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."

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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."