Nov 23
28
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The monster! Spurgeon, “THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOR” SIN is a madness, disqualifying the mind for sober judgment; a blindness, rendering the soul incapable of appreciating moral beauty; it is in fact such a perversion of all the faculties, that under its terrible influence men will ‘call evil good and good evil, and they put darkness for light and light for darkness, and put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter’ (Isa. 5:20). To us in our fallen condition demons often appear more favorable than angels, we mistake the gates of hell for the door of bliss, and prefer the garnished lies of Satan to the eternal truths of the Most High. Revenge, lust, ambition, pride, and self-will, are too often exalted as the gods of man’s idolatry. While holiness, peace, contentment, and humility, are viewed as unworthy of a serious thought. O sin, what have you done! or rather, what have you undone! You have not been content to rob humanity of its crown, to drive it from its happy kingdom, to mar its royal garments, and spoil its treasure; but you have done more than this! It was not enough to degrade and dishonor; you have even wounded your victim; you have blinded his eyes, sealed up his ears, intoxicated his judgment, and gagged his conscience; yes, the poison of your venom has poured death into the fountain! Your hostility has pierced the heart of mankind, and thereby you have filled his veins with corruption, and his bones with depravity. Yes, O monster, you have become a murderer, for you have made us dead in trespasses and sins! |
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The back door to hell? Spurgeon,”A SERMON FROM A RUSH” Better not to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to be turned back again. The worst of men are those traitors who leave the army of truth to side with the foe. I believe in the doctrine of the final perseverance of every true child of God; but there are in all our churches certain spurious pretenders who will not hold on their way, who will blaze and sparkle for a season, and then they will go out in darkness. They are “wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” Better far make no pretension of having come to Christ, and of having been born again, unless through divine grace you shall hold fast to the end. Remember the back door to hell! Remember the back door to hell! There is a public entrance for the open sinner; but there is a back door for the merely professed saint. There is a back door for the hoary-headed professor, who has lived many years in apparent sincerity, but who has been a liar before God. There is a back door for the preacher who can talk fast and loudly, but who does not in his own heart know the truth he is preaching. There is a back door to hell for church members, who are amiable and excellent in many respects, but who have not really looked unto the Lord Jesus Christ and found true salvation in him. God grant that this may wake some, who otherwise would sleep themselves into perdition! “O my God! my God! Am I, after all, mistaken? Have I played the hypocrite, and must I take the mask off now? Have I covered over the cancer? Have I worn a golden cloth over my leprous forehead, and must it be torn away? and must I stand, the mock of devils and the laughter of all worlds? What! have I drunk of your cup, have I eaten with you in the streets, and must I hear you say, I never knew you, depart from me you worker of iniquity? Oh! must it be?” |
The Omnipresence of God
Octavius Winslow
“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or wither shall I flee
from Thy presence?” Psalm 139:7
The omnipresence of God! How baffling to any
finite comprehension! To think that above us, and around us,
and within us—there is Deity—the invisible footprints of an
Omniscient, Omnipresent One!
“His Eyes are in every place!” On rolling planets—and
tiny atoms; on the bright seraph—and the lowly worm; roaming in searching
scrutiny through the tracks of immensity—and reading the dark and hidden page
of my heart! “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with
whom we have to do!”
O God! shall this Your Omnipresence appall me? No! In my seasons
of sadness and sorrow and loneliness—when other comforts and comforters have
failed—when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in
vain I have sought repose—how sweet to think, “My God is here! I
am not alone. The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both
alike—is hovering over my sleepless pillow!” O my Unsetting Sun,
it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness—where You are. There can be
no night to the soul which has been cheered with Your glorious
radiance!
“Surely, I am with you always!” How
precious, blessed Jesus, is this, Your legacy of parting love! Present with
each of Your people until the end of time—ever present, omnipresent. The true
“Pillar of cloud” by day—and “Pillar of fire” by night,
preceding and encamping by us in every step of our wilderness journey. My soul!
think of Him at this moment—as present with every member of the family that He
has redeemed with His blood! Yes, and as much present with every individual
soul, as if He had none other to care for—but as if that one engrossed
all His affection and love!
The Great Builder—surveying every stone and pillar
of His spiritual temple;
the Great Shepherd—with His eye on every sheep of
His fold;
the Great High Priest—marking every tear-drop;
noting every sorrow; listening to every prayer; knowing the peculiarities of
every case: no number perplexing Him—no variety bewildering Him; able to attend to
all, and satisfy all, and answer all—myriads
drawing hourly from His Treasury—and yet no diminution of that
Treasury—ever emptying, and yet ever filling, and always full!
Jesus! Your perpetual and all-pervading presence turns darkness
into day! I am not left un-befriended to weather the storms of life—Your
hand is from hour to hour piloting my frail vessel.
The omnipresence of God—gracious antidote to every earthly
sorrow!
“I have set the Lord always before me!” Even now, as
night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my closing prayer:
“Blessed Savior! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is
far spent! Under the shadowing wings of Your presence and love, I will both lay
me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in
safety!” Psalm 4:8
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What a contrast! (J. C. Philpot, “The Heavenly Sheepfold” 1854) “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Mark 13:13 Saved! Saved from what? Saved from hell! Saved from an eternity of endless misery and horror! Saved from the worm which never dies! Saved from the fire which is never quenched! Saved from the sulphurous flames! Saved from the companionship of devils and damned spirits! Saved saved from ever-rolling ages of ceaseless misery and horror! Have you not thought sometimes about eternity? What must an eternity of misery must be—when you can scarcely bear the pain of toothache half an hour! O! to be in torment forever! How it racks the soul to think of it! What tongue, then, can express the mercy and blessedness of being saved . . . from hell, from the billows of the sulphurous lake, from infinite despair! When a soul strikes upon the ‘rock of perdition’, it is at once swallowed up in a dreadful eternity! Not only are believers saved from all this infinite and unending misery—but they are saved into unspeakable happiness and glory! They are . . . saved into heaven, saved into eternal communion with the infinite God, saved into the eternal enjoyment of His blessed presence, saved into the perfect enjoyment of that perfect and everlasting love in those regions of endless bliss where tears are wiped from off all faces! What a contrast! Heaven — hell! Eternal misery — eternal bliss! Ages of boundless joy — ages of infinite despair! But salvation includes not only what we may call future salvation—but present salvation. Thus, there is a being saved in the present . . . from the guilt, filth, love, power, and practice of sin, from the curse and bondage of the Law, from the spirit and love of the world, from inward condemnation, from the entanglements of Satan, from worldly anxieties and cares, from following after idols, from carelessness, from coldness, from carnality, from every evil way, from every delusive path. |
Supernatural light
(Joseph Philpot, “The Heir of Heaven Walking in
Darkness, and the Heir of Hell Walking in Light“)
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Cor. 4:6
Until, then, this supernatural
light of God
enters into the soul, a man has no saving
knowledge of Jehovah. He may . . .
say his prayers,
read his Bible,
attend preaching,
observe ordinances,
bestow all his goods to feed the poor,
or give his body to be burned;
but he is as ignorant of God as
the cattle that graze in the fields!
He may call himself a Christian, and be
thought such by others, talk much about
Jesus Christ, hold a sound creed, maintain
a consistent profession, pray at a prayer
meeting with fluency and apparent feeling,
stand up in a pulpit and contend earnestly
for the doctrines of grace, excel hundreds
of God’s children in zeal, knowledge and
conversation.
And yet, if this ray of supernatural
light has
never shone into his soul, he is only twofold
more the child of hell than those who make
no profession!
A FOWL EXAMPLE
“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” – Matthew 6:26
The birds have never used their songs to complain of their lot in life. They wake up each morning and live on what their Creator has provided for them, and do so without worry or complaints, and with a beautiful melody. How much more ought we to trust our Lord who died to save us? Maybe we ought to do a little more bird watching and imitate them.
Pastor John Chapman
Justice or Mercy
All men approach God in one of two ways. One pleads His mercy. The other demands justice. The poor and needy, the weak and wounded, the fallen and fearful, will come pleading for mercy. Their hands will be open and empty. The self-righteous, the proud, the strong, will demand justice based on something they bring in their hand. Those pleading mercy will know that the only thing that satisfies the justice of God is the sacrifice Christ made on Calvary’s cross. They will pray with David; “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according to the multitude of thy tender mercies…” Those demanding justice will try to obligate God with something they have done. Their voices will be heard to say; but Lord, have we not done many wonderful works in they name? Justice demands reward based on works. Mercy looks in faith to Christ for grace. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Rom. 4:4-5.
Greg Elmquist
When Is a Man Truly Saved?
“…when it pleased God…”
(Galatians 1:15-16)
Someone asked, “When is a man truly saved?” Well, my friend, to be saved is more than to believe in one God, the demons believe that! It is more than just trembling under the preaching of the Word, Felix did that! It is not only to hold an office in the church, Judas did that! It is not submitting to the ordinance of baptism, Simon Magus did that! It is not only to weep over sin, Esau did that! It is not just respecting the preacher, Herod did that! It is not to keep company with outstanding believers, Demas did that. To be saved is to know God and Jesus Christ Whom He hath sent. It is to be a new creature in Christ Jesus, regenerated and converted by the power of God. It is to believe on Christ with the heart and confess Christ with the mouth. It is a miracle and deliverance accomplished through the preaching of the gospel and the work of God’s Spirit.
Henry Mahan