Using the Rod for Conversion!

William Grimshaw was pastor in Haworth, England in the mid-18th century. There was a great revival under his pastorate. Many amazing conversions took place. A woman refused to go to church with her converted husband. One day this man forcefully dressed her in her Sunday best and he took a rod and he drove her the 6 miles to Haworth to church. She said "as men drive a beast to market and I went, cursing Grimshaw all the way." She was converted, and returned the next week going of her own accord. Grimshaw soon came to their farmhouse and returned regularly to preach.

Spurgeon on Philippians 3:21

Often when we are racked with pain and unable to think or worship, we feel that this indeed is “the body of our humiliation.” And when we are tempted by the passions which rise from the flesh, we do not think the word “vile” at all too vigorous a translation. Our bodies humble us, and that is about the best thing they do for us. Oh, that we were duly lowly, because our bodies ally us with animals, and even link us with the dust!
But our Savior, the Lord Jesus, shall change all this. We shall be fashioned like His own body of glory. This will take place in all who believe in Jesus. By faith their souls have been transformed, and their bodies will undergo such a renewal as shall fit them for their regenerated spirits. How soon this grand transformation will happen we cannot tell, but the thought of it should help us to bear the trials of today and all the woes of the flesh. In a little while we shall be as Jesus now is—no more aching brows, no more swollen limbs, no more dim eyes, no more fainting hearts. The old man shall be no more a bundle of infirmities, nor the sick man a mass of agony. “Like unto his glorious body.” What an expression! Even our flesh shall rest in hope of such a resurrection!

Flavel on Justification

How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all, or none, in our justification. If He has finished the work, what need is there of our additions? And if not, to what purpose are they? Can we finish that which Christ Himself could not complete? Did He finish the work, and will He ever divide the glory and praise of it with us? No, no; Christ is no half-Savior.
It is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Christ for righteousness. God humbles the proud by calling sinners wholly from their own righteousness to Christ for their justification.
- John Flavel

Flavel

It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.

John Flavel

Three Christmas Hymns

This week we are singing three Christmas hymns that aren’t as familiar to 21st century American ears, but are rich in beauty & theological depth. See, amid the Winter’s Snow was written by Edward Caswall in 1851. Caswall was an Anglican convert to Catholicism who is much more famous in Catholic circles as a translator of Latin texts. However, we often sing two of his famous translations: When Morning Gilds the Skies (167) and Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee (645). Note how Caswall’s text focuses on the humiliation of Christ: “Lo, within a manger lies he who build the starry skies” and “… thus to come from highest bliss down to such a world as this.” His final verse and chorus calls us (as does our recent study in Philippians) to imitate Christ is his humility (“teach us to resemble thee, in thy sweet humility”) and to proclaim the good news of his birth through the world.

Twentieth century missionary Frank Houghton (1894 – 1972) spent his entire career working to advance the kingdom in China. He wrote Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Spendor in 1934, a particularly difficult time for the China Inland Mission (founded by Hudson Taylor). While visiting churches there, he contemplated 2 Cor. 8:9, “Christ … was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor” and later wrote this contemplative Christmas hymn. Note the stark contrast between Christ’s rightful glory and his willing humiliation for our sake: “thrones for a manger didst surrender”, “sapphire paved courts for stable floor”, and “stooping so low, but sinners raising heavenward by thine eternal plan.”

As with Gladness Men of Old by William Chatterton Dix is a poetic call to imitate the shepherds pursuit and proclamation of Christ. Unlike many hymn writers, Dix was not a clergyman. He sold insurance for his entire career, but he inherited a love of poetry from his surgeon father who wrote a biography of the poet Thomas Chatterton (the source of William’s middle name.) Dix wrote more than 40 hymns , including What Child Is This (213) and Come unto Me, Ye Weary (462) which are included in our hymnal. Verses 1-3 encourage us to pursue Jesus in this life (“As with joyful steps they sped to that lowly cradle bed … so may we with willing feet ever seek thy mercy seat”) while the final two verses point us to heaven where we will find rest in him and “there forever may we sing alleluias to our king.”

Kenneth Jackson

Edwards as a Young Christian

Jonathan Edwards talks about his early life as a Christian:

"I had vehement longings of soul after God and Christ, and after more holiness, wherewith my heart seemed to be full, and ready to break . . . I spent most of my time thinking of divine things, year after year; often walking alone in the woods, and solitary places, for meditation, soliloquy, and prayer, and converse with God; and it was always my manner, at such times, to sing forth my contemplations. I was almost constantly in ejaculatory prayer, wherever I was. Prayer seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my heart had vent."

Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley was born this day in 1707. He never wrote words more appropriate to the season than the following:

Hark the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born king." Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!

A. W. Pink (1886-1952)

Toward the end of 1932, A. W. Pink wrote the following in his Annual Letter:

"For another year the eidtor and his wife have been spared a single day's sickness. What mercy this is! Though the editor spends at least twelve hours everyday in his study, engaged in heavy mental work, yet this close confinement, year after year, has not impaired his health to the slightest degree. Though he has now read the Bible through over fifty times, and upwards of one million pages of theological literature, he has no glasses, and reads the finest print as comfortably as he did twenty-five years ago. Though the editor's wife does all her own housework, making of bread and her own clothes, looks after a garden, and has canned and preserved, jellied and pickled between two hundred and fifty and three hundred pints of fruit and vegetables; and though she does all the typing and addressing of envelopes for this magazine, yet, in spite of a frail body, God has graciously sustained and granted all needed strength." Working hard for the kingdom!

Simeon and Wesley

Following is a story related by Charles Simeon. It is of a conversation between himself, a Calvinist, and John Wesley, an Arminian.

"Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions. Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?"

"Yes, I do indeed."

"And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?"

"Yes, solely through Christ."

"But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?"

"No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last."

"Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?"

"No."

"What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms?"

"Yes, altogether."

"And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?"

"Yes, I have no hope but in Him."

"Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election, my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things wherein we agree." (Moule, 79f)

O Little Town of Bethleham

Hymn Notes: “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

It was the sight of Bethlehem itself, one feels very sure, that gave Phillips Brooks the impulse to write this hymn. He was then rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, in Philadelphia, and had spent a year’s vacation traveling in Europe and the East. “After an early dinner, we took our horses and rode to Bethlehem,” so he wrote home in Christmas week of 1865. “It was only about two hours when we came to the town, situated on an eastern ridge of a range of hills, surrounded by its terraced gardens. It is a good-looking town, better built than any other we have seen in Palestine. . . . Before dark, we rode out of town to the field where they say the shepherds saw the star. It is a fenced piece of ground with a cave in it (all the Holy Places are caves here), in which, strangely enough, they put the shepherds. The story is absurd, but somewhere in those fields we rode through the shepherds must have been. . . . As we passed, the shepherds were still “keeping watch over their flocks or leading them home to fold.” Mr. Brooks returned in September, 1866, and it must have been while meditating at home over what he had seen that the carol took shape in his mind. The late Dr. Arthur Brooks assured the writer that it was not written until 1868.

Louis Benson

Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley says the following in a poem titled Ozymandias:

"And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

The king Ozymandias is declaring that all that remains of his kingdom is this pedestal that is decaying in the sand. And, indeed, that is what remains of the kingdoms of this world. But the church remains forever . . . it is a lasting kingdom!

Worship of Early Christians

Justin Martyr in his Apology written c. 150 A.D. describes a worship service that took place in a home in the early years of the church in the following way:

"On the day called Sunday there is a gathering together in the same place of all who live in a city or a rural district. The memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long at time permits. Then when the reader ceases, the president in a discourse admonishes and urges the imitation of these good things. Next we all rise together and send up prayers. And, as I said before, when we cease from our prayer, bread is presented and wine and water. The president in the same manner sends up prayers and thanksgiving according to his ability, and the people sing out their assent saying the 'Amen.' A distribution and participation of the elements for which thanks have been given is made to each person, and to those who are not present it is sent by the deacons. Those who have means and are willing, each according to his own choice, gives what he wills, and what is collected is deposited with the president. He provides for the orphans and widows, those who are in want on account of sickness or some other case, those who are in bonds and strangers who are sojourning, and in a word he becomes the protector of all who are in need."

Christ's Victory

So be it, Lord! Thy throne shall never,
Like Earth's proud empires pass away;
Thy Kingdom stands, and grows for ever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

Faithfulness of God

In 1662 Richard Baxter was thrown out of his pulpit and church under the Act of Uniformity. This was the "Great Ejectment" when thousands of Puritans were tossed out of their pulpits because they would not agree to the demands of the Church of England. Baxter's response was simple: "Never did God break His promise to me. Never did He fail me or forsake me. The sun may cease to shine on man, and the earth to bear us, but God will never cease to be faithful to His promise." Baxter's confidence was never shaken in the midst of such darkness.

M'Cheyne

If you get the opportunity you ought to read Andrew Bonar's Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne. As Charles Spurgeon said, "Read McCheyne's Memoirs . . . it is the story of the life of a man who walked with God."

Redpath

Alan Redpath, at one time the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, said the following:

"When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible man, and he crushes him."

Grumbling

Grumbling is often done by those who have the least reason to murmur. Spurgeon uses the following illustration in this matter:

"A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of oxen. The axle-tree groaned and creaked terribly, when the oxen turning around, thus addressed the wheels: 'Halloa, there! Why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labour, and we, not you, ought to cry out!' Those complain first in our churches who have least to do. The gift of grumbling is largely dispensed among those who have no other talents, or who keep what they have wrapped up in a napkin."

McCheyne on the Bible

From Robert Murray McCheyne:

"I shall never forget the story of a little girl in Belfast, in Ireland. She was at a Sabbath School, and gained a Bible as a prize for her good conduct. It became to her a treasure indeed. She was fed out of it. Her parents were wicked. She often read to them, but they became worse and worse. This broke Eliza's heart. She took to her bed and never rose again. She desired to see her teacher. When he came he said, 'You are not without a companion, my dear child,' taking up her Bible. 'No,' she replied --

'Precious Bible! what a treasure
Does the Word of God afford!
All I want for life or pleasure,
Food and med'cine, shield and sword.
Let the world account me poor,
Having this I ask no more.'

She had scarcely repeated the lines when she hung back her head and died. Beloved children, this is the way Jesus feeds his flock. He is a tender, constant, Almighty Shepherd. If you become His flock, He will feed you all the way to glory."

Gurnall on God's Promises

William Gurnall made the following statement regarding God as a promise-keeper:

"God's promises are dated, but with a mysterious character; and, for want of skill in God's chronology, we are prone to think God forgets us, when, indeed, we forget ourselves in being so bold as to set God a time of our own, and in being angry that he comes not just then to us."

Never Alone

From my recent commentary on Numbers (Evangelical Press, 2009):

"How often in our lives there are times of ongoing trials -- that is, hardships that never seem to go away! And how often we act as though there is no help, and as though we were left on our own to cope and to live! But we need to understand, as Bowes comments, that 'Amidst all the upheavings of a restless world, and all the errors of a distracted Church, the rock of truth remains steadfast for ever. The notions of men are constantly changing; the founders of systems pass away, but "the foundation of God standeth sure". The truth, the word, the promises, the covenant, of an unchanging God, are as sure as he is faithful.'"

All for Christ

In regard to the Christian devoting his entire life to Christ, John Flavel commented:

"Ah, what a life is the life of a Christian! Christ all for you, and you all for him. Blessed exchange! . . . 'And, Lord,' saith the believer, 'my person is vile, and not worth thy accepting; but such as it is, it is thine; my soul, with all and every faculty; my body, and every member; my gifts, time, and all my talents, are thine."

McCheyne

A story from Robert Murray McCheyne:

"The late Duke of Hamilton had two sons. The eldest fell into consumption, when a boy, which ended in his death. Two ministers went to see him at the family seat, near Glasgow, where he lay. After prayer, the youth took his Bible from under his pillow, and turned up II Timothy 4:7, 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness;' and he added, 'This, sirs, is all my comfort!' When his death approached, he called his younger brother to his bed, and spoke to him with great affection, 'And now, Douglas, in a little time you will be Duke, but I shall be a King.'"

Wilberforce

William Wilberforce wrote the following to his brother Alexander:

"I am now most thoroughly of opinion, and it is an opinion founded on experience, that on the system of 'Do this and live', no peace, and even no true and worthy obedience can ever be attained. It is 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' When this belief enters the heart, joy and confidence enter along with it . . . with a new principle and a new power, we become new creatures."

Spurgeon on Wealth

"Most men think because God hath blessed them with an estate, therefore they are blessed. Alas! God often gives these things in anger. He loads his enemies with gold and silver; as Plutarch reports of Tarpeia, a Vestal nun, who bargained with the enemy to betray the Capitol of Rome to them, in case she might have the golden bracelets on their left hands, which they promised; and being entered into the Capitol, they threw not only their bracelets, but their bucklers too, upon her, through the weight thereof she was pressed to death. God often lets men have the golden bracelets of wordly substance, the weight whereof sinks them into hell. Oh, let us superna anhelare, get our eyes 'fixed' and our hearts 'united' to God the supreme good; this is to pursue blessedness as in a chase."

Halyburton on Communion

From a communion sermon by Thomas Halyburton:

"Poor soul! It may be, thou hast been full of misdoubting thoughts. What! will He who is the high and lofty One, that inhabits eternity, ever let me near Him? Me! sinful me! Come and see O sinner, Him Whom thou longest for, skipping upon this hill, leaping upon this mountain, cheerfully coming over this difficulty; come to His table and see that, though Christ be high, yet He regards the poor and lowly (Ps. 138:6). He stoops indeed, when He receives praises, when He bends His ear to hear thy prayers; but here He is a step lower; He is willing to sit at the same table with you; nay, before you should doubt His kindness, He will step a step lower; He will set you at the table, and He will serve."

John Milne

Within a three year period Rev. John Milne was hit hard with tragedy. First, his first-born child, Jessie Marie, died at the age of eight months. Second, his wife died giving birth to a son named Robert John. The son died the following year. How did he respond? "I was full, and am empty. Yet I love my Lord. He has been unspeakably kind and overwhelmingly gracious. I cannot for a moment think the shadow of a thought that he has dealt hardly with me. Satan has sometimes tried to make me think it . . . but he does not get leave to make me draw any conclusion that can darken the wondrous loving-kindness of the Lord."

Alexander Somerville

In one of his last sermons the 19th century Scots pastor Alexander Somerville said the following:
"No power of king, emperor or czar, of police, or pope or spiritual potentate; not the madness of scepticism or superstition, of atheism or heathenism; not all the resources of the prince of the power of the air, are able to hold the ground before the Lord Jesus, acting through the sympathy, faith and prayers of His people. For my part, were I not now nearing the close of my life, I should go forward with more confidence than ever, today, in Christ's unrestricted promise, if ye have faith, nothing shall be impossible for you.

Last Words

Rev. John MacDonald's parting words to his flock in London:

"I would sum up my present desires in one word -- Love Christ! Love Christ! Love Christ! He that doeth so will please God in the loveliest way, and reach heaven by the sweetest road."

JC

David Sandeman

The early nineteenth century Scottish Presbyterian pastor David Sandeman tells of his salvation in one sentence, and it gets at the heart of the matter:

"Jehovah assumed to Himself the throne of my soul."

Whitefield Speaking to Men Training for Ministry

A dead ministry will always make a dead people, whereas if ministers are warmed with the love of God themselves, they cannot but be instruments of diffusing that love among others. This, this is the best preparation for the work whereunto you are to be called. Learning without piety will only make you more capable of promoting the kingdom of Satan. Henceforward, therefore, I hope you will enter into your studies not to get a parish, nor to be polite preachers, but to be great saints. George Whitefield

Queen Anne's Dead

In 1702 Queen Anne came to throne of England. She greatly favored the Church at Rome, and was hostile to the Dissenters in her realm. On August 1, 1714, under her rule, the Schism Act was to be enacted in England. It was aimed at the dissolution of Noncomformist schools . . . this would have certainly led to a period of great persecution of the Protestant church. But Queen Anne died on that very day . . . and the act did not come to pass, and the Dissenters believed that God had specially intervened. For many years the Dissenters greeted one another with "Queen Anne's Dead". Isaac Watts commemorated the occasion with the following hymn:

Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come.
Our shelter from the stormy blast
and our eternal home.

Beneath the shadows of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure.
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.

Lord's Supper on Lewis

When Alexander Macleod became pastor on the Isle of Lewis in the 1820's he was told that everyone there was ignorant of the gospel except one shepherd-boy (who later became a minister at Knock!). In his congregation were about 800 communicant members, but they did not know the basics of the Christian faith. So, Macleod suspended the Lord's Supper among them until they began to understand the sacrament and "bring forth fruits meet for repentance." And so he instructed them in the gospel. In June, 1827 Macleod dispensed the sacrament again; he tells the following:

"Yesterday the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered in this place, and much of the presence of the Lord appeared in the congregation . . . There were no more than twenty communicants in all. The whole of the unworthy communicants kept back, and a great many of our young converts did not take upon them to come forward. The congregation was much impressed through the whole day. When the elements were presented, there appeared as a shower of revival from the presence of the Lord through the whole congregation . . . But all this might be called the commencement of what happened afterwards, for when our young converts saw the uncommon liberty that was granted to the pastors in addressing those who sat at the table, they were still more impressed and filled as it were with new wine and holy solemnity. Much disappointment now appeared among several of them that they had not taken out tokens, and so were not prepared to come forward. Pungent conviction, towards the evening, took hold of some of them for not obeying Christ's command. It was a night ever to be remembered in this place, in which the whole of it was spent in religious exercises, whether in private or together with others, in cases mingled with unusual instances of joy and sorrow. While these things were carried on, the ungodly themselves were in tears, and iniquity for a time dwindled into nothing, covered her brazen face and was greatly ashamed."

Who Do You b

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

(As used in the Book of Offices of the British Methodist Church, 1936). John Wesley

Submitted by HH (from JT web-site)

Newton's Epitaph

John Newton wrote his own epitaph, and it may be read on a plain tablet near the vestry door at his Church of St. Mary Woolnoth in London. He wrote:

John Newton, Clerk,
Once an infidel and libertine,
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior
JESUS CHRIST,
Preserved, restored, pardoned,
And appointed to preach the faith,
Near sixteen years at Olney, in Bucks,
And twenty-seven years in this Church.
On February 1, 1750 he married
MARY,
Daughter of the late George Catlett,
of Chatham, Kent,
He resigned her to the Lord Who gave her,
On the 15th day of December 1790.

In a follow up letter to his executors, Newton said, "And I earnestly desire that no other monument and no inscription but to the purpose, may be attempted for me."

A Small Congregation?

“I know the vanity of your heart, and that you will feel mortified that your congregation is very small, in comparison with those of your brethren around you; but assume yourself on the word of an old man, that when you come to give an account of them to the Lord Christ, at His judgment seat, you will think you have had enough.” – John Brown, 19th century pastor [letter of counsel to one of his students upon graduation and ordination over a small congregation]

Rev. Robertson

Patrick Robertson was a well known Scottish pastor who served at Craigdam in the early 18th century. One day he met a Dr. Kidd from Aberdeen, and the Dr. was under a period of great distress and confusion. He said to Robertson, "How is it, Mr. Robertson, that although the Lord has been pleased to send me some heavy trials, I find it easier to bear them with composure than I do these comparatively light ones?" The reverend replied, "Well, Doctor, that is easily explained. It's just because you carry your big trials to Him that sent them; but you try to get over your little trials in your own strength."

Christian's Great Interest

The following questions and answers come from William Guthrie's book The Christian's Great Interest:

Quest. 1. What is the great business a man has to do in this world?
Ans. To make sure a saving interest in Christ Jesus, and to walk suitably thereto.
Q. 2. Have not all the members of the visible church a saving interest in Christ?
A. No, verily; yea, but a very few of them have it.
Q. 3. How shall I know if I have a saving interest in Him?
A. Ordinarily the Lord prepareth His own way in the soul by a work of humiliation, and discovereth a man's sin and misery to him, and exerciseth Him so therewith, that He longs for the physician Christ Jesus.
Q. 4. How shall I know if I have got a competent discovery of my sin and misery?
A. A competent sight of it makes a man take salvation to heart above anything in this world: it maketh him disclaim all relief in himself, seen in his best things: it maketh Christ who is the Redeemer, very precious to the soul: it makes a man stand in awe to sin afterwards, and makes him content to be saved upon any terms God pleases.
Q. 5. By what other ways may I discern a saving interest in him?
A. By the going out of the heart seriously and affectionately towards Him, as He is held out in the gospel; and this is faith or believing.
Q. 6. How shall I know if my heart goes out after Him aright, and that my faith is true saving faith?
A. Where the heart goes out aright after Him in true and saving faith, the soul is pleased with Christ alone above all things, and is pleased with Him in all Him three offices, to rule and instruct as well as to save; and is content to cleave unto Him, whatsoever inconveniences may follow.
Q. 7. What other mark of a saving interest in Christ can you give me?
A. He that is in Christ savingly, is a new creature; He is graciously changed and renewed in some measure, in the whole man, and in all his ways pointing towards all the known commands of God.
Q. 8. What if I find sin now and then prevailing over me?
A. Although every sin deserves everlasting vengeance, yet, if you be afflicted for your failings, confess them with shame of face unto God, resolving to strive against them honestly henceforth, and see unto Christ for pardon, you shall obtain mercy, and your interest stands sure.
Q. 9. What shall the man do who cannot lay claim to Christ Jesus nor any of those marks spoken of it?
A. Let him not take rest until he make sure unto himself a saving interest in Christ.
Q. 10. What way can a man make sure an interest in Christ, who never had a saving interest in Him hitherto?
A. He must take his sins to heart, and his great hazard thereby, and he must take to heart God's offer of pardon and peace through Christ Jesus, and heartily close with God's offer by retaking himself unto Christ, the blessed refuge.
Q. 11. What if my sins be singularly heinous, and great beyond ordinary?
A. Whatsoever thy sins be, if thou wilt close with Christ Jesus by faith, thou shalt never enter into condemnation.
Q. 12. Is faith in Christ only required of men?
A. Faith is the only condition upon which God does offer peace and pardon unto men; but be assured, faith, if it be true and saving, will not be alone in the soul, but will be attended with true repentance, and a thankful study of conformity to God's image.
Q. 13 How shall I be sure that my heart does accept of God's offer, and does close with Christ Jesus? .
A. Go make a covenant expressly, and by word speak the thing unto God.
Q. 14 What way shall I do that?
A. Set apart some portion of time, and, having considered your own lost estate, and the remedy offered by Christ Jesus, work up your heart to be pleased and close with that offer, and say unto God expressly that you do accept of that offer, and of Him to be your God in Christ; and do give up yourself to Him to be saved in His way, without reservation or exception in any case; and that you henceforth will wait for salvation in the way He has appointed.
Q. 15 What if I break with God afterwards?
A. You must resolve in His strength not to break, and watch over your own ways, and put your heart in His hand to keep it and if you break, you must confess it unto God, and judge yourself for it, and flee to the Advocate for pardon, and resolve to do so no more: and this you must do as often as you fail.
Q. 16 How shall I come to full assurance of my interest in Christ, so that it may be beyond controversy?
A. Learn to lay your weight upon the blood of Christ, and study purity and holiness in all manner of conversation: and pray for the witness of God's Spirit to join with the blood and the water; and His testimony added unto these will establish you in the faith of an interest in Christ.
Q. 17. What is the consequence of such closing with God in Christ by heart and mouth?
A. Union and communion with God, all good here and His blessed fellowship in heaven forever afterwards.
Q. 18. What if I slight all these things, and do not lay them to heart to put them in practice?
A. The Lord comes with His angels, in flaming fire, to render vengeance to them who obey not His gospel; and thy judgment shall be greater than that of Sodom and Gomorrah; and so much the greater that thou hast read this Treatise, for it shall be a witness against thee in that day.

From Drunk to Disciple

Rev. John Morrison of Petty was on his way home to the manse one day when he found a drunken woman lying by the roadside. He attempted to rouse her, but she responded by saying that if he would chant a tune that she would get up and dance. Morrison began a tune and she danced . . . a man close by tried to shoo her away, but Morrison said, "Let her alone, she is not tired yet. This is the last reel she will ever dance." The pastor's prediction came true: when she later got over her intoxication, she was filled with great shame and remorse. She was convicted of her sin, and this led to her repentance. The former drunkard became a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Death of Halyburton

Thomas Halyburton was an important minister in the early 18th century in Scotland: he had a great impact on the direction of the Scottish church towards orthodoxy. He ministered only twelve years: ten as minister of the parish of Ceres in Fife, and two as professor of theology at St. Andrews. He died young and in a painful way. Yet, his weakness and pain could not stop the praises of Halyburton to the very end of his life. He said on his death-bed when death was near, "When I fall so low that I am not able to speak, I will show you a sign of triumph when I am near glory, if I be able."

And he did. In his last act, "He lifted up his hands and clapped them"!

Guthrie

If you can find William Guthrie's little book The Christian's Great Interest it is worth the time to read. John Owen once remarked that there was more divinity in this book than in all the many books and manuscripts that he himself had written. Thomas Chalmers said that, apart from the Bible, it was the best book he had ever read.

McCheyne Quote

Robert Murray McCheyne: "It is not great talents God blesses, so much as likeness to Jesus."

James White

In the churchyard of Fenwick, Scotland is the grave marker of James White. He was one of the six covenanting martyrs in that cemetery. He was shot to death by the order of Captain Peter Inglis because he was attending a forbidden prayer meeting. To add abuse upon abuse, the soldiers cut off White's head and used it as a football. On his tombstone reads the following six line verse:

This martyr was by Peter Inglis shot,
By birth a tyger rather than a Scot,
Who that his monstrous Extract might be seen
Cut off his head and kicked it o'er the green
Thus was that head which was to wear a Crown
A football made by a profane Dragoun.

Thomas Hog

Thomas Hog became minister at Kiltearn in 1654. He had a glorious ministry in that town with many converts to the gospel. But in 1662 he was a victim of the Great Ejectment in which Episcopacy was restored to Scotland and non-conforming ministers were thrown out of their pulpits. Hog fled to Holland, but later after the "bloodless and glorious Revolution" in 1688 the spiritual independence of the Scottish church was restored. Hog returned to pastor his church in Kiltearn in 1691 . . . almost thirty years after he had been ejected. He died in January, 1692. He was buried near the main entrance to the church in Kiltearn; a flat stone marks the place, and there is an inscription on the grave marker that reads:

This stone shall bear witness against the parishioners of Kiltearn if they
bring an ungodly minister in here.

This is a fitting memorial, indeed!

John Milne on Sufficiency

John Milne, pastor in Scotland and great friend of Andrew and Horatius Bonar and Robert Murray McCheyne, dealt often with the issue of the common thought of earning one's salvation. On one occasion he dealt with this problem in the following way: "In seeking some recommendation in yourselves to come to God, you are dishonouring His justice in thinking you have anything fit for its acceptance, dishonouring His grace in thinking He cannot love and save freely, and dishonouring His Son's blood in thinking it cannot cleanse from all iniquity and make a full atonement."

Guthrie

William Guthrie was a pastor in Fenwick, Scotland in the 17th century. He had a great zeal for the salvation of souls. One time he was traveling home from a meeting when he got lost in the darkness and mist of the moor. He prayed that God would lead him to safety. Eventually he made it to a farmer's house and he was given safe haven that evening. The lady of the house was in the throes of death, and a Catholic priest was there giving her the last rites. After the priest left, Guthrie went to the woman and asked if she had received peace to die. She said she had not. So Guthrie shared with her the gospel, and he prayed with her that her heart would be opened to the truth. His prayer was answered as she died rejoicing in the Savior. When he finally made it home, his worried wife asked where he spent the night: he said, "I came to a farmhouse where I saw a great wonder. I found a woman in a state of nature; I saw her in a state of grace; and I left her in a state of glory."

Truth

"Peace if possible, but truth at all costs." Martin Luther

Joy in Conversion

"From the very early days of my ministry in London, the Lord gave such an abundant blessing upon the proclamation of His truth that whenever I was able to appoint a time for seeing converts and enquirers it was seldom, if ever, that I waited in vain; and usually, so many came, that I was quite overwhelmed with gratitude and Thanksgiving to God. On one occasion, I had a very singular experience, which enabled me to realise the meaning of our Lord's answer to His disciples' question at the well of Sychar, "Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? Jesus saith unto them, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work."Leaving home early in the morning, I went to the chapel, and sat there all day long seeing those who had been brought to Christ by the preaching of the Word. Their stories were so interesting to me that the hours flew by without my noticing how fast they were going. I may have seen some thirty or more persons during the day, one after the other, and I was so delighted with the tales of mercy they had to tell me that I did not know anything about how the time passed. At seven o'clock we had our prayer meeting; I went in, and prayed with the brethren. After that came the church meeting. A little before ten o'clock, I felt faint, and I began to think about what hour I had my dinner, and then for the first time remembered that I had not had any! I never thought of It, I never even felt hungry, because God had made me so glad, and so satisfied with the Divine manna, the heavenly food of success in winning souls."

Autobiography of C.H. Spurgeon

Am I a Soldier of the Cross?

Am I a soldier of the cross,
a foll'wer of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own his cause,
or blush to speak his name?

Must I be carried to the skies
on flow'ry beds of ease,
while others fought to win the prize,
and sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
to help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign:
increase my courage, Lord;
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
supported by thy Word.

Thy saints, in all this glorious war,
shall conquer, though they die;
they view the triumph from afar,
and seize it with their eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
and all thine armies shine
in robes of vict'ry through the skies,
the glory shall be thine.

Isaac Watts, 1724

Lazy Students of the Bible

A. W. Pink said the following in regard to the study of the Bible:

"The Bible is not designed for lazy people. Truth has to be bought (Prov. 23:23), but the slothful and worldly minded are not willing to pay the price required. That 'price' is intimated in Proverbs 2:1-5: there must be a diligent applying of the heart, a crying after knowledge, a seeking for an apprehension of spiritual things with the ardour and determination that men employ when seeking for silver; and a searching for a deeper and fuller knowledge of the truth such as men put forth when searching for hid treasures -- persevering until their quest is successful -- if we would really understand the things of God. Those who complain that these articles are 'too difficult' or 'too deep' for them, do but betray the sad state of their souls and reveal how little they really value the truth; otherwise they would ask God to enable them to concentrate, and re-read these pages perseveringly until they made their contents their own. People are willing to work and study hard and long to master one of the arts or sciences, but where spiritual and eternal things are concerned it is usually otherwise."

Saturday Evening

The Puritan George Swinnock encouraged his people to prepare their hearts on Saturday evening for Sunday morning worship:

"Spend some time in consideration of the infinite majesty, holiness, jealousy, and goodness, of that God, with whom thou art to have to do in sacred duties . . . thou canst not think the good thou mayest gain by such forethoughts, how pleasant and profitable a Lord's Day would be to thee after such a preparation. The oven of thine heart thus baked in, as it were, overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be sooner kindled when thou shouldest rise. If thou wouldest thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldest find it with him in the Lord's Day morning."

Pink on Hardship

A.W. Pink wrote the following exposition regarding Joshua 3:

Ponder this incident; visualize the scene before your mind's eye. It was not an army of men only, but a vast congregation of men, women and children, to say nothing of their baggage and herds of animals, and further advance was blocked by the river. Whatever the breadth and depth of the Jordan in recent centuries or today, it is evident that it presented an impassable obstruction in Joshua's time -- moreover, it was in flood at that particular season (Joshua 3:15): and yet they were left to gaze upon it for three days, faced with the fact that they had no means of their own for crossing it! Why? What was the Lord's object in this? Was it not to impress Israel more deeply with a realization of their own utter helplessness? Was it not to shut them up more completely unto himself?

And is not that, very often, the chief design of God's providential dealings with us? To bring us to the end of our own resources, to make us conscious of our own insufficiency, by bringing us into a situation from which we cannot extricate ourselves, confronting us with some obstacle which to human wit and might is insurmountable? By nature we are proud and self-reliant, ignorant of the fact that the arm of flesh is frail. And even when faced with difficulties, we seek to solve them by our own wisdom, or get out of a tight corner by our own efforts. But the Lord is graciously resolved to humble us, and therefore the difficulties are increased and the corner becomes tighter, and for a season we are left to ourselves -- as Israel was before the Jordan. It is not until we have duly weighed the difficulty and then discovered we have nothing of our own to place in the opposite scale, that we are really brought to realize our impotency, and turn unto him who alone can undertake for us and free us from our dilemma. But such dull scholars are we, that the lesson must be taught us again and yet again before we actually put it into practice.

Preaching the Whole Council of God

Spurgeon in making reference to a fair grounds said, "You have seen those mirrors . . . you walk up to them and you see your head ten times as large as your body, or you walk away and put yourself in another position, and then your feet are monstrous and the rest of your body is small; this is an ingenious toy, but I am sorry to say that many go to work with God's truth upon the model of this toy; they magnify one capital truth till it becomes monstrous; they minify and speak little of another truth till it becomes altogether forgotten."

The Tabernacle

"I sometimes think if I were in heaven I should almost wish to visit my work at the Tabernacle, to see whether it will abide the test of time and prosper when I am gone. Will you keep to the truth? Will you hold to the grand old doctrines of the gospel? Or will this church, like so many others, go astray from the simplicity of its faith, and set up gaudy services and false doctrine? Methinks I should turn over in my grave if such a thing could be. God forbid it! But there will be no coming back . . . We cannot return to save the burning mass, nor to rebuild the ruin, but we shall, doubtless, see and know what comes of it." C. H. Spurgeon

Spurgeon on Bunyan

Charles Spurgeon wrote the following about reading John Bunyan:

"Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. He had studied our Authorized Version, which will never be bettered, as I judge, till Christ shall come; he had read it till his whole being was saturated with Scripture . . . Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his soul is full of the Word of God."

Sovereignty

“This, then, is of faith, that everything, the very least, or what seems to us great, every change of the seasons, everything which touches us in mind, body, or estate, whether brought about through this outward senseless nature, or by the will of man, good or bad, is overruled to each of us by the all-holy and all-loving will of God. Whatever befalls us, however it befalls us, we must receive as the will of God. If it befalls us through man’s negligence, or ill-will, or anger, still it is, in even the least circumstance, to us the will of God. For if the least thing could happen to us without God’s permission, it would be something out of God’s control. God’s providence or His love would not be what they are. Almighty God Himself would not be the same God; not the God whom we believe, adore, and love.” (E.B. Pusey, 1800-1882)

Posted Meg Spear

The Church

Spurgeon said the following regarding the church:

"The chief wonder is that she abides perfect. Not one of God's elect has gone back; not one of the blood-bought has denied the faith. Not one single soul which ever was effectually called can be made to deny Christ, even though his flesh should be pulled from his bones by hot pincers, or his tormented body flung to the jaws of wild beasts. All that the enemy has done has been of no avail against the Church. The old rock has been washed, and washed, and washed again by stormy waves, and submerged a thousand times in the floods of tempest but even her angles and corners abide unaltered and unalterable. We may say of the Lord's tabernacle, not one of the stakes thereof has been removed, nor one of her cords been broken. The house of the Lord from foundation to pinnacle is perfect still: 'The rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house it fell not'; nor a single stone of it, 'for it was founded upon a rock.'"

Pray for Your Pastor

On one of his visits to the United States an American minister said to Charles Spurgeon, "I have long wished to see you, Mr. Spurgeon, and to put one or two simple questions to you. In our country there are many opinions as to the secret of your great influence. Would you be good enough to give me your own point of view?" After a minute's pause, Spurgeon responded, "My people pray for me."

The Church

"The church was not lacking in wealth, nor in men, nor in dignity, but it was sadly lacking in unction and power. There was a general tendency to forget the difference between human learning and the truth revealed by the Spirit of God. There was no scarcity of eloquence and culture in the pulpits, but there was a marked absence of the kind of preaching that broke men's hearts. Perhaps the worst sign of all was the fact that few were awake to these things."

No, this is not a description of the church in our day . . . although it could be. It is from Iain Murray's The Forgotten Spurgeon, and it describes church life in England in the 1850's just before Spurgeon thundered on to the scene. So, indeed, there is hope!

A Thousand Lives

Spurgeon once commented:

"I feel that, if I could live a thousand lives, I would like to live them all for Christ, and I should even then feel that they were all too little a return for His great love to me."

Why We Need Aged Pastors

John Newton, in a letter to his friend Captain Scott, tells him why it is a good thing to have a pastor with many years:

"But, the old weather-beaten Christian, who has learnt by sorrowful experience how weak he is in himself, and what powerful subtle enemies he has to grapple with, acquires a tenderness in dealing with bruises and broken bones, which greatly conduces to his acceptance and usefulness."

Donald Cargill

I have been reading this morning a biography of Donald Cargill by M. Grant called No King But Christ. Cargill was a Scots preacher during the 17th century who underwent many persecutions during the "sifting times" when the Church of England did great damage to the Scottish church. One of Cargill's great themes in his preaching was the mystery of God's redemptive purpose in Christ. He once said the following about it:

"Now must it be so? Must it be so that the Son of God must be put to these things? Was there a necessity for this? Can it be done no otherwise? No, there was no creature that could give merit to his suffering but he who was God indeed: the bearing of suffering was not enough, but the communicating of infinite merit and worth. That is the thing that looses the prisoners, that they were sufferings of infinite merit; and no creature, be what he will, could give infinite merit but his own Son. And it was by reason of that union, the hypostatical union, that this infinite merit was joined to the sufferings of Christ. It is our great shame and sin that we are not more exercised with our redemption, seeing it has been the thought of the infinite God from eternity, the work of the Son in time and it is the great work of the providence of God in the world, for there is more work bestowed upon the small number of the elect than there is upon all the world beside."

Predestination

"Instead of shrinking back in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer himself."

A.W. Pink

Encouragement from the Mouth of Babes

One of the parents in our congregation just sent me this prayer. It was spoken by a little one who is 2 and 1/2 years old blessing a meal.

Dear Father
I pray for our food. I pray for Miss Jenelle. I pray for Dr. Currid. I pray for all the people in the world. In Jesus' name, Amen.

How sweet! And if a pastor ever needed encouragement . . . here it is.

Spurgeon

There is a danger of saying, "Peace, peace," where there is no peace, and there is a calmness which arises from callousness. Dupes there are who deceive their own souls. "They have no doubts," they say, but it is because they have little heart searching. They have no anxieties, because they have not much enterprise or many pursuits to stir them up. Or it may be they have no pains, because they have no life. Better go to heaven, halt and maimed, than go marching on in confidence down to hell. "Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed!" My God, I will envy no one of his gifts or his graces, much less of his inward mood or his outward circumstances, if only thou wilt "bless me indeed." I would not be comforted unless thou comfortest me, nor have any peace but Christ my peace, nor any rest but the rest which cometh from the sweet savor of the sacrifice of Christ. Christ shall be all in all, and none shall be anything to me save himself. O that we might always feel that we are not to judge as to the manner of the blessing, but must leave it with God to give us what we would have, not the imaginary blessing, the superficial and apparent blessing, but the blessing indeed!

MattSpear

McCheyne on Suffering

Robert Murray McCheyne wrote the following on November 21, 1832:

"If nothing else will do to sever me from my sins, Lord, send me such sore and trying calamities as shall awake me from earthly slumbers. It must always be best to be alive to Thee, whatever be the quickening instrument. I tremble as I write, for Oh! on every hand do I see too likely occasions for sore afflictions."

John Hooper

John Hooper was condemned to death because of his stance for biblical Christianity. He was told he would immediately be sent to Gloucester for his execution. At his burning, Hooper said the following to the crowd:

"Lord, I am hell, but thou art heaven; I am swill and a sink of sin, but thou are a gracious God and a merciful Redeemer. Have mercy therefore upon me, most miserable and wretched offender, after thy great mercy, and according to thine inestimable goodness. Thou are ascended into heaven, receive me, hell, to be partaker of thy joys, where thou sittest in equal glory with thy Father. For well knowest thou, Lord, wherefore I am come hither to suffer, and why the wicked do persecute this thy poor servant; not for my sins and transgressions committed against them, but because I will not allow their wicked doings, to the contaminating of thy blood, and to the denial of the knowledge of thy truth, wherewith it did please thee, by thy Holy Spirit, to instruct me; the which, with as much diligence as a poor wretch might (being thereto called), I have set forth thy glory. And well seest thou, my Lord and God, what terrible pains and cruel torments be prepared for thy creature: such, Lord, as without thy strength none is able to bear, or patiently to pass. But all things that are impossible to man are possible with thee: therefore strengthen me of thy goodness, that in the fire I break not the rules of patience; or else assuage the terror of the pains, as shall seem most to they glory."

Newton's Self-Description

In writing to Daniel West in 1774, John Newton described himself in the following manner:

"As to myself, I would tell you how it is with me if I could: at the best, it would be an inconsistent account. . . . I am a sinner, believing in the name of Jesus. I am a silly sheep, but I have a gracious, watchful Shepherd. I am a dull scholar, but I have a Master who can make the dullest learn. He still bears with me, He still employs me, He still enables me, He still owns me. Oh for a coal of heavenly fire to warm my heart, that I might praise him as I ought! As a people, we have much cause of complaint in ourselves, and much cause of thankfulness to him."

The Red Sea

Back from a few days of vacation. Here is a story that will be used at the beginning of next Sunday's sermon:

Donald Bridge tells the story "of an American congregation which included some negroes accustomed to answering the preacher as he went along. On one occasion they were addressed by someone with 'liberal' leanings, tending to dismiss the miracles of the Bible. He referred in his sermon to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. 'Praise de Lord,' shouted a negro. 'Takin' all dem children through de deep waters. What a mighty miracle!' The preacher frowned. 'It was not a miracle,' he explained condescendingly. 'They were doubtless in marsh-land, the tide was ebbing, and the children of Israel picked their way across in six inches of water.' 'Praise de Lord!' shouted the negro unabashed. 'Drownin' all dem Egyptians in six inches of water. What a mighty miracle!'"

Packer on the Bible

J.I. Packer made the following statement regarding the nature of Scripture:

"There is a great and painful contrast between this rapt extolling of the Bible as our true light and chief means of grace and the casual, blasé, patronizing, superior attitude towards the Bible which is all too common today. Whereas the Reformers revered it, awestruck at the mystery of its divinity, hearing Christ and meeting God in their reading of it, we rather set ourselves above it, acting as if we already knew its contents inside out, and were indeed in a position to fault it as being neither wholly safe nor wholly sound as a guide to the ways of God…. Naturally, coming to Scripture in this frame of mind, we fail to gain a proper understanding of what it is all about. One of the many divine qualities of the Bible is this, that it does not yield its secrets to the irreverent and censorious."

Newton to Cowper

In response to one of William Cowper's most distressing and fearful times in a life of depression John Newton wrote the following words to him:

"But if He is the Captain of our salvation, if his eye is upon us, his arm stretched out around us, and his ear open to our cry, and if He has engaged to teach our hands to war and our fingers to fight, and to cover our heads in the day of battle, then we need not fear, though a host rise up against us; but, lifting up our banner in his name, let us go forth conquering and to conquer."

Bunyan's Conversion

John Bunyan tells of his conversion in the following way:

"As I was passing in the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience . . . suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and, methought withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God's right hand, there, I say, is my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was a-doing, God could not say of me, He wants [lacks] my righteousness, for that was just before him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday and today for ever (Heb. 13:8)."

"Now did my chains fall from my legs indeed, I was loosed from my affliction and irons, my temptations also fled away, so that from that time, those dreadful scriptures of God left off to trouble me; now also went I home rejoicing for the grace and love of God."

Simeon on Suffering

In April, 1831, Charles Simeon was 71 years old. He had been the pastor of Trinity Church, Cambridge, England, for 49 years. He was asked one afternoon by his friend, Joseph Gurney, how he had surmounted persecution and outlasted all the great prejudice against him in his 49-year ministry. He said to Gurney, "My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy Head has surmounted all His suffering and triumphed over death. Let us follow Him patiently; we shall soon be partakers of His victory" (H.C.G. Moule, Charles Simeon, London: InterVarsity, 1948, 155f.). J. Piper

We are not our own

In 1 Corinthians 6, the apostle Paul gives the church a needed reminder to aid them in living the Christian life: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (v. 19-20).

Believers have been bought by the very blood of Christ, the lamb of God; and thus we are to live to His glory in all that we do. John Calvin remarks on this idea, "We are not our own; let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own; let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own; in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours ... But we are God's; let us therefore live for him and die for him."


Submitted by RSA

What Is Joy?

D. L. Moody described joy as follows:

"Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can't see and doesn't know anything about. The Lord gives his people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him."

Jim Eliot

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Eliot

Rev. Aikman

As an old man, Rev. Aikman, congregational minister in Edinburgh, explained the circumstances of his conversion to Christianity. He said:

"I was returning to Jamaica, where I was engaged upon one of the plantations, and wishing to take out some books for the use of the people there, amongst others I selected was Newton's Cardiphonia. Its title struck me, and I supposed it was a novel . . . Looking over the books on the voyage I took up this, and soon found it something very different from what I had thought; and that book was, in God's providence, the means of my conversion." Perhaps John Newton's greatest effect for the kingdom was his writings, that is, his books, letters, and hymns.

Trust Him

Earlier this week, I came across the following quote from the great Presbyterian pastor, William S. Plumer:

"Jesus wept over those who were about to shed his blood. Cannot you trust your soul with a Savior whose compassions are so free, so large, so divine? Behold him on the cross, lingering, bleeding, dying for the sins of men ... as the apostle John said, 'We love, because he first loved us.'"

The answer to Plumer's questions, of course, is YES. We can trust our souls to a Savior whose love is so boundless, so free, so divine. Be encouraged by the love of our magnificent Lord.

Submitted by RSA

Samuel Coleridge

Just prior to his death the poet Samuel Coleridge wrote the following to his godson:

"On the eve of my departure, I declare to you, that health is a great blessing; competence, obtained by honourable industry, a great blessing; and a great blessing it is to have kind, faithful, and loving friends and relatives; but that the greatest blessing, as it is the most ennobling of all privileges, is to be, indeed, a Christian."

Benjamin Keach

Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) was one who stood for the gospel during the "sifting times" when the Church of England was persecuting non-conformists. Following is an example from Michael Haykin describing one of the ways he was persecuted for writing and teaching the gospel:

In addition to these punishments, Keach had to stand for two periods of two hours each in the pillory, a wooden framework that had holes for the head and hands of the persons being punished. Generally the pillory would be placed in the town or village square where the offender could also be subjected to various forms of public ridicule. On this occasion, however, Keach took the opportunity to preach to the crowd that gathered around. “Good People,” he began during his first time in the pillory,

"I am not ashamed to stand here this day, . . . My Lord Jesus was not ashamed to suffer on the cross for me; and it is for His cause that I am made a gazing-stock. Take notice, it is not for any wickedness that I stand here; but for writing and publishing His truths, which the Holy Spirit hath revealed in the Holy Scriptures."

At this point a Church of England clergyman, possibly the local minister, sought to silence Keach by telling him that he was in the pillory for “writing and publishing errors.” Keach, recognizing a golden opportunity for public debate and witness, quickly replied, “Sir, can you prove them errors?” But before the clergyman could respond, he was rounded on by others in the crowd, who knew him to be a drunk. Keach proceeded to speak in defense of his convictions despite a couple of further attempts by the authorities to silence him. Eventually he was told that if he would not be silent, he would have to be gagged. After this he was silent except for his quoting of Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Memoriam

C.H. Spurgeon poignantly stated : "A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you. So carve your name on hearts, and not on marble."

Posted LS

Man of Sorrows!

Our communion hymn this past Sunday was Man of Sorrows! by Philip Bliss. Tomorrow is Philip Bliss' birthday (July 9, 1838). Bliss was born in Pennsylvania, and left home at the age of 11 to become a logger. He did that job for a number of years and then became a school teacher. After that he was an itinerant music teacher. He was a great composer of Christian hymns . . . eventually he settled in Chicago and traveled with D.L. Moody and Whittle in their ministries. Many were converted through the hymn ministry of Bliss.

In 1876, Bliss and his wife were traveling by train to Chicago to meet up with Moody. A bridge the train was traveling on collapsed . . . Bliss was thrown from the train . . . his wife was trapped inside the burning train. Bliss went back in to save her . . . they both died in the fire.

For a fuller account of his life go to Mars Hill web-site.

Pray for Us

A Daily Devotion from Spurgeon: Based on "Brethren, pray for us." 1 Thess. 5:25

This one morning in the year we reserved to refresh the reader's memory upon the subject of prayer for ministers, and we do most earnestly implore every Christian household to grant the fervent request of the text first uttered by an apostle and now repeated by us. Brethren, our work is solemnly momentous, involving weal or woe to thousands; we treat with souls for God on eternal business, and our word is either a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. A very heavy responsibility rests upon us, and it will be no small mercy if at the last we be found clear of the blood of all men. As officers in Christ's army, we are the especial mark of the enmity of men and devils; they watch for our halting, and labour to take us by the heels. Our sacred calling involves us in temptations from which you are exempt, above all it too often draws us away from our personal enjoyment of truth into a ministerial and official consideration of it. We meet with many knotty cases, and our wits are at a non plus; we observe very sad backslidings, and our hearts are wounded; we see millions perishing, and our spirits sink. We wish to profit you by our preaching; we desire to be blest to your children; we long to be useful both to saints and sinners; therefore, dear friends, intercede for us with our God. Miserable men are we if we miss the aid of your prayers, but happy are we if we live in your supplications. You do not look to us but to our Master for spiritual blessings, and yet how many times has He given those blessings through His ministers; ask then, again and again, that we may be the earthen vessels into which the Lord may put the treasure of the gospel. We, the whole company of missionaries, ministers, city missionaries, and students, do in the name of Jesus beseech you "Brethren, pray for us."

Newton as a Calvinistic Preacher

John Newton wrote the following in a letter to Rev. Thomas Jones in 1767:

"As to myself, if I was not a Calvinist, I think I should have no more hope of success in preaching to men, than to horses or cows . . . the power is all God; the means are likewise of his appointment; and He always is pleased to work by such means as may show that the power is his."

Nothing New Under the Sun

In 1768 six students were expelled from Oxford University for holding to "Methodistical tenets." The expulsion was described in the St. James Chronicle at the time:

"On Friday last (March 11, 1768) six students belonging to Edmund Hall, were expelled the university, after a hearing of several hours before the vice-chancellor, and some of the heads of houses, for holding Methodistical tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read and expound the Scriptures, and singing hymns in private houses. The principal of the college (Dr. Dixon), defended their doctrines from the thirty-nine articles of the Established Church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was over-ruled, and sentence pronounced against them. One of the heads of houses present observed, that as these six gentlemen wre expelled for having too much religion, it would be very proper to inquire into the conduct of some who had too little. Yet Mr. Vice-Chancellor Durrell was heard to tell the chief accuser that the university was much obliged to him for his good work."

Nothing New Under the Sun

F. Lewis wrote the following about seminary students in the southern Presbyterian church in 1879:

"The age tends to superficiality; young men come forth with great pretensions and great expectations. Their encyclopedic attainments are calculated to startle. And yet too often this is illusory. There is the breadth, but not the depth. There is the glitter, but not the gold. They lack that sweep of pinion and that vigor of stroke that lifts the eagle toward the sun. It avails not to have much and varied knowledge in the multiplied branches of human investigation, unless there be also depth and justness of thought and keenness of vision. Truth lies beneath the surface. We must dig for her diamonds, we must dive for her pearls. Anything that antagonises the mushroom learning of the day must be beneficial. Let us lay the foundations broader and deeper with lexicon and grammar. We need to commune not only with Augustine and Calvin, with Turrettin and Hodge and Dabney, but also with Gesenius and Fuerst, with Davidson and Deutsch. Our Southern Church is already widely known for her orthodoxy and for her unswerving fidelity to the incomparable symbols of the Presbyterian faith. Let her be equally widely known for her scholarship and her ability and determination to stand on that high plane of learning on which Melanchthon and Calvin placed the Church of the Reformation. Let her do this—not for the pride of learning, or the exulting joy of superiority, but for the glory of her King; that she may bring to his altar a richer sacrifice, and offer there with vows of consecration not only the strength and service of her body, but the power and service of her mind; that she may bear her continued testi-mony to the value of an educated ministry; that she may have young men upon whose shoulders the mantles of ascending scholars may fall, to cover a double portion of their spirits; and lastly, that she may cover her front with that broad and burnished shield of learning that shall turn aside from her vitals the poi- soned darts of superficiality and ignorance."

Newton Beside the Death-Bed

In one of his letters, John Newton tells of a young woman whom he visited on her death bed. He says the following:

"She was a sober, prudent person, of plain sense, could read her Bible, but had read little besides. Her knowledge of the world was nearly confined to the parish; for I suppose she was seldom, if ever, twelve miles from home in her life. She had known the gospel about seven years before the Lord visited her with a lingering consumption, which at length removed her to a better world. A few days before her death, I had been praying by her bed-side, and in my prayer I thanked the Lord that he gave her now to see that she had not followed cunningly-devised fables. When I had finished she repeated that word, 'No,' she said, 'not cunningly-devised fables; these are realities indeed; I feel their truth, I feel their comfort. Oh! tell my friends, tell my acquaintance, tell inquiring souls, tell poor sinners, tell all the daughters of Jerusalem (alluding to Solomon's Song, v. 16, from which she had just before desired me to preach at her funeral) what Jesus has done for my soul. Tell them, that now in the time of need I find him my beloved and my friend, and as such I commend him to them.' She then fixed her eyes stedfastly upon me, and proceeded, as well as I can recollect, as follows: 'Sir, you are highly favoured in being called to preach the gospel. I have often heard you with pleasure; but give me leave to tell you, that I now see all you have said, or can say, is comparatively but little. Nor, till you come into my situation, and have death and eternity full in your view, will it be possible for you to conceive the vast weight and importance of the truths you declare. Oh! Sir, it is a serious thing to die; no words can express what is needful to support the soul in the solemnity of a dying hour.'"

Change

When the Queen came to Edinburgh on one occasion, Andrew Bonar took his two youngest daughters with him to see her. As they were walking about, they met his old friend, Mr. Walker of Perth, and Dr. Bonar said to him, "You see I've brought my children to see the Queen." "Very good," was Mr. Walker's reply. "Yes," said Dr. Bonar, "we saw her, but we were not changed; but 'when we see Him we shall be like Him.'"

From Marjory Bonar

Christ Crucified

I was reminded today that the primary task of the preacher is to preach Christ and him crucified. Andrew Bonar once preached at St. Peter's Church in Dundee . . . Robert Murray M'Cheyne was the pastor there. His text was "Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty." As the two of them walked home after the service, M'Cheyne turned to Bonar and said, "Brother, I enjoyed your sermon; to me it was sweet. You and I and many, I trust, in our congregations shall see the King in His beauty. But, my brother, you forgot there might be many listening to you tonight, who, unless, they are changed by the grace of God, shall never see Him in His beauty."

Bonar learned that truth . . . and he would pray in his church the following: "Lord, never let any one occupy this pulpit who does not preach Christ and Him crucified."

Different Calls

Dr. Livingstone, the great African explorer, said, on one occasion after hearing Mr. Spurgeon, that no religious service he ever remembered had so deeply impressed his own mind as that he had witnessed and participated in that morning; adding, that when he had retired again into the solitudes of Africa, no scene he had ever witnessed would afford him more consolation than to recall the recollection that there was one man God had raised up who could so effectively and impressively preach to congregated thousands, whilst he should have to content himself by preaching to units, or at most tens, under a tropical sky in Africa; implying at the same time, that Mr. Spurgeon's sphere of religious influence was a hundred times greater than that of the great and good traveller.

From Northrup's Life of Spurgeon

Summer Reading

I would encourage you to look at the summer reading lists of various important pastors in the evangelical camp. See Al Mohler's list at www.albertmohler.com/blog and Mark Dever's vacation reading list at http://blog.9marks.org These reading list are quite impressive and extensive. To this I would add my reading list for the summer:

1. Hebrew Old Testament
2. Greek New Testament
3. Septuagint (LXX) (when necessary)

Earl of Dartmouth

The Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801) was a strong Christian and a friend of Evangelicalism. He knew some of the great preachers through his acquaintance with Lady Huntingdon: he met Whitefield, Romaine, and the Wesleys. His faith was well known; a letter from a Mr. Hervey to Lady Shirley in 1757 speaks to it: "I have not the honour of Lord Dartmouth's acquaintance; but I hear he is full of grace, and valiant for the truth, -- a lover of Christ, and an ornament to his gospel."

Lord Dartmouth was the butt of jokes and ridicule at the hands of the upper crust. Many of them were won over to Christ by Dartmouth's stand for the Lord. King George III knew of Dartmouth's faith; in an interview with Dr. Beattie, the king said, "They call my Lord Dartmouth an enthusiast, but surely he says nothing on the subject of religion but what any Christian may and ought to say."

Quote from Matthew Henry

"Sensual choices are sinful choices, and seldom speed well. Those who, in choosing relations, callings, dwellings, or settlements, are guided and governed by the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, or the pride of life, and consult not the interests of their souls and their religion, cannot expect God's presence with them, nor his blessing upon them, but are commonly disappointed even in that which they principally aimed at, and miss of that which they promised themselves satisfaction in."

Calvin on Chance

In the Institutes I, xvii, I., 179, Calvin makes the following remarks:

"Hence we maintain that by his providence, not heaven and earth and inanimate creatures only, but also the counsels and wills of men are so governed as to move exactly in the course which he has destined. What, then, you will say, does nothing happen fortuitously, nothing contingently? I answer, it was a true saying of Basil the Great, that fortune and chance are heathen terms; the meaning of which ought not to occupy pious minds. For if all success is blessing from God, and calamity and adversity are his curse, there is no place left in human affairs for fortune and chance."

The Word of God

Guthrie says the following about God's Word:

"It is an armoury of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth. It is a guide-book for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for every malady, a balm for every wound. Rob us of our Bible, and our sky has lost its sun, and in the best of other books we have naught but the glimmer of twinkling stars. It is the wealth of the poor, blessing poverty with the contentment which makes it rich. It is the shield of wealth, protecting the few that are rich against the many that are poor. It may be compared to the skies, which hold at once the most blessed and the most baneful elements -- soft dews to bathe the opening rose, and bolts that rend the oak asunder."

Bricks of Babylon

Andrew Bonar, an 19th century preacher in Scotland, spoke on the "bricks of Babylon" and how every brick in Babylon had on it the king's stamp. So Bonar concluded, "everything we do should have the King's stamp on it." One of his hearers, a maid, was one day set to the tedious work of cleaning a feather bed. She was tempted to hurry the matter, but she said the "bricks of Babylon" kept ringing in her ears, and so she had to do the entire job faithfully. Another servant who had heard Bonar use that example said, "Well, I hate cleaning the knives, but I can't but do them thoroughly now."

Newton

Fairly soon after John Newton became pastor in Olney he published his Authentic Narrative that described his life, his conversion, and his call to the ministry. The response to his story was immediate and powerful . . . and, indeed, it yet resonates strongly even today. Newton became quite famous in his day and people sought him for counsel. There is the time when an Indian chief from the new world came to visit him! This chief had been converted under the ministry of George Whitefield in America . . . and he later became a preacher to his own tribe, the Mohicans! Newton also became well known because of his correspondence. He even said, "It is the Lord's will that I should do most by my letters." If you have the opportunity and are looking for something special to read in Christian literature, pick up Letters of John Newton (Banner of Truth, 2007).

M'Cheyne

Andrew Bonar, who wrote a famous biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, had an old servant who used to tell the story of M'Cheyne's last visit to Collace where Bonar was the pastor. M'Cheyne preached in the church, and "the folk were standin' out to the gate, and the windows were pulled down that those outside might hear. Mr. Cormick (of Kirriemuir) spoke first, and then Mr. M'Cheyne preached on 'Lest I myself should be castaway.' I had come awa' after he began, and I could see from the house the kirk lichted up, and oh, I wearied sair for them to come hame! They stayed at the kirk that nicht till eleven. The folk coudna gi'e ower listenin', and Mr. M'Cheyne couldna gi'e ower speakin'. I mind the time when Mr. Bonar couldna get his tea ta'en for folk comin' and speerin' if conversion was true. Oh, to hear Mr. M'Cheyne at prayers in the mornin'! It was as if he could never gi'e ower, he had sae muckle to ask. Ye would hae thocht the very walls would speak again. He used to rise at six on the Sabbath mornin', and go to bed at twelve at night, for he said he likit to have the whole day alone with God."

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Isabella Dickson, who would one day become Mrs. Andrew Bonar, was converted to Jesus during the times of revival in Edinburgh in 1842. Along with a friend, Miss Gifford, she went to a prayer meeting for the Jews held at St. Andrews Church. Robert Murray M'Cheyne spoke at the meeting; what he said interested her, but it was the impression of his personal holiness that really deeply affected her. She said, "There was something singularly attractive about Mr. M'Cheyne's holiness" she would later tell her husband. "It was not his matter nor his manner either that struck me; it was just the living epistle of Christ -- a picture so lovely, I felt I would have given all the world to be as he was, but knew all the time I was dead in sins."

Sinners Part 3

Edwards never mentioned this sermon in any other writings. The reason is probably because the spirit of revival in evidence at Enfield was a common occurrence at that time. For this was the period of the Great Awakening in which many souls were converted by the overpowering work of the Holy Spirit. The Great Awakening began in New England in 1734-35 by a revival in Edwards's own church at Northampton. For a description of that spiritual visitation one should read Edwards's account, titled Narrative of Surprising Conversions (1735). In 1739 revival erupted again in New England, and well into 1741, at the time of the Enfield sermon, Edwards was convinced that "the work seemed to be much more pure, having less of a corrupt mixture than in the former great outpouring of the Spirit in 1735."

Through the years, Edwards has been unfairly criticized for "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" because many think its predominant teaching is the punishment of the ungodly in the fires of hell. While that image is certainly present in the sermon, it is not its prevailing image. On the contrary, as E. H. Cady points out, "the focus of the sermon is on the predicament of the sinner, how dreadfully he dangles just before he plunges to eternal agony, and while he has time to repent and be saved." Consequently, the purpose of the sermon was chiefly evangelistic -- an attempt to present the true condition of fallen men, their precarious position in the world, and their need for the salvific work of Christ. Edwards's concept of hell fire was a tool to persuade men of their uncertain circumstance. As he said elsewhere, "the fears of hell tend to convince men of the hardness of their hearts."

Sinners Part 2

"Another eyewitness, a certain Stephen Williams, provided a more complete account: 'We went over to Enfield where we met dear Mr. Edwards of Northampton who preached a most awakening sermon from these words -- Deuteronomy 32-35 and before sermon was done -- there was a great moaning & crying out through the whole House -- What Shall I Do to be Saved -- oh I am going to Hell -- oh what shall I do for Christ, etc. So that the minister was obliged to desist -- the shrieks and crys were piercing and amazing -- after some time of waiting the Congregation were Still so that a prayer was made by Mr. W. and after that we descended from the pulpitt and discoursed with the people -- Some in one place and Some in another -- and Amazing and Astonishing the power of God was seen -- & several Souls were hopefully wrought upon that night. & oh the cheerfulness and pleasantness of their countenance that received comfort -- oh that God would strengthen and confirm -- we sung an hymn & prayed & dismissed the Assembly.'

The principal consequence of the sermon was that the hardened hearts of many people were so changed because the people were 'bowed down with an awful conviction of their sin and danger' (Trumbell). The power of the Holy Spirit caused that softening, not the persuasive speaking powers of Jonathan Edwards. The truth is that Edwards was not a flamboyant preacher in his delivery at Enfield; as Davidson points out, Edwards 'set his eyes on the bellrope at the rear, and spoke the words in a level tone and with no high pomp of rhetoric or oratory.' Tradition reports that Edwards used little or no gesture, and he read the sermon very closely from a manuscript on the pulpit before him.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Part I

For our men's study this week at BPC we are reading Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Years ago (1991) I wrote a foreword to the sermon that was published by Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. For the next few blogs I would like to re-print that foreword.

"The year 1991 marks the 250th anniversary of the most famous sermon ever delivered in the history of America. It is "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," and it was preached by Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) at the church in Enfield, Connecticut, on July 8, 1741. Edwards, who was the pastor of the Congregational church of Northampton, Massachusetts, was invited to preach at the request of Enfield's minister because the people at Enfield were particularly stubborn to the message of the gospel. The congregation's attitude was further revealed by Pastor Wheelock, minister of the Second Church of Lebanon at that time, who characterized them as 'thoughtless and vain.' Tradition relates that Edwards was not the designated guest-speaker on that Sunday, but a last-minute substitute. I have found no evidence to substantiate that claim.

The district of Enfield had been mostly untouched by the Great Awakening in New England of 1734-35. And, in fact, as Iain Murray reports, the people were unconcerned whether it came upon them or not. Neighboring Christians, however, had great interest in Enfield, and on the night before Edwards' sermon they spent considerable time in prayer lest 'while the divine showers were falling around them' Enfield would be passed by.

The response of the Enfield congregation to the sermon was absolutely 'amazing.' Before the sermon was finished, people were moaning, groaning, and crying out such things as 'What shall I do to be saved?' An eyewitness account by another minister reported that 'there was such a breathing of distress, and weeping, that the preacher (i.e., Edwards) was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence that he might be heard.'"

Newton's Confession

John Newton, in a letter to Rev. Francis Okeley, states a brief confession of faith that truly summarizes the Christian walk:

"I believe that sin is the most hateful thing in the world; that I and all men are by nature in a state of wrath and depravity, utterly unable to sustain the penalty, or to fulfil the commands of God's holy law; and that we have no sufficiency of ourselves to think a good thought. I believe that Jesus Christ is the chief among ten thousands; that He came into the world to save the chief of sinners by making propitiation for sin by his death, by paying a perfect obedience to the law, in our behalf; and that He is now exalted on high, to give repentance and remission of sins to all that believe; and that He ever liveth to make intercession for us. I believe that the Holy Spirit (the gift of God, through Jesus Christ) is the sure and only guide into all truth, and the common privilege of all believers; and under his influence, I believe the Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation, and to furnish us thoroughly for every good work. I believe that love to God, and to man for God's sake, is the essence of religion, and the fulfilling of the law; that without holiness no man shall see the Lord; that those who, by a patient course in well doing, seek glory, honour, and immortality, shall receive eternal life; and I believe that this reward is not of debt but of grace, even to the praise and glory of that grace, whereby He has made us accepted in the Beloved. Amen"

The Inheritance of the Saints

Jonathan Edwards made the following point in one of his sermons regarding the inheritance of believers:

"The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwellingplace, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honour and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the " river of the water of life" that runs, and " the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God." The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will for ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what shall be seen of God in them."

Weariness

Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, penned the following poem regarding rest for the weary in Christ:

"Heart that is weary because of the way,
Facing the wind and the sting of the spray,
Come unto me, and I will refresh you.

Heart that has tasted of travail and toil,
Burdened for souls whom the foe would despoil,
Come unto me, and I will refresh you.

Heart that is frozen -- a handful of snow,
Heart that is faded -- a sky without glow,
Come unto me, and I will refresh you.

Heart that is weary, Oh, come unto me!
Fear not, whatever the trouble may be;
Come unto me, and I will refresh you."

Spurgeon on Raising Children

Spurgeon provides a wonderful illustration of the results of the proper Christian nurturing of youth. He says:

"On the mantel-shelf of my grandmother's best parlour, among other marvels, was an apple in a phial. It quite filled up the body of the bottle, and my wondering enquiry was, 'How could it have been got into its place?' By stealth I climbed a chair to see if the bottom would unscrew, or if there had been a join in the glass throughout the length of the phial. I was satisfied by careful observation that neither of these theories could be supported, and the apple remained to me an enigma and a mystery. Walking in the garden I saw a phial placed on a tree bearing within it a tiny apple, which was growing within the crystal; now I saw it all; the apple was put into the bottle while it was little, and it grew there. Just so must we catch the little men and women who swarm our streets -- we call them boys and girls -- and introduce them within the influence of the church, for alas! it is hard indeed to reach them when they have ripened in carelessness and sin."

Cowper

During the onset of a particularly severe bout of depression, the great English hymn-writer William Cowper realized that God's ways are not man's ways. Ella describes the moment: "On the first day of January 1773 Cowper was walking over the Olney fields when he received a sudden premonition that a second time of darkness and depression was about to fall on him. With his heart turned to God, he struggled home and immediately wrote down a confession of faith in verse form before that darkness came upon him." It was then that he penned the wondrous hymn:

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform.

Communion

This Sunday we will celebrate the Lord's Supper. John G. Paton, who was a missionary to the cannibals in the New Hebrides in the middle of the nineteenth century, tells the story of the first communion held on one of the islands. He says,

"For three years we had toiled and prayed and taught for this. At the moment when I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism but now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of glory that well-nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus himself."

May our hearts contain that "joy of glory" when we partake of the Lamb's great supper!

Short Thought for the Day

Hudson Taylor once commented: "Let us give up our work, our thoughts, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into His hand, and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about, or to make trouble about."

As Far as the East is from the West

J. Wilbur Chapman, who wrote the wonderful hymn "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners", tells the story of a German mathematics professor who was converted under his ministry and became a member of his congregation. One morning during a men's study at the church, Chapman commented that God had taken our sins as far as the east is from the west. He turned to the mathematics professor and asked him, "How far is the east from the west?" The man responded in tears, saying, "Men, you cannot measure, for if you put your stake here and keep the east ahead of you and west behind you, you can go around the world and come back to your stake, and east will still be ahead of you and west behind you. The distance is immeasurable. And thank God, that is where my sins have gone."

James Gardiner

We read in the biography of Colonel James Gardiner the following account of his conversion:

"In July, 1719, he had spent the evening, which was the Sabbath, in some gay company, and had an unhappy assignation with a married lady, whom he was to attend exactly at twelve. The company broke up about eleven, and he went into his chamber to kill the tedious hour. It happened that he took up a religious book, which his good mother or aunt had, without his knowledge, slipped into his portmanteau, 'The Christian Soldier,' written by Mr. Watson. Guessing by the title that he should find some phrases of his own profession spiritualised in a manner which might afford him some diversion, he resolved to dip into it: while this book was in his hand, an impression was made upon his mind, which drew after it a train of the most important consequences. Suddenly he thought he waw an unusual blaze of light fall on the book while he was reading, and lifting up his eyes, he apprehended, to his extreme amazement, that there was before him, as it were suspended in the air, a visible representation of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, surrounded with a glory, and was impressed as if a voice had come to him, to this effect, 'O sinner, did I suffer this for thee, and are these thy returns?' He sunk down in his chair, and continued for some time insensible. He then arose in a tumult of passions, and walked to and fro in his chamber, till he was ready to drop, in unutterable astonishment and agony of heart, which continued until the October following, when his terrors were turned into unutterable joy." (In Memoir of Thomas Watson, Spurgeon)

Watson

As a seminary professor there is one phrase I have heard students use over the years that makes my blood boil; it is "C = M.Div". The idea is, of course, that if a student merely keeps a "C" average, then he will get through seminary and move on to the pastorate. In contrast to that minimalistic thought I have just read a passage written by Spurgeon about the Puritan Thomas Watson:

"We are not at all surpised to learn that Thomas Watson enjoyed the repute, while at Cambridge, of being a most laborious student; the great Puritanic authors must have been most industrious workers at the university, or they never would have become such pre-eminent masters in Israel. The conscientious student is the most likely man to become a successful preacher. After completinghis course with honour, Watson became rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, where in the very heart of London he executed for nearly sixteen years the office of a faithful pastor with great diligence and assiduity. Happy were the citizens who regularly attended so instructive and spiritual a ministry. The church was constantly filled, for the fame and the popularity of the preacher were deservedly great. . . he was a man of considerable learning, a popular, but judicious preacher, and eminent in the gift of prayer."

Bull Hebrew

In the same year that John Newton began his ministry at Olney, William Bull was ordained pastor of the Independent Chapel at Newport Pagnell some six miles to the south of Olney. These two men became great and lifelong friends. According to Brian Edwards' biography of Newton:

"Bull was largely self-taught. As a teenager he taught himself Hebrew with the sole aid of a Hebrew Bible and an old English Bible with Hebrew letters heading the sections of Psalm 119. Once he had discovered that Hebrew is read from the right to left -- and that therefore he must start from the back of the book -- he compared the Hebrew and English words and compiled his own grammar and lexicon! Similarly, at the age of twenty he was given a Latin grammar which he mastered in two weeks, and Greek soon followed."

Hebrew students today often complain about the difficulty of learning Hebrew . . . even with all the advantages that students have today with so many grammars, dictionaries, and so forth. Lord, give us more men like Bull!

Walk the Talk

In his book The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter gives an important warning to ministers:

"One proud, surly, lordly word, one needless contention, one covetous action, may cut the throat of many a sermon . . . It is a palpable error for some ministers, who make such a disproportion between their preaching and their living; who study hard to preach exactly, and study little or not at all to live exactly. All the week long is little enough to study how to speak two hours; and yet one hour seems too much to study how to live all the week . . . Oh, take heed, brethren, of every word you speak, and of every step you tread, for you bear the ark of the Lord -- you are entrusted with his honor! . . . Take heed to yourselves, for the success of all your labours does very much depend on this."

Men of Prayer

E.M. Bounds begins his book Power Through Prayer with the following words:

"We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organisations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. The trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organisation. God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. Men are God's great method. The church is looking for better methods, God is looking for better men. 'There was a man sent from God whose name was John' . . . What the church needs today is not more machinery, or better, not new organisations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men, He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer."