Tried With Fire

"In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."—Philippians 2:15. We use lights to make manifest . A Christian man should so shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel. His conversation should be such that all who are about him should clearly perceive whose he is, and whom he serves; and should see the image of Jesus reflected in his daily actions. Lights are intended for guidance . We are to help those around us who are in the dark. We are to hold forth to them the Word of life. We are to point sinners to the Saviour, and the weary to a divine resting-place. Men sometimes read their Bibles, and fail to understand them; we should be ready, like Philip, to instruct the inquirer in the meaning of God's Word, the way of salvation, and the life of godliness. Lights are also used for warning . On our rocks and shoals a light-house is sure to be erected. Christian men should kno...

"Wait on the Lord."—Psalm 27:14. It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid. In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith . Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithfu...

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name."—Psalm 29:2. God's glory is the result of His nature and acts. He is glorious in His character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that He must be glorious. The actions which flow from His character are also glorious; but while He intends that they should manifest to His creatures His goodness, and mercy, and justice, He is equally concerned that the glory associated with them should be given only to Himself. Nor is there aught in ourselves in which we may glory; for who maketh us to differ from another? And what have we that we did not receive from the God of all grace? Then how careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord! The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High. Shall the insect of an hour glorify itself against the sun which warmed it into life? Shall the potsherd ...

"A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench."—Matthew 12:20. What is weaker than the bruised reed or the smoking flax? A reed that groweth in the fen or marsh, let but the wild duck light upon it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that flits across the river moves it to and fro. You can conceive of nothing more frail or brittle, or whose existence is more in jeopardy, than a bruised reed. Then look at the smoking flax—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant's breath might blow it out; nothing has a more precarious existence than its flame. Weak things are here described, yet Jesus says of them, "The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break." Some of God's children are made strong to do mighty works for Him; God has His Samsons here and there who can pull up Gaza's gates, and carry them t...

He that walketh uprightly walketh surely. (Proverbs 10:9) His walk may be slow, but it is sure. He that hasteth to be rich shall not be innocent nor sure; but steady perseverance in integrity, if it does not bring riches, will certainly bring peace. In doing that which is just and right, we are like one walking upon a rock, for we have confidence that every step we take is upon solid and safe ground. On the other hand, the utmost success through questionable transactions must always be hollow and treacherous, and the man who has gained it must always be afraid that a day of reckoning will come, and then his gains will condemn him. Let us stick to truth and righteousness. By God's grace let us imitate our Lord and Master, in whose mouth no deceit was ever found. Let us not be afraid of being poor, nor of being treated with contempt. Never, on any account whatever, let us do that which our conscience cannot justify. If we lose inward peace, we lose more than a fortune can buy....

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22) This is a promise of promises. It lies at the foundation of our spiritual life. Salvation comes through a look at Him who is "a just God and a Saviour." How simple is the direction! "Look unto me." How reasonable is the requirement! Surely the creature should look to the Creator. We have looked elsewhere long enough; it is time that we look alone to Him who invites our expectation and promises to give us His salvation. Qnly a look! Will we not look at once? We are to bring nothing in ourselves but to look outward and upward to our Lord on His throne, whither He has gone up from the cross. A look requires no preparation, no violent effort: it needs neither wit nor wisdom, wealth nor strength. All that we need is in the Lord our God, and if we look to Him for everything, that everything shall be ours, and we shall be saved. Come, far-off ones, look h...

For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. (Psalm 94:14) No, nor will He cast even so much as one of them. Man has his castoffs, but God has none; for His choice is unchangeable, and His love is everlasting. None can find out a single person whom God has forsaken after having revealed Himself savingly to him. This grand truth is mentioned in the psalm to cheer the heart of the afflicted. The Lord chastens His own; but He never forsakes them. The result of the double work of the law and the rod is our instruction, and the fruit of that instruction is a quieting of spirit, a sobriety of mind, out of which comes rest. The ungodly are let alone till the pit is digged into which they will fall and be taken; but the godly are sent to school to be prepared for their glorious destiny hereafter. Judgment will return and finish its work upon the rebels, but it will equally return to vindicate the sincere and godly. Hence we may bear the rod of chastise...

Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:30) To be the Lord's own people is a choice blessing, but to know that we are such is a comfortable blessing. It is one thing to hope that God is with us and another thing to know that He is so. Faith saves us, but assurance satisfies us. We take God to be our God when we believe in Him; but we get the joy of Him when we know that He is ours and that we are His. No believer should be content with hoping and trusting; he should ask the Lord to lead him on to full assurance, so that matters of hope may become matters of certainty. It is when we enjoy covenant blessings and see our Lord Jesus raised up for us as a plant of renown that we come to a clear knowledge of the favor of God toward us. Not by law, but by grace do we learn that we are the Lord's people. Let us always turn our eyes in the direction of free grace. Assurance of...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 By this love we are not to understand a softness and tenderness of mere nature, or a love founded on worldly motives, as any natural person may have, but a love for our brethren, proceeding from love towards God. In other words, loving all peoples in general because of their relationship to God; and loving good men in particular, for the grace we see in them, and because they love our Lord Jesus in sincerity. This is Christian charity and that commandment which Christ gave to his disciples. New, not in its object, but in the motive and example whereon it is founded, even Jesus Christ. This is the love which the primitive Christians were so renowned for, that it became a proverb, "See how these Christians love one another." And without this love, though we should give all our goods to feed the poor, and our bodies to be burnt, it would profit us no...

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 The death of Jesus Christ has turned our whole lives into one continued sacrifice; and whether we eat or drink, whether we pray to God, or do anything to man, it must be all be done out of a love for, and knowledge of him who died and rose again, to render all, even our most ordinary deeds, acceptable in the sight of God. If we live by this principle, if Christ be the Alpha and Omega of all our actions, then our least are acceptable sacrifices; but if this principle be wanting, our most pompous services avail nothing: we are but spiritual idolaters; we sacrifice to our own net; we make an idol of ourselves, by making ourselves, and not Christ, the end of our actions: and therefore, such actions are so far from being accepted by God, that, according to the language of one of the Articles of our Church...

When a person has for some little time tasted the good word of life and felt the powers of the world to come, he is often highly transported with that sudden change he finds in himself. But then Satan comes at such a time to pull him up with a high conceit of his own experiences as if he were some great person. He will tempt him to think ill of his brothers, as though he were better or holier than they. Take heed, therefore, and beware of this most evil device of our spiritual adversary; for as honor is before humility, so a haughty spirit goes before a fall, and God is obliged when under such circumstances to send us some humbling visitation (or permit us to fall) as he did Peter into some grievous sin, that he might learn not to be so high minded. To put a stop to all these suggestions of pride, let us remember that Christ was the one who chose us; we did not chose him; we have nothing but what we have received. Indeed, the free grace of God alone has made the difference between u...

You see, my dearly beloved brothers, that our way through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly Canaan is beset with thorns, and that there are sons of Anak to be grappled with before you can possess the rose, the Promised Land. But let not these, like so many false spies, discourage you from going up to fight the Lord's battles, but say with Caleb and Joshua, "No, we will go up , for we are able to conquer them." Jesus Christ, that great captain of our salvation, has in our stead, and as our representative, battled the grand enemy of mankind, and we have nothing to do, but manfully to fight under his banner, and to go on from conquering to conquer. Our glory does not consist in being exempted from, but in enduring temptation. "Blessed is the man, who endures temptation;" and again "Count it all joy" when you fall into various temptations. And in that perfect form our blessed Lord has prescribed to us, we are taught to pray, not so much to b...

Wenceslaus Hollar/ Source For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.   Psalm 38:2 What has God wrought in you? Has he even given this conviction to you, not a little fight now and then, or a qualm of your conscience? The devil and natural conscience may do this, but when it is wrought in your heart by the Spirit of God, it goes to the bottom, the arrow sticks fast, and a poor soul sometimes endeavors to pray, endeavors to pull it out, all but in vain. Has God wrought this in your soul? Now, when God works this change in the soul, the devil is always busy tempting the poor convicted sinner to despond, if not despair. Ignorant formalists, who are some of the worst people under heaven, when a person is under conviction, think the devil is got into them, whereas the devil is in themselves; for the devil hoodwinks people, and he endeavors to persuade them that there is no harm done to God by sinning against him. It is God who wou...

Karl Briullov/ Source For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. James 1:23 To walk with God implies that the Spirit of God removes the power of the natural heart. Perhaps it may seem hard to some, but our own experience daily proves what the Scriptures in many places assert, that the carnal mind, the mind of the unconverted man, and even the mind of the regenerate, so far as any part of him remains unrenewed, is [at] enmity against God himself. Indeed, one may well wonder that any creature, especially that lovely creature man, made after his Maker's own image, should ever have any enmity, much less a prevailing enmity, against that very God in whom he lives, moves, and has his being. But so it is. Our first parents contracted it when they fell from God by eating the forbidden fruit… and this same enmity rules and prevails in every man that is naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam… He th...

I am beloved of the Lord, if, having his love in my heart, I show it by loving those he has loved. Some people may say, "I love you, but I do not love those about you, your friends;" you are not bound to love all alike but it may teach you to be civil to that person's beloved. As soon as ever we hear of a Christian, as soon as ever we hear of a believer, as soon as ever we hear of a sinner turning to God, we should rejoice and be like the angels  in heaven who rejoice over one sinner's repentance. Some people may say, "I love dearly to hear of persons being converted by such a minister; I love dearly to hear of persons being converted by a dissenter; I love dearly to hear of persons being converted by a churchman, but I do not like people should be converted by this and that person." I believe there are a great many people whose hearts are thus narrow, but this mixture is not of God. And I pray God they may know it by experience; that they may know they are ...

The Lord God will help me. (Isaiah 50:7) These are in prophecy the words of Messiah in the day of His obedience unto death, when He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. He was confident in divine support and trusted in Jehovah. O my soul, thy sorrows are as the small dust of the balance compared with thy Lord's! Canst thou not believe that the Lord God will help thee? Thy Lord was in a peculiar position; for as the representative of sinful men -- their substitute and sacrifice -- it was needful that the Father should leave Him and cause Him to come under desertion of soul. No such necessity is laid upon thee: thou art not bound to cry, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" Did thy Savior even in such a case still rely upon God, and canst not thou? He died for thee and thus made it impossible that thou shouldst be left alone; wherefore, be of good cheer. In this day's labors or trials say, "The Lord God will help me." Go for...

I have heard of a person who was in company once with fourteen ministers of the gospel, some of whom were eminent servants of Christ, and yet not one of them could tell the time God first manifested himself to their soul. Zaccheus's was a very quick conversion, perhaps not a quarter of an hour's conviction: this I mention that we may not condemn one another. The Lord works with each of us differently and in different seasons. We do not love the pope, because we love to be popes ourselves, and set up our own experience as a standard to others. Those that had such a conversion as the jailer, or the Jews; O, say you, we do not like to hear you talk of shaking over hell, we love to hear of conversion by the love of God and of being drawn to him for his great love; while others that were so shaken, as Robert Bolton and other eminent men were, may say, you are not Christians, because you had not the like terrible experience. You may as well say to your neighbor, you have not ha...

[W]hen the fullness of time was come, Christ came, made of a woman, made under the law, according to the eternal counsel of the Father. He did not come in glory or splendor, as him who brought salvation with him. No, he was born in a stable and laid in a manger; oxen were his companions. Our Lord Jesus Christ stooped in amazing love to such low and poor things for our sakes. What love is this, that the Son of God would come into our world in so lowly a condition, to deliver us from sin and misery to which we are involved by the fall of our first parents! The Lord Jesus Christ came to take our nature upon him and to die a shameful, painful, and accursed death for our sakes. He died for our sins to bring us to God. He cleansed us from the guilt of sin by his blood, he satisfied for our imperfections, and now, my friends, we have bold access unto him. George Whitefield Daily Readings , Randall J. Pederson, ed., Christian Focus Publications, 2010,  taken from t...

The wisdom of God contrives a way that justice might be satisfied, and yet mercy is still triumphant. How was that? The Lord Jesus, the dear Redeemer, interposes! … The Son of God says, "Father, spare the sinner; let him not die. Father, Father, O hold thy hand, withdraw thy sword, for I come to do thy will. Man has broken thy law, and violated thy covenant. I do not deny that man deserves to be punished forever. But Father, what Adam could not do, if you will prepare for me a body, I, in the fullness of time will go, and die for him. He has broken thy law, but I will go and keep it, that thy law may be honored. I will give a perfect, un-sinning obedience to all thy commandments, and so that you may justify ungodly creatures. I will not only go down and obey thy law, but I will go down and bleed; I will go down and die. Here I am; I will step in between thee and sinners, and be glad to have thy sword sheathed in my heart's blood for them." George Whitefield Daily...

Have you been enabled to reach out the arm of faith and embrace the blessed Jesus in your souls, so that you could say, "My beloved is mine, and I am his?" If so, fear not, whoever you are. The Lord, the everlasting God, is your righteousness. Christ has justified you; who is he that condemns you? Christ has died for you, is risen again, and ever lives to make intercession for you. Being now justified by his grace, you have peace with God, and shall before long be with Jesus in glory, reaping everlasting and unspeakable fruits both in body and soul. All is yours if you are Christ's, for Christ is God's. My brethren, my heart is enlarged towards you! Think of the love of Christ in dying for you! Talk of and recommend the righteousness of Christ, when you lie down and when you rise up, at your going out and coming in! Think of the greatness of the gift, as well as of the Giver! Show to all the world, in whom you have believed! Let all by your fruits...