dinner time

In these words the believer is invited to a holy nearness to Jesus. “Come and dine,” implies the same table, the same meat; ay, and sometimes it means to sit side by side, and lean our head upon the Saviour’s bosom. It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where waves the banner of redeeming love. “Come and dine,” gives us a vision of union with Jesus, because the only food that we can feast upon when we dine with Jesus is Himself. Oh, what union is this! It is a depth which reason cannot fathom, that we thus feed upon Jesus. “He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.” It is also an invitation to enjoy fellowship with the saints. Christians may differ on a variety of points, but they have all one spiritual appetite; and if we cannot all feel alike, we can all feed alike on the bread of life sent down from heaven. At the table of fellowship with Jesus we are one bread and one cup. As the loving cup goes round we pledge one another heartily therein. Get nearer to Jesus, and you will find yourself linked more and more in spirit to all who are like yourself, supported by the same heavenly manna. If we were more near to Jesus we should be more near to one another. We likewise see in these words the source of strength for every Christian. To look at Christ is to live, but for strength to serve Him you must “come and dine.” We labour under much unnecessary weakness on account of neglecting this percept of the Master. We none of us need to put ourselves on low diet; on the contrary, we should fatten on the marrow and fatness of the gospel that we may accumulate strength therein, and urge every power to its full tension in the Master’s service. Thus, then, if you would realize nearness to Jesus, union with Jesus, love to His people and strength from Jesus, “come and dine” with Him by faith. – Spurgeon’s morning devo for 10/16

May it be that we would all seek to dine more and more with our Maker and Savior. May we grow fat upon this lavish banquet and so regain strength with which to share the gospel with this world. Father, would you bless us and keep us, and make your face to shine upon us. Would you be gracious and continue to inspire us all to seek you and dine with you. Give us a longing that can naught be filled with any other besides our perfect portion. Fulfill us and in so doing be glorified and made great. Finally Father, keep us from sin and all that separates us from our true Good.

would you please

pray for the seminaries

run, flee, feast

Evening devotion by Charles Spurgeon for 8/29:

Nazarites had taken, among other vows, one which debarred them from the use of wine. In order that they might not violate the obligation, they were forbidden to drink the vinegar of wine or strong liquors, and to make the rule still more clear, they were not to touch the unfermented juice of grapes, nor even to eat the fruit either fresh or dried. In order, altogether, to secure the integrity of the vow, they were not even allowed anything that had to do with the vine; they were, in fact, to avoid the appearance of evil. Surely this is a lesson to the Lord’s separated ones, teaching them to come away from sin in every form, to avoid not merely its grosser shapes, but even its spirit and similitude. Strict walking is much despised in these days, but rest assured, dear reader, it is both the safest and the happiest. He who yields a point or two to the world is in fearful peril; he who eats the grapes of Sodom will soon drink the wine of Gomorrah. A little crevice in the sea-bank in Holland lets in the sea, and the gap speedily swells till a province is drowned. Worldly conformity, in any degree, is a snare to the soul, and makes it more and more liable to presumptuous sins. Moreover, as the Nazarite who drank grape juice could not be quite sure whether it might not have endured a degree of fermentation, and consequently could not be clear in heart that his vow was intact, so the yielding, temporizing Christian cannot wear a conscience void of offence, but must feel that the inward monitor is in doubt of him. Things doubtful we need not doubt about; they are wrong to us. Things tempting we must not dally with, but flee from them with speed. Better be sneered at as a Puritan than be despised as a hypocrite. Careful walking may involve much self-denial, but it has pleasures of its own which are more than a sufficient recompense.

why fear bliss

Here is a great morning devo by Spurgeon which sheds some beautiful light on what eternity will be like:

“The glorified weep no more, for all outward a causes of grief are gone. There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in heaven. Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander, are unknown there. No pain distresses, no thought of death or bereavement saddens. They weep no more, for they are perfectly sanctified. No “evil heart of unbelief” prompts them to depart from the living God; they are without fault before His throne, and are fully conformed to His image. Well may they cease to mourn who have ceased to sin. They weep no more, because all fear of change is past. They know that they are eternally secure. Sin is shut out, and they are shut in. They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed; they bask in a sun which shall never set; they drink of a river which shall never dry; they pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither. Countless cycles may revolve, but eternity shall not be exhausted, and while eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. They are for ever with the Lord. They weep no more, because every desire is fulfilled. They cannot wish for anything which they have not in possession. Eye and ear, heart and hand, judgment, imagination, hope, desire, will, all the faculties, are completely satisfied; and imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet we know enough, by the revelation of the Spirit, that the saints above are supremely blessed. The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fulness of delight, is in them. They bathe themselves in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite beatitude. That same joyful rest remains for us. It may not be far distant. Ere long the weeping willow shall be exchanged for the palm-branch of victory, and sorrow’s dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss. “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

a clue

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” – 1 Thess 1:11-12

Here perhaps is another clue in relation to the mystery I posted about on here not too long ago.

This Piper article may help as well: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2009/4152_Lets_Make_Some_Autumn_Resolutions/

may it be

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” – Numbers 6:22-27

Father, may this be the cry of heart every day! Make it be so Lord, as I am hopelessly and utterly lost when I am apart from you and your wonderful countenance, by which I am sustained both knowingly and unknowingly all the day long. Be gracious, Lord, oh be gracious! Keep me close to you.

a mystery

“O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?” – Isaiah 63:17a

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” – 2 Cor. 4:3,4

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Cor. 5:10

I just wanted to organize a few Scriptures on here concerning the role of human sin and the players that are involved. It’s a mysterious combination of the enemy’s tempting, our actions of which we are responsible, and God’s glorious sovereignty over the entire situation of which the primary goal is glory for God.

May he receive the glory that is due his name, now and forever – even if it involves the ordination of worldly sin, shame, or whatever on our parts. Oh, that God would be glorified despite our states and concerns, and that I would welcome any such wills of the Lord on my life as he is be perfect in all that he does. It is in realizing this perfection and the need for it to continue that gives me great hope of one day being able to enjoy a perfect blissful eternity with this perfect and eternal God. You see, without this absolute perfection, on an eternal time frame we would finally reach some imperfection in God which would lead to madness, terrors, and utter hopelessness as we were built to worship something higher. God being that highest thing that can keep us busy and satisfied for all eternity – not eternity minus day because of error but full eternity. Therefore, anything and therefore everything (since God is all powerful and sovereign) that happens is worthy of thanksgiving on our part as it maintains God’s perfection and thus ability to totally satisfy. Any worldly and temporal stress is worth keeping God who He is. Oh, so worth it!

In addition, one point worth stressing is to say also that we in fact don’t have much of a choice here. As God by nature is sovereign and unchanging and thus will remain perfect despite any attempt of man to prove otherwise. This should come as quite the comfort for a believer that we are able to rest in this perfection of God and its inevitability as no matter what we do or want to do or fail to do or whatever will make God any less perfect. There is no work that man can do for the Lord, and thank God that this is the case! Let us then, rejoice in the grace of our salvation and pray and labor in the further grace that God gives us to sustain our lives and come to fruition in good works. Praise be to God, the glorious and wonderful one!

a proper exposition

“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”—Romans 8:28.

UPON some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world’s tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” He knows too that God is always wise, and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, “If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it.” “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, that He brings good out of evil, the believer’s heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, “Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children.” – Spurgeon

monks and worship

“In regard in the first, we should consider that we have to do with God, whom our obedience so delights, that he abominates all will-worship, how specious and splendid soever it be in the eyes of men (Col. 2:23). If all will-worship, which we devise without authority, is abomination to God, it follows that no worship can be acceptable to him save that which is approved by his word. Therefore, we must not arrogate such licence to ourselves as to presume to vow anything to God without evidence of the estimation in which he holds it. For the doctrine of Paul, that whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23), while it extends to all actions of every kind, certainly applies with peculiar force in the case where the thought is immediately turned towards God. Nay, if in the minutest matters (Paul was then speaking of the distinction of meats) we err or fall, where the sure light of faith shines not before us, how much more modesty ought we to use when we attempt a matter of the greatest weight? For in nothing ought we to be more serious than in the duties of religion.”

[...]

“For deaconesses were appointed, not to soothe God by chantings or unintelligible murmurs, and spend the rest of their time in idleness; but to perform a public ministry of the Church toward the poor, and to labour with all zeal, assiduity, and diligence, in offices of charity.” – John Calvin

I’m putting up these quotes as I really like what Calvin has to say about distorting the worship of God by trying to do things that are contrary to his Word to impress him. May we not fall into these traps and idols of worship that are not of/for God at all. Test your motives and your minds in your acts of worship to Scripture and what is says that God wants. May the Lord have mercy and show us all what he truly desires, and may we do it for his glory!

prayer

A good devo from Spurgeon:

“Brethren, pray for us.”—1 Thessalonians 5:25.

THIS one morning in the year we reserved to refresh the reader’s memory upon the subject of prayer for ministers, and we do most earnestly implore every Christian household to grant the fervent request of the text first uttered by an apostle and now repeated by us. Brethren, our work is Solemnly momentous, involving weal or woe to thousands; we treat with souls for God on eternal business, and our word is either a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. A very heavy responsibility rests upon us, and it will be no small mercy if at the last we be found clear of the blood of all men. As officers in Christ’s army, we are the especial mark of the enmity of men and devils; they watch for our halting, and labour to take us by the heels. Our sacred calling involves us in temptations from which you are exempt, above all it too often draws us away from our personal enjoyment of truth into a ministerial and official consideration of it. We meet with many knotty cases, and our wits are at a non plus; we observe very sad backslidings, and our hearts are wounded; we see millions perishing, and our spirits sink. We wish to profit you by our preaching; we desire to be blest to your children; we long to be useful both to saints and sinners; therefore, dear friends, intercede for us with our God. Miserable men are we if we miss the aid of your prayers, but happy are we if we live in your supplications. You do not look to us but to our Master for spiritual blessings, and yet how many times has He given those blessings through His ministers; ask then, again and again, that we may be the earthen vessels into which the Lord may put the treasure of the gospel. We, the whole company of missionaries, ministers, city missionaries, and students, do in the name of Jesus beseech you

“BRETHREN, PRAY FOR US.”