Daily supplies

Daily supplies

(Thomas Vincent, "Love to the Unseen Christ")

Such as are very wealthy, are greatly loved by the
poor and indigent—if they find them also to have
large hearts and open hands—ready to distribute
unto their needs and necessities.

Consider Christ's fullness and all-sufficiency. None
have such fullness and plenty as the Lord Jesus
Christ—and none are so willing to give unto the
needs of such as are poor in spirit, and sensible
of their need.

"It has pleased the Father, that in Him all fullness 
should dwell!" Colossians 1:19. There is not only
fullness in Him—but all fullness! Not the fullness
of the cistern—but the fullness of the fountain!
Not the fullness only of sufficiency for Himself—but
the fullness of redundancy for His people! Not some
fullness for some good things—but all fullness for
all good things! Not fullness for some time, and to
continue but for awhile—but all fullness dwells in
Him, and abides for all His people throughout all
generations!

Christians have need of daily supplies of
Christ's grace. They have need of Christ . . .
  when they are dark—to enlighten them;
  when they are deadened—to quicken them;
  when they are straitened—to enlarge them;
  when they are weak—to strengthen them;
  when they are sad—to comfort them;
  when they are tempted—to support them;
  when they are fallen—to raise them;
  when they are in doubts—to resolve them;
  when they are under fears—to encourage them;
  when they stagger—to establish them;
  when they wander—to restore them!
None but Christ can do all this—and more
than this, for them!

You are empty—Christ is full!
You are poor—Christ is rich!
You are indigent—Christ is all-sufficient!

Christians, will not you love Christ—who is able 
to do for you beyond what you are able to ask
or think; and is as willing as He is able to supply
all your spiritual necessities? Will you not love
Christ—who is an overflowing and everflowing 
fountain of goodness; who has inexhaustible
treasures of graces and comforts in Him, which
are set open before you, and unto you—and
every day you may freely come and fetch such
jewels out of His treasury as are of higher worth,
and of greater use, than any earthly riches!

Men That We Need

By Erroll Hulse


'But now we are all little men; there is scarce a man alive now upon this earth.' --C. H. Spurgeon


From earliest times, God has blessed His people and sustained His church by giving them leaders. While the children of Israel were groaning in bondage in Egypt, Jehovah was preparing Moses to be a savior. When the hordes of Midian filled the land of Israel, driving God's people into dens and caves in the mountains, Gideon was commissioned, and by three hundred men a great victory was wrought. When Europe was enslaved in the chains of popery and superstition, Luther emerged as God's sent servant. When England relapsed into darkness, the voice of Whitefield came like a trumpet blast to waken the dead.

All God's men have been equipped by Him for their peculiar tasks--Peter for Pentecost, Paul for the Gentiles. The scene is always changing, but the Lord has always had His men.

In our day, rank confusion prevails on every hand. We are all acquainted to some degree with the weaknesses that depress the church of God as a whole. The question is, Are we aware of the need for outstanding leadership? And if so, are we praying that God will send us men for the times--men who are equipped, called, and thrust forth? It is not for us to dictate to our heavenly Father the kind of men He must send, but we can envision some of the gifts that we might find in such leaders. Let us intercede earnestly for:

1. Men who have burning hearts of love for God and men, who fear God and nothing else but sin, who have an inexhaustible zeal for God's glory, and who are ready to die, if need be, for Christ.

2. Men who possess a thorough knowledge of Scripture and who are able to expound any text in a systematic and convincing manner.

3. Men who are gifted in doctrinal comprehension and who love the tried and tested doctrines of the faith.

4. Men who love and study church history, who specialize in the history of evangelical reformations and revivals, who know what the martyrs believed and died for, and who can competently apply an extensive knowledge of church history to the present day.

5. Men who are humble enough to apply themselves to small spheres of labor but who, at the same time, have a world vision, following missionary movements everywhere, doing everything in their power to help fulfill the Great Commission.

6. Men who know how to meet the evils of the age, who have a plan from God for our day, who are competent and aggressive in evangelism, and who are sons of thunder rather than showmen.

7. Men who do not follow infidels but concentrate like the apostles on power in preaching the gospel.

8. Men who will not compromise the truth for the sake of expediency, who have the courage to discard that which is merely traditional, oppose that which is unscriptural, and yet be respectful of those who do not measure up to the spiritual dimensions here described.


May God send us such men.

Why must there be a hell?

Why must there be a hell?

(Thomas Watson, "The Ten Commandments")

"The wicked shall be turned into hell." Psalm 9:17

"How can you escape the damnation of hell?" Matthew 23:33

God has built hell built on purpose, for the damned to lie in.

See the dreadfulness of that place! Hell is the epitome of
misery! Besides "the punishment of loss," which is the exclusion
of the soul from the gloried sight of God, which some think is
the worst part of hell—there will be "the punishment of sense."

In hell there will be a plurality of torments:
There will be the "chains of darkness." 2 Peter 2:4.
There will be the "never-dying worm." Mark 9:48.
    This is the worm of conscience.
There will be the "lake of fire." Revelation 20:15.
Other fire is but 'painted fire'—compared to this.

This house of hell is haunted with devils! Matt 25:41.
Anselm says, "I had rather endure all torments, than
see the devil with bodily eyes." Such as go to hell, must
not only be forced to behold the devil—but must be shut
up with this lion in his den! They must keep the devil
company! This red dragon is full of spite—and will spit
fire in men's faces!

The torments of hell abide forever! "The smoke of their
torment ascends up forever and ever." Rev. 14:2. Time
cannot finish hell. Tears cannot quench hell. Mark 9:44.
The wicked will always live in the fire of hell—but never
be consumed. After they have lain millions of years in hell,
their punishment is as far from ending, as it was at the
beginning! If all the earth and sea were sand, and every
thousandth year a bird should come, and take away one
grain—it would be a long time before that vast heap would
be removed! Yet, if after all that time the damned might
come out of hell—there would be some hope; but this
word FOREVER breaks the heart!

If anyone should ask, where is hell? I wish he may never
know experimentally. "Let us not so much," says Chrysostom,
"labor to know where hell is—as how to escape it."

God makes no mistakes in dealing with His children!

(J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)

"Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years!" John 5:3-5

That was a long time to be sick! It is very hard to be an invalid year after year!

This day's lesson may come to some who have been thus afflicted, and we should stop a minute to think about their case. Christian invalids have many comforts, if they will but take them to heart. God makes no mistakes in dealing with His children! He knows in what school they will learn the best lessons — and in what experiences they will grow best.

POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE PRAYER

POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE PRAYER
J. Alec Motyer

"Is any among you sick? He is to call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. " James 5:14-15

THIS is, of course, a passage of Scripture which is used in the context of a healing ministry, but I want to suggest that it must be considered in a much wider context if we are to understand it properly.

1. The Context of Trouble

The whole passage concerns the diversity of circumstances in life, and particularly the subject of trouble. It starts off by asking "Is any of you in trouble?" The word used is quite general, not focusing on any particular trouble which we call sickness, but trouble of any kind. Such a man is to pray. It may be that he is feeling cheerful; in that case let him sing praises. It begins with trouble, but I would prefer to speak of this context as that of divine providence. How are we to behave through the whole of life?

It is comparatively easy to be cheerful and to acknowledge God's goodness when the sun is shining and everything is marvellous, but life is by no means always like that. Neither, of course, is it always all of the other sort. Life is an extra-ordinary mixture, containing periods of trouble and periods of cheerfulness and sometimes a blend of both of them. The opening question of this passage in James 5 really amounts to this [5/6] question: 'Is your God big enough for the whole of life?'

Some people have a God who is big enough for the cheerful bits, but then they are completely bowled over by the adversities of life. Their God is not big enough for every experience, and so the call in verse 13 is that we should refer the whole of life to God. He is big enough for every situation; if there is trouble, then He offers the resource of prayer, and if there is cheerfulness, then there is the resource of praise.

2. The Context of Prayer

This gives us the key to the second context relating to our verse, and that is the context of prayer. Really this, I think, is what the whole passage is about. If we look from verse 13 onwards to verse 17, we find that prayer is mentioned in almost every verse. This whole passage is concerned not with a healing ministry but with the prayer life of the believer: "he is to pray" (v.13), "let them pray over him" (v.14), "the prayer of faith" (v.15), "pray for one another", "the supplication of a righteous man ..." (v.16). From then until verse 18 we have our attention drawn to the prophet Elijah at prayer. So the whole passage is about prayer, so much so that if we wish to understand what it has to say about a healing ministry in the local church, we must be careful that we do not interpret the reference to healing in a way that violates the whole doctrine of praying.

There is the wonderful promise that "the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (v.15). Does that mean that there is always going to be automatic healing if we operate the technique as specified in verse 14 and get it right? To say that would be to violate the Bible doctrine of praying. When we read what the Scriptures have to say about praying, we find that over and over again we are enticed into the of place of prayer by blank cheques from God. 'Whatever you ask you will receive.' 'Come on,' says God, 'ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.' If we want to change the metaphor, we may say that the door of prayer swings open wide, though I prefer that of the blank cheque. We are drawn into the place of prayer by the sheer bounty of God. We must never forget, though, that there are Scriptural safeguards in this matter. "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). Commenting on this verse, Calvin says, 'God does not permit us undisciplined asking'. Over and over again, prayer is hemmed in. If we ask contrary to His Name, He will not give us what we ask. Pessimists may comment that they knew that it was too good to be true and that they knew it couldn't happen like that. What I want to ask you is if you ever thanked God that it can't happen like that?

If automatically we got just what we asked, when we asked for it and in the way that we have asked for it, we might soon be frightened ever to pray again. Prayer is such a magnificent instrument that God can never give it in an unrestricted way into the unwise hands of sinners. If we got automatically whatever we asked, we would visit upon ourselves not blessing but a bane and would minister to our friends not blessing but cursing. Prayer is hemmed around by the benefits of the restrictive will of God so that He will only give us that which is good.

The Reward of Obedience

Hope of the Gospel: 8 - The Reward of Obedience

By George MacDonald



'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' 'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'--Matthew, v. 7, 10 11, 12.


Mercy cannot get in where mercy goes not out. The outgoing makes way for the incoming. God takes the part of humanity against the man. The man must treat men as he would have God treat him. 'If ye forgive men their trespasses,' the Lord says, 'your heavenly father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. And in the prophecy of the judgment of the Son of man, he represents himself as saying, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'

But the demand for mercy is far from being for the sake only of the man who needs his neighbour's mercy; it is greatly more for the sake of the man who must show the mercy. It is a small thing to a man whether or not his neighbour be merciful to him; it is life or death to him whether or not he be merciful to his neighbour. 

The greatest mercy that can be shown to man, is to make him merciful; therefore, if he will not be merciful, the mercy of God must compel him thereto. In the parable of the king taking account of his servants, he delivers the unmerciful debtor to the tormentors, 'till he should pay all that was due unto him.' The king had forgiven his debtor, but as the debtor refuses to pass on the forgiveness to his neighbour--the only way to make a return in kind--the king withdraws his forgiveness. If we forgive not men their trespasses, our trespasses remain. For how can God in any sense forgive, remit, or send away the sin which a man insists on retaining? Unmerciful, we must be given up to the tormentors until we learn to be merciful. God is merciful: we must be merciful. There is no blessedness except in being such as God; it would be altogether unmerciful to leave us unmerciful. The reward of the merciful is, that by their mercy they are rendered capable of receiving the mercy of God--yea, God himself, who is Mercy.

That men may be drawn to taste and see and understand, the Lord associates reward with righteousness. The Lord would have men love righteousness, but how are they to love it without being acquainted with it? How are they to go on loving it without a growing knowledge of it? To draw them toward it that they may begin to know it, and to encourage them when assailed by the disappointments that accompany endeavour, he tells them simply a truth concerning it--that in the doing of it, there is great reward. Let no one start with dismay at the idea of a reward of righteousness, saying virtue is its own reward. Is not virtue then a reward? Is any other imaginable reward worth mentioning beside it? True, the man may, after this mode or that, mistake the reward promised; not the less must he have it, or perish. Who will count himself deceived by overfulfilment? Would a parent be deceiving his child in saying, 'My boy, you will have a great reward if you learn Greek,' foreseeing his son's delight in Homer and Plato--now but a valueless waste in his eyes? When his reward comes, will the youth feel aggrieved that it is Greek, and not bank-notes?

The nature indeed of the Lord's promised rewards is hardly to be mistaken; yet the foolish remarks one sometimes hears, make me wish to point out that neither is the Lord proclaiming an ethical system, nor does he make the blunder of representing as righteousness the doing of a good thing because of some advantage to be thereby gained. When he promises, he only states some fact that will encourage his disciples--that is, all who learn of him--to meet the difficulties in the way of doing right and so learning righteousness, his object being to make men righteous, not to teach them philosophy. I doubt if those who would, on the ground of mentioned reward, set aside the teaching of the Lord, are as anxious to be righteous as they are to prove him unrighteous. If they were, they would, I think, take more care to represent him truly; they would make farther search into the thing, nor be willing that he whom the world confesses its best man, and whom they themselves, perhaps, confess their superior in conduct, should be found less pure in theory than they. Must the Lord hide from his friends that they will have cause to rejoice that they have been obedient? Must he give them no help to counterbalance the load with which they start on their race? Is he to tell them the horrors of the persecutions that await them, and not the sweet sympathies that will help them through? Was it wrong to assure them that where he was going they should go also? The Lord could not demand of them more righteousness than he does: 'Be ye therefore perfect as your father in heaven is perfect;' but not to help them by word of love, deed of power, and promise of good, would have shown him far less of a brother and a saviour. It is the part of the enemy of righteousness to increase the difficulties in the way of becoming righteous, and to diminish those in the way of seeming righteous. Jesus desires no righteousness for the pride of being righteous, any more than for advantage to be gained by it; therefore, while requiring such purity as the man, beforehand, is unable to imagine, he gives him all the encouragement he can. He will not enhance his victory by difficulties--of them there are enough--but by completeness. He will not demand the loftiest motives in the yet far from loftiest soul: to those the soul must grow. He will hearten the child with promises, and fulfil them to the contentment of the man.

Men cannot be righteous without love; to love a righteous man is the best, the only way to learn righteousness: the Lord gives us himself to love, and promises his closest friendship to them that overcome.


God's rewards are always in kind. 'I am your father; be my children, and I will be your father.' Every obedience is the opening of another door into the boundless universe of life. So long as the constitution of that universe remains, so long as the world continues to be made by God, righteousness can never fail of perfect reward. Before it could be otherwise, the government must have passed into other hands.

Christ's House and Servants

Christ's House and Servants


By Robert Murray McCheyne


The Church On Earth Is Christ's House: "Who has left his house" (v34.). This parable represents the church on earth as Christ's home or dwelling.

Because He is the foundation stone of it. Just as every stone of a building rests on the foundation, so does every believer rest on Christ. He is the foundation rock upon which we rest. If it were not for the foundation, the whole house would fall into ruins - the floods and winds would sweep it away. If it were not for Christ, all believers would be swept away by God's anger; but they were rooted and built up in Him, and so they form His house.

Because He is the Builder.

Every stone of the building has been placed here by the hands of Christ - Christ has taken every stone from the quarry. Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and the hold of the pit whence were digged. A natural person is embedded in the world just as firmly as a rock in quarry. The hands of the almighty Saviour alone can dig out the soul, and loosen it from its natural state.

Christ has carried it, and laid it on the foundation. Even when a stone has been quarried, it cannot lift itself; it needs to be carried, and built upon the foundation. So when a natural soul has been awakened, he cannot build himself on Christ; he must be carried on the shoulder of the great master builder. Every stone of the building! Well may it be called Christ's house, when He builds every stone of it. See that ye be quarried out by Christ; see to it, that ye be carried by Him - built upon Him; then you will be an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Because His Friends are in it. Wherever a mans friends are, that is his home - wherever a man's mother and sister and brother dwell, that is his home; this, then, must be Christ's home, for He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said: "Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister and mother." As long as this world has a believer in it, Christ will look upon it as His house. He cannot forget, even in glory, the well of Samaria - the garden of Gethsemane - the hill of Calvary. Happy for you who know Christ, and who do the will of His Father; wherever you dwell, call Christ calls it His house. You may dwell in a poor place, and still be happy; for Christ dwells with you, and calls it His dwelling - He calls you "My brother, sister, mother."

Christ is like a man who has gone a far journey (v34). Although the church on earth be His house, and although He has such affection for it, yet Christ is not here, He is risen - Christ is risen indeed.

He has gone to take possession of heaven on our name. When an elder brother of a family purchases a property for himself and his brothers, he goes a far journey, in order to take possession. So Christ is an elder brother. He lived and died in order to purchase forgiveness and acceptance for sinners. He has gone into heaven to take possession for us. Do you take Christ for your surety? Then you are already possessed of heaven.

Question: How am I possessed of heaven, when I have never been there?

Answer: Christ your surety has taken possession in your name. If you realize this, it will give you fulness of joy. A person may possess a property which he has never seen.

Look at your surety in the land that is very far off, call it His own, for the sake of His younger brethren: "These things I have spoken unto you, that your joy maybe full."

He has gone to intercede for us.

He has gone to intercede for unawakened, barren sinners: "Lord, let it alone this year also." Oh, sinner! why is it that you have not died a sudden death? Why have you not gone quite down into the pit? How often the Saviour has prayed for some of you! Shall it be in vain?

To intercede for His believing people - to procure all blessings for them. Often an elder brother of a family goes into a far country, and sends back rich presents to his younger brethren at home. This is what Christ has done. He has gone far above all heavens, there to appear in the presence of God for us, and to ask the very things we need, and to send down all the treasures of heaven. Of His fullness have we received, even grace for grace. "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you a comforter." Oh, Christian! believe in a praying Christ, if you would receive heavenly blessings. Believe just as if you say Him, and open the mouth wide to receive the blessings for which he is praying.

He has gone to prepare a place for us. When a family is going to emigrate to a foreign shore, often the elder brother goes before to prepare a place for his young brethren. This is what Christ has done. He does not intend that we should live here always - He has gone a far journey in order to prepare a place for us: "I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Oh, Christian! believe in Christ preparing a place for you. It will greatly take away the fear of dying. It is an awful thing to die, even for a forgiven and sanctified soul - to enter on a world unknown, unseen, untried. One thing takes away fear: Christ is preparing a place quite suitable for my soul - He knows all the wants and weaknesses of my frame - I know he will make it a pleasant home to me.

All Christ's people are servants, and have their work assigned them (v34).

Ministers are servants and have their work assigned to them. Two kinds are mentioned:

Stewards. These seem to be the servants to whom He gave authority. All ministers should be stewards - rightly dividing the Word of life - giving to everyone of the family his portion of meat in due season. Oh! it is a blessed work, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood - to give milk to babes, and strong meat to grown men - to give convenient food to everyone. Pray for your ministers, that they may be made faithful and wise stewards. There are few such.

Porters. He commanded the porter to watch. It is the office of some ministers to stand at the door and invite every sinner, saying "Enter ye in at the strait gate." Some ministers have not the gift of feeding the Church of God and watering it. Paul planted - Apollos watered. Some are door-keepers in the house of my God. Learn not to despise an of the true servants of God. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? He has appointed some to stand at the door, and some to break the children's bread - despise neither.

All Christians are servants, and have their work assigned them. Some people think that ministers only work for Christ; but see here: "He gave to every man his work." In a great house, the steward and the porter are not only the servants; there are many more, all have their work to do. Just so among the people of Christ. Ministers are not the only servants of Christ; all that believe on Him are His servants.


Learn to be working Christians. "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own souls." It is very striking to see the uselessness of many Christians. Are there none of you who know what it is to be selfish in your Christianity? You have seen a selfish child go into a secret place to enjoy some delicious morsels undisturbed by his companions? So it is with some Christians. They feed upon Christ and forgiveness; but it is alone, and all for themselves. Are there not some of you who can enjoy being a Christian, while your dearest friend is not; and yet you will not speak to him? See here, you have got your work to do. When Christ found you, He said: "Go, work in my vineyard." What were you hired for, if it was not to work? What were you saved for, if it were not to spread salvation? What blessed for? Oh! my Christian friends! how little you live as if you were servants of Christ! - how much idle time and idle talk you have! This is no like a good servant. How many things you have to do for yourself? - how few for Christ and His people! This is not like a servant.

Learn to keep your to own work In a great house every servant has his own peculiar work. One man is the porter to open the door, another is the steward to provide food for the family; a third has to clean the rooms, a fourth has to dress the food, a fifth has to wait upon the guests. Everyone has his proper place, and no servant interferes with another. If all were to be come porters, and open the door, then what would become of the stewardship? or if all were to be stewards, who clean the house? Just so, is it with Christians. Everyone has his peculiar work assigned him, and should not leave it. "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called." Obadiah had his work appointed him in the court of the wicked Ahab. God placed him as His servant there, saying; "Work here for me." Does any of you belong to a wicked family? Seek not to be removed - Christ has placed you there to be His servant - work for Him. The Shunammite had her work, When the prophet asked; "Wilt thou be spoken for to the king?" she said; "I dwell among mine own people." Once a demoniac whom Jesus healed, besought Jesus that he might follow after Him; howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith to him; "Go home to thy friends, and tell how He hath had compassion on thee." Learn, my dear friends, to keep to your own work. When the Lord has hung up a lamp in one corner, is there no presumption in removing it to another? Is not the Lord wiser than man? Everyone of you have his own work to do for Christ where you are. Are you on a sick bed? Still you have your work to do for Christ there as much as the highest servant of Christ in the world. The smallest twinkling star is as much a servant of God as the mid-day sun. Only live for Christ where you are.

Christ is coming back again, and we know not when: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning; lest, coming suddenly, He find you sleeping" (vv. 35-36). Two things are declared:

That Christ is coming back again. The whole Bible bears witness to this. The master of the house has been a long time away on His journey; but He will come back again. When Christ ascended from His disciples, and a cloud received Him out of their sight, and they were looking steadfastly into heaven, the angels said; "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.

That Christ will come back suddenly. The whole Bible bears witness to this. 1.) In one place it is compared to a snare which suddenly entraps the unweary wild beast: "As a snare shall it come on all that dwell on the face of the whole earth." 2.) Again, to a thief; "The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." 3.) Again, to a bridegroom coming suddenly; "At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh." 4.) Again, to the waters of the flood. 5.) Again, to the fiery rain that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. 6.) And here, to the sudden coming home of the master of the house: "Ye know not when the master of the house cometh.
Now dear friends, I am far from discouraging those who, with humble prayerfulness, search into the records of prophesy to find out what God has said as to the second coming of the Son of Man. We are not like the first disciples of Jesus, if we do not often put the question: "What shall be the signs of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" But the truth which I wish to be written on your hearts is this: That the coming be sudden - sudden to the world - sudden to the Children of God: "In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh, at even, at mid-night or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning." Oh, my friends! your faith is incomplete, if you do no live in the daily faith of a coming Saviour.

Watch: "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (v.37).

Ministers should watch. This word is especially addressed to the porter. "Watch ye, therefore." Ah! how watchful we should be. Many things make up sleep.

Want of faith. When a minister loses sight of Christ crucified - risen - coming again - then he cannot watch for souls. Pray that your ministers may have a watching eye always on Christ.

Seeing so many careless souls. Ah! you little know how this staggers the ministers of Christ. A young believer comes with a glowing heart to tell of Christ, and pardon, and the new heart. He knows it is the truth of God - he states it simply, freely, with all his heart - he presses it on men - he hopes to see them melt like icicles before the sun - alias! they are as cold and dead as ever. They live on in their sins - they die in their sins. Ah! you little know how this makes him dull, and heavy, and heartbroken. My friends, pray that we may not sleep. Pray that your carelessness may only makes us watch the more.

Christians should watch. Ah! if Christ is at hand.

Take heed lest you be found unforgiven. Many Christians seem to live without a realizing view of Christ. The eye should be fixed on Christ. Your eye is shut. Oh! if you would abide in Christ, then let Him come tonight - at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning - He is welcome, thrice welcome! Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Take heed lest you be found in any course of sin. Many Christian seem to walk, if I mistake not, in courses of sin. It is hard to account for it; but so it seems to be. Some Christians seem to be sleeping - in luxury - in covetousness - in evil company. Ah! think how would you like to be overtaken thus by the coming of the Saviour. Try your daily occupations - your daily state of feeling - your daily enjoyments - try them by this by this test: Am I doing as I would wish to do on the day of His coming?

Christless souls, how dreadful is your case! Death may be sudden - oh! how awful sudden sometimes is. You may have no time for repentance - no breath to pray! The coming of the Savior shall be more sudden still. Ye know neither the day nor the hour. You know not God - you have not obeyed the Gospel. Oh! what will ye do in the day of the Lord's anger?

Does God Ever Repent?

Except Ye Repent: Chapter 11 - Does God Ever Repent?


By Harry Ironside


In the history of Jehovah's dealings with the people of Israel there is perhaps no story more affecting than that of Balak's effort to induce Balaam to curse them when they were encamped on the plains of Moab. The faithless prophet who loved the wages of unrighteousness was eager to comply with the wicked king's request, but was hindered each time he attempted to curse the people, by the Spirit of God. At last he confessed his inability to do the thing for which he had been called to Moab and instead of cursing Israel he blessed them, and foretold their glorious future in such a manner as to stir the ire of Balak, and to move the hearts of God's saints to devout thanksgiving. He introduced the narration of the divine purpose concerning the tribes of Israel, with the remarkable words: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it" (Num. 23:19-20).

This is surely a marvellous declaration. It tells us that once God enters into an unconditional covenant with any people He will never call back His words. And He had definitely confirmed just such a covenant with Abraham. This was before the giving of the Law. The legal covenant they had a part in, and they failed to keep what they had promised. Only a few days later we read of the terrible sin of Baal-peor. On the ground of law they forfeited everything, and that covenant God Himself abrogated. But His covenant with Abraham was pure grace. He was the only contracting party. Whatever Israel's failures, He could not break His promise. He had bound Himself by an oath and He would not and could not repent, or reverse His decision. His attitude of grace through the promised seed would persist throughout the ages.

How comforting this is to the heart of one who has turned to Him for refuge. He may be assured that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29). A careful reading of the entire dispensational section of the Roman Epistle, chapters 9, 10, and 11, in which we have, respectively, God's past, present, and future dealings with Israel, will make this doubly clear. Yet it is singular how many read with blinded minds and fail to get the truth that the Holy Spirit seeks to reveal. Only recently a tract was mailed to me on the subject of salvation. The writer sought to show that, while in past ages, even in what he called "the Pentecostal dispensation of the early part of the book of the Acts," repentance had a place in the preaching of the Gospel as then made known, a very different Gospel was revealed to Paul in his later years, in which repentance had no part. And to prove his amazing theory he quoted as a proof text the words above referred to, "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."

The interpretation he gave to this verse was that now God gives salvation to believers whom He calls by His grace, on the basis of sovereign mercy alone, and altogether apart from any repentance on their side. Do my readers exclaim, 'What almost unbelievable ignorance?' Yet I have heard others affirm the same foolish thing. It shows how carelessly even good men sometimes read the text of Holy Scripture.

The Apostle's argument is clear as crystal. God made certain promises to Abraham. Israel sought those blessings by works of law and failed, so they forfeited everything on that ground. Temporarily the nation is set to one side, and is partially blinded to the true meaning of the very Scriptures in which they glory. Meantime God is active in grace toward Gentiles, saving all who believe. In the same way He is now saving individual Jews, though the nation as such is no longer in the place of the covenant. But by and by when Israel shall turn to the Lord, they shall be grafted into their own olive tree again and brought into fulness of blessing. And the proof that it must be so is this: When God gives a gift or makes a promise to bless He will never reverse Himself. He will not change His attitude, for His gifts and callings are without repentance. It is the same as the declaration of Balaam, "He is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent."

But what then shall we say of such a Scripture as Genesis 6:5-7: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them"? Here God is distinctly said to repent, and His attitude toward man is completely changed. In place of longsuffering mercy He acts in condign judgment, blotting out the corruption and violence of the antediluvian world by destroying the human race with a flood, excepting that Noah and his house were saved in the ark. Is there a contradiction here? Do Genesis and Numbers teach oppositely the one to the other? We may be sure they do not.

In the first place, we need to remember that the same human author, Moses, who wrote the one book wrote the other also. He evidently saw no discrepancy, nothing incongruous or contradictory, in the two statements. And in the second place, back of Moses was God. The human writer spoke as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. Therefore we know there can be no mistake or erroneous conclusion.

Is not the explanation simply this: In Genesis we have a figure of speech in which God is represented as reasoning like a man. This is what theologians call an anthropomorphism, that is, God, acting in the manner of man. And it has to do, not with a promise made or a covenant of grace given, but with His attitude toward a sinful race. They had plunged into evil of the most repellent nature; so much so that God Himself abhorred them. He changed in His behavior toward them and destroyed them instead of preserving them alive in their vileness and corruption. Often has He thus dealt with sinful nations and individuals.

But where His pledged word has been given, He never repents. "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed." How wondrous the grace that shines out in words such as these! Not all the waywardness of His people can make Him change His mind, once He has given His promise, or cause Him to alter His attitude toward them when He has entered into covenant with them.

It is because of Christ and because of His redemptive work that He, the Holy One, can thus bless a sinful nation. And concerning Christ Himself, who has become the Mediator of the New Covenant, He declares: "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psa. 110:4). Thus has our blessed Lord been confirmed as "a surety of a better testament" than that of legal works. He is the Man of God's purpose, who represents all His people before the throne in heaven, and in whom all the promises of God are "yea and amen."

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the "exact expression of his [that is, God's] character" (Heb. 1:3, literal rendering); therefore we are not surprised to find that there is no such thing as repentance in His attitude toward the Father or toward mankind. Horace Bushnell years ago, in his Character of Jesus, drew attention to the essential difference between His piety and that of all others who profess His Name. We are sinners, and we must come to God as such if we would ever be saved at all. Therefore we come to Him confessing our iniquities and bowing before Him in repentance. It was thus the publican in the parable came. "God," he exclaimed, "be propitious to me the sinner." Propitiation was made on the cross. But our attitude of soul must still be the same as his. We come confessing we are without merit and trusting in Him who is the propitiation for our sins. Until we take this position before God we cannot really know Him as Father, and so enter into fellowship with Him.

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

By Jim Cymbala


quotes from Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala

pp. 57-58, "Trouble is one of God's great servants because it reminds us how much we continually need the Lord."

p. 58, "Prayer begets Revival, which begets more prayer."

p. 59, "The reason "other churches" don't grow: "Jim, the truth is, I couldn't have a real prayer meeting in my church. I'd be embarrassed at the smallness of the crowd..."

p.66, "Persistent calling upon the name of the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times there is simply no other way."

p. 69, For all of us involved in preaching the gospel, performing music, publishing Christian materials, and all the rest, there is an uncomfortable message here: Jesus is not terribly impressed with religious commercialism (Mark 11:15-18). p. 70, I am dismayed by the contracts required by some contemporary musical groups. To perform a concert at your church, the stated fee will be so much (in either four or five figures) plus round trip airfare--often first class, not coach. Every detail of the accommodations is spelled out, down to "sushi for twenty persons" waiting at the hotel, in one case. All this is done so that the group can stand before an inner-city audience and exhort the people to "just trust the Lord for all your needs." ...The first century money changers were in the temple, but they didn't have the spirit of the temple...They were out of sync with the whole purpose of the Lord's house. "The atmosphere of my Father's house," Jesus seemed to say, "is to be prayer. The aroma around my Father must be that of people opening their hearts in worship and supplication. This is not a place to make a buck. This is a house for calling on the Lord."

p. 71, "The feature that's supposed to distinguish Christian Churches, Christian gatherings is the aroma of prayer...Does the Bible ever say anywhere from Genesis to Revelation "My house shall be called a house of preaching?" Does it ever say, "My house shall be called a house of music?" Of course not. The Bible does say, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Preaching, music, the reading of the Word--these things are fine--but they must never override prayer as the defining mark of God's dwelling.

p. 72, "What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?"

p. 86, "God says to us, "Pray, because I have all kinds of things for you; and when you ask, you will receive. I have all this grace, and you live with scarcity. Come unto me, all you who labor. Why are you so rushed? Where are you running now? Everything you need, I have."

If the times are indeed as bad as we say they are...if the darkness in our world is growing heavier by the moment...if we are facing spiritual battles right in our own homes and churches...then we are foolish not to turn to the One who supplies unlimited grace and power. He is our only source. We are crazy to ignore him."

p. 97, "The key in not money; organization, cleverness, or education. Are you and I seeing the results Peter saw? Are we bringing thousands of men and women to Christ the way he did? [pastor Cymbala can rightfully ask these questions.] If not, we need to get back to His power source..."

p. 103, "When we get serious about drawing on God's power, remarkable things will happen." Acts 4:1-3, 4-14,18,21-31. "The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand. The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest's family. They had brought Peter and John before them: 'By what power or what name did you do this?' Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: 'Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple [Acts 3] and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.' When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say...Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus...After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

Surrender to Jesus

Surrender to Jesus


By P. Hickmott



"Let the whole house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Acts 2:36.

God has had to do with every person. There are millions, thousands of millions on earth today, and God has had to do with every one. People talk about family control. God has had to do with every living soul that's come into this world. And He holds their breath in His hand, including yours and mine. He has given abundant witness to His existence in the creation all around us, whether people admit it or not. He has given you a witness to Him in your conscience.

So here we are today, as persons that are responsible to God. He will have to say to everyone sooner or later - to you and to me, and to every man. Not one is going to escape. It says "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after death the judgment". Are you ready for it? Are you ready to be ushered right now into the presence of God? How many people today have reached the end of their life span, and their opportunity for blessing is over for ever? We must face it, and every man will face it sooner or later, that all things are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. God has given Jesus a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to God the Father's glory. Someone has said, You do it voluntarily or you are eventually compelled to do it. Don't leave it until that day. Join the myriads who rejoice in the place that God has given Jesus.

So Peter preaches this gospel to the Jews that had crucified the Lord, and He's telling them, 'I don't want there to be any doubt in your minds that God has made this Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ'. How have you treated Jesus up till now? Have you come into line at all with what God has done with Him? He wants you to come fully into line with what He has done with Jesus. As I look around this room, we hardly need to cover the ground that Jesus was, and is, a divine Person, one of the Godhead, and He came into human form, and He lived a perfect life, and He went to the cross. I don't think we need to emphasize that, but I would like to emphasize, to stress, that God has made Him Lord, and you and I had better do the same. You say, you preach Jesus as Saviour. Beautiful! And He is! But the beginning of an entrance into living Christianity is to accept Him as Lord.

So persons in the gospels that came into blessing fell at His feet, or at His knees. You remember Peter: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord". I don't think we can argue with the fact that the Christianity of many of us (and it challenges me to say it) is half-hearted, and lacks living vitality, because somewhere along the road, I have never accepted Jesus as Lord, absolutely. You can't argue with the laws of this country, traffic laws or any other laws, and pretend they don't exist, because God has put them in place. How much less can you argue with God about where He has placed Jesus! He has made Him Lord! Oh, to convey that, and I could do it better if I had faced it better myself, but to arrive at it at least in your mind, that His authority over you and me is to be absolute and without question. It will transform your life.

So Peter presents Him, the crucified One, as Lord. And God would appeal to us tonight to come to this point in our minds, that He is to be supreme in your life, because He has been given the highest place in glory already, and one day He will have it on earth. Have you ever repented? I don't mean that you admitted you were wrong when you were in trouble, or that you said "sorry" when you were found out. God is sending out His urgent message for you to surrender to Jesus. The hymn says, "Oh, surrender now, yield to love divine". You and I, by nature and by act, are wretched, lost sinners. Not only guilty because of our sins, but lost because of the race we belong to. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. And He wants you to acknowlege it with an honest heart. God would surround you with every advantage in order that you might come to the feet of Jesus. The Bible says that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. The hardened and impenitent heart is spoken of in that verse.

Here is a sermon which none can dispute!

Here is a sermon which none can dispute!

(George Everard, "Up High!" 1884)

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." Matthew 5:16

We are to let the beauty of Jesus be seen upon us, that some rays of His glorious holiness may be manifested to the eyes of the world around. We are to go forth clothed in . . .
  His meekness,
  His purity,
  His love,
  His heavenliness,
  His unselfishness —
that sinners about us may gain some faint idea of His grace, through His likeness seen in us.

When, from beneath the humble garb of some lowly disciple, there shines forth something of Christ, something of what He was when on earth — here is a sermon which none can dispute, here is an appeal to the human conscience, more eloquent than the most powerful address ever made from the pulpit!

Christian, do you thus glorify Christ day by day?

Does your life speak so distinctly and plainly for Christ, that men cannot fail to hear?

Does your temper, your tone of thought and speech, bear witness that you walk continually before God?

Do men take knowledge of you, that you have been with Him — and that He is with you?

Is there transparent sincerity in what you say, and unsullied integrity in all your actions?

Is there the spirit of self-sacrifice — trampling SELF under foot, and spending time and money for the welfare of others?

Is there a deep hatred of sin as sin, and a desire to do the will of God under all circumstances?

Is there a fixed determination rather to die, than willfully to break a single command, or cast a shadow of dishonor on the name of Him who so loved you?

Do you "long to be like Jesus," and every moment to live devotedly and wholly in His service?

Then for this purpose, plead with Him this prayer, "Lord Jesus, glorify Yourself in me! Help me to show forth by my daily life, that I have been with You. May Your image be formed in me, and may Your life on earth be the pattern which I ever strive to follow."

Personal Ambition Hinders Christian Life and Ministry

Personal Ambition Hinders Christian Life and Ministry

by E. M. Bounds

"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake!" 2 Corinthians 4:5

"Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of Him. "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you! Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:20-21, 25-28

Personal ambition is one of the greatest hindrances to the Christian life and especially to preaching — because it is born of SELF and nurtured by pride. It manifests itself in various ways: the desire to be a great preacher, to have the first place, to be a leader, or to secure places of honor or profit — veils itself under many disguises. It is christened with the surname "laudable", and comes into the church, then works its selfish, worldly schemes. A person may be a Christian by name and a church member, but if he is driven by personal ambition, he is an infidel at heart and worldly! The days of the prevalence of ambition in the church — have been days of supreme church worldliness and extreme apostasy.

There is much in a name, and the true and wise Christian will not allow this corrupter of the faith to enter, though clothed in a garb of innocent names. Christian faith has kindled and consecrated the flame of holy zeal, stimulating and giving ardor to effort. True zeal is a heavenly fire, the purity of which disdains all earthly adulterations. Zeal crucifies SELF — it fixes its eyes on both God and his glory. As Christ died for sin once, so the Christian by crucifixion dies to self and says, "Perish every fond ambition." In every moment of his life, in every vision of his eye, in every impulse of his heart, and in every effort of his hand — the Christian is to be true to the fact of this self-renouncing commitment.

Personal ambition is the one thing that affected the power, peace, and piety of the apostles of the Lord. We see its effects noted in their envies and strife. A few instances are recorded, but how much unrecorded jealousy and alienation was produced, we can only conjecture. We have the record of its existence and Christ's rebuke in the early part of their career, and its violence breaks out under the shadow of the cross. The bitter thoughts of his death, are mixed with the strife of his disciples forplace and his solemn charge against the religious phase of worldly ambition. The washing of the disciples' feet was the last act of personal training that Christ used as the remedy for ambition in his disciples.

Personal ambition destroys the foundation of Christian character, by making faith impossible. Faith roots itself in the soil where selfish and worldly growths have been destroyed. "How can you believe," says Christ, "who receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God only?" (John 5:44). In this statement is shown the impossibility of blending faith with the desire to receive honor from men.

The entrance of this alluring element of human honor, draws the heart from the honor that comes from God and sweeps away the foundations of faith. When the eye seeks things other than God, when the heart desires things other than God — this is personal ambition. No man can serve these two masters; no man can combine the ends of SELF — and of God. He may think he can; he may seem to do so; but no one can perform this spiritual impossibility.

Personal ambition enthrones pride, and that is the throne on which Satan sits! Humility is destroyed by personal ambition. The history of the church attests to the fact that humility has no place in the man who is ambitious. Humility is not a virtue of those who have sought to be put in the calendar of earthly saints. No ambition is so proud as a religious ambition, and none less scrupulous! No church can be more thoroughly apostate, than the church whose leaders have come into their places though the way of ambition. No ambition is so destructive, as that which comes in under the guise of religion! Personal ambition is worldly, though it may be disguised under the name of Christianity. It easily deludes its possessor, under the plea of a wider field of influence and usefulness.

If personal ambition can be religious and can preach, then it must do so without love, for love andambition can no more unite than can light and darkness; they are as essentially at war, as Christ and Belial. "Love seeks not her own," while ambition is ever seeking its own, and not infrequently it seeks with all its heart, that which is another's. Love in honor prefers one another, but ambition never does.

If Jesus Christ is to be our model preacher, if our attachment to him rises to anything above a selfish sentiment — then the mind that was in him must be in us. He was without taint of ambition. We have this attitude of Christ to ambition set before us: "Have this mind among yourselves, which was Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:5-8

The whole history and character of Christ are in direct antagonism to personal ambition.

If Paul is to serve as an example for preachers, it is at the point of freedom from all forms of personal ambition, that his example is the most emphatic. He puts the whole inventory of ecclesiastical and earthly goods in one catalog — and renounces them all in this strong language: "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!" Philippians 3:7-8. And as though this were not enough, he takes us to the cross, where every earthly thing perished in pain, shame, and utter bankruptcy, and declares; "I am crucified with Christ!"

Many things often are often allowed to come into our faith and our ministry to defame them, but nothing is more deadly to us than personal ambition. It has in its bad embrace — the seeds of all evil. It has insincerity and hypocrisy. It is a tyrant! Of all the evils that grieve God's Spirit and quench his flame — ambition may be reckoned among the chief, if not the very chief. The fact that ecclesiastical pride and church worldliness will allow ambition to be christened at church altars and have the stamp of innocence and of virtue — ought to be alarming!

Is the desire for ecclesiastical advancement, ambition? If not, what is it? We may say it is a laudableambition! Can a qualifying word change the evil nature of this dark and fallen angel? Does an angelic garb make Satan into a holy angel? We may say we want a more honorable place — to do more honorable and larger service for Christ. Is not this Satan clothing himself as an angel of light? The honor of service for God, depends only on the spirit in which it is done, and that spirit is one in whichself, pride and ambition are crucified! SELF in us, looks to the future to personal greatness and honor.Christ in us, looks to the present to fidelity and zeal for the work at hand, and has no eye for self and future.

Can the preacher preach without faith? If he preaches with personal ambition, he is preaching without faith, for in Christ's service faith and ambition cannot co-exist.

Can the preacher preach without love? If he preaches with personal ambition, he is preaching without love, for ambition and love have neither union nor concord.

Can a preacher preach without humility? If he preaches with personal ambition, he is preaching without humility, for ambition is the very essence of pride!

Can a preacher preach without consecration? If he preaches with personal ambition he must, for ambition is a thing to be crucified and not consecrated. Ambition must be daily crucified — because it never can be consecrated.

Personal ambition changes the whole nature of ministry, and floods it with worldliness. Instead of theministry being an institution where the highest Christian graces are to be produced and the loftiest virtues exhibited — personal ambition transforms it into a ministry where SELF is the mainspring, and every grace is blighted!

With personal ambition in the preacher — the church is no longer an institution to save men; but it is changed into an institution to confer honor on the preacher. And all its holy places are then polluted by the grasping, selfish hand of ambition, or they are trodden by its unhallowed feet!

A lazy minister!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care . . . not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock!" 1 Peter 5:2-3

We preachers must be examples to the flock. He who cannot be safely imitated, ought not to be tolerated in a pulpit!

Did I hear of a minister who was always striving for pre-eminence? Or of another who was covetous? Or of a third whose life was not always chaste? Or of a fourth who did not rise, as a rule, until eleven o'clock in the morning?

I would hope that this last rumor was altogether false. An idle minister! What will become of him? Does he expect to go to heaven? I was about to say, "If he does go there at all—may it be soon!" A lazy minister is a creature despised by men—and abhorred by God!

I said to a farmer, "You pay your minister such a small amount! Why, the poor man cannot live on it!" His answer was, "Look here, sir! I will tell you the truth—we give him a good deal more than he earns!" 

It is a sad pity when that can be said; it is an injury to all those who follow our sacred calling. We are to be examples to our flock in all things. We are to excel . . .
  in all diligence,
  in all gentleness,
  in all humility, and
  in all holiness.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~