The Tried Believer (C.H. Spurgeon)

1. His power may be gone. Personally he becomes helpless. Bodily health fails, prudence is baffled, skill is taken aeay, courage sinks, even spiritual force departs. Lamentations 3: 17And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. 18And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD.

2. His earthly help may fail. "There is none shut up or left." A man without a friend moves the compassion of God.

3. He may be assailed by doubts and fears, and hardly know what to do with himself Job 3: 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
24For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 26I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came. In all this there may be chastisement for sin. It is so described in the context.

4. His hope lies in the compassion of God: he has no pleasure in putting his people to gries. "He will turn again, he will have compassion" Micah 7: 19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Such sharp trials may be sent because:

• Nothing less would cure the evil hidden within Isaiah 27: 9By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.
• Nothing less moght suffice to bring the whole heart to God alone.
• Nothing less might affect the believer's future life. Isaiah 38: 16 O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
• Nothing less might complete his experience, enlarge his acquaintance with the Word, and perfect his testimony for God.

Idolatry

When we think of the word Idolatry, we think "the golden calf". Israel in the absense of Moses' teaching constructed a god for themselves in which they then worshipped. In the absence of truth we create an idol. Many in this day and age call themselves christian but the god that they worship is not God. In the absence or denial of truth, people create for themsleves an idol. If we pick and choose or fill gaps with our own beliefs and devices, we have ceased to worship God and have created an idol.

Isaiah 2:19-21

19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth

20In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

21To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

This passage speaks of fearing the Lord. The problem is that this fear is not the godly fear that is healthy and brings us to repentance and love for God. This fear is similar to the fear that is manifested in Judas Iscariot after Jesus is betrayed. Satan and his demons fear God but it is a loathing and spiteful fear. Many people live in this ungodly fear of God. This pushes them to create a god/idol that is not scary to them. They then stand up this god before themselves and begin to worship it. Most people end up with a god that can do nothing to for them, but they like it that way because their god can do nothing to them (Paul washer). The Israelites in their fear of God, and ignorance of Him, created their golden calf and then raised it above themselves in order to worship it.

Seek the true God. His attributes are awesome and powerful, His is the thrice Holy God worthy of praise. Are role is not to scrutinize God and decide which parts agree with us. whether we like everything about God or not, means nothing. We will all bow and worship the true God, whether under grace through salvation, or under the condemnation of judgement for sin.

How shall we live? Psalm 116

How do we respond to God? Psalm 116 reads like the testimony of God's saving grace and the psalmist's response to that grace. in verse 3, the state of man without God is described; The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. This is the state of all that are not saved. The weight of their sin swallows them up. God alone can save us from the punishment of His holy hatred for sin. But redemtion is found in the Lord and Him alone verses 4,5 :4Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. What is the tangible effect of salvation? The testimony of the psalmist is seen in seen in verse 8:For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. And now How shall we live? verse 9: I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. In this verse, the word walk comes from a Hebrew word meaning to be continually conversant. Now what is the confession of this man who has been redeemed,12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. This is a declaration of worship and a seeking of God's will that He might be glorified. It is saying I will drink down and seek all that you have for me. It is putting on all that God's will has purposed. These are the words of one who has "counted the cost" as Paul wrote. It is a life of surrender and living in the presence of God. Out of love and devotion the psalmist declares in verses:
16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, 19 In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. In reading this psalm, you can practically feel the thankfulness and love that the psalmist has for God. You see that as we come to know and understand God and what He has done in saving us, a love and devotion to God erupts out of the repentant heart.

Salvation is of the Lord

In our culture on a daily basis, we are being pitched to by people, corporations, companies, and politicians. It has has almost become second nature for us to be cynical the moment these situations occur. It is also a problem that today's style of evangelism mirrors a used car salesman , and looks like anyone else trying to sell us a bill of goods. This creates huge opposition from a people that are defensive doubting and cynical.
The only answer is to abandon the slick words, the catch phrases and the "evangelical pick up lines". Salvation is of the Lord, by the Lord, and through the Lord. Salvation is 100% the work of God. " If salvation were 99% God and 1% man, man would still fail in the 1%"(Paul Washer).
In most sermons, classes, and books about evangelism, the focus seems to be about what we say and knowing how to answer common questions. How ridiculous is this? I am so glad that the power of salvation has nothing to do with my intellectual knowledge and skills as a salesman. If it did then there is no hope. Do you want to see people receive salvation? Throw away all those books on evangelism and pick up your Bible. Seek God and His truths. When Jesus would feed the multitudes, He would first multiply the bread and disperse it to His disciples who would then give it to the people. The disciples themselves had nothing to give; their hands were empty. In order to minister the bread and fish to the people, the disciple must first go to Jesus and receive from Him. He is the source, He will give you truth and send you to deliver that truth in His name and His authority.
In ancient days, a messenger for the king would be given the kings ring, or the message itself would have a seal on it. These markings, symbols, or items, of the king would then give this simple lowly servant all authority to declare the message of the king.
Salvation is of Jesus Christ, who is the Lord and King. Today's evangelism fails because people are told that they need to construct or memorize methods, messages, concepts, and phrases. We are empty handed and have nothing to give. Go to Jesus, who whenn asked will give you living waters. Go to Jesus who is the bread of life. Take what you receive from the Lord and minister it to the people.

The Word is hope

In this world that is dying, where is hope? Isn't it heartbreaking how on the surface our culture portrays happiness and satisfaction in life, but underneath, our culture is as unhappy, lost, and empty as ever? It is so easy to tell someone that they need Jesus when there life is going good. But what do you say to someone who is truly lost and at rock bottom? It has been God's will to place me in a place where I am confronted with the dying and lost every day. For the last three and a half years, I have been continually confronted with and broken by the reality that I have no power to save men. I can give them nothing. Apart from Christ I am in the same boat as they are. We act like we are not in need because we do so much under our own power, it it this that blinds us to our true needs. What do you say to or give to somone who has needs and hurts that no man can satisfy? Many would say that you should tell them of God's love. We tell them that God loves them ad promises to provide for their material needs. But how does that free them? Is the love of God boiled down to the fact that He will give you stuff? The apostle Paul said, "I preach Christ and Him crucified". The love of God is that though He is just in condemming us to death for our sins, He reigned down His Holy hatred for our sins onto His only begotten son. So what hope do we give to wicked dying people that are apart from God? The most freeing thing that you can give them is the message of the Gospel. Without God enabling us, we would never know Him or seek Him, without Christ we stand justly condemned for our many sins and deserve death. But because of the propitiation of Christ's death, righteousness is given to those who's faith is in Him. That faith is preceded and followed by repentance and turning from sin.

11/13/07

To Jesus, who is my all and all. As I begin to write this first post, I suddenly realize the purpose of this Blog. May my life bring glory to God and the recording of my walk with Christ be a witness to His awesome power in the life of this sinner. I pray that all who stumble upon these ramblings would be blessed as they see God work through my life. Phillipians 1:6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."