Month: November 2020

Discipline is the secret strength, and strength is essential to success. Religious life is not to be honestly and usefully cultivated by fits and starts. Every morning its necessities must he provided for, and every night the day’s account should be audited and signed.

At first it may be hard to get rid of pedantry on the one hand, and morbid self-vivisection on the other. But difficulties are not impossibilities. By exercise we acquire skill, and spirituality is the outcome and the reward of carefully adjusted means. We begin in law, but we end in grace. Every morning the soul should come into conscious contact with God, if only for a few moments the very touch will invigorate and cheer the life, and call forth the truest sensitiveness of the moral nature.

If we would know what Christian discipline is, read the testimony of such a man as the Apostle Paul. I lis words arc the words of an athlete bent on victory, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things …” (I Corinthians 9:25). “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Corinthians 9:27). That is hard work. That is the way to keep down the turbulent body. “But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5). This is consecration! This is loyalty to Christ! But all this was physical discipline, yet the spiritual discipline was not therefore neglected; on the contrary, physical discipline was but the outward proof of inward and spiritual culture. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6: 12). What then? ” … take unto you the whole armour of God … ” (Ephesians 6: 13). Be panoplied, be sober, be vigilant, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life … ” (I Timothy 6:12). The Apostle Paul only exhorted others to do what he had done himself, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

The Apostle Peter was also a disciplinarian. ” … give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11 ).

What is all this but the law of the Saviour, “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee … And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee … “(Matthew 5:29-30). “Strive to enter in at the strait gate … ” (Luke 13:24). “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness … ” (Matthew 6:33).

Have we not forgotten the necessity of the advantage of discipline? We are assured by the Apostle Paul that if we live only for the flesh we shall all die, but if through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live. This is the law of the Kingdom- this the only way to final honour and eternal peace! ” … put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy … seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:8-9). “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself…” (1 John 3:3).

We grow by discipline. Self-watching is the first duty of the day. Do not go out without your sword. Do not advance a step until you have waited upon God in the silence of secret communion. Never plead the exigencies of business or of family life as a reason for neglecting early religious communion. No exigency of the body can be equal to the exigency of eternal things. ” … endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). ” … O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Timothy 6: 11). “… it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

Arc we not fighting for a crown? Are we not the soldiers of Christ? “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully” (2 Timothy 2:4-5).

Is it too much to spend a moment with the Saviour every morning? Is it hard work to take oneself to the heavenly fountain every morning? Is it too severe upon love to look once upon the object of its homage every morning? Does the morning come irregularly? Is the sun an uncertain visitor? Is God fickle? O my soul, bestir thyself and watch early for the coming of Him who bought thee with His blood. Try to be first at the appointed meeting place. Can thou outrun thy Lord? Knowest thou some short way to the altar?

lf I really love my Saviour, nothing will stand in the way of a personal interview every morning. “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it… ” (Song of Solomon 8:7). I do not want more argument, I want more love. I not only want to hear of my Lord, I want to see Him every morning. His written Word is full of tenderness, but O the music of His voice when He whispers His love to my heart! Who would have a letter when he can have a conversation. I want to hear the tender voice. I want to see the radiant face. I want to feel the strengthening touch. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and look up” (Psalm 5:3).

“…and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15)

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s”(Psalm 103:1-5).

There are four kinds of people with regard to this matter of being thankful: First, there are those who are constantly complaining and grumbling. No matter what their circumstance in life, they always have a way of expressing their dissatisfaction.

Second, we have those who live lives of ingratitude. They do not complain, but they never thank God for His obvious blessings.

Third, we have those people who thank God for obvious blessings. When something good happens, then they are grateful. Surely these are better than the two groups above.

Fourth, we find the highest level of men who are grateful for all things at all times. Yes, for these people, thankfulness is the secret of their happy and productive life. The thankful heart counts his blessings and carries his burden.

Sad to say, ingratitude is one of the greatest flaws in the nature of man, and we dare say that most individuals are given to it. One of the most pathetic cases of ingratitude is seen in Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers – only one of them came back to thank Him for such a tremendous blessing. He obviously was disappointed, for He said in Luke 17:17, ” …Were there not ten cleansed’? but where are the nine?”

During the great depression days, which were desperate times for so many, there was a radio personality who had a program called “Job Center of the Air.” He did his best to find jobs for those in need, and, in fact, he did find jobs for 2,500 people in the days when jobs were as “scarce as hen’s teeth.” He reported that out of that large number who received assistance, only ten ever took the time to thank him. What base ingratitude!

A story also is told of a man who remembered a school teacher who had been very helpful to him when he was a child. She was now in her eighties and living all alone. So he sat down and wrote a letter expressing his thankfulness to her. Upon receiving his letter, she wrote to him, “I can’t tell you how much your letter meant to me. You will be interested to know that I taught school for fifty years, and yours is the first note of appreciation that I have received. It came on a blue, cold morning and filled me with cheer.”

Friends, if our ingratitude to man is bad, what about ingratitude to God? The chief enemy for being thankful is self, which is the essence of all sins. This matter of being thankful has to do with the attitude of our heart. The child of God ought to be able to thank God every moment of every day no matter what may be his lot in life. “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5 :20).

The Bible says that in the last days ” … men shall be lovers of their own selves … “ (2 Timothy 3:2). This has always been true, for man is basically selfish, but it is increasing and intensifying like all other sins in these last days. However, God’s people ought to take this time to express their thanksgiving to God for His salvation and provision. Unfortunately, this sin, like many others, is becoming more and more evident in professing Christians. Thanksgiving for most professed believers in Jesus Christ is nothing more than a holiday, a time of feasting, ballgames, and so one.

Dear friend, how grateful are you for God’s blessings and bounty? How grateful are you for God’s ” … unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15)? Are you thankful enough to surrender your all to Him who loved you and gave Himself for you? In spite of the sad condition of our land today, how blessed of God we are. Abraham Lincoln, in his Thanksgiving proclamation, in the midst of that horrible war, said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven … but we have forgotten God.”

If we are true believers in Jesus Christ, our gratitude ought to be abundantly evident because of all that He has done for us. “Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11). “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”(Psalm 107:8).

(1 Peter 4:7)

Go not, my friend, into the dangerous world without prayer. You kneel down at night to pray, drowsiness weighs down your eyelids; a hard day’s work is a kind of excuse, and you shorten your prayer, and resign yourself softly to repose. The morning breaks; and it may be you rise late, and so your early devotions an: not done, or are done with irregular haste.

No watching unto prayer! Wakefulness once more omitted; and now is that reparable? We solemnly believe not. There has been that done which cannot be undone. You have given up your prayer, and you will surfer for it.

Temptation is before you, and you are not ready to meet it. There is a guilty feeling on the soul, and you linger at a distance from God. It is no marvel if that day in which you suffer drowsiness to interfere with prayer be a day in which you shrink from duty. Moments of prayer intruded on by sloth cannot be made up. We may get experience, but we cannot get back the rich freshness and strength which were wrapped up in those moments.

If Jesus, the Son of God, felt it necessary to rise before the breaking of the day to pour out His heart to God in prayer, how much more ought you to pray unto Him Who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and Who has promised all things necessary for our good.

What Jesus gathered into His life from His prayers we can never know; but this we do know, that the prayerless life is a powerless life. A prayer less life may be a noisy life, and fuss around a great deal; but such a life is far removed from Him Who, by day and night, prayed to God.

There is a verse in Judges chapter 5 that stands out from all the others of that chapter because it is a curse pronounced in the midst of the praise and blessings, “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty” (verse 23).

Not too much is known of Meraz. Only that it was a little village near the river Kishon, and the people of the village were Children of Israel and the Lord was their God. It is not mentioned anymore in the Scripture, and it seems that it was utterly destroyed as a result of this curse put upon it by their own prophetess, Deborah. Why would she utter such a curse upon her own people? Why did God send His angel to bring judgement to pass?

For twenty years the children of Israel were being ruled by hard-hearted Jabin who was king of Canaan. He had a large army, and many of his soldiers rode in iron chariots drawn by horses. The children of Israel were in constant fear of them, and for twenty years they were oppressed. Then they cried to God for help. God spoke to the Prophetess Deborah and told her what to do. She called Barak, and together they planned the battle against the Canaanites.

When they reached Mount Tabor, in the north, the place chosen by God for their camp, they found it to be a perfect spot. From there they could look down and see the little river Kishon winding through the valley below them. Sisera soon heard, and ” … gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him … unto the river of Kishon” (Judges 4:13).

Deborah sent her army down, “And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him” (Judges 4:14).

There was a tremendous battle, but all the while this was going on there were some of the Lord’s people in a little village called Meraz who refused to help when they were so greatly needed. They knew what their duty was, and at first they considered it. ” … For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart” (Judges 5:15-16). They felt the patriotic impulse, and, no doubt, at first determined to join the ranks of their brethren; but while they waited and considered, the counter-call came-the more pleasant and peaceful sound of the bleatings of the sheep. Why exchange this for a battlefield? Or the shepherd songs for the trumpet sound of war.”

So here we have it- the call of duty and the counter-call of comfort and worldly gain and self interests. So they abode among the sheepfolds. ” … Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go …?”(Judges 4:6). “Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds …?” (Judges 5:16).

The men of Meroz are many today. They arc the Lord’s dear people who are not in the battle for God. They know their duty but fear the foe. They know the truth but shrink before Satan’s lies. They fear trouble and shrink from being numbered with the few. They lack the courage of their convictions and call cowardice “caution.” But it is the sin of Meroz! It is the love of ease, the “leave us alone, we want to live our own lives” attitude.

Deborah scorned them, and they deserve scorn still. Our duty and privilege is to serve the Lord. He needs and He wants our help to make His message of salvation known. This is the only message that can deliver those who are held captive by Satan and by sin.