entanglements,
in its wiles and allurements,
in its filth and pollution, and
in its condemnation.
Where the Holy Spirit works, He kindles . . .
sighs,
groans,
supplications,
wrestlings, and
pleadings
to know Christ, feel His love, taste the efficacy
of His atoning blood, and embrace Him as all
our salvation and all our desire.
And though there may, and doubtless will be,
much barrenness, hardness, deadness, and
apparent carelessness often felt; still that
heavenly Teacher will revive His work, though
often by painful methods; nor will He let the
quickened soul rest short of a personal and
experimental enjoyment of Christ and His
glorious salvation.
The decipherer…
by Toplady
To unconverted persons, a great part of the Bible
resembles a letter written in ciphers.
The blessed Spirit’s office is to act as God’s decipherer,
by letting His people into the secret of celestial
experience, as the key and clew to those sweet
mysteries of grace which were before as a garden
shut up, or as a fountain sealed, or as a book
written in an unknown character.
How precious!
(From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Fresh Oil”)
Oh, there is more real value in one ray of the
Spirit’s light, beaming in upon a man’s soul, than
in all the teaching which books can ever impart!
What tongue is sufficiently gifted to describe
how precious is the gift of the Holy Spirit?
How precious is his indwelling;
an ever ascending,
heaven panting,
God thirsting,
Christ desiring Spirit!
How precious are all the revelations he makes of Christ!
How precious are….
the consolations he brings,
the promises he seals,
the teachings he imparts;
all the emotions he awakens,
the holy breathings he inspires, and
the affections he creates.
How precious are those graces in
the soul of which he is the Author;
the faith that leads to a precious Savior,
the love that rises to a gracious God, and
the holy affections which flow forth to all the saints!
When the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel
(J. C. Philpot)
We often know the theory of the gospel,
before we know the experience of the gospel.
We often receive the doctrines of grace into
our judgment, before we receive the grace of
the doctrines into our soul.
We therefore need to be . . .
brought down,
humbled,
tried,
stripped of every prop;
that the gospel may be to us . . .
more than a sound,
more than a name,
more than a theory,
more than a doctrine,
more than a system,
more than a creed;
that it may be . . .
soul enjoyment,
soul blessing,
and soul salvation.
When the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel
to the poor in spirit, the humbled, stripped,
and tried–it is a gospel of glad tidings indeed
to the sinner’s broken heart.
Can these dry bones live?
Spurgeon, “The Restoration and Conversion of the Jews”
Men, by nature, are just like these dry bones
exposed in the open valley. The whole spiritual
frame is dislocated; the sap and marrow of
spiritual life has been dried out of manhood.
Human nature is not only dead, but, like the
bleaching bones which have long whitened in
the sun, it has lost all trace of the divine life.
Will and power have both departed. Spiritual
death reigns undisturbed. Yet the dry bones
can live. Under the preaching of the Word, the
vilest sinners can be reclaimed, the most stubborn
wills can be subdued, the most unholy lives can
be sanctified. When the holy “breath” comes
from the four winds, when the divine Spirit
descends to own the Word, then multitudes of
sinners, as on Pentecost’s hallowed day, stand
up upon their feet, an exceeding great army,
to praise the Lord their God.