Satan’s War on English Personal Pronouns

Posted on November 5, 2021 by The Editor

Psalm 12:6; Psalm 23:1-6

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Words are used in Scripture with the most exact precision and discrimination.

WILLIAM PRINGLE (1790-1858): It is impossible not to see that here.

A. W. PINK: The One present was Jehovah, whom David knew and owned as “my Shepherd” in the opening verse. But observe a striking alteration in David’s language in the latter part of Psalm 23. In the first three verses all the pronouns referring to the Lord are in the third person: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me. He restoreth my soul.” But in the last three verses David changes to the second person: “Thou art with me. Thy rod”—not ‘His’ rod—and Thy staff. Thou preparest a table before me, Thou anointest my head.” Why the variation? Ah, there is something inexpressibly blessed in that change. During life the believer speaks of the Lord—“He leadeth me;” but as he enters the valley of the shadow of death, he speaks to the Lord, for He is there by his side!

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Martin Luther used to say, “All vital religion is in the personal and possessive pronouns.” Is it not so? “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee!” Isaiah 43:2…How sweetly does David address the Lord in Psalm 84:3—“O Jehovah of Hosts, my King and my God.” The people of God love possessive pronouns—“my King and my God”…Let us also value the personal possessive pronouns—the sweetness of the promises lies in them. These are our arms with which we embrace the promises.

A. W. PINK: Here the change of pronouns brings out a precious line of truth.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” Luke 22:31,32. Our Lord directs His speech to Peter—though it appears He had a respect to them all, for the word “you” is in the plural number.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Satan hath desired to have you all in his hands—that he may sift you as wheat.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): “But,” continues our Lord, “I have prayed for thee,”—Peter in particular.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The NIV, ESV, NKJV, and RSV translations of the Bible replace all “thee and thou” singular pronouns with the plural pronoun “you.” Here they read as if Satan wanted to sift only Peter. But Jesus knew Satan wanted all of His apostles, and that the devil’s main assault would come upon Peter, for whom He prayed in particular, that Peter’s faith would not totally fail. Thus details of God’s truth which are seen in the original Greek and Hebrew texts, and in the King James Bible, are hidden in those modern English translations.

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): No greater mischief can happen to a Christian people, than to have God’s Word taken from them, or falsified, so they no longer have it pure and clear.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): We are told today we must realize that we are living in a ‘post-Christian’ era and that the greatest obstacle to preaching today, is that people do not understand our terms. They sound archaic to them, they are not modern, they are not up-to-date. The result is this great modern craze for new translations of the Scriptures in familiar, ordinary everyday language, and the fashion of no longer addressing God as “Thee” and “Thou,” but “You.” This, we are told, is all-important—that when the modern man hears “Thee” and “Thou” it is almost impossible for him to listen to the gospel, leave alone to believe it. So we have to change our language, and we do this in our new translations of the Bible, and in our prayers.

EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s nonsense. When Canadians sing their national anthem before the start of a hockey game, they  have no trouble understanding, “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land, glorious and free.” The same is true for Americans when they sing, “America, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.”

LORD SHAFTESBURY (1801-1885): I see that the revision of the Scriptures is to impoverish our language.

C. H. SPURGEON: At first, Calvinism was too harsh, then evangelical doctrines became too antiquated—now the Scriptures themselves must bow to man’s alteration and improvement.

LORD SHAFTESBURY: All is in keeping. These fellows are enfeebling our doctrine; and it is quite in harmony to enfeeble the language in which it is expressed.

JOHN ROBINSON (1575-1625): That translation is most exact, which agrees best with the original, word for word, so far as the idiom, or propriety of the language will bear.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me,” John 15:26. One thing comes out very plainly here, and that is the personality of the Holy Ghost. In Greek it stands out very prominently in the gender of the pronouns, which our English language cannot reach. The word we render “whom,” in the Greek text is masculine;—“which” is neuter;—and “he” is masculine again.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: Let us have the best that the translators can give us. But that is not the real point behind the idea that you must now address God as “You” rather than “Thee” or “Thou” if you are to communicate the Gospel to modern man. The basic assumption behind that thinking is that the reason people do not believe in God, and do not pray to Him and accept the Gospel, is the archaic language of the King James Version—and if only that is put right the whole situation will be changed.

J. C. RYLE: Let us be on our guard against the devil’s devices. He is very subtle. The personality, activity, and power of the devil are not sufficiently thought of by Christians. This is he who brought sin into the world at the beginning, by tempting Eve.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The last fifty years have shown that much of modern English language revisionism has a far deeper Satanic agenda, under a guise of equality and human rights. First, in 1969, feminist “equality” activism instigated the ordination of women and their preaching in churches, contrary to God’s Word, 1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 2:11,12. In 1989, the first “gender neutral” Bible was published, when the New Revised Standard Version adopted a policy of “inclusiveness in gender language,” using non-masculine pronouns for God. By the late 20th century, the word “gay,” traditionally meaning “cheerful” or “carefree,” had replaced the term “homosexual,” a subtle cultural rebranding to legitimize an anti-Christian “lifestyle.” In 2001, came the world’s first legalization of “gay marriage.” Its opponents were labelled “homophobic,” which, by its psychological connotation, perversely slandered them as having a mental disorder. Now feminist/homosexual activists insist that gender is not inherently male or female, but a matter of choice, so everyone must address “trans-gender” people by whatever pronouns they choose to use. The Satanic design behind these lies and unholy practices is to undermine the authority of the Bible, and the natural order of God’s Creation.

 

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A Dark Night of Despair At Endor

Posted on October 29, 2021 by The Editor

1 Samuel 28:3-20

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?

And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): That such a thing as witchcraft has existed, we cannot doubt. The account given us of the witch of Endor is one of the most remarkable in the Scriptures; though there are in it some difficulties, which have occasioned a diversity of opinions respecting it—many have thought that Samuel himself did not appear, but that Satan assumed his shape and garb. But there is no intimation in the history that this was the case; on the contrary, every expression has directly the opposite aspect.

WILLIAM KELLY (1821-1906): It was Samuel whom Saul saw. It was an unusual sight the witch beheld. She confessed it, when she told Saul she saw “gods ascending out of the earth.” Her familiar spirit was unable to act, for God Himself had taken up the matter against Saul.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): But to this it may be objected, that the soul of Samuel would not have “ascended out of the earth,” but come down from heaven; it cannot reasonably be supposed that it was in the power of the witch, by the assistance of the devil, to fetch it from heaven.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Neither Satan nor his instruments can have power over the souls of glorified saints—we know the spirits of just men made perfect are with the Lord.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “Why hast thou disquieted me?” This the true Samuel would never have said; but as the devil had personated Samuel in his form, so now he doth in his words.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Samuel complains not of the woman, but of Saul, for disquieting him; whence it appears clear, that Samuel was not raised up by her magic arts, but by the will of God. Samuel’s disquiet plainly arose from Saul’s hardened impenitence—it was this that grieved and provoked him.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): Let it be carefully read, and it becomes perfectly clear that this woman had nothing to do with bringing up Samuel. She commenced, on the occasion of Saul’s visit, to practice the deceptions with which she was familiar. When in response to her incantations, as it seemed, Samuel actually appeared, she was startled beyond measure.

ALFRED H. BURTON (1853-1937): Evidently the witch of Endor was not accustomed to bring up the dead, from her surprise at the appearance of Samuel: the spirit which she and all of her class professed to consult was a demon which personated the one desired. Her alarm at seeing Samuel, whom she herself does not appear to recognize, makes it clear that something unusual had taken place. It was God who interposed in this case to bring up Samuel in reality from the dead, who pronounces from Jehovah the solemn judgment about to fall upon Saul.

JOHN GILL: God would not send Samuel’s soul from heaven on such an errand, to give Saul an answer, when He would not answer him by any prophet on earth, nor in any other way; and especially it seems quite incredible that He should send Samuel at the motion of a witch, and through her enchantments, who, according to a law of His, ought not to live; whereas nothing could have given greater countenance to such a wicked profession than this.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): God condemns spiritism in no uncertain terms in the writings of Moses and of the prophet Isaiah.

THOMAS COKE: God is not so tied down to His own institutions, that He cannot at any time depart from them. That God should manifest Himself by His prophets, to encourage or countenance what He Himself had forbidden, is indeed very unlikely, or to speak more justly, very absurd to suppose. But that He should interpose to reprove that practice, is perfectly compatible with all our ideas of His perfections.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN: That Samuel actually appeared to Saul, there can be no doubt.

ROBERT HAWKER: That it could not be Samuel is evident from other considerations.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): There are divers passages in this relation which plainly discover that this was no good, but an evil spirit; as First, That he receives that worship from Saul, which good spirits would not suffer, Revelation 19:10; 22:8,9. Secondly, That amongst Saul’s other sins for which he condemns him, he omits this of “asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it;” for which transgression, with others, Saul is expressly said to have died, 1 Chronicles 10:13,14—and which the true Samuel, who was so zealous for God’s honour, and so faithful a reprover, would never have neglected—especially now, when he takes Saul in the very fact of it. The only argument of any colour to the contrary is only this: that the devil could not so particularly and punctually discover Saul’s future events as this ‘Samuel’ does.

THOMAS COKE: These predictions of Samuel evidently proved that he spoke by God’s order; for he foretells, first, the victory of the Philistines; secondly, the death of Saul and his sons; and thirdly, the advantages which the Philistines should derive from their victory. And it is surprising, that after such plain predictions as these, which could come only from God, any person should imagine that this apparition of Samuel was a diabolical imposture.

MATTHEW POOLE: But this also hath little weight in it; it being notoriously known that evil spirits in the oracles of heathens, and otherwise, have oft-times foretold future contingencies; God being pleased to reveal such things to them, and to permit them to be the instruments of revealing them to men, for the trial of some, and for the terror and punishment of others.

EDITOR’S NOTE: God, Who knows the end from the beginning, had permitted an evil spirit to terrify king Saul once before: “the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him;” this evil spirit departed from Saul only when David played the harp, 1 Samuel 16:14,23.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): An evil spirit foresaw king Ahab’s fall at Ramoth-Gilead and was instrumental in it, 1 Kings 22:19-23—as perhaps this evil spirit, by divine permission, was instrumental in Saul’s destruction…The devil knows how to speak with an air of religion, and can teach false apostles to transform themselves into the apostles of Christ and imitate their language.

JOHN TRAPP: Samuel himself could not have spoken more gravely, severely, divinely, than this fiend does.

MATTHEW HENRY: Yet with what a malicious design! He upbraids him with his disobedience to the command of God in not destroying the Amalekites. Satan had helped him to palliate and excuse that sin when Samuel was dealing with him to bring him to repentance, 1 Samuel 15:13-31. But now he aggravates it, to make him despair of God’s mercy.

JOHN GILL: His intent is to lead him to despair, which shows what sort of spirit he was.

JOHN TRAPP: See how Satan layeth load enough upon this already despairing wretch that he may hurry him to hell. Till men have sinned, Satan is a parasite; when they have sinned, he is a tyrant. This is yet his method to this day: be not ignorant of his wiles.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): The scene at Endor makes one’s flesh creep. No more tragic picture of failure and despair was ever painted.

 

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The Idolatry of Modern Environmentalism

Posted on October 22, 2021 by The Editor

Ecclesiastes 1:9,10

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): There is nothing in the world but a continued and tiresome repetition of the same things.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): We hear of some who worship the sun at its rising—that is sad idolatry.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is another sort of idolatry which they were cautioned against, Deuteronomy 4:19. This was the most ancient species of idolatry and the most plausible, drawing the adoration to those creatures not only in a situation above us, but most sensibly glorious in themselves, and most generally serviceable to the world.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Others also, made prayer to Mother Earth.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Mother Earth was a common expression in different nations…The inhabitants of north Germany, our Saxon ancestors, in general worshipped Mother Earth; they believed her to interpose in the affairs of men, and to visit nations; that to her, in a sacred grove in a certain island of the ocean, a vehicle covered with a vestment was consecrated, and allowed to be touched by the priests only, who perceived when the goddess entered into her secret place, and with profound veneration attended her vehicle, which was drawn by cows. While the goddess was on her progress, days of rejoicing were kept in every place which she vouchsafed to visit; they engaged in no war, they handled no weapons; peace and quietness were then only known, till the same priest conducted the goddess back to her temple.

C. H. SPURGEON: Nowadays, swarms of people attribute everything that is great and wonderful to “Nature”—they talk forever of “the beauties of Nature,” “the grandeur of Nature,” “the laws of Nature.” But God is as little spoken of as if He were not alive! As to laws of Nature, these occupy with moderns much the same place as the deities of Olympus with the ancients!

STEPHEN CHARNOCK (1628-1680): Creation presents us with a prospect of the wisdom of God: “By wisdom He created the earth,” Proverbs 3:19.

C. H. SPURGEON: What are laws of Nature but the ordinary ways in which God works? But these people attribute to them a sort of power apart from the Presence of the Creator. There are plenty of people who are willing to believe in a god of a certain sort, but I hardly know how to describe their god…One man says, “I do not go into your places of worship, and hear you talk about God. I like to walk about and worship Nature.” Does he mean the grass in the meadows and the flowers of the field? If so, I hardly think that I should like to worship what cattle eat—it seems a degradation for a man to stoop as low as that! But they will say and do anything to get rid of the idea of the living and true God. One standing up in the street, said that we could not do better on Sunday than go and worship Nature. There was nothing that was so refining and elevating to the mind as Nature. Nature did everything.

JOHN TRAPP: Mother Nature.

C. H. SPURGEON: A Christian man in the crowd ventured to ask, “What is Nature?” And the gentleman said, “Well, Nature—well—it is Nature! Don’t you know what it is? It is Nature.” No further definition was forthcoming! I fear the term is only useful as enabling men to talk of creation without being compelled to mention the Creator.

A. W. TOZER (1897-1963): God dwells in His creation, and is everywhere indivisibly present in all His works. This is boldly taught by prophet and apostle and is accepted by Christian theology generally—but the doctrine of the divine Presence is definitely not Pantheism. Pantheism’s error is too palpable to deceive anyone. It is that God is the sum of all created things. Nature and God are one, so that whoever touches a leaf or a stone touches God. That is, of course, to degrade the glory of the incorruptible Deity and, in an effort to make all things divine, to banish all divinity from the world entirely. The truth is, that while God dwells in His world, He is separated from it by a gulf forever impassable. However closely He may be identified with the work of His hands, they are, and must eternally be other than He Himself—and He is, and must be, antecedent to and independent of them.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Modern Environmentalism has degenerated into a secular religious cult of climate activism and earth-worship idolatry, which worships “the creature more than the Creator,” Romans 1:25; its idol-god is “Science,” so called; and its followers, with all the zealous devotion of deluded fanatics, believe that they alone will save the planet from destruction. All who disagree are dismissed as ignorant infidels.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): It is a diabolical science, however, which fixes our contemplations on the works of nature, and turns them away from God.

ALEXANDER CARSON (1776-1844): They make the dogmas of human science an authority paramount to the testimony of God in the Scriptures.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): Modern science itself teaches us that we are not anti-scientific and we are not obscurantist if we do not accept statements as absolute truth simply because they are made by certain prominent scientists. We know that great scientists have made very dogmatic statements in the past, which by now have proved to be wrong…Christianity has not come into the world to reform the world. What has it come for? It has come to save us from the destruction that is coming to the world.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Let us consider the dissolution of this present world.

C. H. SPURGEON: God’s Word declares that the whole world will be destroyed by fire.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, 2 Peter 3:13. The promise to which it is supposed that Peter alludes, is found in Isaiah 65:17, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind;” and Isaiah 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord.” Now, although these may be interpreted of the glory of the Gospel dispensation, yet, if Peter refers to them, they must have a more extended meaning. It does appear from these promises, and from what is said in Revelation 21 & 22, that the present earth, though destined to be burned up, will not be destroyed, but be renewed and refined, purged from all moral and natural imperfection, and made the endless abode of blessed spirits. But this state is certainly to be expected after the Day of Judgment; for on this the apostle is very express, who says the conflagration and renovation are to take place at the judgment of the great day; 2 Peter 3:7-12.

CHARLES SIMEON: That’s the period John speaks of in Revelation 21:1, when he says “I saw a new heaven, and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.”

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): The day of the Lord will come. It will be destructive. It will be constructive.

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): The world is now in its working clothes, and by-and-by, it will be arrayed in its Easter garments of joy.

 

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God’s Conservation Commandment

Posted on October 15, 2021 by The Editor

Leviticus 25:3-7, 20-22

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, and for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase. Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): The command to give rest to the land every seventh year must appear exceeding strange to those who have not duly considered it. Most would account for it perhaps from its being conducive to the good of the land, which would be too much exhausted, if it were not permitted occasionally to lie fallow.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): It is a known rule in husbandry, that land requires rest; and therefore it is generally laid fallow, in order to recruit its strength: this, doubtless, among others, was a reason for the present institution.

CHARLES SIMEON: But this could not be the reason: for then a seventh part of the land would most probably have been kept fallow every year, and not the whole land all at once…Nor can the idea of lying fallow be applied with any propriety to the olive-yards and vineyards, which, though not trimmed and pruned that year, were suffered to bring all their fruit to maturity.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Where, throughout all the earth, do we read of a land enjoying a year of unbroken repose—and a year of richest abundance?

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): It was a kindness to their land to let it rest sometimes, and would keep it “in heart” as our husbandmen express it, for posterity, whose satisfaction God would have them to consult, and not to use the ground as if it were designed only for one age.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Yes, no doubt that is true partially; but that was never the sole, nor even the main purpose.

CHARLES SIMEON: We must look then to some other source for the reasons of this commandment.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): It is “a sabbath for the Lord,”—for His honour and glory, to ascertain His property in the land, to show the power of His providence, and display His goodness in His care of all creatures, without any means used by them.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): God here asserted His right of property, as the LORD of the whole earth.

CHARLES SIMEON: In Leviticus 25:23, God says to His people, “The land is mine.” And it was His: He had dispossessed the former inhabitants, and had given it to His own people, assigning to every tribe its precise district, and to every family their proper portion. This they would have been likely to forget in the space of a few years: and therefore, as the great Proprietor, He specified the terms on which he admitted them to the possession of His land, reserving to Himself the tithes and first-fruits, and requiring the whole to be left uncultivated and common every seventh year. Thus the people would be reminded from time to time that they were only tenants, bound to use the land agreeably to the conditions imposed on them.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: The rationalist may ask, “How can these things be?”

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): “What shall we eat the seventh year?” A very natural question, which could only be laid at rest by the sovereign promise in the next verse: “I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.”

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): The phrase must be observed, that God would “command His blessing” in an especial manner, and beyond the usual course, so that the land should be twice or thrice more fertile.

ROBERT HAWKER: Rather than God’s people shall be losers by their dependence upon Him, He will even work a miracle to supply them; for causing the sixth year to be three times as prolific, was little less than a standing miracle.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): They were to have enough for the year of rest, and for the next year in which the harvest was growing, and still to have something over for the ninth year. They scarcely could want as much as that; but God would give them more than they actually needed, exceeding abundantly above what they asked or even thought…There was to be no private property in the spontaneous produce of that year. It was free to everybody; free even to the cattle, which might go and eat what they would, and where they would.

MATTHEW HENRY: They were hereby taught to be charitable and generous, and not to engross all to themselves, but to be willing that others should share with them in the gifts of God’s bounty, which the earth brought forth of itself—They were reminded of the easy life man lived in paradise, when he ate of every good thing, not, as since, in the sweat of his face. Labour and toil came in with sin. They were taught to consider how the poor lived, that did neither sow nor reap, even by the blessing of God upon a little.

ROBERT HAWKER: See that sweet promise, Psalm 132:15, “I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.” What a strong leading feature is here given of man’s dependence upon God. And what a precious comment doth Jesus Himself give of it in Matthew 4:4—“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): These signs served to keep before the people the fact that God is the original Owner and Possessor of the land and that no man can treat it as absolutely his own.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): As God would hereby try their faith, and exercise their obedience, so He gave them eminent proof of His own exact providence and tender care for them.

MATTHEW HENRY: It was intended for an encouragement to all God’s people, in all ages, to trust Him in the way of duty, and to cast their care upon Him.

THOMAS COKE: They who follow God’s will may safely trust Him for a provision. It would be a shame to a Christian if he had less faith than a Jew, and if we should be more afraid of wanting bread than they were.

ROBERT HAWKER: Was not the extensiveness of this mercy, in reaching to all ranks and orders of the people, intended to shadow forth the extensiveness of that mercy which Jesus by His glorious redemption hath accomplished?

MATTHEW HENRY: This year of rest typified the spiritual rest which all believers enter into through Christ, who giveth us comfort and rest “concerning our work, and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed,” Genesis 5:29. Through Him we are eased of the burden of worldly care and labour, both being sanctified and sweetened to us, and we are enabled and encouraged to live by faith. And, as the fruits of this sabbath of the land were enjoyed in common, so the salvation wrought out by Christ is a common salvation.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: Here, then, we have the special feature of the Lord’s land. He would have it to enjoy a sabbatical year, and in that year there was to be the evidence of the rich profusion with which He would bless those who held it as tenants under Him. Happy, highly privileged tenancy! What an honour to hold it immediately under Jehovah! No rent! No taxes! No burdens! Well might it be said, “Happy is the people that is in such a case; yea, happy is that nation whose God is Jehovah,” Psalm 144:15.

 

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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.

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*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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