Why We Need Trouble-Spurgeon

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 1:5

There is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales—in this side he puts his people’s trials, and in that he puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to his crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—he finds it full—he begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this—then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honour Jehovah. “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies. 

From Morning & Evening Devotions, Feb. 12th Morning.

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ASSUME VICTORY, GET DEFEAT; LOSE GOD, LOSE JOY

It seems to be a reliable principle that we may grow lax in prayer after we have experienced a great victory. So it appears in the battles from Jericho victory to Ai defeat. What was missing there? Joshua and Israel failed to ask God's permission to attack a much smaller town than Jericho, and thus were defeated.

Similarly, in 2 Chronicles 16, we read of Judah's Asa hiring Syria to fight against Baasha, king of Israel. This was a wrong move. Why? He did not consult God. So, God sent the prophet (seer) Hanani to tell him, because you didn't turn to God but relied on yourself to figure this out, you've lost out on destroying the Syrians.

POINT?
First, history shows that you can defeat even larger enemies IF YOU CRY OUT TO GOD! "Because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand" (v. 8b). So, I ask myself (and you), "Why is it that we do this?" Why, given our Lord's good history of delivering us out of trouble, granting us wisdom and guidance . . . why is it that we presume upon Him today? Strange, isn't it? We seek the Lord when we have a "BIG" issue, but fail to pray before we read today's Bible reading? Why? Is that too small a matter, too infinitesimal? You talk about real spiritual issues with your loved ones? But do you really pray for God to change them, to enlighten them to truth, to help them in their struggles? Do you just think about it? PRAY! PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING. PRAY ABOUT EVERY LITTLE THING. PRAY ABOUT EVERY LITTLE THING . . . ALL THE TIME. Never presume upon God.

Second, the LORD is always on the look-out for those who will trust in Him. He doesn't sit by idly or passively waiting to see if we'll call out. He's searching the field of battle for a good warrior! "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him" (v. 9). God WANTS to help us. YES! Further, God's ready to give us "STRONG SUPPORT." He's not just going to "throw us a bone" as it were.


BLAMELESS?
But notice one thing else about this verse. Who's God look for in particular? Those whose heart is BLAMELESS toward Him. Blameless? You would've thought He'd have looked for one who is "Faithful," who believes Him. But "Blameless?" Why? Well, "blameless" can mean, "innocent of wrongdoing." But this is more at the idea of "complete, safe, or at peace." God is looking then for us to be those who find our completion in HIM, who consider no move "safe" that does not begin with reliance on God, and who rest in God's wisdom, for they are at peace only with his decisions. God is not the last resort, the one you turn to only if all other means have been exhausted. He's the first one you turn to, and this habitually. That will make a difference, all the difference in victory and defeat, in love and misery for the Christian. Those who call out to God find Him all-sufficient and that leads to joy and thankfulness. "Rejoice evermore" (1 Thess. 5:16).

Yes!
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Church or "Christian" Club?

How does a church become reduced to a mere club, a place where humans set the rules and follow their own by-laws? What makes this happen, that God and his Word are effectively nullified or rendered a waste of time? W. Robert Godfrey weighs in on this in his insightful March 2010 Tabletalk article, "The Christian Club."

Many American churches are in a mess. Theologically they are indifferent, confused, or dangerously wrong. Liturgically they are the captives of superficial fads. Morally they live lives indistinguishable from the world. They often have a lot of people, money, and activities. But are they really churches, or have they degenerated into peculiar clubs?

             

What has gone wrong? At the heart of the mess is a simple phenomenon: the churches seem to have lost a love for and confidence in the Word of God. They still carry their Bibles and declare the authority of the Scriptures. They still have sermons based on Bible verses and still have Bible study classes. But not much of the Bible is actually read in their services. Their sermons and studies usually do not examine the Bible to see what it thinks is important for the people of God. Increasingly they treat the Bible as tidbits of poetic inspiration, of pop psychology, and of self-help advice. Congregations where the Bible is ignored or abused are in the gravest peril. Churches that depart from the Word will soon find that God has departed from them.

God's Word Must Be Vital

Indeed, it is "alive and active" (Heb. 4:12), "God-breathed" and "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). The Bereans examined it to ensure they were getting a true sermon (Acts 17:11), and the Thessalonian Christians heard the Bible as if it were really God's Word which works effectually in those who believe (1 Thess. 2:13). The Word of God is absolutely vital to our existence and certainly to the church's progress in faith. Godfrey has it right: "Congregations where the Bible is ignored or abused are in the gravest peril." Let us never lose the eternal value of Scripture, but embrace it's ability to shape our person and shower us with blessing. No other book is like it.  

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Gifts Buried Under the Snow

A. W. Tozer grabbed my attention today with his reading based from Matthew 13:58, "And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Jesus was in his hometown of Nazareth. They couldn't deal with the thought that he might be more than he seemed to them growing up. (Frankly, how could his sinlessness escape their notice?!) But that's not the point here.

Here's Tozer's point:

How many blessed truths have gotten snowed under. People believe them, but they are just not being taught, that is all. I think of our experience this morning. Here was a man and his wife, a very fine intelligent couple from another city. They named the church to which they belonged, and I instantly said, "That is a fine church!" "Oh, yes," they said, "but they don't teach what we came over here for." They came over because they were ill and wanted to be scripturally anointed for healing. So I got together two missionaries, two preachers, and an elder, and we anointed them and prayed for them. If you were to go to that church where they attend and say to the preacher, "Do you believe that the Lord answers prayer and heals the sick?" he would reply, "Sure, I do!" He believes it, but he doesn't teach it, and what you don't believe strongly enough to teach doesn't do you any good.

It is the same with the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Evangelical Christianity believes it, but nobody experiences it. It lies under the snow, forgotten. I am praying that God may be able to melt away the ice from this blessed truth, and let it spring up again alive, that the Church and the people who hear may get some good out of it and not merely say "I believe" while it is buried under the snow of inactivity and nonattention.

Buried Does Not Mean Non-Existent!

As a pastor, I am, of course, alerted to Tozer's warning. I don't want to be guilty of saying we believe something, but then never practicing it. I fear that his accusation is accurately aimed! We did, in fact, pray over a young woman two Sunday's ago. And I can say that I have preached and taught that we should do this. Our Elders believe in it. They join with me readily and willingly. Praise the Lord! But there is a part of me that still feels as if it is not truly inculcated into the very spiritual fabric of the body of Christ. Lord, my prayer is this: Please open our eyes to see and experience the Holy Spirit's power in our lives and to put that continuously into practice. Dig out the doctrines which have been buried by the drifts of presumption and neglect.

Amen!
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Quote of the Day!

Her name is Mildred. But she's only ever been known as "Midge" to her friends and family. Midge has been in the Eastside Nursing Home for about 3 years, and other than being a little hard of hearing and a little weak in the legs gets around quite well . . . for a woman pushing 86! Sprite of mind, her humor keeps you on your toes.

Phyllis (my wife) and I, on the way home from our monthly Minister's meeting (this one in Attica) decided it would be good to visit those whom time allowed. We missed Midge the last go-round, so wanted to make sure we saw her this time.

After chatting with Midge for a bit, Phyllis shared with her that she and Midge had something in common--the same birth date! Midge volunteered that she was 39, how old might Phyllis be!! . . . Younger! . . . Then I asked her, "If we brought up a birthday cake on July 24th for the both of you, and I put 86 candles on it, about how long do you think it'd take for you to blow them out?" Without losing a beat, Midge wryly commented, "I'm sure it'd take less time than it would for YOU TO LIGHT THEM!" Yikes! This woman had us rolling.

What a blessing to visit these dear ones in the home. Not all get to keep their wits about them, as is evidenced from some who "greet" the elevator. But some mainly suffer from physical weakness and just need a loving, watchful eye. This they get at Eastside Nursing Home. Praise the Lord for such a place. There are those who DO care and we must not forget that in this age of pseudo concern and government-implemented programs. God bless them, and Waneta, Betty, and Gertie, and May and now Janet at another facility--Extended Care in Warsaw.

OK . . . so maybe we WON'T light all 86 candles! But it'll be fun eating the cake just the same.

God bless you Midge!

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The Low Ceiling of Suffocated Christianity

That's right, that is if we adhere to the clip-boards of the rationalists. That which is above us, beyond man, transcendent is summarily dismissed in favor of that which can be reduced to pen and paper.

Losing Our Supernatural Vocabulary?
Go into the average church today and mention the term providence as in the "Providence of God," and you'll likely receive a blank look. And once you explain that "Providence" refers generally to God's sovereign right over all of His creation so that He controls all things and people for His own purpose and to His glory--I say--once you've said this, you'll receive all kinds of objections, as if this were a new teaching. "What about sin?" "Does God control that?" "And if God controls sin, how is it that He is not Himself a sinner?" Or, "I thought the devil made bad things happen and God only does good things." And more . . . All this is the subject matter of that area of study termed "Theodicy." Yes, so pervasive is this issue that it has it's own title!

Now, these are good questions to be sure. But are they coming from the conviction that God is Almighty, or is He on the "hot seat" of man's speculation? Man may pose questions from ignorance or arrogance. The difference is vital. Which leads to how modern man is suffocating himself and much of the religious world as well. 

How Did Christianity Start Suffocating?
So, how does this "suffocate" today's form of Christianity? In his recent book, Unfashionable, Tullian Tchividjian exposes one foundational weakness of the church, their desire (it seems) to be relevant and respected. How does the church gain such respect from an opposing world? Well, they must be decipherable [my word]. If they can figure us out, or God out, then we are more acceptable to them. We're on terms they accept. Of course, as he goes on to explain in his book, this is not the purpose of the church . . . to be understood.

But what about suffocating? When you consider the 21st century, you'd expect us to be more enlightened, capable of the most expanded vistas ever. But the opposite is true. He quotes Peter Berger, saying that people in the twenty-first century world are living in a "world without windows." In other words, they have no ability to see outside of themselves. "Most cultures," says Tchividjian, "generally accepted a larger purpose beyond the immediate, and they recognized the higher power of something supernatural." Os Guinness says, "The deepest experiences of all were held to be 'religious,' 'sacred,' 'other,'or 'transcendent,' however these terms were defined." Instead, all of life is "rationalized." "Everything becomes a matter of human classification, calculation, and control." "What counts in a rationalized world," says Guinness, "is efficiency, predictability, quantifiability, productivity, the substitution of technology for the human, and--from first to last--control over uncertainty." Everything's produced, managed, and solved this side of the ceiling, which explains why so many people are restless and yearning . . ." This has in turn led the TV industry to produce such out-of-the-world shows like Ghost Whisperer, Supernatural, and Heroes" and (I add) Lost. "Our generation is crying out for something different, something higher, something beyond this world. They long for elements that a world without windows disallows--mystery, transcendence, and a deep sense of wonder, awe, and spirituality." He quotes Guinness, "Eternal questions and yearnings are thrusting their way up between the cracks in the sterile world of secular disenchantment."

The Answer?
The answer is much larger than I could write here, but its basic tenants are simple. Don't be afraid of the truth of who God is and of telling that to the world. We celebrate God's immanence in His coming to earth in the form of the incarnate God, Jesus Christ of Bethlehem. Truly, His name was called "Immanuel," or, "God with us." But let us not believe this to the exclusion of God's transcendence. There is a mystery about God which no one can explain. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God" (Deut. 29:29). And from Job, "Can a man by searching find out God?" (11:7). Oh, the tendency today is to make God relevant to everyone, which of course, He already IS by virtue of His very personage as Creator/Sustainer. Indeed, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). God warns us in so many words that "Familiarity breeds contempt." If we try to bring God down to an understandable level, we will distort His very being, thus destroying His Person. He ceases to be God. Of course, God will not, yea, cannot do that! Instead, we ought to fear God! "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7). Therefore, anyone who boasts in his intelligence must have already concluded this, that God is to be feared--since it is "First-Grade" information! "To whom then, will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?" (Isaiah 40:18).

Here's the point. God is overwhelmingly beyond all conception, transcending the most elevated thoughts of Him. However we proclaim the Gospel to the world, that will not change. It cannot. We preach Jesus Christ, God in flesh. But God still "dwells in light unapproachable" (1 Timothy 6:16). "To Him be honor and eternal dominion."  We do well to remember that in the Church, and not be ashamed about it, but glorify our Lord in it!

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Holiness by Keith Mathison | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org

My own heart so resonates with Keith Mathison's that I feel I must quote his December 1, 2009 article completely! I have told our church family numerous times over the years that Ryle's Holiness ranks on my top ten all time favorites, if the not the number one spot! Like Mathison, I first read the book about 30 years ago (he must be younger), and it's effects have never left me. And I agree totally with his assessment of Ryle's writing, that he is graciously to the point, exceedingly biblical and . . . quite sane!! Get your own copy. Do whatever you have to do to secure one, and mark it up. Then live it out!

Holiness by Keith Mathison

In the early centuries of the church’s existence, Christian apologists would sometimes appeal to the distinctively holy lives of Christians as evidence for the truth of Christianity. Would such an appeal be of any use today? According to numerous surveys, the behavior of professing Christians is not discernibly different from the behavior of those who profess other religions or no religion at all. The phrase one often hears on the lips of pagans who observe contemporary Christian behavior is: “The church is full of hypocrites.” This should not be. We worship a holy God who calls His people to be holy and who has provided the means by which they may be holy.

The problem of lax and hypocritical Christianity is not a new one, and one of the best treatments of the entire subject is a classic written by J.C. Ryle (1816–1900), who served as the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool for twenty years. Ryle was a deeply committed and non-compromising evangelical Christian. In fact, Charles Spurgeon referred to him as an “evangelical champion.” His book Holiness has been reprinted numerous times since its original publication in 1879. It is deservedly considered a Christian classic on the subject of sanctification. It ranks up there with the work of John Owen on the mortification of sin.

I first read Bishop Ryle’s Holiness some twenty years ago. The book was deeply convicting and made a lasting impact on my thinking. Ryle’s work is convicting because he does not appeal to silly gimmicks and other manmade answers to the problem of sin. He appeals over and over to Scripture, to the Word of the living God, and he drives the Word of God home through careful and direct application. If you are complacent in your sin and do not want to be disturbed in your enjoyment of it, do not read Ryle. This is a book about the necessity of sanctification, the necessity of holiness. It deals with weighty subjects, the weightiest in fact: God, sin, Jesus Christ, the gospel, the Holy Spirit, justification, sanctification, heaven, and hell. It is a book for those who want to move beyond milk and get to the meat of the Word.

Frankly, some older Christian books are difficult to read because of the style of writing that was common in previous ages. To contemporary readers, many of these works seem dry and wordy, tedious and dull. I have run across many such books myself. Ryle does not fall into that category. Ryle’s writing is more comparable to that of someone like Charles Spurgeon. He writes with such an intensity and passion that the reader cannot easily become bored.

The book itself contains twenty chapters dealing with various issues related to holiness and one chapter containing quotations on the subject by older Christian writers. In the main section of the book, Ryle devotes entire chapters to subjects such as sin, sanctification, the nature of Christianity as a fight, counting the cost, growth in grace, assurance, the church, and love of Christ. The introductory chapter on sin is perhaps the most important chapter in the entire book because wrong views of salvation and of holiness are inevitably based on wrong views of sin. As Ryle explains, “If a man does not realize the dangerous nature of his soul’s disease, you cannot wonder if he is content with false or imperfect remedies.”

One of the most prevalent errors made when discussing holiness is to slide into the view that we are somehow justified before God by our holiness. Ryle is careful to observe throughout this book the distinction between sanctification and justification. Justification is by faith alone in Christ alone. But those who have been justified bear the fruit of the Spirit and grow in holiness. In other words, they are sanctified by God. They are now to love Christ and the things He loves. This is very easy to forget in our day and age when walking an aisle is equated with conversion and walking in the light is considered optional.

Whether you have been a Christian for ten months or ten years, I encourage you to read Ryle’s Holiness. His words will exhort you, convict you, encourage you, and challenge you. His chapters will drive you to dig into the Scriptures, and there you will see that holiness is not optional for the Christian. We are to strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). We are to walk by the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). We are to love the Lord because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:39).

You can purchase Holiness in either hardback or paperback from several publishing firms. My favorite is Charles Nolan Publishing in Moscow, Idaho.

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