Month: September 2023

“Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22

“How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” Jude 1:18-19

I. Three enemies of purity: World (I John 2:15-17), Flesh (Jeremiah 17:9), Devil (I Peter 5:8). Satan seeks to wreck our lives by impurity.

II. Why Purity?

1. One must be pure to enter heaven. Matthew 5:8, Psalm 24:3,4; I Corinthians 6:9,10.

2. Purity enables us to avoid judgment. 2 Peter 2:6; Ecclesiastes 11:9.

3. Purity enables us to avoid defilement. I Corinthians 6:18.

4. Purity is the best way to enjoy life. Hebrews 13:4.

III. How to be pure?

Yield yourselves to God. Watch your:

a) Thoughts: Genesis 6:5; Proverbs 23:7

b) Eyes: Matthew 5:28;

c) Ears: Mark 4:24 “Take heed what you hear.”

d) Tongue: Matthew 12:36,37; Psalm 34:13.

IV. Rewards of Purity. Philippians 4:8.

^“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8

1. God’s best blessings.

2. Trustworthy and dependable. Proverbs 31:10-11.

3. Clear conscience. Romans 14:22; Psalm 51.

4. Good understanding of people’s character. Sin blinds and distorts values because people justify their sin. II Corinthians 4:4.

5. Provides more opportunity for leadership and service. ‘A bishop must be blameless’ I Timothy 3:2,3 .

6. Physical, mental and spiritual strength. Galatians 6:7-8.

Conclusion:

Will you choose purity of mind, rather than corruption in the world through lust?

^“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4

Bible Reading: Psalm 37:1-18.

Aim: To comfort us by the Lord’s intimate knowledge of us and our needs.

Introduction: Often we may be tempted to think that the Lord doesn’t know or care about us or about our problems. The following Scriptures show that he does know and care about us.

The Lord knows:

1. Our Way “He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness.” Deuteronomy 2:7.

“He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10.

“The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1:6.

2. Our Secret Thoughts “He knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Psalm 44:21.

3. Our Frame “The proud he knoweth afar off.” Psalm 138:6.

“For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13,14.

4. Them That Trust In Him “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” Nahum 1:7.

5. Our Needs “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Matthew 6:8,32

6. Our Hearts “God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:14,15.

7. Them That Are His “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” II Timothy 2:19.

8. When I Sit Down And Stand Up “Thou knoweth my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.” Psalm 139:2.

9. How To Deliver The Godly “The Lord knoweth how to deliver to godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” II Peter 2:9.

Answers – Keith Piper

Over a century has passed since the founder of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor, has gone to Heaven. He was a man with great vision, and in the early days when China was still murdering people who came in as foreigners especially foreigners who wanted to inject any new ideas about God or religion Hudson Taylor went to China and spent his life there. He did not go by plane, as many of us have done, because there were no planes. In fact, there weren’t even many roads. It is said that Hudson Taylor walked so much that his feet were calloused. There were huge, thick callouses on his feet that made it painful for him to walk in the latter years of his life. Bones gave way a bit, still he kept walking until the day of his death because there was so much to be done.

So Hudson Taylor, through all the years of his life, walked to get to these people – to reach new areas with the news that Jesus loves sinners.

As he grew older, his wife became too feeble to go with him on his long journeys. Far back in the interior China, where Hudson Taylor died, she’d wait in the village, eager for the twilight when her husband would come home. He would come finally, his frail body absolutely at the breaking point and worn out beaten down with the sun, thirsty, tired; and those feet would be aching, aching, aching from the walk.

He would come in and put aside his garments, and his wife would come with a wash basin. Looking up to that noble face, and seeing there all the love of Jesus for the lost and for these Chinese, she would weep a little at the price she saw it cost her husband to keep on going. Then she would put that wash basin, just an ordinary old tin wash basin, on the floor, and she would fill it with warm water.

Then, old as she was and unable to walk out through the villages as he did, she would get on her knees with a little towel and a little bit of soap and wash those gnarled and calloused and knobby old feet, and with her aching hands would massage them.

Time and time again, he would tell her where he had been for Jesus that day. He would talk about the demon possessed he had prayed for; or the woman with a great cancer as an open sore on her leg that he pointed to Jesus; or the little village where he had gone where there were fifty to sixty percent of the people blind or going blind with trachoma, and where he had talked about Jesus who came to restore sight to the blind.

He would tell his story, and she would just massage his feet and wash them. Finally, when she had done the best she could to ease the burning pain in those joints worn out for Jesus, time and time again she would just look up and say, “Hudson, its been a busy day, and you are tired; and I just want you to know that like your face that shines for Jesus, these feet too, are beautiful. They are not only beautiful to me, but to your Lord; for He said, “How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of them that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation … ” (Isaiah 52:7). Maybe you are saying that you have been ignored, and your gifts and talents are despised. Maybe you are just doing what seems the most ordinary, commonplace things among men. All you have to use or work with or give to God is your feet. God makes the humblest and most despised beautiful.

God wants you to give Him the despised, the humdrum things in your life- like feet- and let Him make them beautiful.

The Gospel Standard

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith … ” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Many Christians are conscious of failure in their lives of hindrances in the work they are called to do, in their testimony, of times of depression and unusual temptations.

We are often conscious that we have been completely fooled in some decision we have made, and at such times we wonder why we have failed; why the way seemed blocked when we were sure God was in the thing we felt led to do. We wonder often why we arc depressed in heart, when there is no usual explanation for our feelings. We have not been able to explain how, usually wise in some decisions, we have apparently missed the mark. We have asked at times why prayer has been so difficult when we have “our access” to God in Christ.

We are prone to blame ourselves. Sometimes we should. But again, sometimes we must accept what the Word of God tells us about one-God’s malignant enemy and ours-who is ever alert, looking for the weak places in our armour, eager to take advantage of any opening we give him through sin, unbelief, lack of perseverance. We are apt to underrate the battle which is ours against this powerful enemy.

There is a great body of truth in Scripture that concerns ” … your adversary the devil … ” He is presumptuous (Matthew 4:5-6), proud (1 Timothy 3:6), powerful (Ephesians 2:2), wicked (1 John 2:13), malignant (Job 1:9; Job 2:4), subtle (Genesis 3:1-2; 2 Corinthians 11:3), deceitful (2 Corinthians 11:14), fierce and cruel (Luke 4:29). The scope and power of his work are beyond comprehension, for he ” … deceiveth the whole world … ” (Revelation 12:9), and he has endless energy(Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8).

A vast host of demons, who may be fallen angels, are under Satan’s authority. Many are the instances in the Word of God and in the lives of men when demons have possessed men and women to their utter ruin – a condition from which they are delivered only by prevailing prayer and the power of God.

THE INVASION OF HUMAN HEARTS

And there have evidently been times when the devil himself would concentrate on one person, rather than entrust this to a demon.

Witness the fact that the devil filled Judas Iscariot-a fact which shows his estimate of the importance of that awful mission. He also filled Ananias in Acts 5:3, ” … why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost … “

We do not find any sure scriptural witness to the devil or a demon ever entering the life of a believer. He may harass, afflict, buffet, sift, oppose the work of the Lord, discourage in prayer-but not enter the body of one truly the Lord’s. Many of God’s dear saints have been driven to distraction by unscriptural teaching in this direction.  ” … he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18).

Some reject the sure evidence of demon possession brought to us by many missionaries who have laboured in the lands where Satan has had no opposition for years.

We who live in America may be in nice homes, in Christian homes, with a Gospel church to attend and kind friends about us and living in fairly good circumstances. If so, we can get easily satisfied with conditions in the world immediately about us and fail to realize that this world is not our home. Especially if we are not living in close fellowship with the Lord, we immerse ourselves in our immediate circle, have little touch with the vast multitude round about us and fail to realize their awful darkness, which will shortly end in Hell and the lake of fire.

This is all part of the devil’s vast program, blinding not only the eyes of those that believe not, but bringing a measure of that darkness in our lives. For, if we were in real touch with God, we would be increasingly dissatisfied and longing for the red emption of our bodies and our deliverance from this present world system, all of which is under the direct domination of Satan.

He, Satan, has all kinds of methods to satisfy and blind the dupes in the world, with one end- their eternal ruin in the lake of fire: and likewise, in every way possible, he seeks to render inoperative the born-again Christian. He may use anything from some apparently innocent pleasures to demon possession to enslave the lost forever. He may use anything from satisfaction in business, the home, or church life, to some secret sin, or to hatred or envy, to render useless every Christian who will listen to his devices.

Lance B. Latham