Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving & Prayer of Praise

Posted on October 8, 2021 by The Editor

1 Samuel 2:1-10

And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.

He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): The return which mankind, in general, makes to God for His mercies, is to idolize the gift, and forget the Giver. Directly opposite to this is the conduct of those who are truly pious: they value the gift only in proportion to its real worth, and rise in heavenly contemplations to the Donor Himself.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): It is very beautiful to see how the saints of old were accustomed to find comfort in their God. When they came into sore straits; when troubles multiplied; when helpers failed; when earthly comforts were removed, they went to the Lord and to the Lord alone. Thus Hannah thinks of the Lord and comforts herself in His name. By this means they were made strong and glad—they began to sing instead of sighing and to work wonders instead of fainting under their burdens even as here the Inspired poetess sings, “My heart rejoices in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord.” To them God was a reality, a present reality, and they looked to Him as their rock of refuge, their helper and defense, a very present help in time of trouble.

WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): We see Hannah had poetical talent, and which could be of no mean kind, since we find David, the chief Hebrew bard, not ashamed to borrow from her: “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people,” Psalm 113:7,8.

C. H. SPURGEON: She was a woman of a sweet poetic mind, perhaps the greatest poetess mentioned in Scripture. The song of the Virgin Mary was modeled after the song of Hannah—that memorable poem in which Mary sang of the Lord, “He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty,” Luke 1:52,53. Have you never noticed that in all these joyous songs to God, there is almost always one of these notes—that God abases the proud and exalts the humble? This was the basis of Hannah’s song. And it was the pith and marrow of Mary’s Magnificat—this wonderful turning of things upside down. This withering of the green tree and making the dry tree to flourish. This killing that which lives and quickening that which is dead. This emptying of the full, and filling of the empty. This casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting the poor out of the dust! This is always one of the highest reasons for exulting joy.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Hannah is engaged to celebrate several of Jehovah’s divine perfections. First, His holiness.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): His unspotted purity. So here, in Hannah’s triumph, “There is none holy as the Lord.” It is the rectitude of His nature, His infinite agreement with Himself, and the equity of His government and judgment. At the remembrance of this we ought to give thanks.

STEPHEN CHARNOCK (1628-1680): Hannah, after an answer of prayer, sets a particular mark upon this in her song: “There is none holy as the Lord;”—separated from all dross, firm to His covenant, and righteous in it to His suppliants that confide in Him, and plead His word. When we observe the workings of this in every return of prayer, we honour it; it is a sign the mercy is really an answer of prayer, and not a mercy of course, bearing upon it only the characters of a common providence.

ROBERT HAWKER: Next, God’s Power.

MATTHEW HENRY: His Almighty Power: “Neither is there any rock like our God. Hannah had experienced a mighty support by staying herself upon Him, and therefore speaks as she had found, and seems to refer to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 32:31, “For their rock is not as our Rock.”

ROBERT HAWKER: Then, His Wisdom; and next, His Justice.

MATTHEW HENRY: His unsearchable wisdom: “The Lord,” the Judge of all, “is a God of knowledge;” He clearly and perfectly sees into the character of every person and the merits of every cause, and He gives knowledge and understanding to those that seek them of Him. And His unerring justice—“By him actions are weighed.” His own are so, in His eternal counsels; the actions of the children of men are so, in the balances of His judgment, so that He will “render to every man according to his work,” and is not mistaken in what any man is, or does.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): When Hannah says, that “the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,” she urges a strong reason in proof of all she had advanced; namely, that God, being the founder, supporter, and upholder of the earth itself, could certainly do with the inhabitants of it as He pleased.

C. H. SPURGEON: What a clear view Hannah had of the Sovereignty of God and how plainly she perceived that God overrules all mortal things and does as He wills! How she seemed to glory in the power of that almighty hand whose working unbelievers cannot discern, but which, to this gracious woman’s opened eyes, was so conspicuous everywhere!

ROBERT HAWKER: It is delightful to contemplate the astonishing perfections of God, as they are in Himself. But it is doubly so, when we contemplate them, as all pledged in covenant engagements, ready upon every occasion, to be brought forward into exercise, for the blessing and security of His people.

CHARLES SIMEON: She burst forth in this song of praise and thanksgiving, in which she takes occasion, from the mercy vouchsafed to her, (see 1 Samuel 1:20,27), to adore the goodness of God.

WILLIAM KELLY (1821-1906): In the things of God we ought never to hesitate to correct our expressions by Scripture. We have spoken of Hannah’s song; but we read, “And Hannah prayed.” It will be for our profit to enquire why her thanksgiving is called a prayer.

WILLIAM JAY: It is here said she “prayed;” but we find no supplication or petition; only praise and thanksgiving; but praise and thanksgiving are an essential part of prayer, and should always accompany it. Hence says Paul, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:6,7.

MATTHEW HENRY: We have here Hannah’s thanksgiving, dictated, not only by the spirit of prayer, but by the spirit of prophecy. And here is the first time that we meet with the name Messiah, or His Anointed.

WILLIAM JAY: Hannah has even an allusion to the coming and character of the Messiah Himself. She certainly is the first who pronounces that “name which is above every name”—“anointed of the Lord.” It is no disproof of this supposition, that she might not understand the full evangelical import of the term. Prophets often delivered things which they afterwards searched in order to understand them. Finally, there is one sentence of promise, and threatening admonition, which we should always retain—“He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.”

ROBERT HAWKER: “So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!” was the close of Deborah’s song, Judges 5:31, as it is here prophesied in the close of Hannah’s song.

 

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The Heart of Idolatry

Posted on October 1, 2021 by The Editor

Exodus 20:3; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:21

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): The first commandment says, “Thou shall have no other gods before Me.” The meaning of this precept, which is the foundation of all religion, is not merely that we shall not acknowledge any other God besides Jehovah—but also that we shall treat Him as God! That is, we must love Him with all our hearts, serve Him with all our lives, and depend upon Him for our supreme happiness and help.

WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): What is idolatry?

THOMAS WATSON (1620-1686): To trust in any thing more than God, is to make it a god. If we trust in our riches, we make riches our god. If we trust in the arm of flesh, we make it a god. “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm,” Jeremiah 17:5. If we trust to our duties to save us, we make them a god. “Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,” Isaiah 64:6; they are fly-blown with sin. If we trust in our civility, we make it a god. Many trust to this, that none can charge them with gross sin. Civility is but nature refined and cultivated; a man may be washed, and not changed; his life may be civil, and yet there may be some reigning sin in his heart. The Pharisee could say, ‘I am no adulterer,’ Luke 18:11; but he could not say, “I am not proud.” To trust to civility, is to trust to a spider’s web.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): What is idolatry if this be not?

THOMAS WATSON: The plague of idolatry is very infectious. What is but it to have other gods besides the true God? I fear that upon a search, we have more idolaters among us than we are aware of.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: We live in an age when talent is idolized, and genius adored.

THOMAS WATSON: If we trust in our wisdom, we make it a god. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,” Jeremiah 9:23. Many a man makes an idol of his wit; he deifies himself.

GEORGE WHITEFIELD (1714-1770): We often make a Christ of our graces.

THOMAS WATSON: If we trust in our grace, we make a god of it. If we trust to it we make it an idol. “I have walked in my integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord,” Psalm 26:1. David walked in his integrity; but did not trust in his integrity—“I have trusted in the Lord.” If we trust in our graces, we make a Christ of them. They are good graces, but bad Christs.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Never make a Christ out of your faith, nor think of it as if it were the independent source of your salvation. Our life is found in “looking unto Jesus,” not in looking to our own faith. By faith all things become possible to us, yet the power is not in the faith, but in the God upon whom faith relies. Grace is the locomotive, and faith is the chain by which the carriage of the soul is attached to the great motive power.

WILLIAM J. HOCKING (1864-1953): The apostle John, writing to the family of God, says “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” It is so easy to allow something in the heart, which replaces God, to which we have bowed.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Heart-idols are equally abominable with those that are the work of men’s hands.

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): Yea, and the idols of men’s hearts are in many things worse than the idols of their hands, because these idol-lusts in the heart stand surer, and more fastly fixed.

WILLIAM J. HOCKING: Be not deceived; there are many idols in the world.

C. H. SPURGEON: Why, the world swarms with idols!

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: It’s obvious that whatever we love most, and are most anxious to retain and please—whatever it is we depend most upon for happiness and help—whatever has most of our hearts—that is, in effect, our God!

THOMAS WATSON: To love any thing more than God, is to make it a god. If we love our estate more than God, we make it a god. The young man in the gospel loved his gold better than his Saviour; the world lay nearer his heart than Christ, Matthew 19:22. The covetous man is called an idolater, Ephesians 5:5. Why so? Because he loves his estate more than God, and so makes it his god. Though he does not bow down to an idol, if he worships the graven image in his coins, he is an idolater. That which has most of the heart, we make a god of. If we love our pleasure more than God, we make a god of it. “Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” 2 Timothy 3:4. Many let loose the reins, and give themselves up to all manner of sensual delights; they idolize pleasure. If we love our belly more than God, we make a god of it. To mind nothing but the indulging of the appetite, is idolatry, “whose god is their belly,” Philippians 3:19. If we love a child more than God, we make a god of it. How many are guilty of this? They think more of their children, and delight more in them than in God.

SAMUEL RUTHERFORD (1600-1661): Give them room beside your heart, but not in the yolk of your heart, where Christ should be; for then they are your idols, not your children.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Every one of us is, from his mother’s womb, expert in inventing idols—man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual idol factory.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: Self is the great idol which is the rival of God, and which divides with Him the worship of the human race. It is surprising and affecting to think how much Self enters into almost all we do. Besides the grosser form of self-righteousness, which leads many unconverted people to depend upon their own doings for acceptance with God, how much of self-seeking, self-valuing, self-admiration, self-dependence, there is in many converted ones!

SAMUEL RUTHERFORD: O wretched idol, myself!

D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): A man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother, of some precious gift that God has bestowed upon him. He may forget the Giver, and let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift. Rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all classes of men and women are guilty of this sin. “The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbled himself,” Isaiah 2:9.

THOMAS WATSON: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Why is the commandment in the second person singular—Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Therefore the commandment is in the second person singular, Thou—that every one may know that it is spoken to him, as it were, by name.

D. L. MOODY: Whatever you love more than God, is your idol.

CHARLES SIMEON: Let us examine ourselves carefully on this.

WILLIAM J. HOCKING: Have you an idol? Have you something in the heart which intervenes between you and God? Flee from such an idol.

 

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The Blessings of Cheerful Charity

Posted on September 24, 2021 by The Editor

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

For I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.

Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Why does God love a cheerful giver?

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Nothing is pleasing to God which is offered “grudgingly or of necessity;” what is said about alms, that “God loveth a cheerful giver,” ought to be applied to every part of life, that we render to God our willing service.

C. H. SPURGEON: God loves a cheerful giver because Divine Grace has placed such a man in order with the laws of redemption. And what are these? We who are called, “Calvinists,” delight in asserting that the whole economy of the Gospel is that of Divine Grace. It is all of free Grace from first to last, and not in any measure or degree a matter of debt and reward. Salvation is not a thing to be earned and to be won by men, but is the result and exercise of the free Grace of God.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): The Lord loveth a cheerful giver, because that is precisely what He is Himself.

C. H. SPURGEON: The Lord is the most cheerful of all givers! Think of that for a minute. Who spared not His own Son? Oh, what a Gift was that! God, the cheerful Giver, spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, as says the Word. And since then, what a cheerful Giver He has been! He has given without our asking. We did not ask Him to make the Covenant of Grace. We did not ask Him to elect us. We did not ask Him to redeem us. We did not ask Him to call us by His Grace, for, alas, we did not know the value of that call, and we were dead in trespasses and sins! Preeminent Grace came to us, outrunning all our desires, and all our wills, and all our prayers. He first made us pray. He gave us the spirit of supplication, or else we had never prayed! He gave us the will to come to Him, or else we should have remained afar off. He was a cheerful Giver to us, then. And when we went to Him with broken hearts, how cheerfully did He give us pardon!

C. H. MACKINTOSH: Marvellous grace! The very thought of it fills the heart with wonder, love and praise.

C. H. SPURGEON: Never is anything in God stinted, never churlish, never grudging—God stands in the work of Grace as a wondrous Giver.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: And He would grant unto us the rare and most exquisite privilege of being imitators of Him. We are not only saved by grace, but we stand in grace, live under the blessed reign of grace, breathe the very atmosphere of grace, and are called to be the living exponents of grace, not only to our brethren, but to the whole human family. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all, especially unto them which are of the household of faith,” Galatians 6:10.

C. H. SPURGEON: God delights in a cheerful giver because in such a Believer He sees the work of His Spirit.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Notice the state of the heart that God takes into account when it comes to giving. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart.”

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): This belongeth to the argument, why we should imitate God.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: An open heart and a wide hand are like God.

H. A. IRONSIDE: Twice in 1 John chapter 4, we have that wonderful statement, “God is love.” This is the divine nature, the very nature of God.

C. H. SPURGEON: He gave to us freely of His unsought but boundless love.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): A genuine principle of love makes a cheerful giver. God loveth a cheerful giver, and His love is the greatest of blessings.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Let the heart go along with the gift. “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor—and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing,” 1 Corinthians 13:3. Not what is meant by ‘charity’ in our common use of the word, which most men understand of alms-giving, but love in its fullest and most extensive meaning—true love to God and man, a benevolent disposition of mind towards our fellow Christians, growing out of sincere and fervent devotion to God.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Great are the advantages and profit that a cheerful giver reaps.

THOMAS COKE: God is able abundantly to recompense you, both in spiritual graces, and worldly goods; so that you shall still have an abundant sufficiency through His good providence, and be enabled to abound in every good work, never finding yourselves the poorer for what is spent in His blessed service.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): First, there is an inward benefit. The one who shows mercy to others gains thereby: “The merciful man doeth good to his own soul,” Proverbs 11:17. There is a personal satisfaction in the exercise of pity and benevolence, which the fullest gratification of the selfish man is not to be compared with: “He that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he,” Proverbs 14:21. Second, he reaps mercy at the hands of his fellows: the overruling providence of God causes him to be dealt with mercifully by others. Third, he receives mercy from God: “with the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful,” Psalm 18:25.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): Paul then recites the advantages of giving. The first of these is that giving will fill the wants of the saints. That in itself is good, but the outcome is even better. Through such ministry, gifts will cause glory to God.

MATTHEW HENRY: This would redound to the praise and glory of God. Many thanksgivings would be given to God—those would bless God, who had made them happy instruments in so good a work. Besides those, others also would be thankful; the poor, who were supplied in their wants, would not fail to be very thankful to God, and bless God for them.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Another way by which the glory of God will be promoted, that by this He will have more prayers, which also will redound to your advantage, for it will procure prayers for you; and not prayers only, but a great deal of fervent love; so as they will long after your good, and after your acquaintance, when they shall receive such an experiment of the exceeding grace of God in you.

JOHN GILL: The sense is, they glorify God on your behalf, making mention of you in all their prayers at the throne of grace, giving thanks to God for your liberality to them, and imploring all the blessings both of the upper and nether springs upon you.

H. A. IRONSIDE: “God loveth a cheerful giver.” The original word in the Greek is hilaron, and may be translated “hilarious.” God loves a hilarious giver.

VERNON J. CHARLESWORTH (1839-1915): Once, at a public charity, a note was handed to Roland Hill in the pulpit, inquiring “would it be right for a bankrupt man to contribute to the collection?”

ROWLAND HILL (1744-1833): Certainly not! But, my friends, I would advise you who are not insolvent not to pass the plate this evening, as people will be sure to say, “There goes the bankrupt man.”

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.

 

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Are We All Saying Our Prayers?

Posted on September 17, 2021 by The Editor

Acts 9:10-12

And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): “Behold, he prayeth.” Without any preface, let me say that this was an announcement of a fact which was noticed in heaven—a fact which was joyous to the angels, astonishing to Ananias, and which was a novelty to Saul himself.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): But was it such a strange thing for Saul to pray? Was he not a Pharisee? And have we not reason to think he did, as the rest of them did, make long prayers in the synagogues and the corners of the streets? Yes; but now he began to pray after another manner than he had done; then he said his prayers—now he prayed them.

MARY WINSLOW (1774-1854): We do know when we have the ear of God, when prayer is prayer.

C. H. SPURGEON: Oh, it is a glorious fact that prayers are noticed in Heaven!—I pause here a moment just to ask each one—Do you pray? I think I hear someone say, “I always say my prayers.” Ah, my dear Friend, there is as great a difference between saying prayers and really praying as there was between the dead child and the living one that were brought before Solomon! Saying prayers is not praying! Why, you might as well say your prayers backward as forward unless your heart goes with them! It is quite extraordinary how some people can use a form of prayer without any thought whatever as to its meaning.

BROWNLOW NORTH (1810-1875): Saying prayers without praying is blasphemy! God has said, “The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” Yet I believe that no greater breach of the third commandment ascends from earth into the ears of God, than that which too often ascends from the closet and from family circles, excepting only that which ascends on the Sabbath day from the public assemblies of God’s professing worshippers.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): How many prayers have we heard that were so incoherent and aimless, so lacking in point and unity, that when the amen was reached we could scarcely remember one thing for which thanks had been given or request had been made, only a blurred impression remaining on the mind.

GEORGE OFFOR (1787-1864): How awfully general is this wretched delusion. The chattering of monkeys or parrots is more acceptable than to mock God with a solemn sound upon a thoughtless tongue. Jews gabble Hebrew, and Papists Latin, and, alas! others who never prayed, have been from childhood in the habit of repeating or reading a form of words, called, with devilish subtlety, “saying prayers.”

R. C. CHAPMAN (1803-1902): Few are strangers to making prayers, but how many, alas, are strangers to prayer!

RICHARD BAXTER (1615-1691): Speaking to the God of heaven in prayer, is a weightier duty than most are aware of.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): The first step in prayer, should always be the realization of the presence of the Lord. One of the greatest men of prayer of the last century—I mean from 1860 to 1960—was the saintly George Müller of Bristol. Here’s an expert in prayer, and he always taught that the first thing you do in prayer, is to realize the presence of God. You don’t start speaking immediately. You can utter lots of phrases, but you might as well not have done. You must realize the presence of God.

BROWNLOW NORTH: Remember that when a person puts himself in the attitude of prayer, he immediately, by his own act and deed, invites the special attention of God. His position is then a very solemn one, and surely he should be careful what he says; specially should he be careful not to mock God by professing to ask for what He knows he does not want. To utter a string of petitions in which the heart takes no interest is, I repeat, blasphemy, and not prayer, and they who are guilty of such sin do the devil service, while they provoke and dishonour God.

C. H. SPURGEON: Do you present to God prayers that come from your heart? I do not ask whether you use a form of prayer, or not, but does your heart really go with the prayer you offer? Our last question, upon which I must speak but briefly, is this: What must you and I do in order to be able to find prayers in our hearts? Ah, dear Friends, I am afraid that some of you can do nothing in this matter until, first of all, your hearts are renewed by Grace. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” No one. And who can fetch an acceptable prayer out of an unaccepted person? No one. So, Sinner, you must first come to Jesus, confessing your sin and looking to His dear wounds, and finding a broken heart within you as the result of His pierced heart. And when the Lord has looked upon you in His pardoning love, then you will find many prayers in your heart!

A. W. PINK: When the Lord assured Ananias of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus He said, “Behold, he prayeth.” As a “Pharisee of the Pharisees” he had made many long prayers, but not until the miracle of grace had been wrought within him could it be said that he prayed. Saying prayers and pouring out the heart before God are totally different things: a self-righteous Pharisee may be diligent in the former, only one who has been born again will do the latter. As another has said, “The moment a spiritual babe is born into the new creation it sends up a cry of helpless dependence toward the source of its birth.”

MATTHEW HENRY: Regenerating grace evermore sets people on praying; you may as soon find a living man without breath as a living Christian without prayer; if breathless, lifeless; and so, if prayerless, graceless.

JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): Prayer, without the heart be in it, is like a sound without life; and a heart, without it be lifted up of the Spirit, will never pray to God.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Do we know what it is to “ask,” and “seek,” and “knock,” and wrestle in prayer, like men who feel that it is a matter of life or death, and that they must have an answer?—Or are we content with saying over some old form of words, while our thoughts are wandering, and our hearts far away? Truly we have learned a great lesson when we have learned that “saying prayers” is not praying!

WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): Never was any formal prayer of the Holy Spirit’s making; when He comes it is a time of life.

MARY WINSLOW: Lay aside your forms of prayer, and the Lord Himself will teach you to pray from the heart. The blessed Spirit has promised to help our infirmities in prayer.

C. H. SPURGEON: No true prayer from the heart of a true child of God shall miss its mark; all shall reach the heavenly target. Your petition, my Brother or Sister, shall meet with acceptance as well as mine.

 

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Studying Bible Characters

Posted on September 10, 2021 by The Editor

Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11-13

Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): The study of the men and women of the Bible has been to me one of the most intense interest. The ways of God with different men, in different periods, and under different circumstances, yet always revealing the same wisdom, love and power, have filled me with wonder and with praise.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): I have sometimes heard very foolish professors speak slightingly of the historical parts of Scripture. Remember that the historical books were almost the only Scriptures possessed by the early saints; and from those they learned the mind of God.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): There is nothing new about this condition of ours; one of the central fallacies of today is to think that we have an entirely new problem. This creeps into the life and the thinking of Church with all the talk about the post-war world, scientific age, atomic age, post-Christian era, etc. It is just nonsense; it is not new at all. God does not change—and man does not change; he is exactly what he has always been ever since he fell and has the same problems.

WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): Christians stand in the same relation to Him now, as the Jews of old. And are we better than they? In no wise. And were not God’s dealings with them designed to be typical of His dealings with us? They were: and in reading their history, we may peruse our own.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: When you read about these characters in the Old Testament, David and so on, you’re not reading a history book, you’re reading about yourself. You say, “That’s me! It’s all very well; it looks terrible in David, but I’ve got that sort of thing in me.”

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): The study of Scripture characters is very instructive: for, in them, we see human nature in all its diversified conditions, not artificially delineated by a brilliant fancy or warm imagination, but as really existing, and exhibited to our view—because, in presenting real scenes, they bring before us circumstances of daily occurrence, or which, at least, are well adapted to show us how to act, when such circumstances do occur.

WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): Biography is a species of history peculiarly interesting and useful. And in this the Bible excels. The sacred writers describe to the very life. They fear no displeasure; they conceal no imperfection; they spare no censure. And while they discover their impartiality, they equally prove their wisdom and prudence. This appears from the examples they delineate. And the sacred writers always show their impartiality. They always record things just as they occurred, regardless of consequences; their only aim is truth.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): In the unrivalled honesty of its penmen we have yet another evidence that they wrote by Divine inspiration…The Holy Spirit has painted the portraits of Scripture characters in the colours of nature and truth. He has given a faithful picture of the human heart such as is common to all mankind.

ROBERT HALDANE (1764-1842): In those histories, the thoughts and secret motives of men are often unfolded.

RICHARD STEELE (1629-1692): Histories, which are the more instructive, as they not only relate the external actions of men, but the internal motives from whence the actions proceeded, free from all fiction and falsehood.

WILLIAM JAY: Here we are led into private life; we contemplate ordinary scenes; we see goodness in our own relations and circumstances; we behold blemishes which we are to avoid, excellencies which we are to pursue, advantages which we are to acquire.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: A wise man always learns from the mistakes of others—he sees a man going to disaster, and he asks, “Well, what exactly did that man do that he should not have done? Where did he go wrong, where did he make a mistake? Ah,” he says, “it was at this or that point. Very well, I am going to watch that point.” Now that is wisdom…We can learn, and learn tremendously, from the Old Testament. Let us make use of it, let us read it, let us take it in; and it will make us strong. As we see warnings, and the dangers, we are strengthened, we are on guard, and we are ready to quit ourselves as men.

D. L. MOODY: As I have been studying some Bible characters that illustrate humility, I have been ashamed of myself—when I put my life beside the life of some of these men, I say, “Shame on the Christianity of the present day.” If you want to get a good idea of yourself, look at some of the Bible characters that have been clothed with meekness and humility, and see what a contrast is your position before God and man.

WILLIAM ARNOT (1808-1875): Incidentally, we obtain here a lesson on the interpretation of Scripture. Some would confine themselves to the leading facts and principles, setting aside as unimportant whatever pertains merely to the manner of the communication.

JOHN WYCLIFFE (1330-1384): It shall greatly help to understand Scripture if thou mark, not only what is spoken or written, but of whom, to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, and with what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows afterwards.

ROBERT HALDANE: In the Scriptures there are many things which, considered only in themselves, appear to be of no value, or, at least, of very little importance; but in reality the Bible contains nothing superfluous.

WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): Compare Scripture with Scripture.

ANDREW FULLER (1754-1815): There is such a harmony in Divine truth, that a proper view of any one branch of it will lead on to a discovery of others.*

C. H. SPURGEON: Let us learn to read our Bibles with our eyes open, to study them as men do the works of great artists, studying each figure and each sweet variety of light and shade.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: We know nothing yet as we ought, we are but beginners, paddlers on the very edge of this mighty, boundless ocean of truth.

___________________

*Editor’s Note: This week I received a personal reminder of the truth of Andrew Fuller’s comment, when I was looking at the last two incidents of Elijah’s public ministry after God humbled him on Mount Horeb. That day on the mountain, it seemed that Elijah had not yet fully grasped the lesson that God wanted him to learn (see last week’s post). But until this week, I did not understand how the next two incidents related to what happened on Mount Horeb in God’s personal dealings with Elijah.

In the first subsequent incident, 1 Kings 21:28,29, after Elijah delivered a message from God to Ahab, the LORD specifically asked Elijah: “Seest how Ahab humbleth himself before Me?” Then, in a demonstration of James 4:6, God deferred His judgment upon Ahab until the days of Ahab’s son. In the second incident, 2 Kings 1-17, God again demonstrated that same point on humility to Elijah: in judgment, God sent fire from heaven upon two captains sent by Ahab’s son; but, in grace, after witnessing the humility of the third captain, God withheld that fire.

In grace, God deferred the judgment He had made upon Elijah (1 Kings 19:16), and Elijah continued in his prophetic office for some time. Then, after this incident, Elijah was taken up to heaven in a “chariot of fire,” and Elisha took up the ministry in Elijah’s stead, 2 Kings 2:11-13.

 

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Elijah & Obadiah

Posted on September 3, 2021 by The Editor

1 Kings 18:5,7-16

And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts…And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?

And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Obadiah’s godliness was recognized by the believers of the day. I feel sure of that, because he said to Elijah, “Was it not told my lord how I hid the Lord’s Prophets?” Obadiah was a little astonished that somebody had not told the Prophet about his deed. Though his act may have been concealed from Jezebel and the Baalites, it was well known among the servants of the living God. It was whispered among them that they had a friend at court—therefore, the Prophets of God felt secure in giving themselves up to his care. They knew that he would not betray them to bloodthirsty Jezebel.

JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): Had not Obadiah greatly feared the Lord, he would not have been able to do this, especially as the case stood with him, and the church, for Jezebel sought to slay all that feared the Lord—Obadiah ventured her displeasure, his place, and neck, and all; and the persecution prevailed so much, that even Elijah thought that she had killed all but himself.

C. H. SPURGEON: I suspect that Elijah did not think very much of Obadiah. He does not treat him with any great consideration, but addresses him more sharply than one would expect from a fellow believer. Elijah seems to ignore Obadiah as if he were of small account in the great struggle. I suppose it was because this Prophet of fire and thunder, this mighty servant of the Most High, set small store by anybody who did not come to the front and fight like he did.

WILLIAM KELLY (1821-1906): Judgment characterizes Elijah’s ministry.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A judgmental attitude is clearly evident in Elijah’s curt manner to Obadiah, as if Elijah thought that Obadiah was trying to serve two masters. When Obadiah falls on his face before him, saying, “Art thou my lord Elijah,” Elijah replies coldly, “I am. Go tell thy lord—Behold, Elijah is here.” Surely Obadiah recognized the tone of rebuke in Elijah’s words, because he asks, “What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?” Then Elijah abruptly dismissed Obadiah by swearing a personal oath to quiet his fears.

WILLIAM N. TOMKINS (1839-1918): Was it wrong of Obadiah to wish not to throw away his life needlessly?

C. H. SPURGEON: Elijah must not deal harshly with Obadiah.

WILLIAM KELLY: He was equally, if not more careful of his own life.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Later, after Elijah slew all Baal’s prophets at Kishon, he told Ahab to get his chariot down from Mount Carmel before the rain stopped him.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of Jezreel,” 1 Kings 18:44-46. In this instance the “hand of the Lord” communicated supernatural strength and fleetness of foot to the Prophet, so that he covered the eighteen miles so swiftly as to overtake and pass the chariot—God then withdrew His strength for the moment, that Elijah might be seen in his native weakness.

EDITOR’S NOTE: When Jezebel sent a message threatening Elijah’s life, his courage instantly deserted him; he fled to the wilderness, and lay under a juniper bush in despair. After an angel strengthened him with “a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water,” he fled to Mount Horeb: “And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there.” 1 Kings 19:1-9.

J. A. VON POSECK (1816-1896): Was this the place for a prophet of God?

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): Obadiah hid them in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.

A. W. PINK: “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah had turned aside from the path of duty, and his Master knew it.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): That question, “What doest thou here?” can scarcely be freed from a tone of rebuke. A true answer would have been, “I was afraid of Jezebel.”

J. A. VON POSECK: And what was the prophet’s reply to the heart-searching question of his divine Master? Does he humble himself, confessing his want of faithfulness, courage, and faith? No. His language is that of self-elevation and accusing others—Elijah says, “I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away,” 1 Kings 19:10.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: He forgets the national acknowledgment of Jehovah at Mount Carmel, 1 Kings 18:39; and the hundred prophets protected by good Obadiah.

WILLIAM KELLY: Besides those, there were seven thousand known to God who had not bowed the knee to Baal…Elijah was then instructed to “go forth” from the cave where he had retreated, and stand on the mount before the Lord.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice,” 1 Kings 19:11,12. These first terrible apparitions might well be to humble the prophet, and to prepare him to hearken more heedfully to the still small voice, and to whatsoever God should say unto him, who could have confounded him, but is content to deal more gently with him: accounting the execution of “judgment”—set forth here by these dreadful representations—“his work, his strange work,” Isaiah 29:21.

C. H. SPURGEON: God will repeat his questions to His people if they have not due effect the first time, for He is very tender, and pitiful, and patient.

J. A. VON POSECK: Again, that voice of longsuffering grace spoke, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” It was the same voice that said in Paradise, “Adam, where art thou?” Alas! Again we hear the same lamentable reply, “I have been very zealous, etc.—and I, even I only am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”—The prophet had learned little or nothing.

JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791): “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are,” James 5:17—naturally as weak and sinful as we are.

WILLIAM KELLY: God, who is as faithful in discipline as in grace, bids Elijah anoint another in his place.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: God is no respecter of persons.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): It is evident that from this time of faith’s failure, Elijah was largely set aside. Only once or twice again does he appear.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,” Matthew 7:1,2. We see how all flatter themselves, and every man passes a severe censure on others—yet by our own fault we draw upon ourselves that very thing which our nature so strongly detests, for which of us is there, who does not examine too severely the actions of others?

 

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Obadiah’s Fear of God

Posted on August 27, 2021 by The Editor

1 Kings 18:12; 1 Kings 18:3,4

I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.

And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

WILLIAM N. TOMKINS (1839-1918): Obadiah was the governor of Ahab’s house, a king who did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him! But as if to guard our minds against entertaining unworthy thoughts about Obadiah, the Holy Spirit is careful to tell us, “Now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly.” We may well, therefore, pause before we pass judgment on him, for “the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments,” Psalm 111:10.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): How could he and some other Israelites be said to fear the Lord, when they did not go up to Jerusalem to worship, as God had commanded?

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): God bore with him, though he hazarded not his life and liberty for the legal ceremonies.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Though he did not go up to Jerusalem to worship, which ceremonial service was dispensed with in him, yet he did not worship the calves, nor Baal, but served the Lord.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): We may be sure it was not made necessary to qualify him for preferment that he should be of the king’s religion, that he should conform to the “statutes of Omri,” or the “law of the house of Ahab.” Obadiah would not have accepted the place if he could not have had it without bowing the knee to Baal, nor was Ahab so impolitic as to exclude those from offices that were fit to serve him, merely because they would not join with him in his devotions. That man that is true to his God will be faithful to his prince.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): There is nothing wrong in a child of God holding a position of influence if he can do so without the sacrifice of principle. Indeed, it may enable him to render valuable service to the cause of God. Obadiah was undoubtedly in a most difficult and dangerous position, yet so far from bowing his knee to Baal, he was instrumental in saving the lives of many of God’s servants.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): He was a sincere and zealous worshipper of the true God, and his conduct towards the persecuted prophets was a full proof both of his piety and humanity.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Few great men are good men, and in a corrupt court, piety is not to be expected: yet God has His chosen ones in the worst times and most dangerous places.

JOHN TRAPP: Such as was also Jacob to Laban, Joseph to Pharaoh, Naaman to Benhadad, Mordecai to Ahashuerus, and Nehemiah to Artaxerxes.

D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): We cannot but notice that every man of God spoken of in the Bible was a man of prayer.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): But the house of the wicked Ahab, and his still more wicked consort Jezebel, must have been a painful school for the righteous soul of Obadiah.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He must have had to walk very delicately and watch his words most carefully. He came to be extremely prudent and looked on things round about so as neither to compromise his conscience nor jeopardize his position. It took an uncommonly wise man to do that…Obadiah’s religion was intense within him—it dwelt deep within his soul and others knew it. Jezebel knew it, I have no doubt whatever. She did not like him, but she had to endure him; she could not dislodge him. Ahab had learned to trust him and could not do without him…Possibly Ahab liked to retain him just to show Jezebel that he could be obstinate if he liked and was still a man! I have noticed that the most yielding husbands like to indulge in some notion that they are not quite governed by their spouses.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: What Obadiah did for the Lord was done by stealth. He was afraid to act openly and decidedly; yet “He took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.” This was a most precious token of devotedness of heart to the Lord—a blessed triumph of divine principle over the most untoward circumstances.

JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): What was it that moved so upon his heart, as to cause him to do this thing? Why, it was this blessed grace of the fear of God—yea, had he not greatly feared him, he would not have been able to do this thing. Every saint fears the Lord, but every saint does not greatly fear Him. O, there are but few Obadiahs in the world, among the saints on earth—So it was with Job, “There is none like him in the earth, one that feareth God,” Job 1:8. There was even none in Job’s day that feared God like him in all the earth, but doubtless there were more in the world that feared God; but this fearing of him greatly, in that he did outstrip his fellows. It is also said of Hananiah, that “he was a faithful man, and feared God above many,” Nehemiah 7:2.

MATTHEW HENRY: Obadiah “feared the Lord from his youth.” He began early to be religious and had continued long. Early piety, it is to be hoped, will be eminent piety.

C. H. SPURGEON: Obadiah, with his early grace and persevering decision, became a man of eminent piety. Nor was he carried away by the fashion of those evil times. To be a servant of Jehovah was thought to be a mean thing, old-fashioned, ignorant—a thing of the past. The worship of Baal was the “modern thought” of the hour. All the court walked after the god of Sidon and all the courtiers went in the same way. But Obadiah told Elijah, “I, thy servant, have feared Jehovah from my youth,” 1 Kings 18:12.

WILLIAM N. TOMKINS: Let us admire the grace that could maintain the man in such a king’s palace.

A. W. PINK: Though surrounded by so many temptations he preserved his integrity.

C. H. SPURGEON: To continue gracious during a long life of temptation is to be gracious, indeed! Obadiah was not even affected by the absence of the means of grace. The priests and Levites had fled into Judah and the Prophets had been killed or hidden away—there was no public worship of Jehovah in Israel! He had no opportunity of hearing anything that could strengthen him, yet he held on his way. I wonder how long some professors would keep up their profession if there were no places of worship, no Christian associations, no ministrations of the Word? But this man’s fear of the Lord was so deep that the absence of that which is usually needed for the sustenance of piety did not cause him to decline. Indeed, this is a wonder of grace!

JOHN BUNYAN: Now then, seeing this grace admits of degrees, and is in some stronger, and in some weaker, let us all be awakened to this grace also. That like as you abound in everything—in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

 

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The Wisdom of Ants

Posted on August 20, 2021 by The Editor

Proverbs 30:25; Proverbs 6:6-11

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): The ant is a remarkable creature for foresight, industry, and economy.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): What is weaker than an ant? a multitude of them may be destroyed at once, with the crush of a foot—“yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” What diligence and industry it uses in providing its food; which, though a small, weak, feeble creature, yet will travel over flints and stones, climb trees, enter into towers, barns, cellars, places high and low, in search of food; prepare little cells to put their provisions in, which are so built as to secure them from rain.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Ants are very industrious in gathering proper food, and have a strange sagacity to do it in the summer, the proper time. This is so great a piece of wisdom that we may learn of them to be wise.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “Consider her ways, and be wise.” Let us be so, but especially in spirituals.

JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): If you would know a sluggard in the things of heaven, compare him with one that is slothful in the things of this world: He that is slothful is loath to set about the work he should follow: so is he that is slothful for heaven. He that is slothful is one that is willing to make delays: so is he that is slothful for heaven. He that is a sluggard, any small matter that cometh in between, he will make it a sufficient excuse to keep him off from plying his work: so it is also with him that is slothful for heaven. He that is slothful doth his work by the halves; and so it is with him that is slothful for heaven. He may almost, but he shall never altogether obtain perfection of deliverance from hell; he may almost, but he shall never, without he mend, be altogether a saint.

MATTHEW HENRY: The more a slothful temper is indulged the more it prevails.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): A quickening sermon do these little insects preach to us! They make preparation for the coming winter. Improve, after this pattern, the summer and harvest season—the time of youth, the present, perhaps the only moment.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Dream not of a more convenient season, lest that season never arrive. Procrastination is the ruin of thousands—of millions. It is Satan’s grand device for keeping you from God.

MATTHEW HENRY: The advantages which we have of learning this lesson above what the ant has, will aggravate our slothfulness and neglect if we idle away our time.

CHARLES BRIDGES: The ant hath “no guide.” But how many guides have you? Conscience—the Bible—ministers! She has “no overseer.” You are living before Him, whose “eyes are as a flame of fire,” Proverbs 15:3; Revelation 1:14. She has no “ruler” calling her to account. But “every one of us must give account of himself unto God,” Romans 14:12. What must be the thoughtlessness of making no provision for the coming eternity! “How long then wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard?” is the solemn remonstrance of thy God.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): This procrastination is irrational.

WILLIAM MASON (1719-1791): If we put off repentance another day, we have a day more to repent of, and a day less to repent in.

THOMAS FULLER (1608-1661): You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it may be too late.

JOHN BUNYAN: They that are slothful, do usually lose the season in which things are to be done: and thus it is also with them that are slothful for heaven, they miss the season of grace.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Nothing is so dangerous as procrastination: how many souls have perished, by putting off to a more convenient season what present duty required!

CHARLES SIMEON: With multitudes who once heard the word of reconciliation, the day of grace is passed: they are now gone into that world where offers of mercy are never sent. And how soon may this be the case with you! Many who, but year ago, were as likely to live as you, have been summoned into the presence of their God in the past year; and many who are now in health will, before another year, be called to follow them: but who they shall be we know not: the young and vigorous have no more security than the weak and sickly: it is of the present hour only that we can speak with any measure of certainty; and it is of that only that we can say, “It is the day of salvation.”

F. W. KRUMMACHER (1796-1868): “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” So spake the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, to the thousands of Israel, Psalm 95:7,8; and again, by the apostle, to the Christian church, Hebrews 3:15; and let us, dear brethren, seriously lay these words to heart.

CHARLES SIMEON: It is possible that you may still be preserved in life, and the Gospel be yet sounding in your ears, and your day of salvation may have actually already come to a close. We may, by our obstinate rejection of mercy, provoke God to withdraw his Holy Spirit, who alone can make those offers effectual for our good. He has said, “my Spirit shall not always strive with man,” Genesis 6:3. And when He sees us obstinately bent on our own evil ways, He may say of us, as He did of Israel of old, “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone,” Hosea 4:17. He has given us many awful warnings on this subject, see Proverbs 1:23-33; and fearful examples of the judgment actually inflicted—see Hebrews 3:11,18,19 and Luke 14:24. Surely, this should lead us all to “seek the Lord  whilst he may be found, and to call upon him whilst he is near,” Isaiah 55:6.

JOHN BUNYAN: What shall I say? Time runs; and will you be slothful?

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): It seems but yesterday that the rivers were locked in ice. Soon we saw the flowers peeping up from the soil and now we have reached midsummer—and shall soon be looking for the appointed weeks of harvest! And it will not be long before winter will be here again.

CHARLES BRIDGES: Can you bear the thought of that desponding cry of eternal remorse, Jeremiah 8:20—“The harvest is passed; the summer is ended—and I am not saved?”

JOHN BUNYAN: Your souls are worth a thousand worlds; and will you be slothful? The day of death and judgment is at the door; and will you be slothful? The curse of God hangs over your heads; and will you be slothful? Besides, the devils are earnest, laborious, and seek by all means every day, by every sin, to keep you out of heaven, and hinder you of salvation; and will you be slothful? Your neighbours are diligent for things that will perish; and will you be slothful for things that will endure for ever?

CHARLES SIMEON: Go then to the ant, and learn wisdom of her.

 

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Systematic Bible Reading

Posted on August 13, 2021 by The Editor

Matthew 22:31; Luke 10:26

Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God?

How readest thou?

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): There is grave reason to believe that much of the Bible reading and study of the last few years has been of no spiritual profit to those engaged in it—that this has been so is evident by the fruits produced.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): I am afraid that most Christian congregations nowadays do their systematic and prayerful study of the New Testament by proxy, and expect their ministers to read the Bible for them and to tell them what is there.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): The causes of this deficiency of Scriptural knowledge are numerous and various. In many cases, the lack of a biblical education contributes to it…There is, with many, a more culpable cause; I mean a systematic neglect of the Scriptures. “What!” they exclaim, “will head knowledge do for us? we are for experience; experience is everything in religion.” What kind of experience that is, which is not founded on knowledge, I am at a loss to conceive! With such people, ignorance appears to be the mother of devotion.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): It is too seldom that people read the Bible. There certainly is not that reading of it that there used to be.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Reading the Bible is essential to the attainment of sound Christian knowledge.

BROWNLOW NORTH (1810-1875): Never neglect daily private Bible reading.

ANDREW FULLER (1754-1815): I have found it good to appoint set times for reading the Scriptures; and none have been so profitable as part of the season appropriated to private devotions, as rising in the morning. The mind at this time is reinvigorated and unencumbered.

C. H. SPURGEON: Have you no time to read your Bible?

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: Get up a quarter of an hour earlier and you will have time to read your Bible. It will be well worth the sacrifice, if it is a sacrifice.

THOMAS BRADBURY (1831-1905): You read your Bible every day, you say? Well! that is good so far as it goes.

J. C. RYLE: How do you read it?

A. W. PINK: No verse of Scripture yields its meaning to lazy people—it is only by carefully and earnestly searching the Scriptures, by a systematic and continuous pondering of them, that we can discover “all the counsel of God.”

J. C. RYLE: I fear there are many parts of the Word which some people never read at all. This is, to say the least, a very presumptuous habit. To this habit may be traced that want of broad, well-proportioned views of truth, which is so common in this day. Some people’s Bible reading is a system of perpetual dipping and picking. They do not seem to have an idea of regularly going through the whole book.

C. H. SPURGEON: Is there any part of what the Lord has written you have never read?

J. C. RYLE: Read all the Bible, and read it in an orderly way.

GEORGE MÜLLER (1805-1898): It is of immense importance for the understanding of the Word of God, to read it in course, so that we may read every day a portion of the Old Testament, and a portion of the New Testament, going on where we previously left off. This is important because: It throws light upon the connection; and a different course or reading, according to which one habitually selects particular chapters, will make it utterly impossible to ever understand much of the Scriptures.

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): I know not a better rule of reading the Scripture, than to read it through from beginning to end; and, when we have finished it once, to begin it again. We shall meet with many passages which we can make little improvement of, but not so many in the second reading as in the first, and fewer in the third than in the second: provided we pray to Him who has the keys to open our understandings, and to anoint our eyes with His spiritual ointment. The course of reading today will prepare some lights for what we shall read tomorrow, and throw a farther light upon what we read yesterday. Experience only can prove the advantage of this method, if steadily persevered in.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): I am afraid we do not read the Bible like that any longer, do we? We want just a little word to help us. We want a nice little thought to start the day. We just want something before we offer up our brief and hurried prayer, before we rush off.

J. C. RYLE: I believe it is by far the best plan to begin the Old and New Testaments at the same time—to read each straight through to the end, and then begin again. This is a matter in which every one must be persuaded in his own mind. I can only say it has been my own plan for nearly forty years, and I have never seen cause to alter it.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: I am a great advocate of schemes of Bible reading, but we have to be careful that in our use of such schemes we are not content just to read the portion for the day and then to rush off without thought and meditation. That can be quite profitless.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Beware of reading the Bible as a dead form—as a piece of religious routine.

J. C. RYLE: The mere formal reading of so many chapters as a task and duty, without a humble desire to be taught of God, is little better than a waste of time. Let us read our Bibles in private more, with more pains and diligence.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: It takes time to read Scripture properly. You must stop, and look, and think.

JOHN NEWTON: Join frequent assiduous reading with close and awakened meditation.

WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): We should read with a view to self-application—inquiring how it bears upon our own character and condition.

C. H. SPURGEON: Have we, any of us, omitted to do this? Let us begin at once.

THOMAS BROOKS (1608-1680): It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.

GEORGE MÜLLER: It often astonishes me that I did not see the importance of meditation upon Scripture earlier in my Christian life.  As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time unless he eats, so it is with the inner man.  What is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God—not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe. No, we must consider what we read, ponder over it, and apply it to our own hearts…To read a part of Scriptures, previous to prayer, I have found to be very useful. As reading assists prayer, so prayer assists reading.

ANDREW FULLER: I have also felt the advantage of being able to pause, and think, as well as pray; and to inquire how far the subject is applicable to my case, and conduct in life.

THOMAS BROOKS: Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.

 

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Christian Courage

Posted on August 6, 2021 by The Editor

Psalm 31:24; Joshua 23:11; Joshua 1:9

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

THOMAS MANTON (1620-1677): What is this Christian courage?

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Courage is frequently thought of by some as the absence of fear in the presence of danger. By others it is seen as the act of bravery in spite of a sense of fear.

THOMAS MANTON: There is a great deal of difference between the courage of wicked men, and the faith and fortitude of good Christians.

SIMEON ASHE (1595-1662): The common nature of it is an undaunted audacity. This is common both unto men and to some brutes. The lion is said to be the strongest among beasts, that turneth not away from any, Proverbs 30:30. And there is an elegant description of the war horse in regard of boldness, Job 39:19-25.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): There is a boldness and intrepidity natural to the temper of some men, which make them easily undertake, and often achieve great things; which give them such assurance and reliance upon themselves, that they overlook the dangers and difficulties at which others stand nerveless and amazed.

EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): In this respect different persons differ very widely, even from their birth. Some appear to be constitutionally timid, mild, gentle, quiet, affectionate, and yielding; while others are bold, boisterous, restless, irritable, and obstinate—persons, who have such a temper, are not infrequently bold, resolute, and unyielding, and it is easy for them to be firm, zealous, and courageous in the cause of Christ; and they may easily mistake their constitutional courage for holy boldness and Christian zeal. But let them beware of this mistake.

THOMAS COKE: The courage of the Christian is very different from that of the natural man; it arises from other considerations, and is supported by other hopes and expectations. Glory and success are the proper incitements of human courage; reproach and afflictions are the necessary exercises of Christian fortitude.

THOMAS MANTON: There is military valour and Christian valour. The one consists in doing, the other in suffering, great things. Peter, at Christ’s death, had more of the military valour and fierceness than of the passive valour, for he that could venture on a band of men, was foiled by a damsel’s question.

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): Thus may persons who appear to set death and danger at defiance in the hour of battle, while they are animated by the examples of those around them, and instigated by a fear of the punishment or shame they would incur if they deserted their post. But upon a change of situation—as for instance, on a bed of sickness, they discover no traces of the heroism for which they were before applauded, but tremble at the leisurely approach of death, though they were thought to despise it under a different form.

THOMAS MANTON: The one dependeth on hastiness of temper, greatness of blood and spirits; the other upon faith and submission to God’s will.

SIMEON ASHE: Christian courage may thus be described. It is the undaunted audacity of a sanctified heart in adventuring upon difficulties and undergoing hardships for a good cause upon the call of God…Some conceive our English word “courage” to be derived from cordis actio, the very acting of the heart. A valiant man is described in 2 Samuel 17:10 to be a man whose heart is as the heart of a lion. And the original Hebrew translated as “courageous” in Amos 2:16, may most properly be rendered “a man of heart.” Beloved, valour doth not consist in a piercing eye, in a terrible look, in big words; but it consists in the mettle, the vigour that is within the bosom. Sometimes a coward may dwell at the sign of a roaring voice and of a stern countenance; whereas true fortitude may be found within his breast whose outward deportment promises little or nothing in that kind.

A. W. PINK: The word ‘courageous’ suggests more than bravery; it intimates that which makes one brave. The word in its various usages implies the confirmation of truth that produces strength of conviction.

SIMEON ASHE: Note the qualification: I said a sanctified heart; I am not now speaking of fortitude as a moral virtue, whereof heathens that have not God are capable, and for which many that are not Christians, have been worthily commended. I am speaking of courage as a theological virtue, as a gracious qualification upon the people of God by special covenant. And there are three things that characterize it, and which distinguish it from the moral virtue of fortitude. The root, whence it ariseth; the rule, whereby it is directed; and the end, to which it is referred.

THOMAS COKE: Christian courage and resolution arises from a sure trust in God, a fear of Him, and a perfect submission to His will.

SIMEON ASHE: The root, from whence it ariseth, is love to God: all the saints of God that love the Lord be of good courage. ‘The love of Christ constraineth me to make these bold and brave adventures,’ saith the apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:14. The rule, whereby it is directed, is the Word of God—what the Lord hath pleased to leave on record for a Christian’s guidance in holy pages. “Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage: dread not, nor be dismayed,” I Chronicles 22:12,13. ‘Be a man of mettle, but let thy mettle be according to my mind, according to this rule.’ And the end, to which it refers, is God. For every sanctified man, being a self-denying and a God-advancing man, his God is his centre, wherein his actings, his undertakings rest; and his soul is not—yea, it cannot be satisfied but in God.

THOMAS MANTON: Stephen “being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,” Acts 7:55. It is spoken when the people gnashed on him with their teeth—then he was full of the Holy Ghost. There is the habit of fortitude, and the act of it when led on.

JOHN NEWTON: This greatness of mind is essential and peculiar to the character of the Christian—I mean the Christian who deserves the name. His ends are great and sublime, to glorify God, to obtain nearer communion with Him, and to advance in conformity to His holy will,—undisturbed and unwearied by difficulty, danger, or pain, and equally indifferent to the censure or scorn of incompetent judges.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Courage is the salt of character: put your fears in this brine. Have you the courage to profess unfashionable truth?

EDWARD PAYSON: Let them not conclude they have made much progress in the work of sanctification, until their zeal and boldness are guided by knowledge, tempered with gentleness, and prompted by love…When this is done, they will resemble their Master, who united in Himself the apparently inconsistent qualities of the lion and the lamb, the serpent and the dove—and will be of all Christians the most amiable, exemplary, and useful.

 

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