The Doctrine Of Repentance - Part 3

 By Thomas Watson, 1668

 

The NATURE of true repentance

Question 1. Suppose a person has wronged another—and the wronged man is dead. What should he do?

Answer: Let him restore his ill-gotten goods to that man's heirs and family. If none of them are living, let him restore to God—that is, let him put his unjust gain into God's treasury by relieving the poor.

Question 2. What if the party who did the wrong is dead?

Answer: Then those who are his heirs ought to make restitution. Mark what I say—if there are any who has an estate left to them, and he knows that the one who left his estate had defrauded others and died with that guilt upon him—then the heir who now possesses the estate, is bound to make restitution, otherwise he entails the curse of God upon his family.

Question 3. If a man has wronged another and is not able to restore, what should he do?

Answer: Let him deeply humble himself before God, promising to the wronged party full satisfaction, if the Lord makes him able, and God will accept the will for the deed.

6. Godly sorrow is ABIDING. It is not a few tears shed in a passion, which will serve the turn. Some will fall a-weeping at a sermon—but it is like an April shower, it is soon over—or like a vein opened and presently stopped again. True sorrow must be habitual. O Christian, the disease of your soul is chronic and frequently returns upon you; therefore you must be continually medicating yourself by repentance. This is "godly sorrow."

Application: How far are they from repentance, who never had any of this godly sorrow! Such are:

(1) Deluded Papists, who leave out the very soul of repentance, making all penitential work consist in external fasting, penance, pilgrimages, in which there is nothing of spiritual sorrow. They torture their bodies—but their hearts are not torn. What is this, but the carcass of repentance?

(2) Carnal Protestants, who are strangers to godly sorrow. They cannot endure a serious thought, nor do they trouble their heads about sin. One physician spoke of a frenzy some have—which will make them die dancing. Likewise, sinners spend their days in mirth—they fling away sorrow—and go dancing to damnation! Some have lived many years—yet never put a drop of repentant tears in God's bottle, nor do they know what a broken heart means. They weep and wring their hands as if they were undone, when their estates are gone—but have no agony of soul for sin!

There is a two-fold sorrow: Firstly, there is a rational sorrow, which is an act of the soul whereby it has an animosity against sin, and chooses any torture rather than to admit sin. Secondly, there is a sensitive sorrow, which is expressed by many tears. The first of these is to be found in every child of God—but the second, which is a sorrow running out at the eye, all have not.

Yet it is very commendable to see a weeping penitent. Christ counts as great beauties—those who are tender-eyed; and well may sin make us weep. We usually weep for the loss of some great good; by sin we have lost the favor of God. If Micah did so weep for the loss of his idols, saying, "You've taken away all my gods, and I have nothing left!" (Judges 18:24). Then well may we weep for our sins, which have taken away the true God from us!

Some may ask the question—whether our repentance and sorrow must always be at the same level. Although repentance must be always kept alive in the soul—yet there are two special times when we must renew our repentance in an extraordinary manner:

(1) Before the receiving of the Lord's Supper. This spiritual Passover is to be eaten with bitter herbs. Now our eyes should be fresh broached with tears, and the stream of sorrow overflow. A repenting frame is a sacramental frame. A broken heart and a broken Christ do well agree. The more bitterness we taste in sin—the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ! When Jacob wept—he found God: "Jacob named the place Peniel—face of God—for I have seen God face to face!" (Gen. 32:30). The way to find Christ comfortably in the sacrament, is to go weeping there. Christ will say to a humble penitent, as to Thomas: "Put your hand into the wound in my side" (John 20:27), and let those bleeding wounds of mine heal you.

(2) Another time of extraordinary repentance is at the hour of death. This should be a weeping season. Now is our last work to be done for heaven, and our best wine of tearsshould be kept until such a time. We should repent now—that we have sinned so much—and wept so little; that God's bag of our sins has been so full—and his bottle of our repenting tears has been so empty (Job 14:17). We should repent now—that we repented no sooner; that the garrisons of our hearts held out so long against God before they were leveled by repentance. We should repent now—that we have loved Christ no more—that we have fetched no more virtue from him and brought no more glory to him. It should be our grief on our death-bed that our lives have had so many blanks and blots in them—that our duties have been so tainted with sin, that our obedience has been so imperfect—and we have gone so lame in the ways of God. When the soul is going out of the body—it should swim to heaven in a sea of tears!

 

Ingredient 3. CONFESSION of Sin

Sorrow is such a vehement passion—that it will have vent. It vents itself at the eyes by weeping, and at the tongue by confession. "The children of Israel stood and confessed their sins (Neh. 9:2). "I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offence" (Hos. 5:15). This is a metaphor alluding to a mother who, when she is angry, goes away from the child and hides her face until the child acknowledges its fault and begs pardon. Gregory Nazianzen calls confession "a salve for a wounded soul." Confession is self-accusing: "I have sinned!" (2 Sam. 24:17). When we come before God, we must accuse ourselves. The truth is—that by this self-accusing we prevent Satan's accusing. In our confessions we accuse ourselves of pride, infidelity, passion, so that when Satan, who is called "the accuser of the brethren", shall lay these things to our charge, God will say, "They have accused themselves already; therefore, Satan, you have no suit; your accusations come too late."

The humble sinner does more than accuse himself; he, as it were, sits in judgment and passes sentence upon himself. He confesses that he has deserved to be bound over to the wrath of God. Hear what the apostle Paul says: "if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment" (1 Cor. 11:31). But have not wicked men, like Judas and Saul, confessed sin? Yes! but theirs was not a true confession. That confession of sin may be right and genuine, these eight qualifications are requisite:

In today’s devotion, Oswald Chambers said something that took me back. When I am in a similar situation such as the one Oswald described, what I do, I try to work with the worse case scenario, which is the same as the final outcome. There are some outcomes that are easy to determine if it is something that God would condemn. But, I found a lot of times it is not that easy to see through our emotional high if it is something that God would condemn or not. 

When we are very emotional, our train of thoughts takes the lead. I know what I am talking about because I am very emotional. Our imagination runs away from us and with the situation. The more we remain in that state of mind, the more we get ourselves deeper into trouble because we are not thinking clearly and we are making decisions and plans for the next step with a corrupt mind. You mind say why is that corrupt? Yes, it is corrupted in every sense of the way because we are not in the right frame of mind to make proper decisions, and we are thinking and planning in the flesh without the Holy Spirit. When we stop being ignorant of the laws of our own nature, we know and we can see the danger in going wild without the Holy Spirit and we can put a stop to it. But, this takes practice and spiritual growth to get there.

When I was not mature enough to understand when I was going forward with my emotions without Him, I had only one acid test. First, I stop myself from making a decision while my emotions were running wild and thus, it did not matter how pressing the need was. I told God, please deal with the repercussions of the situation for me but I need to know if I am in your will and right now I have no idea. (It is important our attitudes and motives honour God and He will work with us.) The second thing is that I try to have a sense as to how my decisions to deal with the situation will play out. This was so useful and so infallible that I still use it today because if there is a tiny bit of compromising, then I stepped away from it. I knew right away that it was not of God.

I will give you an example, years ago, I lost my job but God already told me that it was Him taking me to the wilderness to set me apart. So, there was no doubt what I was going through was of Him. But, I had no idea what He meant by taking me into the wilderness either. I had no idea of the depth of pain and testing that I had to go through to be set apart for Him. So, two Christians cornered me in the Church after service and said I heard you are not working, I can make arrangement to get you in, and there is a great opportunity available to you right now. After I listened to all the information pertaining to the company, and the opportunity, I was so tempted. Of course it made sense, because I need to work to pay my mortgage and take care of my basic needs. Beside, I was thinking how important it is to God that I work to earn a living because the Bible is clear on that so any attempt at laziness is a sin.

Out of all the emotions I was experiencing, I could feel something inside me was telling me this whole conversation is wrong for me, but, I continued.  I said to the people I was talking to, well, I do not have  references because I spent so many years with the company that I was working with that I cannot just take them off my reference list, yet I did not part in good terms with them. Both people told me it was not a problem we can circumvent that with a little white lie and they gave me an idea what that white lie was going to be, and they were willing to take care of everything for me without me even getting involved. At that moment I said, let me think about it. Of course I never get back to them.

You have to understand something. The fact that it seems like I judged them for the “white lie” did not make me better than them. As the matter of fact, that was exactly where I was too. I truly believed in a little white lie here and there was not a big deal especially when there were no consequences to anyone and this little white lie was going to put my world back to where it should be according to the world standards and my own understanding thus far. So, even though, I was not there yet in terms of maturity, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit was awesome. Even though I was in the same place these people were in terms of maturity,  I also knew I made a commitment to Him to leave behind shoddy Christianity, I knew right then and there that I had to let go of the opportunity because it was not of God. My heart was breaking, but I also knew if indeed it was of God, then I would not have to lie. While the lie seemed small, I knew in Him there was no lie.

Often times when we are in trouble, we claim the wrong promise, and we claim the wrong Bible verse. In this situation I found that I had to choose between more than one Bible verse. But, the Holy Spirit caused that tiny verse to resound so loud in my heart that I could not ignore it. I kept saying “in Him there is no lie.”  The difference between me and these two people is that I was in a frame of mind where I was willing to put my money where my mouth is so to speak. I knew I could not take one side of His Word and ignore the other side of the coin.

It’s funny how all of the sudden, a little white lie became so big to me. This little white lie, when I stopped seeing how it could help me get out of trouble and I started seeing it from God’s perspective, was no longer little.  With the eyes of my heart I could see it just like God sees it and calls it “darkness” - “sin”.  It turns out not taking the job was the right decision for my walk with Him.

In using myself as an example, it is my hope that if it could benefit one single person today of ten years down the road, who is at an impasse with God and you are not quite sure which way to turn, then it would worth it. Make no mistake the consequences of that choice, from the world point of view was disastrous to me. But, it is the nature of the Christian walk with God. It is living an abandoned life at His feet for the purpose of finding the “pearl of great price” which is God the father. While the experience I lived through the Holy Spirit as He allowed me to experience what it means to find the pearl of great price, lasted a few moments, but it was worth the torment that I went through to get there. Few years down the road, God corrected my thinking about wanting to work because I did not want to be lazy and sin in His sight. It is rather frightening how we can take the word of God out of context and apply to situations that have nothing to do with His Word. 

HERE IS OSWALD'S DEVOTION FOR TODAY!

The Burning Heart

03

22

2013

Did not our heart burn within us . . . ? —Luke 24:32

We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.

Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.

We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides, The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; But tasks in hours of insight willed Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.

Courtesy of http://utmost.org/

The Doctrine Of Repentance - Part 2

 By Thomas Watson, 1668

 

The NATURE of true repentance

1. True godly sorrow is INTERNAL. It is inward in two ways:

(1) It is a sorrow of the heart. The sorrow of hypocrites lies in their faces: "they disfigure their faces" (Matt. 6:16). They make a sour face—but their sorrow goes no further. It is like the dew which wets the leaf, but does not soak to the root. Ahab's repentance was in outward show. His garments were rent—but not his heart (1 Kings 21:27). Godly sorrow goes deep, like a vein which bleeds inwardly. The heart bleeds for sin: "they were pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:37). As the heart bears a chief part in sinning—so it must in sorrowing.

(2) It is a sorrow for heart-sins, the first outbreaks and risings of sin. Paul grieved for the law of sin in his members (Romans 7:23). The true mourner weeps for the stirrings of pride and lust. He grieves for the "root of bitterness" even though it never blossoms into overt act. A wicked man may be troubled for scandalous sins; a real convert laments heart sins.

2. Godly sorrow is SINCERE. It is sorrow for the offence—rather than for the punishment. God's law has been infringed—and his love abused. This melts the soul in tears. A man may be sorry—yet not repent. A thief is sorry when he is caught, not because he stole—but because he has to pay the penalty! Hypocrites grieve only for the bitter consequence of sin. Their eyes never pour out tears—except when God's judgments are approaching. Pharaoh was more troubled for the frogs—than for his sin.

Godly sorrow, however, is chiefly for the trespass against God—so that even if there were no conscience to smite, no devil to accuse, no hell to punish—yet the soul would still be grieved because of the offense done to God. "My sin is ever before me" (Psalm 51:3); David does not say, The sword is ever before me—but "my sin". "O that I should offend so good a God, that I should grieve my Comforter! This breaks my heart!" Godly sorrow shows itself to be sincere, because when a Christian knows that he is out of the gun-shot of hell and shall never be damned—yet he still grieves for sinning against that free grace which has pardoned him!

3. Godly sorrow is always intermixed with FAITH. Sorrow for sin, is chequered with faith, as we have seen a bright rainbow appear in a watery cloud. Spiritual sorrow will sink the heart—if the pulley of faith does not raise it. As our sin is ever before us, so God's promise must be ever before us. As we much feel our sting, so we must look up to Christ our brazen serpent. Some have faces so swollen with worldly grief, that they can hardly look out of their eyes. That weeping is not good—which blinds the eye of faith. If there are not some dawnings of faith in the soul—it is not the sorrow of humiliation, but of despair.

4. Godly sorrow is a GREAT sorrow. "In that day shall there be a great mourning" (Zech. 12:11). Two suns did set that day when Josiah died, and there was a great funeral mourning. To such a height must sorrow for sin be boiled up.

Question 1. Do all have the same degree of sorrow?

Answer: No, there may be greater or lesser sorrow. In the new birth all have pangs—but some have sharper pangs than others.

(1) Some are naturally of a more rugged disposition, of higher spirits—and are not easily brought to stoop. These must have greater humiliation, as a knotty piece of timber must have sharper wedges driven into it.

(2) Some have been more heinous offenders—and their sorrow must be suitable to their sin. Some patients have their abscess let out with a needle, others with a lance. Heinous sinners must be more bruised with the hammer of the law.

(3) Some are designed and cut out for higher service, to be eminently instrumental for God—and these must have a mightier work of humiliation pass upon them. Those whom God intends to be pillars in his church—must be more hewn. Paul, the prince of the apostles, who was to be God's ensign-bearer to carry his name before the Gentiles and kings, was to have his heart more deeply lanced by repentance.

Question 2. But how great must sorrow for sin be in all?

Answer: It must be as great as for any worldly loss. "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced—and they shall mourn as for an only son" (Zech. 12:10). Sorrow for sin must surpass worldly sorrow. We must grieve more for offending God—than for the loss of dear relations. "The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth" (Isaiah 22:12). This repentance was for sin. But in the case of the burial of the dead, we find God prohibiting tears (Jer. 22:10; 16:6), to intimate that sorrow for sin must exceed sorrow at the grave. And with good reason, for in the burial of the dead it is only a friend who departs—but in sin God departs!

Sorrow for sin should be so great as to swallow up all other sorrow, as when the pain of the kidney-stone and gout meet—the pain of the kidney-stone swallows up the pain of the gout. We are to find as much bitterness in weeping for sin—as ever we found sweetness in committing it. Surely David found more bitterness in repentance—than ever he found comfort in Bathsheba.

Our sorrow for sin must be such as makes us willing to let go of those sins which brought in the greatest income of profit or delight. The medicine shows itself strong enough—when it has purged out our disease. Just so, the Christian has arrived at a sufficient measure of sorrow—when the love of sin is purged out.

5. Godly sorrow in some cases is joined with RESTITUTION. Whoever has wronged others by unjust fraudulent dealing, ought to make them recompense. There is an express law for this: "He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged." (Num. 5:7). Thus Zaccheus made restitution: "if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount" (Luke 19:8). When Selymus the great Turk, lay upon his death-bed, being urged to put to charitable use that wealth he had wronged the Persian merchants of—he commanded that it should be sent back to the right owners. Shall not a Christian's creed be better than a Turk's Koran? It is a bad sign when a man on his death-bed bequeaths his soul to God, and his ill-gotten goods to his friends. I can hardly think God will receive his soul. Augustine said, "Without restitution, no remission".

The Doctrine of Repentance

By Thomas Watson, 1668

I wanted to find something on repentance but I needed it to be as close as possible to what I have personally learned from the Holy Spirit directly. I have read several version of true repentance, while they are all saying the same thing, but some are harder to understand and some leave room for guessing games. So, once again I have decided to g with someone you know by now if you are used to my Blog. Thomas Watson wrote this piece in 1668. As I read it today, I realize it is the same process the Spirit took me through, to enable me to understand why I had to go through the process of repentance, how it was done, who does what and what was the overall result. There is nothing like true repentance entering your heart to find out who you truly are in Him.  

 

The NATURE of true repentance

I shall next show what gospel repentance is. Repentance is a grace of God's Spirit, whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and outwardly reformed. For a further amplification, know that repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients:

1. Sight of sin

2. Sorrow for sin

3. Confession of sin

4. Shame for sin

5. Hatred for sin

6. Turning from sin

If any one ingredient is left out, it loses its virtue. 

 

Ingredient 1. SIGHT of Sin

The first ingredient of Christ's gospel-medicine is eye-salve. "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light" (Acts 26:17-18). It is the great thing noted in the prodigal's repentance: "he came to himself" (Luke 15:17). He saw himself a sinner—and nothing but a sinner. Before a man can come to Christ—he must first come to himself. A man must first recognize and consider what his sin is, and know the plague of his heart—before he can be duly humbled for it.

The first thing God made was light. So the first thing in a penitent, is illumination: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8). The eye is made both for seeing and weeping. Sin must first be seen—before it can be wept for. Hence I infer that where there is no sight of sin—there can be no repentance.

Many who can spy faults in others—see none in themselves. They cry that they have good hearts. Is it not strange that two should live together, and eat and drink together—yet not know each other? Such is the case of a sinner. His body and soul live together, work together—yet he is unacquainted with himself. He knows not his own heart, nor what a hell he carries about him. Under a veil—a deformed face is hidden. People are veiled over with ignorance and self-love; therefore they see not what deformed souls they have! The devil does with them as the trainer with the hawk. He covers their eyes, and carries them hooded to hell! "The sword will pierce his right eye!" (Zechariah 11:17) Men have insight enough into worldly matters—but the right eye of their mind is blind. They do not see any evil in sin; the sword has pierced their right eye! 

 

Ingredient 2. SORROW for Sin

"I will be sorry for my sin." (Psalm 38:18) Ambrose calls sorrow the embittering of the soul. The Hebrew word "to be sorrowful" signifies "to have the soul, as it were, crucified". This must be in true repentance: "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced—and they shall mourn" (Zech. 12:10), as if they did feel the nails of the cross sticking in their sides. A woman may as well expect to have a child without pangs—as one can have repentance without sorrow! He who can repent without sorrowing, suspect his repentance. Martyrs shed blood for Christ, and penitents shed tears for sin: "she stood at Jesus' feet weeping" (Luke 7:38). See how this tear dropped from her heart. The sorrow of her heart—ran out at her eye!

The brazen laver for the priests to wash in (Exod. 30:18) typified a double laver: the laver of Christ's blood we must wash in by faith—and the laver of tears we must wash in by repentance. A true penitent labors to work his heart into a sorrowing frame. He blesses God when he can weep. He is glad of a rainy day, for he knows that it is a repentance he will have no cause to repent of. Though the bread of sorrow is bitter to the taste—yet it strengthens the heart (Psalm 104:15; 2 Cor. 7:10).

This sorrow for sin is not superficial: it is a holy agony. It is called in scripture a breaking of the heart: "The sacrifices of God are a broken and a contrite heart" (Psalm 51:17); and arending of the heart: "Rend your heart" (Joel 2:13). The expressions of smiting on the thigh (Jer. 31:19), beating on the breast (Luke 18:13), putting on of sackcloth (Isaiah 22:12), plucking off the hair (Ezra 9:3), all these are but outward signs of inward sorrow. This sorrow is:

(1) To make Christ precious. O how desirable is a Savior to a troubled soul! Now Christ is Christ indeed—and mercy is mercy indeed. Until the heart is full of sorrow for sin—it is not fit for Christ. How welcome is a surgeon—to a man who is bleeding from his wounds!

(2) To drive out sin. Sin breeds sorrow—and sorrow kills sin! Holy sorrow purges out the evil humours of the soul. It is said that the tears of vine-branches are good to cure the leprosy. However that may be, it is certain that the tears which drop from the penitential eye, will cure the leprosy of sin. The saltwater of tears—kills the worm of conscience.

(3) To make way for solid comfort. "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy" (Psalm 126:5). The penitent has a wet sowing-time—but a delicious harvest. Repentance breaks the abscess of sin—and then the soul is at ease! Hannah, after weeping, went away and was no longer sad (1 Sam. 1:18). God's troubling of the soul for sin, is like the angel's troubling of the pool (John 5:4), which made way for healing.

But not all sorrow evidences true repentance. There is as much difference between true and false sorrow—as between water in the spring, which is sweet—and water in the sea, which is briny. The apostle speaks of "godly sorrow" (2 Cor. 7:9). What is this godly sorrowing? There are six qualifications of it:

Surrendering on a case by case basis

First of all, I have to give credit where credit is due. While I like using the phrase "surrendering on a case by case basis", but I did not coin it. I read it in Pastor’s Stanley “Intouch magazine” on Tuesday September 2^nd 2008. The devotion was titled “choosing an obedient lifestyle and the verse was Romans 6:16-18. Pastor Stanley said:

“Though God is sovereign and omnipotent, many believers don’t trust Him to guide them. Instead they think about obedience on a case-by-case basis, evaluating how the consequences of various choices might affect their life. But the Lord desires followers whose lifestyle is submissive—in other words, people who've made a deliberate decision to surrender to His will in every circumstance.

When confronted with the idea of absolute submission, many of us are assaulted by anxious thoughts: What if the Lord wants me to do something I can’t? Or, What if I don’t want to do what He asks? We fear we wouldn't have the strength, wisdom, or faith to carry out commands He might give. And we’d be right—if we relied upon our own resources. But if we commit to obedience, God equips us at the right moment to follow where He leads.”

Last time I posted about this, I talked more about the surrendered life. Today, I am using the same quote from Pastor Stanley, but this time to talk about how the surrender on a case by case basis affects us.

When we surrender on a case by case basis what we are really doing is living a Christian life where we fluctuate between God’s plan for our lives and our own plans. Inwardly, we are unstable we are like those people who practice double mindedness, and we are also plagued by doubt in Him. (James 1:7-8)

The consequences of living this double life are unimaginable. It is not like we will not grow spiritually, but the Holy Spirit is limited to work in us only when we are on track with His plan. Once we jump on the other side where we live independently of Him, we are on our own and block the Spirit’s work. Furthermore, every day becomes a battle of the mind because there is a fight between the need to live independently according to our own plans and the need to live out God’s plans. This battle of the mind is ideal for Satan to perform his work and gain more and more ground to establish himself in your life and influence your thinking pattern and behaviour.

Another danger of surrendering on a case by case basis is that you forfeit your daily walk in the Spirit and replace it with a life of daily illusion and most of the time you are striving through your own abilities. May God give us the strength we need to get out of Satan’s claws and place ourselves under His direction and leading.

The Ungrateful

James Smith 1802—1862

"Where are the other nine?" Luke 17:17

Ten lepers had been cleansed — one only returned to give glory to God! Struck with their ingratitude, Jesus inquires, "Where are the other nine?" They had received mercy — the greatest temporal mercy they could receive. They could not be insensible of it — they must know it. They were expected to be thankful, and manifest their gratitude. But they were negligent and ungrateful, and Jesus notices their ingratitude!

The Lord will inquire after these nine healed lepers — and after every one who has received His mercy. And how many receive His mercy — who never acknowledge it! How many owe the debt of gratitude, who never attempt to pay it!

WHEN does the Lord inquire after the ungrateful? When His people present themselves at His throne, to praise Him for mercies received, and plead for the blessings they need. When they assemble in His ordinances, to celebrate His goodness, commemorate His love, adore His perfections, and enjoy His sweet presence. When His truth is falling in the street, or is vilified and spoken against. When His poor people are pinched by poverty, and need someone to relieve and comfort them. When His servants are persecuted and oppressed, and need a friend to stand by and cheer them. When His cause is low in any place, and needs to be fostered, screened, and supported. Then the Lord asks, "Where are the other nine?" Where are those who have received such great mercies at my hands? They ought to be . . .
first at my throne;
foremost in my house;
zealous for my truth;
ready to help my poor;
delighted to animate my servants;
and pleased to assist my cause!

But where are the other nine?

Perhaps some of them are in the world, mixed up with the giddy multitude; devoted to pleasure, or business, and find no time, nor feel any inclination, to return to give glory to God.

Others are lulled asleep in carnal security — and imagining that they are God's favorites, they rest upon their lees, neglect Christian duties, and dishonor the worthy name whereby they are called. But they ought, if they have obtained spiritual blessings, to be in the church; devoting themselves to the Lord's glory; and using all their talents for the increase of the Redeemer's kingdom. They ought to be awake, and active, and zealous — showing forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light.

But will not this inquiry be asked by and bye, when the sheep are separated from the goats — when the Lord's people are collected together — will not many be missing, whom we expected to find among them?

Ah! where will the ungrateful be then? Now they may have a name among the saints. Now they may have a place in the church. But then, they will be banished from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. Then all the ungrateful will be herded together, and be driven to darkness, damnation, and black eternal despair!

Ah! "where are the other nine?" Once they were with the saints. Once we expected to see them among the glorified. But where are they in the day of judgement?

Dear Reader, let us examine ourselves, and ask, Where am I now? Am I in Christ? There is no safety outside of Him — no salvation but by union to Him. We must be one with Christ — or we perish forever.

Where am I now? Am I in the path of duty? Am I where the Lord would have me to be?

What am I? Am I a Christian? A decided Christian? A grateful Christian? A devoted Christian?

What am I doing? Am I working for God? Walking with God? Aiming in all things at the glory of God? "Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows — that shall he also reap."

Friend, let us acknowledge the mercies we have received; we are undeserving of the least of them! They flow spontaneously from the kind heart of God; they ought to be acknowledged, and our God be praised, according to what he has done for us. He requires it. He expects it. He demands it at our hands. It is just. It is reasonable. The Lord will inquire after us if we neglect it. He will send by His ministers, by His providence, or by His Spirit, and will ask, "Where are the other nine?"

Walking in the Light

If we walk in the light as He is in the light . . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin —1 John 1:7

Up until the Holy Spirit stepped in to help me understand how I was to walk in the light, all I had was the model that I learned from my previous Church.  Like Oswald mentioned in March 16^th’s devotion “For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standards we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie” This is so powerful in so many ways that I do not even want to start unravelling it. Even those four tiny words “unconsciously living a lie” we do not have any idea how powerful and how they have merged in our Christian walk like leaven in the dough. In the meantime we are not even aware that the leaven of the Pharisees has found its way into our lives. So, unconsciously, we live this life where we cherish the lies as our truth and we stand on it so proudly, totally clueless.

I found it rather peculiar that to learn to live in the light of God that you have to first be able to withstand that light on you, in your actions and in your heart. This is not easy. When it comes to God, all of us like Adam and Eve, all we want is to hide away from Him. This is not even something the Holy Spirit can do for you. No, He cannot step in the light in your place. When you are summoned to walk into the light, the Holy Spirit can coach you up until it is time to step into the light. Because as you step into the light, you are dealing with God’s judgement of you, as you stand there you have the awareness of your nakedness before God, nothing is hidden and nowhere to hide. It is scary, paralyzing, and shameful to be so exposed before Him.  Imagine Adam and Eve only had one sin yet they needed to hide away from God’s eyes. Imagine now when you have a legion of sin within how hard it is to be in His presence.

Right before you step into His light you can completely see the difference between what you thought was the light you have been walking so far and God’s real light. It is amazing to see the contrast because our light compares  like murky water to God’s.  The big difference lies in the fact that we have a faulty understanding of the meaning of this doctrine. What we call walking in the light, is either made up of the light of our own conscience, our own understanding of the Scriptures and our own standards. 

 Walking in the light goes way deeper than saying “your word is a lamp unto my feet. To get the full picture of our walk in the light we have to understand, and know how is God in the light? What does it mean to Him? If you are used to your basic walk and you are satisfied with yourself, you might say to me that you do not see the need to go deeper and perhaps you might even go as far as believing that I am complicating your life. But, the truth is, His word is clear “If we are to walk in the Light as He is in the Light” We are called to be in the light like Him, His way, by His standards, His hatred for sin, His transparency, His love, His fellowship, His holiness, His need for purity, the need to be truly separated from evil and all that pertains to His standards alone and not ours.  In Him, there is no holding back, nothing hidden from the light, in Him there is no darkness and He delights in the truth.

God has a passionate hatred for sin and until we can see it and grasp it His way, until we can understand in unison with God, not just on the surface or through lip service but through who we have become in Him, we can see and taste and agree with His abhorrence for sin, then we are nowhere close to living in the light of God. Not only God is light and He is so radiant that darkness disappears wherever He is, but we ought to think about living in the light as a lifestyle. It is a lifestyle that goes beyond words, where you have no agenda of your own, nothing up your sleeves and you do not care if you actually can find loopholes in His Word, because you have taken up His agenda and you find delight in His desires for your life. It is a lifestyle where we basically find out that we are actually living out Romans 13:14 where we are clothed with Jesus-Christ our Lord. When you truly put on Christ, you find there is no room to gratify the desires of the flesh. The meaning of gratifying the desires of the flesh here simply refers to a sinful state where you are opposing the Holy Spirit.

I find that there is nothing like putting on and wrapping yourself in Christ to help you live out what Paul said in Philippians 1:21 “ for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”  As you put on Christ, and dancing in oneness and joy with Him, it makes you realize the depth of your limitations in the flesh. You have no idea what happen but somehow you sin. You ask yourself how did I get out of this precious fellowship? While you stand there with no answer, you feel like a child with dirty feet standing in the front door, you cannot come back in, unless you take your dirty shoes off and clean those feet. While you are standing there to be cleansed by His blood to merge in the fellowship again, you can see the contrast in your sinful state and God in His purest form. You don’t even need Him to tell you that you are dirty, you know it. This realization makes more real living in expectancy of the day you will not have to live separated from Him again and again because of sin. Oh! I wish all of us would long for that day.

Blessings to all of you! I am so grateful that my readership has catapulted in a way that I cannot explain. I am grateful to you all. Let's keep going forward toward Him, let's not look back because it is not worth it. Our God is all that we need. No matter what is going on in your life right now, in Him we are more than conquerors. He is real, he is love and He only wants what is good for us. Allow Him to get the work done in you.

To all my kindred brothers and sisters out there, I love you with His Agape love.

Take good care and love others even when you are not loved back and do not allow bitterness to touch your heart at all. 

If you are going through a time where you are not sure what is going on in your Christian walk,  inside you feel empty, sad, overwhelmed and depressed; all of the sudden the Christianity you thought you knew, the Christianity that brought you so much joy is far out of reach. You feel like you are on some kind of automatic pilot. Even faking a smile is hard for you. Then you are going through what Oswald called the discipline of dismay. The discipline of dismay lasts a little while. It is a dark period of your life that your soul needs to go through if your Christianity is to amount to anything to God.

Like Oswald said, we tend to look back on our time of obedience and our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for him strong (see Isaiah 50:10-11) One of the mistake we make is to try and find the enthusiasm back. We do not realize that God is not looking for that enthusiasm, He in fact does not care for it. He wants you to endure the inexplicable pain that you are in right now, while seeking His face and focus on Him like there is no tomorrow.

What Oswald did not know when he wrote that piece is that we are in a time where when the enthusiasm for God is gone, the younger generation falls back on Social Media to seek encouragement.  So they find comfort through those shallow comments these professed Christians have perfected over the years, but with no real meaning to their lives. I noticed as well the younger generation lack guidance and understanding coming from their own family. If they had parents living deeper Christian lives with Him, parents who have gone through the process with God, those younger people would have a better understanding of what is going on and would stop in seeking for the type of band-aid comfort they find on Social Media. 

What we do not realize, when God takes us through a time of dismay, it is indeed a good thing for our soul and our walk with Him. While we are there, it does not seem it is possible that any good can come of it because there is so much confusion just trying to understand why we are where we are with Him. But, it is good because God is taking you beyond a time where you can bypass the sense of self-satisfaction you get from your Bible reading, prayer time, and Christian activities. He is taking you deeper into Him. The sad thing is, until God takes you there, you would never realize that you have been living a self-satisfying kind of Christian life.

This phase is mandatory, the waiting process, His silence, the fact that you do not recognize Him and He is becoming more and more like a stranger to you. The protest that you will go through, the soul searching, the lack of answers from Him, are all part of the process. The attitude He is looking for is for you to surrender it all to Him, for you to stop protesting, for you to trust those words you have been reading in the Bible and trust that He is a faithful God. When you go through it with the right attitude, you position yourself to receive more of His grace.

It is a time of great depression and no matter what you do, your soul cannot get out of it. Don’t despair, and don’t panic. If you surrender through the process, I promise you, He will take care of you in the same way He took care of Elijah when he was running for his life and God sent an Angel to feed Him and care for him.  He will take care of you in the same way He took care of Paul who was so discouraged that nothing could revive his soul, God had to send an angel on three occasions to reassure him and strengthen him.

So, if you are going to a dark time with Him, I beg of you, stop seeking for temporary shallow satisfaction. It is a time to hang on to Him more than ever. It is the perfect time to test Hebrews 13:5 “I will never desert you nor forsake you.”  Trust in the God of your Salvation. Look to His Cross. It is hard to let go of all we know and to hang on to Him especially at a time where we have no answer and He seems more absent than we have ever experienced. But it is okay. It will feel as if you are asked to let go of something that is holding you nicely and help you stand up, for something you have no idea what it is, where it is, what it is made of. In fact within yourself, you have no desire of letting go of something you can see for something you cannot see. But, your soul needs to go through it all. Your soul needs to learn to trust what it cannot see

  

That’s exactly what He wants from you. Even though nothing makes sense to you, I beg of you to trust Him and He will not fail you.

In essence, what you are doing during this period, is giving up your identity to take on His!

Here is Oswald Chambers's devotion for today

The Discipline of Dismay

03

15

2013

As they followed they were afraid —Mark 10:32

At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— “Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed” (Mark 10:32).

There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set “like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.

Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.

The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 1:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy

Courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

Example of a Godly Wife

The Wife's Rule by James Smith

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Ephesians 5:22

The comfort of home very much depends on the wife, and the happiness of the husband is greatly in her power. The wife has often ruined the husband, or rendered the marriage-tie a subject of deep regret. An ungovernable temper, a proud spirit, a wish to conform to all the fashions of the present world — has rendered many a Christian's home really miserable!

Submission is difficult — where pride rules in the spirit! Yes, it is impossible! And yet, without submission on the part of the wife, happiness will never be the portion of the husband. Submission is the wife's duty: the Holy Spirit says, "As the church is subject unto Christ — so let the wives be unto their own husbands in everything." A submissive disposition, and a meek quiet spirit — are two of the most beautiful ornaments a wife can wear.

Every Christian woman should look upon her husband as the representative of Christ in the family, and submit to him as such. Her submission should extend to everything which does not run counter to the commands of God. The less a wife desires to have her own will — the better for her own comfort.

In consequence of sin, the Lord said, "Your desire shall be to your husband — and he shall rule over you." And this declaration of God stands in full force at the present day, "The husband is the head of the wife — even as Christ is the head of the church." In these different epistles, has the Holy Spirit spoken to wives, and commanded them to submit to their husbands; this may imply that the duty is difficult — but it testifies that the duty is imperative.

The wife should love her own husband — as the church loves Christ; and strive by every possible means to make him happy and honourable. She should strive to make his home the most comfortable, never meeting him at his return with a frown, or hailing him with a cross word; but her countenance should be lighted up with love, and on her lips should be the law of kindness. A woman's love, judiciously manifested — is almost invincible! But an evil temper indulged by a wife — is most repulsive! Nothing weakens a husband's love, or raises a husband's temper, like cross words or unpleasant looks from his wife. They never ought to be; but if they have been, they should be confessed with sorrow, and conquered with care.

The wife should bear in mind, that her husband is a Christian; that Jesus tenderly loves him; that He has made him His representative; that He requires her to submit to him in His name, and for His sake: and that He looks upon her disobedience — as directed against His authority; and her unkindness to her husband — as grieving His love.

My sister, it is your duty to learn subjection, for the Lord's sake, to imbibe and manifest a meek, lowly, and submissive spirit; a spirit that will yield everything for conscience' sake, unless in so doing you would sin against God.

Oh, if wives were willing to submit, if they only consulted the happiness of their husbands, if they made the precepts of the gospel their rule — what happy homes, what happy husbands they would have!

"Let the wife see that she respect her husband." But is this the case, even with godly wives? Can it be neglected, and the Spirit who commanded — not be grieved? Can the Spirit be daily grieved, by conduct the very opposite of His command — and the Christian be happy? It is impossible! See then one cause why so many wives are in such an unhappy and uncomfortable a state!

Chaste conversation should be coupled with fear — a fear to grieve, wound, or distress a husband's mind. Sarah, who obeyed and reverenced Abraham, should be the wife's daily pattern. No wife can be happy, no wife can be ornamental, no wife can have the testimony of a good conscience — unless she observes the precept, "Wives submit yourselves unto your husbands — as unto the Lord."

Yesterday and today's post go well with Oswald Chambers today, so I could not resist it

Yielding

03

14

2013

. . . you are that one’s slaves whom you obey . . . —Romans 6:16

The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.

If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “. . . He has anointed Me . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives . . .” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).

When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life

Courtesy of http://utmost.org/

Check out the devotion/prayers section of my site: http://www.intothyword.us/

A Godly Christian Husband's Example

By James Smith

"Husbands, love your wives — even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it." Ephesians 5:25

This language is especially addressed to Christians; the Holy Spirit speaks on the wife's behalf. The husband and his wife are one. The union is most intimate and important, and it is for life. It should therefore be formed with much prayer, prudence, and reflection. And being formed, each party should strive to make it a means of blessing to the other, by closely attending to the precepts of Holy Scripture. No godly man should, under any pretense, marry an unsaved woman; for it is impossible to obey the precepts of the gospel, under such circumstances.

The husband is to love his wife, not merely for her beauty, her amiable temper, or her attention to him; but he is to love her for Christ's sake, as a part of His mystical body, as dear to His heart, and appointed to reign with Him in glory.

The husband will never love his wife as he should, unless he views her in Christ, considers her as one with Christ, and remembers that Jesus takes unkindness shown to her — as shown to himself. The wife must be loved not only for her own sake, not merely as a woman; but for the sake of Christ, who redeemed her by His blood, who loves her with an infinite love, and who is jealous of any slight shown or unkindness manifested to her.

Every husband who professes to be a Christian, should view his wife as in Christ; and remember that Jesus says — speaking of His saints, "He who touches you, touches the apple of His eye." Acting thus, he would be better able to bear with her infirmities and imperfections; and would be led to plead for her more earnestly with her God. Viewing her as Christ's, and also as his own flesh, he would always have a garment at hand to cast over her faults, and his love would cover the multitude of sins. A perfect wife is not to be expected.

The husband should be the representative of Christ to his wife, loving her as Christ loves His church. Oh, what tenderness, what gentleness, what kindness, what sympathy, what condescension should be shown! If Jesus is to be the husband's pattern, if the husband endeavors to imitate Him — then how happy will the wife be made — how comfortable will the house become — how honorable will the marriage state appear!

Jesus so loved the church as to give Himself for her, even when she was most unlovely; and He so loves her as to give her all He has, even His glory. He never takes His eye off of her. He bears with her, pleads with His Father for her, sympathizes with her in every affliction, and will not allow anything to alienate His affections from her. There is not a sigh which escapes her — but it touches His heart; nor is a pain which is felt by her — but it enters His bosom.

Husbands, see your pattern. Look at the meekness, gentleness, forbearance, and tender love of Jesus, and see how you ought to act toward your dear wife. Look at your wife, and look at His Church, and ask: Is it possible for your wife to be as fickle, as false, as provoking, as ungrateful — as His church? See what He bears with, forgives, and forgets in His people — and then ask: What have you to bear with and forgive? Look at what Jesus is to His bride, and what you are to yours, and then answer.

Do you imitate His example? Oh, what happy homes would the houses of Christians be, if every husband loved his wife — as Jesus loves His church; if every husband cared for his wife — as Jesus cares for His church; if every husband consulted the honor and happiness of his wife — as Jesus consults the honor and happiness of His Church.

My brother, the Holy Spirit says, you ought to love your wife as your own body, as your own self; yes, as Christ loved the church, who gave Himself for it. Your love should be tender, constant, uniform, and as manifest as the love of Jesus is. Let there be no bitterness, or contempt, or treating the wife as an inferior; but give honor unto her as the weaker vessel. Love her in Jesus; love her as Jesus bids you; love her and be happy!