Author: GinoCascieri

A man was visiting a lighthouse, and he said to the keeper, “Are you not afraid to live here? It is a dreadful place to be in constantly.”

“No,” replied the man, “I am not afraid; we never think of ourselves here.”

“Never think of yourselves! How is that?”

The reply was a good one, “We know that we are perfectly safe, and we only think of having our lamps brightly burning and keeping the reflectors clear, so that those in danger may be saved.”

This is what Christians ought to do. They are safe in a house built on a Rock which cannot be moved by the wildest storm; and in a spirit of holy unselfishness they should let their light gleam across the dark waters of sin, that they who are imperiled may be guided into the harbors of eternal safety.

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14). “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

When it is hard to tell a Christian from a man of the world, something is wrong with the Christian. Too often in our day the line between the two is indistinct.

A high standard for believers was set forth in one of the famous letters of Samuel Rutherford. Writing to his friend, John Clark, he said, “Ye may put a difference betwixt you and reprobates, if ye have these marks:

1. If ye prize Christ and His truth so as ye will sell all and by Him and suffer for it.

2. If the love of Christ keeps you back from sinning more than the law or fear of Hell.

3. If ye be humble and deny your own will, wit, credit, ease, honour, and the world, and the vanity and glory of it.

4. Your profession must not be barren and void of good works.

5. Ye must in all things aim at God’s honor; ye must eat, drink, sleep, buy, sell, sit, stand, speak, pray, read, and hear the Word with a heart purpose that God may be honoured.

6. Ye must shew yourself an enemy to sin and reprove the works of darkness, such as drunkenness, swearing, and lying, albeit the company should hate you for so doing.

7. Keep in mind the truth of God, that ye heard me teach, and have nothing to do with the corruptions and new guises entered into the house of God.

8. Make conscience of your calling, in covenants, in buying and selling.

9. Acquaint yourself with daily praying; commit all your ways and actions to God, by prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving; and count not much of being mocked, for Christ Jesus was mocked before you.”

If this standard seems too high, it may be because we have fallen into the easygoing ways of the world; nor is it unscriptural, for the New Testament passages can be found to sustain all the nine points. They are unattainable in our own strength, but not in His, for “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). Moreover, they are quite in accord with Paul’s admonition to “…do all to the glory of God”(I Corinthians 10:31).

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). It is said that George Muller kept on his desk a motto bearing the central words of our text, “AND TODAY.” Well might he do so, for surely few men have demonstrated better the truth of it. It is not difficult to believe in Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and He will prove one day that He is the same forever. But “Jesus Christ the same “… to day …” – what a time we have with that middle span! Amid the dull monotony of things as they are, when the skies seem leaden and nothing breaks on the uninteresting scene, it is easier to visualize the Christ of the Galilean past or the Christ of the glorious future than to expect great things from the Christ of the glamour less now.

But our text stoutly insists “…and to day …” We may not see Him in the flesh as they saw Him yesterday, and we see not yet all things put under Him as one day we shall, but He said He would be with us “all the days,” and that includes today. Is not many a Christian experience like this verse with “…and to day…” in very fine type- strong in faith in the Christ of yesterday and forever, but very weak in faith in His presence and power today?

One day during his great mission in London, Mr. Moody was holding a meeting in a theater packed with a most select audience. Noblemen and noblewomen were there in large numbers, and a prominent member of the royal family was in the royal box.

Mr. Moody rose to read the Scripture lesson. He attempted to read Luke 4:27, “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet…” When he came to the name of Eliseus, he stammered and stuttered over it. He went back to the beginning of the verse and began to read again, but when he reached the word Eliseus, he could not get over it. He went back the third time, but again the word was too much for him.

He closed the Bible with deep emotion and looked up and said, “Oh, God, use this stammering tongue to preach Christ crucified to these people.” The power of God came upon him, and one who heard him then and had heard him other times said that he had never heard Mr. Moody pour out his soul in such a torrent of eloquence as he did then, and the whole audience was melted by the power of God.

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

It is a strange day! With food dehydrated, fast frozen, precooked, or ready to serve, the average housewife need spend only one quarter of the time in the kitchen that her mother did. With wash and wear and drip-dry materials, laundry takes a fraction of the time it formerly did. With jet engines, travel is reduced to a minimum. Yet with it all, people have never been so busy, never so rushed as they are today.

The norm seems to be more time for pleasure, more money for less toil, and as much profit as possible for as little energy expanded as possible. With the average wage increasing, savings accounts are increasing, and investment in stocks are soaring; and back of it all is an attempt to get a little more for less work.

The great tragedy is that this same attitude has spread over into spiritual work. Far too many born again men and women want all the blessing that comes from the Gospel but are very reluctant to assume the responsibilities. Overall giving to the church is less than one percent of income, and the shortage of Christian workers is desperate indeed, for we have long since ceased equating salvation with service.

Christians in America have never had it so good, have never been so well off, and yet there is every evidence that hoarding is the order of the day. Have we forgotten the incident in Moses’ day? In Exodus 16:19-20, we have the inevitable result of hoarding, “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank… “

Every blessing from God is a responsibility. We have no right to receive the things of God without putting them to use, without working. A dying world is at stake. Let us not fail it by our selfish hoarding.

Multitudes of kind, honest, sincere religious church members, when they come to the end of life’s journey, will awaken to the fact that they have missed Heaven because they had never been born again. They substituted church membership, conformation, baptism, and communion for the new birth.

Nicodemus was a ruler and teacher in Israel, but Jesus said to him, “… Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3); “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

There are many preachers, deacons, church officials, and members of churches who have never experienced the new birth, who think they can enter Heaven because of their profession. But faithful attendance at all the church services, wearing a religious garb, trying to keep the commandments, giving money for the Lord’s cause, being kind

to loved ones and neighbors, and helping the poor and needy will not give us a passage to Heaven. Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23).

There is only one way by which we can enter Heaven and that is by the way of the new birth. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1).

The Scriptures declare that we are born in sin, “… I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5); that by nature we are “… dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1); that “… There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10), “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that without the new birth, we are “… without Christ… having no hope, and without God… “ (Ephesians 2:12). The old nature that we have inherited through the fall of our first parents cannot be changed by reformation or by being religious.

Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh…Ye must be born again” (John 3:6-7). Only God can work this miracle in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, for it is His mission to convict of sin and to cause us to repent and take Christ as our Saviour. As we do this, we do not only receive the assurance of forgiveness and cleansing, but an impartation of a new divine nature, and we can say with Paul, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is the new birth. This is the crisis experience. We do not grow into salvation; but we pass from death unto life. There is a definite time when we are born again. It is just as real as when a man is rescued from a watery grave or from a burning building. We cannot save ourselves, nor can anyone impart eternal life, save our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing that we can substitute for the new birth.

Dr. James M. Gray, who became an outstanding preacher of the Gospel, said that before he was saved he knew the Lord’s prayer and the ten commandments, and he was confirmed and had joined the church; but it was not until years afterward that he was converted. God used a traveling salesman and the preaching of the Gospel, which he did not hear in his own church, to awaken in him the need of being saved.

Charles Wesley preached the Gospel with much diligence, yet he did not know what it was to have peace with God. When he was thirty years of age, he took seriously ill. A young Christian man visited him and, realizing that Wesley was not saved, led him to see that through the Lord’s finished work we are justified.

Religion and good works without a definite experience of salvation will not give us an entrance into the kingdom of God, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

Heaven’s door will open only to such who have been regenerated and washed from their sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All others, no matter how religious or sincere, or how many good works they have done, will not find favour with God, for “…all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6) in His sight.

“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1)

There are three kinds of praise representing three stages in the “Praise Life.”

First, there is praise for blessings received. This is thanksgiving. Only one leper out of ten who were healed returned to give thanks. Do we return to give thanks for one blessing in ten?

The second kind of praise is praise for blessings expected. This is faith. Often the blessings never come until we believe God sufficiently to praise Him in advance. We never praise in vain, for our praises soon become objective in real and tangible blessings.

A third kind of praise is praise to God Himself. This is worship. It has no reference to blessings, either received or expected. It rises above our needs and our experiences and is taken up entirely with the present character of the glorious Lord.

There are many who know thanksgiving who do not know the praise of faith. Of all those who know the praise of faith, there are but few who know extended moments of true worship.

We are to live through Christ

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live Through him”(l John 4:9).

We joy in God through Christ

” …but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11).

We have redemption through Christ

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins …”(Ephesians 1:7).

God gives us victory through Christ

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”

(1 Corinthians 15:57).

We are saved by grace through Christ

” …through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved…” (Acts 15:11).

We are alive unto God through Christ

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

We have peace with God through Christ

“…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

We are saved from wrath through Christ

“…being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him”

(Romans 5:9).

The world might be saved through Christ

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).

We have access to the Father through Christ

“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father”

(Ephesians 2:18).

We are more than conquerors through Christ

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”

(Romans 8:37).

The gift of God is eternal life through Christ

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The Holy Ghost is shed on us through Christ

“…but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:5-6).

God is glorified in all things through Christ

“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ … ” (1 Peter4:11).

We have the righteousness of God through Christ

“…not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ… ” (Philippians 3:9).

The peace of God keeps our hearts and minds through Christ

“…the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

We have boldness to enter into the holiest through Christ

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).

We are made perfect in every good work through Christ

“Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ…” (Hebrews 13:21).

We are delivered from the body of death through Christ

“…who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Romans 7:24-25).

The blessing of Abraham came on the Gentiles through Christ

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ…” (Galatians 3: 14).

God shows the exceeding riches of His grace through Christ

“That … he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

We glory in those things which pertain to God through Christ

“I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God” (Romans 15: 17).

“The tongue spills out what the life contains.”

“May I see your tongue?” That’s what the doctor asks us when visit his office for consultation. It is a well-known fact that the tongue serves as an index to our physical condition. Likewise, the tongue is a good index to our spiritual condition. Jesus Himself said at one time, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). Our words definitely reveal our character, although many of us seem to be unaware of that fact.

If you were walking from the well carrying a bucket of water and someone jostled against you, there could be spilled from the bucket only that which it contained. As you walk along the way of life, you are constantly being jostled by people. If your life is full of ill nature, bad temper, and ugly disposition, those things will be spilled from it. If it is full of Christian spirit, you will spill a smile or some pleasant remark as people bump into you. You can spill from your bucket only that which it contains.

THE TONGUE DEFINED

In the Bible, the tongue is called “… an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). It is spoken of as false, lying, froward, naughty, perverse, backbiting, and deceitful. There are six things which God hates; seven are an abomination to Him. Of these seven, three speak of the tongue: “… a lying tongue … “ (Proverbs 6:17); “A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6: 19).

THE POWER OF THE TONGUE

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, made this statement, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue …” (Proverbs 18:21). How true! Think of the jurist who must use his tongue to pronounce either the death sentence upon a man or to declare his innocence. But spiritual death and spiritual life are also in the power of the tongue.

Spiritual death has been defined as “anything which separates one from God.” What power the tongue has here! How many people have listened to the words of atheists, agnostics, infidels, Christ haters and rejecters, and have gone down to spiritual death – eternal separation from God!

The tongue also has the power to bring spiritual life to others. Millions have heard the words of eternal life from the lips of others and have believed them and received spiritual life, eternal life, as a result. Faith comes by the hearing of God’s Word. Jesus said, “… He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life …” (John 5:24). It has “… pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21)

We have the glorious privilege and opportunity of using our tongues to proclaim God’s Word, thereby bringing spiritual life to others. What greater or more worthwhile use could we make of our tongues?

The three expressions to be “… led by the Spirit … ” (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18), to “…walk…after the Spirit” (Romans 8:4), and to “…Walk in the Spirit… ” (Galatians 5:16,25) present the same great Christian experience: namely, to be under the rule or government of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will guide us, teach us, help us, comfort us. When the Christian pilgrim accepts this divine work as part of God’s principle of grace for his life, he will enjoy fellowship with God, will be characterized by serenity of heart, and will be a blessing to many. However, due to the law of indwelling sin, which so easily solicits the submission of the flesh, there are times in the Christian’s experience when, to his detriment and loss, he refuses to be controlled by the Spirit. We all know something of the bitterness of heart that follows those occasions when we have resisted, grieved, or quenched the Holy Spirit.

The purpose of this meditation is to encourage fellow pilgrims to have complete faith in the Spirit’s work, and to submit wholly to His rule over every area of our lives. Are we willing to renounce our own will and desires, even our own wisdom? Are we willing to renounce the world’s present “mores,” the guidance of men, and even- on occasion the mandates or practices of the church? If so, the following benefits deriving from the work of the Holy Spirit will be ours to experience.

1. The Holy Spirit will prevent us from doing that which the self-life prompts (Galatians 5:17). We are thus saved from the sorrow and remorse that result from anger, revenge, jealousy, uncleanness, oppression, slander, and other outbursts of the flesh. He keeps us from yielding to the evil tendencies of our old nature.

2. The Holy Spirit will make us like a fruitful tree yielding such fruit as “…love, joy, peace, longs offering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance …” (Galatians 5:22-23) – fruit that is delightful to God and beneficial to our fellow men.

3. The Holy Spirit will give us both the inclination and the power to crush and mortify the flesh with its passions and forbidden desires (Galatians 5:24; Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). In His perfect wisdom, God has so willed it that this process must continue as long as we live. We cannot relax in our vigilance even for a day.

4. The Holy Spirit will bring Christ- in all His loveliness – before the eyes of our hearts (John 15:26), thus giving us a delight that cannot be excelled.

5. The Holy Spirit who has produced a final revelation and has completed inspiration will daily increase our knowledge of truth by illumination. According to our present need and problem, the Spirit’s teaching will provide adequate light (1 John 2 :27).

6. The Holy Spirit will create in us a growing love for God and for His Word, His will, His Son, and His people. By the Spirit’s strengthening this love will be manifested through continual obedience to God’s commandments, increasing conformity to the image of Christ, and willing service to others.

As we continue along the pilgrim way, let us remember that it is not ourselves who live, but Christ: that is, His indwelling Spirit who is the controlling and living principle of the inward and outward life of every believer.