The Treasury of David - PSALM 23 - Charles Spurgeon

For My New Year’s Resolution!

Father God, give us clean hands and pure hearts and teach us not to cherish sin in our hearts, teach us how to listen with the heart and to learn obedience to you my Lord at any cost and by any road.

 To find out why this short prayer, read January 1 post)

Verse 1. "The Lord is my shepherd." What condescension is this, that the infinite Lord assumes towards his people the office and character of a Shepherd! It should be the subject of grateful admiration that the great God allows himself to be compared to anything which will set forth his great love and care for his own people. David had himself been a keeper of sheep, and understood both the needs of the sheep and the many cares of a shepherd. He compares himself to a weak, defenseless, and foolish creature, and he takes God to be his Provider, Preserver, Director, and, indeed, his everything. No man has a right to consider himself the Lord's sheep unless his nature has been renewed; for the scriptural description of unconverted men does not picture them as sheep, but as wolves or goats. A sheep is an object of property, not a wild animal; its owner sets great store by it, and frequently it is bought with a great price. It is well to know, as certainly David did, that we belong to the Lord. There is a noble tone of confidence about this sentence. There is no "if" nor "but," nor even "I hope so;" but he says, "The Lord is my shepherd." We must cultivate the spirit of assured dependence upon our heavenly Father.

The sweetest word of the whole verse, is that monosyllable, "My." He does not say, "The Lord is the shepherd of the world at large, and leads forth the multitude as his flock," but "The Lord is my shepherd;" if he be a Shepherd to no one else, he is a Shepherd to me; he cares for me, watches over me, and preserves me. The words are in the present tense. Whatever be the believer's position, he is even now under the pastoral care of Jehovah.
 

The next words are a sort of inference from the first statement—they are weighty and positive—"I shall not lack." I might lack otherwise, but when the Lord is my Shepherd he is able to supply my needs, and he is certainly willing to do so--for his heart is full of love, and therefore "I shall not lack." I shall not lack for TEMPORAL things. Does he not feed the ravens, and cause the lilies to grow? How, then, can he leave his children to starve? I shall not lack my SPIRITUAL needs, I know that his grace will be sufficient for me. Resting in him he will say to me, "As your day so shall your strength be." I may not possess all that I wish for, but I shall not lack any truly good thing. Others, far wealthier and wiser than I, may lack, but "I shall not." "The young lions lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing." It is not only "I do not lack," but "I shall not lack." Come what may, if famine should devastate the land, or calamity destroy the city, "I shall not lack." Old age with its feebleness shall not bring me any lack, and even death with its gloom shall not find me destitute. I have all things and abound; not because I have a good store of money in the bank, not because I have skill and wit with which to earn my bread, but because "The Lord is my shepherd." The wicked always lack, but the righteous never. A lost sinner's heart is far from satisfaction, but a gracious spirit dwells in the palace of contentment.

Verse 2. "He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters." The Christian life has two elements in it, the contemplative and the active, and both of these are richly provided for. First, the CONTEMPLATIVE. "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." What are these "green pastures" but the Scriptures of truth—always fresh, always rich, and never exhausted? There is no fear of biting the bare ground--where the grass is long enough for the flock to lie down in it. Sweet and full are the doctrines of the gospel; fit food for souls, as tender grass is natural nutriment for sheep. When by faith we are enabled to find rest in the promises, we are like the sheep that lie down in the midst of the pasture; we find at the same moment both provisions and peace, rest and refreshment, serenity and satisfaction.

But observe, "He makes me to lie down." It is the Lord who graciously enables us to perceive the preciousness of his truth, and to feed upon it. How grateful ought we to be for the power to appropriate the promises! There are some distracted souls who would give worlds if they could but do this. They know the blessedness of it, but they cannot say that this blessedness is theirs. They know the "green pastures," but they are not made to "lie down" in them. Those believers who have for years enjoyed a "full assurance of faith" should greatly bless their gracious God.
 

The second part of a vigorous Christian's life consists in GRACIOUS ACTIVITY. We not only think, but we act. We are not always lying down to feed, but are journeying onward toward perfection; hence we read, "he leads me beside the still waters." What are these "still waters" but the influences and graces of his blessed Spirit? His Spirit attends us in various operations, like waters—in the plural—to cleanse, to refresh, to fertilize, to cherish. They are "still waters," for the Holy Spirit loves peace, and sounds no 'trumpet of ostentation' in his operations. He may flow into our soul, but not into our neighbor's; and therefore our neighbor may not perceive the divine presence; and though the blessed Spirit may be pouring his floods into one heart, yet he who sits next to the favored one may know nothing of it.

Still waters run deep. Nothing more noisy than an empty drum. That silence is golden indeed, in which the Holy Spirit meets with the souls of his saints. Not to raging waves of strife, but to peaceful streams of holy love does the Spirit of God conduct the chosen sheep. He is a dove, not an eagle. He is the dew, not the hurricane. Our Lord leads us beside these "still waters"--we could not go there of ourselves, we need his guidance, therefore it is said, "he leads me." He does not drive us. Moses drives us by the law, but Jesus leads us by his example, and the gentle drawing of his love.

Verse 3. "He restores my soul." When the soul grows sorrowful, our Shepherd revives it. When the soul is sinful, he sanctifies it. When the soul is weak, he strengthens it. "He" does it. His ministers could not do it--if our Shepherd did not. His Word would not avail by itself. "He restores my soul." Are any of us low in grace? Do we feel that our spirituality is at its lowest ebb? He who turns the ebb into the flood can soon restore our soul. Pray to him, then, for the blessing—"Restore me, O Shepherd of my soul!"
 

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." The Christian delights to be obedient, but it is the obedience of love, to which he is constrained by the example of his Master. "He leads me." The Christian is not obedient to some commandments and neglectful of others. He does not pick and choose--but yields to all. Observe, that the plural is used—"the paths of righteousness." Whatever God may give us to do--we would do it, led by his love. Some Christians overlook the blessing of sanctification, and yet to a thoroughly renewed heart this is one of the sweetest gifts of the covenant. If we could be saved from wrath, and yet remain impenitent sinners--we would not be saved as we desire. For we mainly and chiefly pant to be saved from sin and led in the way of holiness. All this is done out of pure free grace--"for his name's sake." It is to the honor of our great Shepherd that we should be a holy people, walking in the narrow way of righteousness. If we be so led and guided we must not fail to adore our heavenly Shepherd's care.

Verse 4. "Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me." This unspeakably delightful verse has been sung on many a dying bed, and has helped to make the dark valley bright. Every word in it has a wealth of meaning. "Yes, though I walk," as if the believer did not quicken his pace when he came to die, but still calmly walked with God. To walk indicates the steady advance of a soul which knows its road, knows its end, resolves to follow the path, feels quite safe, and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. The dying saint is not in a flurry, he does not run as though he were alarmed, nor stand still as though he would go no further. He is not confounded nor ashamed, and therefore keeps to his old pace. Observe that it is not walking in the valley, but through the valley. We go through the dark tunnel of death and emerge into the light of immortality! We do not die, we do but sleep--to wake in glory! Death is not the house--but the porch! Death is not our final resting place--but the passage to it.

The dying place is called a valley. The storm breaks on the mountain, but the valley is the place of quietude, and thus full often the last days of the Christian are the most peaceful of his whole life. The mountain is bleak and bare, but the valley is rich with golden sheaves, and many a saint has reaped more joy and knowledge when he came to die, than he ever knew while he lived.

And, then, it is not "the valley of death," but "the valley of the shadow of death," for death in its substance has been removed, and only the shadow of it remains. Someone has said that when there is a shadow there must be light somewhere, and so there is. Death stands by the side of the highway in which we have to travel, and the light of heaven shining upon him throws a shadow across our path; let us then rejoice that there is a light beyond. Nobody is afraid of a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop a man's pathway even for a moment. The shadow of a dog cannot bite; the shadow of a sword cannot kill; the shadow of death cannot destroy us. Let us not, therefore, be afraid.

"I will fear no evil." He does not say there shall not be any evil; he had got beyond even that high assurance, and knew that Jesus had put all evil away; but "I will fear no evil;" as if even his fears, those shadows of evil, were gone for ever. The worst evils of life are those which do not exist--except in our imagination. If we had no troubles but real troubles, we would not have a tenth part of our present sorrows. We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one, but the psalmist was cured of the disease of fearing. "I will fear no evil," not even the Evil One himself! I will not dread the last enemy--death! I will look upon him as a conquered foe, an enemy to be destroyed.

"For you are with me." This is the joy of the Christian! "You are with me." The little child out at sea in the storm is not frightened like all the other passengers on board the vessel, it sleeps in its mother's bosom; it is enough for it that its mother is with it. And it should be enough for the believer to know that Christ is with him. "You are with me! I have, in having you, all that I can need and desire. I have perfect comfort and absolute security--for you are with me!"

"Your rod and your staff," by which you govern and rule your flock, the emblems of your sovereignty and of your gracious care—"they comfort me." I will believe that you reign still. The rod of Jesse shall still be over me as the sovereign support of my soul.
 

Many people profess to receive much comfort from the hope that they shall not die. Certainly there will be some who will be "alive and remain" at the coming of the Lord. But is there so very much of advantage in such an 'escape from death' as to make it the object of Christian desire? A wise man might prefer of the two--to die; for those who shall not die, but who "shall be caught up together with the Lord in the air," will be losers rather than gainers. They will lose that actual fellowship with Christ in the tomb which dying saints will have, and we are expressly told that they shall have no preference beyond those who are asleep. Let us be of Paul's mind when he said that "To die is gain," and think of "departing to be with Christ, which is far better." This twenty-third psalm is not worn out--it is as sweet in a believer's ear now as it was in David's time, let novelty-hunters say what they will.

Verse 5. "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." The godly man has his enemies. He would not be like his Lord if he had not. If we were without enemies we might fear that we were not the friends of God, for the friendship of the world is enmity to God. Yet see the quietude of the godly man in spite of, and in the sight of, his enemies. How refreshing is his calm bravery! "You prepare a table before me." When a soldier is in the presence of his enemies, if he eats at all--he snatches a hasty meal, and away he hastens to the fight. But observe, "You prepare a table," just as a servant does when she unfolds the fancy tablecloth and displays the ornaments of the feast on a festive occasion. Nothing is hurried, there is no confusion, no disturbance, the enemy is at the door, and yet God prepares a table, and the Christian sits down and eats as if everything were in perfect peace. Oh! the peace which Jehovah gives to his people, even in the midst of the most trying circumstances!

"Let earth be all in arms abroad,
They dwell in perfect peace."

"You anoint my head with OIL." May we live in the daily enjoyment of this blessing, receiving a fresh anointing for every day's duties. Every Christian is a priest, but he cannot execute the priestly office without unction, and hence we must go day by day to God the Holy Spirit, that we may have our heads anointed with oil. A priest without the anointing oil misses the chief qualification for his office; and the Christian priest lacks his chief fitness for service when he is devoid of new grace from on high.

"My cup runs over." He had not only enough--a cup full; but more than enough--a cup which overflowed. A poor believer may say this as well as those in richer circumstances. "What, all this--and Jesus Christ too!" said a poor cottager as she broke a piece of bread and filled a glass with cold water. Whereas a man may be ever so wealthy, but if he is discontented--his cup cannot run over--it is cracked and leaks. 'Contentment' is the philosopher's magic stone--which turns all it touches into gold! Happy is he who has found it. Contentment is more than a kingdom--it is another word for happiness!

Verse 6. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." This is a fact as indisputable as it is encouraging; and therefore a heavenly "surely" is set as a seal upon it. This sentence may be read, "only goodness and mercy," for there shall be unmingled mercy in our life history. These twin guardian angels--goodness and mercy--will always be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad they must not go unattended, so it is with the believer. Goodness and mercy follow him always—"all the days of his life"—the black days as well as the bright days; the days of fasting as well as the days of feasting; the dreary days of winter as well as the bright days of summer. GOODNESS supplies our needs; and MERCY blots out our sins!

"And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." "A servant abides not in the house for ever; but the son abides forever." While I am here on this earth, I will be a child at home with my God. The whole world shall be his house to me! And when I ascend into the 'upper chamber', I shall not change my company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper storey of the house of the Lord forever!
 

May God grant us grace to dwell in the serene atmosphere of this most blessed Psalm!

The Sin Sick Soul And The Great Physician

For My New Year’s Resolution!

Father God, I thank you that you are a faithful Father, even when I am unfaithful to You.  Teach me how to remain humble at your feet and live my life as a living sacrifice, daily surrender to you. Teach me how to live out this awesome and holy life that you call me to. Teach me how to acquire the very same disposition Christ exhibited toward you my Lord. Teach me how to embrace you in all that you are and teach me how to love you daily.

 To find out why this short prayer, read January 1 post)

 

  This post below is an excerpt from the new uploaded Kindle 

“The Sin Sick Soul And The Great Physician”  by J. C. Philpot 

 

 Download the FREE  Kindle  HERE 

Again, on another occasion John 8:3, we read, that "the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman caught in adultery;" and they tried to entangle Him by enquiring what was to be done with her. "Master," paying Him all due respect, said they, "Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned; but what do you say?" Here was a dilemma they thought to place the Lord in. Suppose He had said, "The woman ought to be stoned;" then they would have accused Him before the Roman governor of setting up the Jewish in opposition to the Roman law; the power of life and death being in the hands of the Roman governor only. And if He had said, "She ought not to be stoned;" they would have directly asked Him, "How could this be consistent with the law given by Moses?" But how wisely He met this difficulty, and took "the wise in their own craftiness," by saying, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." John 8:7 By thus appealing to their natural consciences, He caught them in their own net, and overwhelmed them with confusion.

Our text, and the verses connected with it, afford another instance of the same nature. "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at dinner in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why does your Master eat with publicans and sinners?" These self-righteous Pharisees were always on the watch to find, if possible, something to condemn the Lord with. And here they professed their pious astonishment, that so holy a man as He claimed to be, could associate with such vile, ungodly wretches. "For do we not judge," they would insinuate, "of a man by the company that he keeps? And must not a man love and practice sin who keeps company with sinners?"

But how did the Lord disentangle Himself from this net that they were seeking to spread for his feet? He met their cavil thus, "Those who are whole need not a physician, but those who are sick." He appealed to their own sense and reason, and to their natural consciences. It was as though He had said, "Where should a physician be? Is it not with the sick in the hospital? Are not the sick wards his peculiar place and province, and are not diseased patients the very people he is called to associate with and take care of? Is the physician necessarily contaminated by the disease that he cures? How can he heal the sickness, if he does not visit the sick?" By thus appealing to their reason and conscience, He silenced and confounded them. Now, this is an example well worthy of our imitation.

We are sometimes thrown into the way of scoffers, and of people who will cavil even at the great foundation truths of divine revelation. With such people there is no use attempting to argue the question on spiritual grounds; for they have no spiritual ears to hear, no spiritual eyes to see, no spiritual heart to fall under the power of truth. To do so is to throw pearls before swine. If the Lord enables us, the best way is to appeal to their natural consciences; and, as shortly as possible, without entering into the details of truth, to silence them by putting before them something which they themselves cannot deny.

But the words of the text have a much higher sense than a mere appeal to natural conscience or human reason. They contain a gospel truth, far deeper and higher than reason can comprehend, and one that will last as long as the world endures. "Those who are whole need not a physician, but those who are sick."

We find, in the text, two characters spoken of, and these put in a distinct opposition to, and contrast with each other - the "whole," and the "sick." And as the two characters are distinct in themselves, so their case is distinct also; the case of the one being that he "needs not," and the case of the other that he needs "a physician." And thus, if the Lord enables me by His blessed Spirit experimentally to trace out this evening who are "the whole," and who are "the sick;" and show why the one "needs not," and why the other needs "a physician," it may be for our profit, and may also, if God so grants, be to His own glory.

What Is The Veil - From "The Veil Taken Away” by J. C. Philpot

This is an important little book because until God dealt with my own veil during my  wilderness time with Him, I did not know the veil was there, nor that it needed to be dealt with. Until God deals with our veil, we will NEVER know what it means to enter the holy of holies. It is the difference between having "a knowledge" of the presence of God and truly live it and experience it. You might say, well, I can do without never knowing what it is. I would then say to you " be careful" God holds us responsible for what we do not know.

For My New Year’s Resolution!

Father God, since the only way to truly communicate with you and abide in you is through your dealing once and for all with our souls. Shine your light within us and take away anything that is not of you.  

 To find out why this short prayer, read January 1 post)

 

 This post below is an excerpt from the new uploaded Kindle 

“The Veil Taken Away”  by J. C. Philpot 

 Download the FREE  Kindle  HERE 

There is the veil of IGNORANCE. What a thick, dense, impenetrable covering is that! If we look back to the days of darkness and unregeneracy, in what dense ignorance did we walk. The very doctrines of grace, and the whole scheme of salvation, were hidden from our eyes, and we understood not a single truth of the gospel aright. Our minds were wrapped up in such thick clouds of ignorance, that we knew neither God nor ourselves, neither our state here or hereafter. This veil of ignorance spread over the heart seems spoken of, Isaiah 25:7, "He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." And again, "Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." (Isaiah 60:2.) And thus Paul testifies that the Gentiles walk, "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." (Eph. 4:18.)

2. But this is not the only covering that goes to make up this thick, dense, impenetrable veil. There is the veil of UNBELIEF. So that could man by the dint of his natural faculties overcome his ignorance, and thus strip off one part of the veil, the other part, that of unbelief, would still remain. Look at the scribes and Pharisees; the Lord wrought such amazing and undeniable miracles, as we should think must have convinced them that he was the Messiah—as, for instance, the raising up of Lazarus from the dead. They saw him come out of the sepulcher with their bodily eyes at the word of Jesus; but it had no effect on their minds. They saw the blind restored to sight, the lame walk, and the deaf receive hearing; but it never wrought faith in their consciences. They were, as the Apostle says, "shut up in unbelief." (Rom. 11:32, margin.) This is just our state by nature; unbelief has such possession of our hearts that we cannot believe the things of God until they are made known to us by divine revelation.

3. But again; there is the covering of SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. What a motley monster is man in his natural state! Full of evil, continually committing sin, daring God to his face by a thousand crimes, and yet setting up his own righteousness! We might just as well expect that a felon in prison, who is there awaiting in the condemned cell the merited punishment of his aggravated crimes, of his murders, robberies, and continued outrage against all human laws, should hope to come out of prison by his good deeds and obedience to the laws of his country, as expect such a vile wretch as man to hope to climb up to heaven by the ladder of his good words, good thoughts, good works, and good intentions. But the veil upon his heart prevents him from seeing that by anything he can do he cannot please God. Self-righteousness in all its forms is so interlaced with every thought of our heart, so intertwined with every fiber of our natural mind, that though we know ourselves to be sinners, yet self-applause and self-complacency bid us do something to gain God's favor.

4. But again; there is the veil of SUPERSTITION. What a hold has superstition over the minds of men! If we go into any country parish, what superstition universally reigns over the minds of those dead in sin! How church and churchyard, ecclesiastical vestments and gown, font and altar, are well near worshiped! And in town, as well as country, in dissenter as well as in churchman, what superstitious feeling prevails; and how much passes off for religion and piety that was never wrought in the heart and conscience by God the Spirit! I believe there are many people who cannot sin comfortably until they have said their prayers, and cannot launch out with an easy conscience into the pleasures of the world, until they have gone to church or chapel. They must needs attend upon the ceremonies and forms of religion to get a license for sin, as a school-boy learns his task to obtain a holiday.

5. And then, there is the veil of PREJUDICE. How deeply prejudiced are men's minds against the truth, and against all who profess or preach it! Have we ourselves not in time past walked in this path? What deep prejudice have our minds been steeped in against the truths of God's word! And have we not looked upon the people who held and preached them rather as monsters than men! When I walk through the streets of the town in which I live, I can see sometimes prejudice staring out from the very eyes of the people, especially the well-dressed and respectable, whom I meet; and though they cannot, through mercy, bring anything against my life and conduct, so great is their prejudice because I hold and preach the truth, that I believe they look upon me as a worse character than an adulterer, a swearer, or a drunkard. The prejudice painted in their very features sometimes almost amuses, and sometimes annoys me; sometimes stirs up my pride, and sometimes makes me thankful that I differ from them, and suffer reproach for the Lord's sake......

God's Sovereignty in the Way of Rejection

For My New Year's Resolution!

Father God, you have changed my own heart and I thank you for it. I love you because you are a Just God, Holy, Merciful, Gracious, Lovely, and all Sovereign and Powerful. My heart cries out after holiness, keep me close to you and teach me every day how to live a life set apart for your glory.  I pray that you would bring all those who made a new year's resolution to live a holy life, to reach their goals. Put a determination in their hearts so that they can withstand the pain it takes to get there. Sustain and restrain them my Lord as they walk with you. I thank you for overlooking our shortcomings and our failures. Thank you for the grace you lavished upon us. We are so undeserving. Keep us morning and longing for holiness everyday while you purify our heart, mind and soul so that one day we can see you.  (Sorry for the length of this prayer, I could not stop myself after one or two lines)

To find out why this short prayer, read January 1 post)

 This post below is an excerpt from the new uploaded Kindle 

"The Heavenly Birth and its Earthly Counterfeits "  by J. C. Philpot 

Download the FREE  Kindle  HERE 

But as we have looked at God's sovereignty in the way of rejection, and then endeavored to trace out the various causes by which the great mass of the Jewish nation rejected the Lord of life and glory, so will we endeavor (having seen God's sovereignty in choosing a peculiar people), to trace out also the secret causes which led some to receive Him whom the others received not.

1. The first cause, then, was the quickening life of God's Spirit put into their souls; according to those words--"You has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Eph. ii. 1). Until God by His Spirit quickens the soul into spiritual life, there must be a determined rejection of Christ. However a man may receive Him into his judgment, the inward bias of his heart and the secret speech of his soul is, "Not this Man, but Barabbas" (Luke xviii, 40.) If, then, there be any who do believe in Him, receive Him, love Him, and have a blessed union with Him, it all springs from the quickening Spirit of God, working with power in their souls.
 
Now this quickening work of God the Spirit upon the heart is manifested by certain fruits and evidences, which ever flow out of His blessed operations. For instance, wherever the quickening power of God's Spirit has passed upon a man's conscience, he is invariably brought to see and feel himself to be a sinner. This inward sight of self cuts him off sooner or later from all legal hopes, all Pharisaic righteousness, all false refuges, and all vain evidences, with which he may seek to prop up his soul. In many cases the work may begin in a way scarcely perceptible, and in other instances may go on very gradually, for we cannot lay down any precise standard. But I am sure of this, that the Lord will "bring down the hearts" of all His people "with labor;" will convince them all of their lost state before Him, and cast them as ruined wretches into the dust of death--without hope, strength, wisdom, help, or righteousness, except that which is given to them, as a free gift, by sovereign grace.

And when the soul is brought down by the hand of God upon it to know the exceedingly heavy burden of sin, the wretchedness of the malady with which we are infected, the holiness and justice of God who cannot clear the guilty; and feels itself not only implicated in Adam's transgression, but also condemned by actual commission of sin, it then begins to find its need of such a Savior as God has revealed in the Scriptures. And this work of grace in the conscience, pulling down all a man's false refuges, stripping him of every lying hope, and thrusting him down into self-abasement and self-abhorrence, is indispensable to a true reception of Christ. Whatever a man may have learned in his head, or however far he may be informed in his judgment, he never will receive Christ spiritually into his heart and affections, until he has been broken down by the hand of God in his soul to be a ruined wretch.

2. We cannot indeed tell how long a man may be in coming here; some may be weeks, others may be months, and some may be years; but when he is effectually brought here, the Lord is pleased, for the most part, to open up to his astonished view, and to bring into his soul some saving knowledge of the Lord of life and glory. And this He does in various ways, for we cannot "limit the Holy One of Israel;" (Ps. lxxviii, 41) sometimes by a secret light cast into the mind; sometimes by the application of a passage of Scripture with power; sometimes alone in the secret chamber; sometimes under the preached Word. In various ways, as God is pleased Himself to choose, He casts into the mind a light, and He brings into the heart a power, whereby the glorious Person of Christ, His atoning blood, dying love, finished work, and justifying righteousness, are looked upon by spiritual eyes, touched by spiritual hands, and received into a spiritual and believing heart.

3. But wherever faith is given to the soul thus "to receive" Christ, there will be mingled with this faith, and blessedly accompanying it, love to the Lord of life and glory; and sometimes we may know the existence of faith when we cannot see it, by discerning the secret workings and actings of love towards that Savior, in whom God has enabled us to believe.
There will be from time to time, in living souls, a flowing forth of affection towards Jesus. From time to time He gives the soul a glimpse of His Person--He shows Himself, as the Scripture speaks, "through the lattice" (Song ii. 9), passing, perhaps, hastily by, but giving such a transient glimpse of the beauty of His Person, the excellency of His finished work, dying love, and atoning blood as ravishes the heart, and secretly draws forth the affections of the soul, so that there is a following hard after Him, and a going out of the desires of the soul towards Him.

Thus, sometimes as we lie upon our bed, as we are engaged in our business, as we are occupied in our several pursuits of life; or at other times under the Word, or reading the Scriptures, the Lord is pleased secretly to work in the heart, and there is a melting down at the feet of Jesus, or a secret, soft, gentle going forth of love and affection towards Him, whereby the soul prefers Him before thousands of gold and silver, and desires nothing so much as the inward manifestations of His love, grace, and blood.
And thus a living soul "receives" Christ; not merely as driven by necessity, but also as drawn by affection. He does not receive Christ merely as a way of escape from "the wrath to come," merely as something to save a soul from "the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched," but mingled with necessity, sweetly and powerfully combined with it, and intimately and intricately working with it, there is the flowing forth of genuine affection and sincere love, that goes out to Him as the only object really worthy of our heart's affection, our spirit's worship, and our soul's desire. And we cannot say that less than this comes up to the meaning of the Scripture expression--"to receive Christ." If we cannot, then, trace out in our hearts more or less of this work, which I have attempted feebly to describe, we cannot yet be said spiritually to have "received Christ."

This is a very different thing from receiving Him into our judgment, or into our understanding in a doctrinal manner. To receive Him in the depths of a broken heart, as the only Savior for our guilty soul, as our only hope for eternity, as the only Lord of our heart's worship, and the only object of our pure affection; so that in secret, when no eye sees but the eye of God, and only the ear of Jehovah hears the pantings of our pleading heart, there is the breathing out of the spirit after the enjoyment of His love, grace, and blood--to know and feel this stamps a man to have "received" Christ into his heart by faith.

IV. But in the words of the text we read of a peculiar privilege, a sacred blessing, which is connected with and attached to the receiving of Christ. And perhaps you have been struck sometimes with the words--"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name." Did the word 'become' never strike you as a singular word? Does it not intimate a further step? Does it not clearly imply that to "receive Christ," and to "become a son of God" are two distinct things, and that one precedes the other?"
It is so. For it is only to those who "receive Christ," that the "power" (or "the privilege," as we read in the margin), is given, "to become sons of God."

What then is it to "become a son of God?" For it is evidently not the same thing as "receiving Christ," but a step that follows on after receiving Christ; a privilege given to and reserved for those who do spiritually "receive Him." To "become a son of God" is to become so experimentally; to receive the Spirit of adoption, whereby the soul cries. "Abba, Father;" to have that love which "casts out all fear that has torment;" and not merely to receive Christ as our hope of salvation from eternal perdition, but to be enabled by the witness and work of the Spirit in the soul to enjoy that relationship.
V. But in speaking of these "sons of God," the apostle describes them negatively as well as positively; he tells us what they are not, and he tells us what they are. And it is by contrasting what they are not with what they are, that we may arrive at some spiritual knowledge of their real character and position.

The Spiritual Chase by J. C. Philpot

For My New Year's Resolution!

Father God, even though the future looks bleak and frightening I know you have a plan for my life. Strenghten me during the journey and help me not to be afraid or restless, knowing that you are sufficient. Mold me, hold my hand and walk with me Saviour.

To find out why this short prayer, read January 1 post)

This post below is an excerpt from the new uploaded Kindle 

"The Spiritual Chase "  by J. C. Philpot 

Download the FREE  Kindle  HERE 

But HOW does the soul thus "follow hard" after the Lord? Chiefly in longings, breathings, earnest cries, and intense pantings after Him. The Psalmist has expressed this in one short sentence, and a most emphatic and beautiful one it is—"As the deer pants after the water-brooks—so pants my soul after You, O God." He there represents the hunted stag panting and thirsting after one refreshing draught from the water-brooks; panting as David himself once panted for the water of the well of Bethlehem, when he uttered that poignant desire, "O that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem!" Thus it is by the panting and longing of the soul after God in intense desire and vehement longings of the soul to enjoy His presence, that this "following hard" after the Lord is chiefly manifested.

And God's people know this experimentally. How many times do they stretch themselves on their beds, and pant after the Lord as though the last breath were going out of their body! How often, as they are engaged in the daily pursuits of life, is there a cry going up out of their heart after the Lord, pleading with Him, and telling Him that they cannot be satisfied without His manifested presence! How often, perhaps, when for some time you have felt cold and dead, a sudden spirit of grace and supplication has come into your hearts, that has vented and breathed itself forth in cries to the Lord! And thus your soul has gone forth with the most intense desire to enjoy the sweet manifestations of His Person and testimonies of His covenant love.

"My soul follows hard after You." The Lord (we would speak with reverence) does not allow Himself at first to be overtaken. The more the soul follows after Him the more He seems to withdraw Himself, and thus He draws it more earnestly on the pursuit. He means to be overtaken in the end—it is His own blessed work in the conscience to kindle earnest desires and longings after Himself; and therefore He puts strength into the soul, and "makes the feet like deer's feet" to run and continue the chase.

But in order to whet the ardent desire, to kindle to greater intensity the rising eagerness, the Lord will not allow Himself to be overtaken until after a long and arduous pursuit. This is sweetly set forth in the Song of Solomon (5:2-8). We find there the Lord coming to His Bride; but she is unwilling to open to Him until "He puts His hand in by the hole of the door." She would not rise at His first knocking, and therefore He is obliged to touch her heart. But "when she opened to her Beloved, He was gone!" and no sooner does He withdraw Himself, than she pursues after Him; but she cannot find Him—He hides Himself from her view, draws her round and round the walls of the city, until at length she overtakes, and finds Him whom her soul loves.

This sweetly sets forth how the Lord draws on the longing soul after Himself. Could we immediately obtain the object of our pursuit, we would not half so much enjoy it when attained. Could we with a wish bring the Lord down into the soul, it would be but the lazy wish of the sluggard, who "desires, and has not." But when the Lord can only be obtained by an arduous pursuit, every faculty of the soul is engaged in panting after His manifested presence; and this was the experience of the Psalmist, when he cried, "My soul follows hard after You."

My Success Story So Far As a Self-Published Author – According to God

This is not a typical blog post, but when you walk and live in the Spirit, you do according to the Master’s wishes and commands because you are not your own.

A few months back when I published my book “How To Pray Through Depression & Loneliness” http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5MRSWC I was busy promoting the book all over the place. While the ads were not expensive, but when you tally them up, you find that in the end a lot of advertising dollars are spent for nothing because the sale of the book did not come close to cover my expenses.  One of the reasons I was scared of pulling the ads, even though they were not worth it, I just read an article with all the stats on how realistically speaking a self-published author can expect to sell a total of 82 books for each publication.   

Even though it was painful, I decided to stop and listened to God. Low and behold  within 100 days I sold more than 82 of my book “How To Pray Through Depression & Loneliness” http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5MRSWC   It was nice to watch because almost every day I was in the two digits on Amazon i.e #25, or 15 in the Kindle store. Yes, it is not a lot of books sold. But it was as if God was making a point through the learning process.  In fact, I was embarrassed to tell people about it because we are not talking about 1000’s of books here. But when you are a true believer in Christ and you are going forward with Him, you will find there is a consistency in your walk. What I mean is that God touches your life in the simplest and the smallest thing. It is as if all compartments within, have to merge into one identity. It does make sense when you consider that He knows you by name and knows every hair on your head.

The truth is, as self-published authors, when we go to our Amazon Kindle account and check the Month to Date Unit Sales it could be disconcerting. Keep in mind the category has a lot to do with the best seller’s rank much more than the amount of books sold. Anyway, as I moved forward to listen to God’s plan to teach me how to live a consistent Christian life, even in my book marketing process, I found that He convicted me for listing my book on a very popular secular site for Self-Published authors. I have to admit I did not like the fact that I was convicted when I saw a Christian book with the Cross of Christ on the cover next to another picture where the woman was wearing almost nothing. In fact, it was a picture promoting escorts services. I set out on purpose to locate Christian listings on this secular site which I will not name, and I found a few Christians there. I even said to God, why me? Why is it you do not convict someone who is a pastor to take off his book, yet you are busting my chops?  He then gave me a beautiful lesson about why some can and some cannot.

It would have been nice to keep selling approximately 25 of the same book per month. But I am down to 10 to 12 only on a monthly basis and I learn not to panic and trust His plan for me when I hit 5 to 6 days of “no sale” because out of the blue I will have a one day that makes up for it.  It is okay for now when you consider first of all I started in this business late 2012, and for now, the only real advertising I have done is through my Social Media accounts, my blogs and also I have been putting links within the FREE Kindles that I am creating for the http://mjandre.com/Free-Ebooks-Den/ which by the way once this site gets going, I intend to use those FREE Kindles as a marketing tool for all who join my ministry. This does not mean I will never advertise elsewhere, it simply means that I am now restricted by God to convert this ministry into something being done for His honour and glory instead of making it about my spiritual agenda and wishes. Above all else, He wants my motivation to be pure which means it has to be about serving Him first. So, this Book Marketing Coop site which address is http://christianauthors.net will be the place where I slowly move all other sites I owned. I am taking my sweet time because they are paid up for now I have no rush.  On a side note, I know the site should represent the name of the ministry, but, there is a trick in my madness and I like choosing a domain name that is SEO friendly and sometimes they might not match well with my ministry’s aspirations, so, I improvise.

On January 7 I had such a wonderful day with God as He reminded me several things and one of them was that He made it clear what He was teaching me how to merge it all together so that I could see with my soul, the difference between David being allowed to commit an unlawful act like eating the bread in 1 Samuel 21:5-6 and yet He burned Aaron’s sons to death for offering strange fire in Leviticus 10:1-7. I have to say it was all well with my soul and I can only be grateful to Him for caring about a worm like me.

Here is what I am driving at, in the next few days I will be posting some pages not as a blog post, but only on the community pages of http://christianauthors.net  Through those postings, the idea of the Book Marketing Coop will take shape a little bit more. I will be looking not for everyone, but only those like minded authors who walk and live in the Spirit to join me in putting things together. For instance, I will need people who are interested and have experience in virtual blog tour, a Social Media expert to oversee how we market to the Social Media out there. I will also be looking for solid and good Christians authors to mentor other authors, etc. And Yes, you would be wise to pray about it before jumping with both feet. Like me, I need you to see God as your Master in all this, and your sole motivation and goal is His honor and Glory.

In His Love and Service,

M. J. Andre

 

The Putting off of This Old Man - J. C. Philpot, 1867

For My New Year's Resolution!

I pray that  God would teach us to practice endurance in whatever trials we are going through. May we come out of our trials with hearts full with patience, faith, gratitude and love.   

To find out why this short prayer, read January 1 post)

 This post below is an excerpt from the new uploaded Kindle 

"The Old Man Put Off—The New Man Put On " by J. C. Philpot 

Download the FREE  Kindle  HERE 

The putting off of this old man

The old man is to be put off much in the same way as we put off a dirty garment. How glad the workman is, say the mason or the bricklayer, at the end of a long, dusty, laborious week to get a thorough good wash on the Sunday morning, and put a clean shirt upon his back. How nice and fresh he feels with his clean skin and his clean shirt. Excuse the figure, for though homely it may not be the less true or less impressive. Our old man is like a shirt which has gone through all the dust and sweat and toils of the week. And he is put off when he is not allowed to stick any longer close to the skin, but is pulled off and thrown away with disgust as a dirty garment; worn unwillingly and put off gladly. The apostle, after speaking in another place, of some of the worst sins which have debased and disgraced human nature, adds– "And such were some of you– but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:11.) "You are washed," there is the washing of the person in the fountain open for all sin and uncleanness; "you are justified," there is the white clothing all bright and clean put upon the washed person; "you are sanctified," there is the presence and power of God's grace, the comfort of being thus washed and dressed; and all this "in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God;" for it is only by believing in his name, and by the power of the Spirit that there is any washing, any justification, or any sanctification.

But remember this, you can only put him off for a time. He is put off from time to time in his workings, in his defilement, in his filth, but alas! he soon makes his appearance again, and you will never put him off altogether until he is put off in death.

2. The other leading thought which strikes my mind as an interpretation of the exhortation to put off the old man is, to put him off his seat of authority and power. He is put off, then, when he is not allowed to have dominion. Put him, then, off the throne; don't let him reign and rule. Thrust him from sitting at the head of the table and occupying the arm chair; let him not be the master of the house. Get him into the place where Bishop Bonner thrust the martyrs– into the coal cellar. Mortify him, bind him, set your foot upon him, keep him down, and gag his mouth when he would vent his blasphemies and try to stir up deceitful lusts. He is to be put off; he is not to be cuddled and indulged, put in the best chair, fed upon the best food, kept close and warm by the fireside, handsomely dressed, and made the pet of the whole house.

He is to be treated with great rigor. The word of God bids us crucify him, and pronounces a sweeping sentence, which, if we take as a description of all who truly belong to Christ, cuts off thousands of 'splendid professors'– "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Not they are going to do it, think about doing it, mean to do it some day or other, hope they shall do it before they die, but "have crucified the flesh;" that is, have already nailed it to Christ's cross. This is indeed a putting off the old man, for it is taking it and fixing it to the cross of Jesus. Now, crucifixion was a painful and lingering death. We cannot expect, therefore, to crucify the old man without his crying out against his crucifier. And yet the pleasure to the new man is greater than the pain to the old man, for we may rest well satisfied that the more we are enabled to mortify, crucify, and put off the corrupt old man, with his deceitful lusts, the more happy we shall be, the less cause there will be for repentance and sorrow, and the more we shall walk at liberty as seeking God's precepts.