The Way of Permanent Faith

As I was reading Oswald Chambers today, I realized I would have been very excited if it was not for the fact that I have gone through the process of what he is talking about and know the inward pain that your soul has to endure to get through this process.

Indeed during this period of time, we are so scattered inside, so hollow, so depressed by the darkness that surround us. As you go through this process, you also understand why the word wilderness suits it so well. Your pain comes from the dryness, the sun, the win and everything that encompasses the wilderness. It is so desolate all around you, in your heart, your soul and your spirit that the only thing that makes sense to your senses is the depression that the whole process is calling you to.

But, if you can keep focusing on Him while you are there, even though there is no excitement and no joy during this period, you will get through it and joy will come back again when you see how much you have grown. Through this period there is a long waiting process in between that is very discouraging. Another major point of this process is that God needs to take you to a place where you learn to abide in Him and you learn to depend on Him moment by moment for your life.

As you learn to abide in Him, you realize, the reality of you abiding in Him is so that the next part of the verse (abide in me and I in you) could take shape in your life. The whole doctrine of abiding in Him is so that He can reveal Himself to you, Christ can be formed in you as you learn to possess His mind, His likeness and all those substances that we need to take from Him. There are ways for sure you know you have gone through the process exactly the way He wanted you to.  First, you get out of it knowing full well what Paul meant when he said “for me to live is Christ”.

Another way you know you are pleasing to Him is that you realize you have become the protagonist of song of the Solomon 8:5 “Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?” Because now, you not only have learned to get to know Him, you know you can depend on Him. So, your faith is solid and your understanding of Him is on a whole new dimension which is the spiritual one as you left behind the man made idea of Him. In fact, you look back to what you knew of Him and where you are now, and you are ashamed of what you made out Christianity to be. You also make a transition from knowing about Him to knowing Him. The thing is, you find you are now ready to look at this Christian life, His way. Another thing you will discover as well is that you are in the process of being made right with Him. This process takes you beyond spirituality into your way of right living in His sight. Righteousness is being restored. (Mathew 5:6)

So, if you are depressed and your life is upside down and you feel you are fenced in, look up to Him through the pain, the sadness, the emptiness, the scorching sun of the wilderness, the coldness that is eating your body, focus on Him and lift up your soul to Him. You do not have to make lengthy prayers because He knows already. Just the fact that you can remain focused on Him and in your heart letting Him know, no matter what you want to make it about Him and give Him glory for whatever is going on right now, then, He will be pleased. Don’t make it about your feelings because joy already escaped you, He is nowhere to be found and it is all messy and scattered inside you. – But, be patient however long it lasts, remain committed to seeing it through His ways and do not allow doubt to enter your mind.

When I went through my process, even though at times I could not pray, I would make it a point to pray in my heart. At times He was so absent I felt He was not hanging onto me at all. I did not let the enemy get the best of me. I did not confer with anyone that would discourage me or prescribe some sort of diversion.  I resolved to make it about Him even if I had to die. Once in a while, He would show me that even though I could not feel His presence because of the state of my soul, but He was right there with me and actually never left me for a moment. Those tiny glimmers of hope helped me a great deal. – Be still and know that He is God!

Here is Oswald Chambers devotional for today!

The Way to Permanent Faith

04

04

2013

Indeed the hour is coming . . . that you will be scattered . . . —John 16:32

Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life. We will be scattered, not into service but into the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God’s blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life.

“. . . you . . . will leave Me alone.” Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us? Do we not see God at work in our circumstances? Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God? Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God’s blessings is fundamental

“. . . be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need.

Oswald's devotion for today is courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

The Doctrine of Repentance - Part 10

By Thomas Watson, 1668

 The Nature of true repentance

 

Question: What is there in sin, which may make a penitent hate it?

Answer: Sin is the accursed thing, the most deformed monster. The apostle Paul uses a very emphatic word to express it: "that sin might become exceedingly sinful" (Romans 7:13), or as it is in the Greek, "exaggeratedly sinful". That sin is an exaggerated mischief, and deserves hatred will appear if we look upon sin as a fourfold conceit:

(1) Look upon the origin of sin, from whence it comes. It fetches its pedigree from hell: "He who commits sin is of the devil!" (1 John 3:8). Sin is the devil's special work. God has a hand in ordering sin, it is true—but Satan has a hand in acting it out. How hateful is it to be doing that which is the special work of the devil, indeed, that which makes men into devils!

(2) Look upon sin in its nature, and it will appear very hateful. See how scripture has pencilled sin out: it is a dishonoring of God (Romans 2:23 ); a despising of God (1 Sam. 2:30); a fretting of God (Ezek. 16:43); a wearying of God (Isaiah 7:13); a grieving the heart of God, as a loving husband is with the unchaste conduct of his wife: "I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols" (Ezek. 6:9). Sin, when acted to the height, is a crucifying Christ afresh and putting him to open shame (Heb. 6:6), that is, impudent sinners pierce Christ in his saints, and were he now upon earth they would crucify him again in his person. Behold the odious nature of sin.

(3) Look upon sin in its comparison, and it appears ghastly. Compare sin with AFFLICTION and hell, and it is worse than both. It is worse than affliction, sickness, poverty, or death. There is more malignity in a drop of sin than in a sea of affliction—for sin is the cause of affliction, and the cause is more than the effect. The sword of God's justice lies quiet in the scabbard—until sin draws it out! Affliction is good for us: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted" (Psalm 119:71). Affliction causes repentance (2 Chron. 33:12). The viper, being stricken, casts up its poison. Just so, when God's rod strikes us with affliction, we spit away the poison of sin! Affliction betters our grace. Gold is purest, and juniper sweetest—when in the fire. Affliction prevents damnation. "We are being disciplined—so that we will not be condemned with the world." (1 Cor. 11:32). Therefore, Maurice the emperor prayed to God to punish him in this life—that he might not be punished hereafter.

Thus, affliction is in many ways for our good—but there is no good in sin. Manasseh's affliction brought him to humiliation and repentance—but Judas' sin brought him to desperation and damnation. Affliction only reaches the body—but sin goes further: it poisons the mind, disorders the affections. Affliction is but corrective; sin is destructive. Affliction can but take away the life; sin takes away the soul (Luke 12:20).

A man who is afflicted may have his conscience quiet. When the ark was tossed on the flood waves, Noah could sing in the ark. When the body is afflicted and tossed, a Christian can "make melody in his heart to the Lord" (Eph. 5:19). But when a man commits sin, conscience is terrified. Witness Spira, who upon his abjuring the faith, said that he thought the damned spirits did not feel those torments which he inwardly endured. In affliction, one may have the love of God (Rev. 3:19). If a man should throw a bag of money at another, and in throwing it should hurt him a little—he will not take it unkindly—but will look upon it as a fruit of love. Just so, when God bruises us with affliction—it is to enrich us with the golden graces and comforts of his Spirit. All is in love. But when we commit sin, God withdraws his love. When David sinned, he felt nothing but displeasure from God: "Clouds and thick darkness surround him" (Psalm 97:2). David found it so. He could see no rainbow, no sunbeam, nothing but clouds and darkness about God's face.

That sin is worse than affliction is evident, because the greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control. When the Lord's displeasure is most severely kindled against a person, he does not say, I will bring the sword and the plague on this man—but, I will let him sin on: "I gave them up unto their own hearts lust, living according to their own desires" (Psalm 81:12). Now, if the giving up of a man to his sins (in the account of God himself) is the most dreadful evil, then sin is far worse than affliction. And if it is so, then how should it be hated by us!

Compare sin with HELL, and you shall see that sin is worse. Torment has its epitome in hell—yet nothing in hell is as bad as sin. Hell is of God's making—but sin is not of God's making. Sin is the devil's creature. The torments of hell are a burden only to the sinner—but sin is a burden to God. In the torments of hell, there is something that is good, namely, the execution of divine justice. There is justice to be found in hell—but sin is a piece of the highest injustice. It would rob God of his glory, Christ of his purchase, the soul of its happiness. Judge then if sin is not a most hateful thing—which is worse than affliction, or the torments of hell.

A Melancholic Day With Him!

Today I am having such a melancholic day that I felt the need to change the post.  On Easter Sunday I was having dinner with my son and his family and he asked some questions that I felt were hard for me to answer. I went on explaining to him that God is working in my life now in a way that I have no idea how to follow. I recall giving him an example of a dear friend of mine whom I know for more than twenty years. In the flesh I am trying so hard to hold on to this friend of mine, but in my heart and soul I could feel there was a work being done by another party and I am being told to take a different path. Granted, my friend is very stubborn when it comes to God and has never taken one step forward with Him. Sadly, this friend is one of those who believe once you say the sinner’s prayer whether you were pushed, bribed, intimidated, or because you wanted to err on the caution side, just in case there is a hell, then you get baptized and get yourself into a Church, well you are saved and you have a spot for you waiting in heaven no matter what.

I am the first one to be amazed at how when you are walking with God, even the trivial conversation God does not let go to waste. Since the conversation with my son, I felt so melancholic; I could not explain it and I tried my best not to ruin our time together. Little did I know God set out to make things clearer to me since yesterday. I spent the whole day where He was teaching me about 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. While I felt the study made me icky, because you cannot get into these things without being harsh, but this is one of those things that you do not choose with God because it is not about you. I had an understanding that I was being separated further which increased my melancholy because I have in place something that is more like my personal support system in the sense, when I am with these people, even though we can touch a conversation about God but I am not as absorbed with Him. These friends make me feel that for a moment I can take a break from God. To some extend I feel, I need this support because it allows me to be in the flesh and stop being so absorbed by God every minute of my life. Believe it or not when I am with these types of friends, it makes me feel like a simple human being.

This morning to my surprise I found out God is not finished with me. First of all, I was urged to go to Leviticus 17 -20 as I read these chapters, all He confirmed to me there is that He is still the same God and has never changed. Then I read Oswald Chambers devotion for today that cemented it all because of the part that He wanted to drill in my head. Oswald said: “Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.”

I cannot help being sad because one more time I am relieving the time when He took my right hand in His left hand to lead me to the wilderness. I knew I was leaving it all behind, Church friends etc. Times like that, you cannot help mourning because of the lost. It is like part of you is dying. Now, I know God is good but for now my heart is heavy and I need to mourn.

As I am writing this blog, the Holy Spirit made me understand that although I am sad because of what I am leaving behind, but there is something deeper going on. He then let me see how my heart is also heavy because I understand through my support system, I have sinned against Him and thwarted the work He needs to do in and with me. So, my need to be in the flesh to feel like a simple human being has to go.

“Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.” – This is where I failed Him and this is where I need to pick up the pace.

Therefore If Anyone Is In Christ

Romans 8: 10 “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

John 14:20 “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”

I have read many times over how people interpret the fact we should not have those “if” there in front of those sentences such as Romans 8 and 2 Corinthians 5. I am always excited when I read those who understand why these “if” should be there and I know them too, have been touched by God personally.

There is a pastor that I really like, he died a few years ago. I do listen to his commentary of the Bible. While this pastor had enough knowledge to have a very good commentary, he said this if should not be there because the minute we accept Him, we are all in Him. But, this pastor was half right. While he loved God but, there are certain things we cannot know the depth or the meaning of them unless the Spirit reveals them to us. While most Christians fight those “if” we have in the Bible, but they are all there for good reasons. This pastor was half right because the first time, I experienced what it meant to be “in Christ” it was so awesome. After the height of the experience had subsided I remember having a conversation with the Holy Spirit about it. This is what I take away. If we truly accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour through an encounter with Him, of course we are in Him.

 I have seen so called Christians making excuses for their stubbornness, hard heart, dull conscience, and the fact that they are incapable of changing after decades of calling themselves Christians. They do not think there is anything wrong with this type of mindset. In fact one of them whom I was forced to talk to because the Holy Spirit made me told me “I know I am a sinner and I am not perfect, but I know my father loves me and His grace will take me to Heaven.” I was shocked because this person has been claiming to be a Christian for about six decades. It is okay to hear someone who just received Christ utter those words because you know they are a work in progress and in due time the Holy Spirit will enlighten them. But when you hear those words coming out of people who only have a few years to live out on this earth, while they have claimed to be Christians all their lives, then you know they have been duped and defeated by Satan. You know Christianity has never been made real to them. Christians with this frame of mind and such defeated attitude have no idea what it means to be a child of God. As Children of God, there are certain expectations from us. (See 1John 3:2-3) these types of Christians are amongst those that Paul calls swindler and idolaters. They idolize themselves, they are fraudster when it comes to Christianity and they slander God’s name.

One of the beauties of growing spiritually while being taught by Him is the reality of each single word in the Bible is there for a reason. God did not say words like we find in Romans 8:16-17 to fill up blank spaces. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…”  

I found even with the gift of discernment most of the time God shows us people whom He wants us to pray for. (By the way, there is a very good explanation of the gift of discernment by Oswald Chambers from March 31 devotion, take time to read it if you can.) The rest of the time, He is telling us that it is not our business or He blocks us for reasons we might not know. 2 kings 4:27 “…..“Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” So, the apostles and the prophets knew it very well that there are things that God simply do not tell us. If you take a closer  look at 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Paul said to us: “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

Please note that Paul’s exhortation was not just for sexually immoral Christians. It is equally important what Paul mentioned about the offender in verse 5: “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” He did not mention his soul and body. These are sombre words that we cannot afford to close our eyes and act as if we do not say them outloud they will go away. We are not to take anyone’s explanation on these words just because they make us feel better or that they are more acceptable. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to decipher those warnings because they concern our own souls. Paul could have easily said here, hand the man over to Satan because the way he is behaving is not conducive to someone who is in Christ or a child of God. Why Paul would make such a drastic statement about the man to be given back to Satan? Read what he said in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” So, in other words Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 5:9, anyone with a heart bent on practicing sin does not have his identity in Him. Any man who has never experienced a change of heart or cannot live out this Christian life as one “in Christ” has a bigger problem to deal with.

So, Paul knew very well, if indeed this man was in Christ, eventually through God’s grace he would find his way back in Him. But, if he could not find his way back to live as a child of God like we are told in 1John 3:2-3, then one must assume this so called Christian has a major problem or God is a big liar and Salvation has no power and His Word is meaningless. Granted God did not show me the full spectrum of the implications of living this life in Him. But, as I studied at His feet He taught me this word “if” is there for good reasons and we are wise to pay attention. What I studied with Him, at His feet, I have no interest in conferring with flesh and blood to find another meaning to suit someone else’s explanations just because of their earthly titles.

As I experienced what it means to be in Him, He taught me I can reap the full benefits of being in Him now because I have a different attitude and a different frame of mind. This reference He made about my new life found in Him, I knew exactly what He meant. I stopped fighting the Christian life, and I stopped trying to do it on my own. I had voluntarily made the decision to surrender to the Holy Spirit works in me. I had made the decision that He was going to become my life. I yielded to the Word of God and I felt the need to bring harmony between what I have been reading in the Bible and my life because I was yearning to let Him become all that there is of me. I reasoned to myself and I knew if I believe His word is true, then I must act like it, I must change my way and live according to what is true to the faith I claimed that I possessed. I wanted to understand from the depth of my heart what makes someone like Paul said: for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” because it was not enough for me to just repeat it like parrots. That was the frame of mind He was referring to.

From what I experienced, the only way I can explain in my own words what this frame of mind He was referring to meant, is that my new attitude toward my Christianity acted like an agent if you will, to activate what was seemed to be “dormant” or perhaps neglected or ignored. It was like I finally took the steps needed to take possession of my inheritance in Him.

This is the beauty of true Salvation, it brings with it everything else that we insist on separating from Salvation, to make us feel better and live this life in defeat. True Salvation brings with it a need to become his true followers, a need to grow spiritually, to be found in Him, to be pure of heart so that we can see Him right here on earth, and all those other things that Salvation brings into our hearts are all part of His continuous grace working in and through us to continue the good work that He started in us. If you claim to have received Salvation, then where is the aftereffect that brings all those good things with it?

The Heavenly Sanctuary - Celebrating Easter

The Heavenly Sanctuary

Hebrews 9:11-15

 

Empty tomb - courtesy of http://www.squidoo.com/easter2

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

I find the King James Version of Hebrews 9 so beautifully crafted. So my quote above is directly from the King James Version. Christ death was necessary to redeem us from the dominion of darkness. But today we can rejoice because He is seated at the right hand of the Father as our high priest of the good things to come.

I just want to shout it out to all who can hear “don’t look for Him in the tomb, He is risen.” What’s beautiful about Easter is that while He is in heaven as our high priest interceding for us, He is also equally right here on earth with us. He is equally right here in our heart. Not part of Him but to each one of who wants Him, we possess Christ in His fullness. Do you understand the beauty of walking inside of Christ? He could not be nearer to us. Yet, I have to admit it, while I myself know too well what it means to see myself inside of Him with all the protection and authority that comes with being in Christ, sometimes life gets the best of me, and I forget to live out the beauty, the power and security I have in Him.

http://www.kidsinco.com/2009/04/empty-tomb/

So this year, let’s not celebrate Easter and put it away for next year. Let’s remember for us Christians, Easter is every day as we make Christ our living God and living hope. May our lives reflect the beauty, the passion, and the truth of the empty grave. 

The Doctrine of Repentance - Part 9

By Thomas Watson, 1668

 The Nature of true repentance

Ingredient 5. HATRED of Sin

The fifth ingredient in repentance is hatred of sin. The Schoolmen distinguished a two-fold hatred: hatred of abominations, and hatred of enmity.

Firstly, there is a hatred or loathing of ABOMINATIONS: "Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices!" (Ezek. 36:31). A true penitent is a sin-loather. If a man loathes that which makes his stomach sick, much more will he loathe that which makes his soul sick! It is greater to loathe sin—than to leave it. One may leave sin for fear, as in a storm the jewels are cast overboard—but the nauseating and loathing of sin argues a detestation of it. Christ is never loved—until sin is loathed. Heaven is never longed for—until sin is loathed. When the soul sees its filthiness, he cries out, "Lord, when shall I be freed from this body of death! 

When shall I put off these filthy garments of sin—and be arrayed in the robe of Your perfect righteousness! Let all my self-love be turned into self-loathing!" (Zech. 3:4-5). We are never more precious in God's eyes—than when we are lepers in our own eyes!

Secondly, there is a hatred of ENMITY. There is no better way to discover life—than by motion. The eye moves, the pulse beats. So to discover repentance there is no better sign than by a holy antipathy against sin. Sound repentance begins in love to God—and ends in the hatred of sin. How may true hatred of sin be known?

1. When a man's HEART is set against sin.

Not only does the tongue protest against sin—but the heart abhors it. However lovely sin is painted—we find it odious—just as we abhor the picture of one whom we mortally hate, even though it may be well drawn. Suppose a dish be finely cooked and the sauce good—yet if a man has an antipathy against the meat—he will not eat it. So let the devil cook and dress sin with pleasure and profit—yet a true penitent has a secret abhorrence of it, is disgusted by it, and will not meddle with it.

2. True hatred of sin is UNIVERSAL.

True hatred of sin is universal in two ways: in respect of the faculties, and of the object.

(1) Hatred is universal in respect of the faculties. That is, there is a dislike of sin not only in the judgment—but in the will and affections. Many a one is convinced that sin is a vile thing, and in his judgment has an aversion to it—yet he tastes sweetness in it—and has a secret delight in it. Here is a disliking of sin in the judgment and an embracing of it in the affections! Whereas in true repentance, the hatred of sin is in all the faculties, not only in the intellectual part—but chiefly in the will: "I do the very thing I hate!" (Romans 7:15). Paul was not free from sin—yet his will was against it.

(2) Hatred is universal in respect of the object. He who truly hates one sin—hates all sins. He who hates a serpent—hates all serpents. "I hate every false way!" (Psalm 119:104). Hypocrites will hate some sins which mar their credit. But a true convert hates all sins—gainful sins, complexion sins, the very stirrings of corruption. Paul hated the motions of sin within him (Romans 7:23).

3. True hatred against sin is against sin in all forms.

A holy heart detests sin for its intrinsic pollution. Sin leaves a stain upon the soul. A regenerate person abhors sin not only for the curse—but for the contagion. He hates this serpent not only for its sting but for its poison. He hates sin not only for hell—but as hell.

4. True hatred is IMPLACABLE.

It will never be reconciled to sin any more. Anger may be reconciled—but hatred cannot. Sin is that Amalek which is never to be taken into favor again. The war between a child of God and sin is like the war between those two princes: "there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days" (1 Kings 14:30).

5. Where there is a real hatred, we not only oppose sin in ourselves but in OTHERS too. The church at Ephesus could not bear with those who were evil (Rev. 2:2). Paul sharply censured Peter for his deception, although he was an apostle. Christ in a holy anger, whipped the money-changers out of the temple (John 2:15). He would not allow the temple to be made an exchange. Nehemiah rebuked the nobles for their usury (Neh. 5:7) and their Sabbath profanation (Neb. 13:17).

A sin-hater will not endure wickedness in his family: "He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house" (Psalm 101:7). What a shame it is when magistrates can show height of spirit in their passions—but no heroic spirit in suppressing vice.

Those who have no antipathy against sin, are strangers to repentance. Sin is in them—as poison in a serpent, which, being natural to it, affords delight. How far are they from repentance who, instead of hating sin, love sin! To the godly—sin is as a thorn in the eye; to the wicked sin is as a crown on the head! "They actually rejoice in doing evil!" (Jer. 11:15).

Loving of sin is worse than committing it. A good man may run into a sinful action unawares—but to love sin is desperate. What is it, which makes a swine love to tumble in the mire? Its love of filth. To love sin shows that the will is in sin, and the more of the will there is in a sin, the greater the sin. Wilfulness makes it a sin not to be purged by sacrifice (Heb. 10:26). O how many there are—who love the forbidden fruit! They love their oaths and adulteries; they love the sin and hate the reproof. Solomon speaks of a generation of men: "madness is in their heart while they live" (Eccles. 9:3). So for men to love sin, to hug that which will be their death, to sport with damnation, "madness is in their heart". It persuades us to show our repentance, by a bitter hatred of sin. There is a deadly antipathy between the scorpion and the crocodile; such should there be between the heart and sin.

Good Friday Quotes

Jesus died praying. His last words were words of prayer. The habit of life was strong in death. It may seem far off; but this event will come to us also. What will our last words be? Who can tell? But would it not be beautiful if our spirit were so steeped in the habit of prayer that the language of prayer came naturally to us at the last?

James Stalker

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Mark 14:36 He said,"Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want."
Gethsemane is where He died; the cross is only the evidence.

Leonard Ravenhill

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And in the article of death, as He saw the last fold of the grand design unrolled, He passed out of the world with the cry on His lips, "It is finished!" He uttered this cry as a soldier might do on the battlefield, who perceives, with the last effort of consciousness, that the struggle in which he has sacrificed his life has been a splendid victory. But the triumph and the reward of His work never come to an end; for still, as the results of what He did unfold themselves age after age, as His words sink deeper into the minds of men, as His influence changes the face of the world, and as heaven fills with those whom He has redeemed, "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied."

James Stalker

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No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.

William Penn

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Good Friday is the mirror held up by Jesus so that we can see ourselves in all our stark reality, and then it turns us to that cross and to his eyes and we hear these words, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." That's us! And so we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We see in that cross a love so amazing so divine that it loves us even when we turn away from it, or spurn it, or crucify it. There is no faith in Jesus without understanding that on the cross we see into the heart of God and find it filled with mercy for the sinner whoever he or she may be.

Robert G. Trache

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Does God really love us? I say look to the crucified Jesus. Look to the old rugged cross. By every thorn that punctured His brow. By every mark of the back lacerating scourge. By every hair of his beard plucked from his cheeks by cruel fingers. By every bruise which heavy fists made upon His head. God said, "I love you!" By all the spit that landed on his face. By every drop of sinless blood that fell to the ground. By every breath of pain which Jesus drew upon the cross. By every beat of His loving heart. God said, I love you.

Billy Lobbs

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Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better - His PEACE!

Matthew Henry

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God led Jesus to a cross, not a crown, and yet that cross ultimately proved to be the gateway to freedom and forgiveness for every sinner in the world. God also asks us as Jesus' followers to carry a cross. Paradoxically, in carrying that cross, we find liberty and joy and fulfillment.

Bill Hybels
Willow Creek Community Church

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We take our stand at the cross and consent to be nailed to it, voluntarily, actually; to submit to the pain whereby the flesh dies; the hands are pierced that carnal work may no longer be done in the energy of the flesh; the feet are pierced that no longer we may walk according to the flesh; the brow is pierced with the thorn crown that our head may not any longer be held up for human diadems and fading laurel wreaths; the side is pierced that the heart may relinquish its fleshly energy and preference, and be occupied with God.

Arthur Tappan (A. T.) Pierson

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Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.

Watchman Nee

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Christ is the Son of God. He died to atone for men's sin, and after three days rose again. This is the most important fact in the universe. I die believing in Christ. - Note found under his pillow, in prison, at his death.

Watchman Nee

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As out of Jesus' affliction came a new sense of God's love and a new basis for love between men, so out of our affliction we may grasp the splendor of God's love and how to love one another. Thus the consummation of the two commandments was on Golgotha; and the Cross is, at once, their image and their fulfillment.

Malcolm Muggeridge

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The Christian community is a community of the cross, for it has been brought into being by the cross, and the focus of its worship is the Lamb once slain, now glorified. So the community of the cross is a community of celebration, a eucharistic community, ceaselessly offering to God through Christ the sacrifice of our praise and thanksgiving. The Christian life is an unending festival. And the festival we keep, now that our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us, is a joyful celebration of his sacrifice, together with a spiritual feasting upon it.

John R. W. Stott

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This Word played life against death and death against life in tournament on the wood of the most holy cross, so that by his death he destroyed our death, and to give us life he spent his own bodily life. With love, then, he has so drawn us and with his kindness so conquered our malice that every heart should be won over.

Catherine of Siena

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Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love; but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him? In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season. O thou poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's face, but art now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken thee. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the lustre of His grace; but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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Jesus defeated Satan in Gethsemane on the cross, not by directly confronting the devil, but by fulfilling the destiny to which He had been called. The greatest battle that was ever won was accomplished by the apparent death of the victor, without even a word of rebuke to His adversary!

Francis Frangipane

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The God on whom we rely knows what suffering is all about, not merely in the way that God knows everything, but by experience. In the darkest night of the soul Christians have something to hold onto that Job never knew. We know Christ crucified. Christians have learned that when there seems to be no other evidence of God's love, they cannot escape the cross. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"(Rom. 8:32) … When we suffer, there will sometimes be mystery. Will there also be faith? Yes, if our attention is focused more on the cross, and on the God of the cross, than on the suffering itself.

D. A. Carson 

From: http://dailychristianquote.com

The Doctrine of Repentance – Part 8

I apologize for the length of this study. It turns out that I still have what seems to be three more post to go before I can finish it.  I think this study is necessary to go through because when we allow God to deal with our soul and bring us to the place where we are holy, every word of this study will make sense to your soul. What is astonishing is the way He views even the tiniest sin and you are astonish by the way you start viewing sin too. It is beautiful, because you know there is no way on your own you would ever see sin in this manner. You also realize how far you have come. So please this week is a week of repentance, a week to truly examine what His cross truly means to us.

It is a reminder for us true Christians to see how lucky we are to have been embraced by His grace and found redemption in Him. God does not care about our empty rituals, lip service, empty hearts, and our empty practices as a remembrance for His voluntary death on the cross for us.  He cares about our repentant hearts. Not just agreeing with Him, while agreeing with Him over our sins is good we need to take it deeper. He does care about what our faith amount to.

If you have been a Christian over a few decades and you find this repentance study a little bit annoying, then it simply means you are missing a major component in what you call Salvation. Instead of getting upset or dismiss the study, tomorrow to commemorate the anniversary of His death for you and me so that we might have life in abundance, you might want to adopt a different approach, a different attitude and this time go to Him with a repentant heart for the limit you have put on Salvation, for your stubborn heart and your wilful ignorance.  Search your heart my dear friend, do not let Satan influence your thinking process anymore and go forward in claiming your LIFE in Him.

When Salvation has touched your soul, you find this is truly a day of thanksgiving for the true Christian. When I was not a practicing Christian and I did not understand what Salvation meant according to His standards, I used to cry and feel sad because they killed Him. Now that Salvation has reached my soul, I know I do not need to cry because of His pain on the cross because it did not happen to Him. But I cry with a heavy heart because I am happy I died with Him. His voluntary death for me is a good thing. I cry with a heavy heart because I know how much I do not deserve Him. I cry with a heavy heart because of the depth of His love for humanity who does not even deserve Him. I cry with a heavy heart because I am still in awe that such a sinner like me can find so much grace in such a Holy God. – The only response to all that, is to give Him our all in return because He deserves it.

May this Easter weekend is truly the week-end where your heart embraces His sacrifice with no reserve and truly repents for your friendship with sin.

With all my love,

MJ Andre

By Thomas Watson, 1668

The Nature of true repentance

(7) In every sin there is folly ( Jer. 4:22). A man will be ashamed of his folly. Is not he a fool who labors more for the bread which perishes—than for the bread of life! Is not he a fool who for a lust or a trifle—will lose heaven! They are like Tiberius, who for a drink of water forfeited his kingdom? Is not he a fool who, to safeguard his body, will injure his soul? As if one should let his head be cut, to save his shirt! Is not he a fool who will believe a temptation of Satan—before a promise of God? Is not he a fool who minds his recreation more than his salvation? How may this make men ashamed—to think that they inherit not land—but folly (Proverbs 14:18).

(8) That which may make us blush, is that the sins we commit are far worse than the sins of the heathen. We act against more light. To us have been committed the oracles of God. The sin committed by a Christian is worse than the same sin committed by a heathen, because the Christian sins against clearer conviction, which is like weight put into the scale, which makes it weigh heavier.

(9) Our sins are worse than the sins of the devils. The fallen angels never sinned against Christ's blood. Christ did not die for them. The medicine of his merit was never intended to heal them. But we have affronted his blood by unbelief. The devils never sinned against God's patience. As soon as they apostatized, they were damned. God never waited for the angels—but we have spent upon the stock of God's patience. He has pitied our weakness, borne with our rebelliousness. His Spirit has been repulsed—yet has still importuned us and will take no denial. Our conduct has been so provoking as to have tired not only the patience of a Job, but of all the angels. The devils never sinned against example. They were the first that sinned and were made the first example. We have seen the angels, those morning stars, fall from their glorious orb; we have seen the old world drowned, Sodom burned—yet have ventured upon sin. How desperate is that thief who robs in the very place where his fellow hangs in chains. And surely, if we have out-sinned the devils, it may well put us to the blush.

Use 1. Is shame an ingredient of repentance? If so, how far are they from being penitents who have no shame? Many have sinned away shame: "the wicked know no shame" (Zeph. 3:5). It is a great shame not to be ashamed. The Lord sets it as a brand upon the Jews: "Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush!" (Jer. 6:15). The devil has stolen shame from men. When one of the persecutors in Queen Mary's time was upbraided for murdering the martyrs, he replied, "I see nothing to be ashamed of!" When men have hearts of stone and foreheads of brass—it is a sign that the devil has taken full possession of them.

There is no creature capable of shame but man. The brute beasts are capable of fear and pain—but not of shame. You cannot make a beast blush. Those who cannot blush for sin, do too much resemble the beasts. There are some so far from this holy blushing that they are proud of their sins. They are so far from being ashamed of sin, that they glory in their sins: "whose glory is in their shame" (Phil. 3:19). Some are ashamed of that which is their glory: they are ashamed to be seen with a good book in their hand. Others glory in that which is their shame: they look on sin as a piece of gallantry. The swearer thinks his speech most graceful when it is interlarded with oaths. The drunkard counts it a glory that he is mighty to drink (Isaiah 5:22). But when men shall be cast into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter by the breath of the Almighty—then let them boast of sin!

Use 2. Let us show our penitence by a modest blushing: "O my God, I blush to lift up my face" (Ezra 9:6). "My God"—there was faith; "I blush"—there was repentance. Hypocrites will confidently avouch God to be their God—but they know not how to blush. O let us take holy shame to ourselves for sin. Be assured, the more we are ashamed of sin now—the less we shall be ashamed at Christ's coming. If the sins of the godly are mentioned at the day of judgment, it will not be to shame them—but to magnify the riches of God's grace in pardoning them. Indeed, the wicked shall be ashamed at the last day. They shall sneak and hang down their heads—but the saints shall then be as without spot (Eph. 5:27), so without shame; therefore they are bid to lift up their heads (Luke 21:28). 

The Doctrine Of Repentance - Part 7

By Thomas Watson, 1668

 

The Nature of true repentance

Ingredient 4. SHAME for Sin

The fourth ingredient in repentance is shame: "that they may be ashamed of their iniquities" (Ezek. 43:10). Blushing is the color of virtue. When the heart has been made black with sin, grace makes the face red with blushing: "I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face" (Ezra 9:6). The repenting prodigal was so ashamed of his sinfulness, that he thought himself not worthy to be called a son any more (Luke 15:21). Repentance causes a holy bashfulness. If Christ's blood were not at the sinner's heart, there would not so much blood come in the face. There are nine considerations about sin which may cause shame:

(1) Every sin makes us guilty, and guilt usually breeds shame. Adam never blushed in the time of innocency. While he kept the whiteness of the lily, he had not the blushing of the rose. But when he had deflowered his soul by sin—then he was ashamed. Sin has tainted our blood. We are guilty of high treason against the Crown of heaven. This may cause a holy modesty and blushing.

(2) In every sin there is much unthankfulness, and that is a matter of shame. He who is upbraided with ingratitude will blush. We have sinned against God when he has given us no cause: "What iniquity have your fathers found in me?" (Jer. 2:5). Wherein has God wearied us, unless his mercies have wearied us? Oh the silver drops which have fallen on us! We have had the finest of the wheat; we have been fed with angels' food. The golden oil of divine blessing has run down on us from the head of our heavenly Aaron. And to abuse the kindness of so good a God—how may this make us ashamed!

Julius Caesar took it unkindly at the hands of Brutus, on whom he had bestowed so many favors, when he came to stab him: "What, you, my son Brutus?" O ungrateful—to be theworse for mercy! One reports of the vulture, that it draws sickness from perfumes. To contract the disease of pride and luxury, from the perfume of God's mercy—how unworthy is that! It is to requite evil for good, to kick against our feeder, "He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape. Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation" (Deut. 32:13-15). This is to make an arrow of God's mercies—and shoot at him! This is to wound him with his own blessing! O horrid ingratitude! Will not this dye our faces a deep scarlet? Unthankfulness is a sin so great, that God himself stands amazed at it: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: I have nourished and brought up children—and they have rebelled against me!" (Isaiah 1:2).

(3) Sin has made us naked, and that may breed shame. Sin has stripped us of our white linen of holiness. It has made us naked and deformed in God's eye—which may cause blushing. When Hanun had abused David's servants and cut off their garments so that their nakedness appeared, the text says, "the men were greatly ashamed" (2 Sam. 10:5).

(4) Our sins have put Christ to shame, and should not we be ashamed? The Jews arrayed him in purple; they put a reed in his hand, spit in his face, and in his greatest agonies reviled him. Here was "the shame of the cross". And that which aggravated the shame, was to consider the eminency of his person—as he was the Lamb of God. Did our sins putChrist to shame—and shall they not put us to shame? Did he wear the purple—and shall not our cheeks wear crimson? Who can behold the sun as it were blushing at Christ's passion, and hiding itself in an eclipse—and his face not blush?

(5) Many sins which we commit are by the special instigation of the devil—and should not this cause shame? The devil put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ (John 13:2). He filled Ananias' heart to lie (Acts 5:3). He often stirs up our passions (James 3:6). Now, as it is a shame to bring forth a child illegitimately, so too is it to bring forth such sins as may call the devil father. It is said that the virgin Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)—but we often conceive by the power of Satan. When the heart conceives pride, lust, and malice—it is very often by the power of the devil. May not this make us ashamed to think that many of our sins are committed in copulation with the old serpent?

(6) Sin turns men into beasts (2 Peter 2:12), and is not that matter for shame? Sinners are compared to foxes (Luke 13:32), to wolves (Matt. 7:15), to donkeys (Job 28 11:12), to swine (2 Pet. 2:22). A sinner is a swine with a man's head. He who was once little less than the angels in dignity—has now become like the beasts. Grace in this life does not wholly obliterate this brutish temper. Agur, that good man, cried out, "surely I am more brutish than any!" (Proverbs 30:2). But common sinners are in a manner wholly brutified; they do not act rationally, but are carried away by the violence of their lusts and passions. How may this make us ashamed, who are thus degenerated below our own species? Our sins have taken away that noble, holy spirit which once we had. The crown has fallen from our head. God's image is defaced, reason is eclipsed, conscience stupified! We have more in us of the brute, than of the angel.