Psalm 11:5a

"The LORD trieth the righteous...."

All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause.

Out of the golden gate of God's ordinance, the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, and armed with weapons of war. Beset and surrounded with dangers, yet no shower falls unpermitted from the threatening cloud; every drop has its order before it hastens to the earth.

The trials which come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces, and so at once to illustrate the power of divine grace, to test the genuineness of our virtues, and to add to their energy.

Our Lord in His infinite wisdom and superabundant love, sets so high a value upon His people's faith that He will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened.

You would never have possessed the precious faith which now supports you if the trial of your faith had not been like unto fire.

You are a tree that never would have rooted so well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro, and made you take firm hold upon the precious truths of the covenant grace.

Worldly ease is a great foe to faith; it loosens the joints of holy valour, and snaps the sinews of sacred courage.

The balloon never rises until the cords are cut; affliction doth this sharp service for believing souls.

While the wheat sleeps comfortably in the husk it is useless to man, it must be threshed out of its resting place before its value can be known.

Thus it is well that Jehovah trieth the righteous, for it causeth them to grow rich towards God.

Psalm 10:16

"The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land."

Jesus Christ is no despotic claimant of divine right, but He is really and truly the Lord's anointed!

"It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." God hath given to Him all power and all authority. As the Son of man, He is now head over all things to His church, and He reigns over heaven, and earth, and hell, with the keys of life and death at His girdle.

Our Lord Jesus is King in Zion by right of conquest: He has taken and carried by storm the hearts of His people, and has slain their enemies who held them in cruel bondage. In the Red Sea of His own blood, our Redeemer has drowned the Pharaoh of our lives: shall He not be King in our lives?

He has delivered us from the iron yoke and heavy curse of the law: shall not the Liberator be crowned?

We are His portion, whom He has taken out of the hand of the Amorite with His sword and with His bow: who shall snatch His conquest from His hand? None!

All hail, King Jesus! we gladly own Thy gentle sway! Rule in our hearts and lives forever, Thou lovely Prince of Peace.

Zechariah 6:13

"He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory."

Christ Himself is the builder of His spiritual temple, and He has built it on the mountains of His unchangeable affection, His omnipotent grace, and His infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon's temple, so in this; the materials need making ready.

There are the "Cedars of Lebanon," but they are not framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord's house in Paradise.

There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must be hewn thence, and squared.

All this is Christ's own work. Each individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his place in the temple; but Christ's own hand performs the preparation-work.

Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are used by Him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright.

As in the building of Solomon's temple, "there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house," because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy--so is it with the temple which Jesus builds

I Peter 1:18-19

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"

Standing at the foot of the cross, we see hands, and feet, and side, all distilling crimson streams of precious blood.

It is "precious" because of its redeeming and atoning efficacy.

By it:

 the sins of Christ's people are atoned for;

they are redeemed from under the law;

they are reconciled to God, made one with Him.

Christ's blood is also "precious" in its cleansing power; it "cleanseth from all sin." "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Through Jesus' blood there is not a spot left upon any believer, no wrinkle nor any such thing remains.

O precious blood, which makes us clean, removing the stains of abundant iniquity, and permitting us to stand accepted in the Beloved, notwithstanding the many ways in which we have rebelled against our God.

The blood of Christ is likewise "precious" in its preserving power. We are safe from the destroying angel under the sprinkled blood. Remember it is God's seeing the blood which is the true reason for our being spared.

The blood of Christ is "precious" also in its sanctifying influence. The same blood which justifies by taking away sin, does in its after-action, quicken the new nature and lead it onward to subdue sin and to follow out the commands of God. There is no motive for holiness so great as that which streams from the veins of Jesus.

And "precious," unspeakably precious, is this blood, because it has an overcoming power. It is written, "They overcame through the blood of the Lamb." How could they do otherwise? He who fights with the precious blood of Jesus, fights with a weapon which cannot know defeat.

The blood of Jesus! sin dies at its presence, death ceases to be death: heaven's gates are opened. The blood of Jesus! we shall march on, conquering and to conquer, so long as we can trust its power!

2 Corinthians 8:9

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."

The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious, and exalted; but "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor."

As the rich saint cannot be true in his communion with his poor brethren unless of his substance he ministers to their necessities, so (the same rule holding with the head as between the members), it is impossible that our Divine Lord could have had fellowship with us unless He had imparted to us of His own abounding wealth, and had become poor to make us rich.

 Had He remained upon His throne of glory, and had we continued in the ruins of the fall without receiving His salvation, communion would have been impossible on both sides.

In a true sense, love came down.

Spread His love around. Are there any in your world to whom it would be a blessing if your love came down to them? Enrich someone's life today (even though undeserving) with the love wherewith Christ loved you.

2 Corinthians 4:18

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith.

I Corinthians 15:20

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

Because He lives, we shall live also!

Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Christ is risen! Risen indeed, hallelujah!

Rejoice and be glad! Amen!

Happy Easter!

Hebrews 12:2

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ.

He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus."

All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee--it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee--it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument--it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.

We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings. It is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.

If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus."

Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind.

When thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.

I Corinthians 2:12

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."

Dear reader, have you received the spirit which is of God, wrought by the Holy Ghost in your soul?

The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart may be clearly seen from this fact, that all which has been done by God the Father, and by God the Son, must be ineffectual to us, unless the Spirit shall reveal these things to our souls.

What effect does the doctrine of election have upon any man until the Spirit of God enters into him?

Election is a dead letter in my consciousness until the Spirit of God calls me out of darkness into marvellous light. Then through my calling, I see my election, and knowing myself to be called of God,

I know myself to have been chosen in the eternal purpose. A covenant was made with the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Father.

But that covenant does not benefit us until the Holy Spirit brings us its blessings, and opens our hearts to receive them?

There hang the blessings on the nail--Christ Jesus. But being short of stature, we cannot reach them; the Spirit of God takes them down and hands them to us, and thus they become actually ours.

Covenant blessings in themselves are like the manna in the skies, far out of mortal reach, but the spirit of God opens the windows of heaven and scatters the living bread around the camp of the spiritual Israel.

Christ's finished work is like wine stored in the wine-vat; and the Holy Spirit dips our vessel into this precious wine, so we can drink; but without the Spirit we are as truly dead in sin as though the Father never had elected, and though the Son had never bought us with His blood.

The Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to our salvation and our well-being.

I Corinthians 1:30:

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:"

Man's intellect seeks after rest, and by nature seeks it apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Men of education are apt, even when converted, to look upon the simplicities of the cross of Christ with an eye that is too little reverent and loving.

They are snared in the old net in which the Grecians were taken, and have a hankering to mix philosophy with revelation.

The temptation with a man of refined thought and high education is to depart from the simple truth of Christ crucified, and to invent, as the term is, a more intellectual doctrine.

This led the early Christian churches into Gnosticism, and bewitched them with all sorts of heresies. This is the root of Neology, and the other fine things which in days gone by were so fashionable in Germany, and are now so ensnaring to certain classes of divines.

Whoever you are, good reader, and whatever your education may be, if you be the Lord's, be assured you will find no rest in philosophizing divinity.

You may receive this dogma of one great thinker, or that dream of another profound reasoner, but what the chaff is to the wheat, that will these be to the pure word of God.

All that reason when best guided can find out, is but the A B C of truth, and even that lacks certainty, while in Christ Jesus there is treasured up all the fulness of wisdom and knowledge.

All attempts on the part of Christians to be content with systems, such as Unitarian and Broad-church thinkers would approve of, must fail. True heirs of heaven must come back to the grandly simple reality which makes the ploughboy's eye flash with joy, and glads the pious pauper's heart--"Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."

Jesus satisfies the most elevated intellect when He is believingly received, but apart from Him the mind of the regenerate discovers no rest. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." "A good understanding have all they that do His commandments."

Want to be wise? Then get Jesus, that is the true beginning of wisdom!

Romans 14:8

"For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."

If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion.

It was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should tarry here. It is possible for a man to be taken to heaven, and to be found meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light, though he has but just believed in Jesus.

It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process, and we shall not be perfected till we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil; but nevertheless, had the Lord so willed it, He might have changed us from imperfection to perfection, and have taken us to heaven at once.

Why then are we here???

 Would God keep His children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battle-field when one charge might give them the victory? Why are His children still wandering hither and thither through a maze, when a solitary word from His lips would bring them into the centre of their hopes in heaven?

The answer is--they are here that "they may live unto the Lord," and may bring others to know His love.

We remain on earth

1.as sowers to scatter good seed;

2.as ploughmen to break up the fallow ground;

3.as heralds publishing salvation.

4.as the "salt of the earth," to be a blessing to the world.

5.to glorify Christ in our daily life.

6.as workers for Him, and as "workers together with Him."

Therefore, let us see that our life on earth fulfils its purpose. Let us live earnest, useful, holy lives, to "the praise of the glory of His grace", even while  we long to be with Him, and daily sing-- "My heart is with Him on His throne, And ill can brook delay; Each moment listening for the voice, 'Rise up, and come away.'"

Romans 8:12

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh."

As the saying goes, "save a life, own a life". We are all debtors to the Lord Jesus for His sacrifice on the cross. And what do we owe Him? Our lives.

However, it is not the kind of debt that we are called upon to repay in kind. Rather, it is the kind which says "I have saved you from trouble, do your utmost to stay out of trouble". 

Once saved, it is now our christian responsibility to live our lives in God's pleasure, that we do not find or take ourselves back to whence He first delivered us.

We are indebted to Christ to repay Him by living a life after God's will and not to the flesh, which brought the trouble at first.

We are indebted to Christ and Christ alone, therefore we do not and are not constrained to live our lives according to the world, but rather according to the standards of God, who gave us our salvation.

Are you living in intimidation from the world you? Are you under pressure to do it their way? Know this today and be free, as a child of God, you do not owe the world anything but God's love. The world has no power over you either to make or break you. Your allegiance therefore, belongs to God and not the world: therefore stand up and be bold to do what is right before God at all times.

Be bold! Be strong! For the Lord your God is with you! Be bold! Be strong! For the Lord your God is with you! I am not afraid! I am not ashamed! I am not dismayed! Because I'm living in grace and victory. For the Lord, our God is with us!

Romans 8:1

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Come now friends, think on this..... by believing and having new life in Jesus, you are actually and effectually cleared from guilt.

You are led out of your prison; sentence(s) cancelled; records obliterated.

You are no more in fetters as a bond-slave, but delivered from the bondage of the law.

You are free from the power of sin and can walk at large as a freeman.

Jesus' blood procured your full discharge!

You now have a right to approach God as Father and God's throne .

No flames of vengeance can come after you now. NO! Justice cannot smite the innocent.

Once unable to see God's face, you can see it now. Once unable to speak with Him, but now you have access with boldness.

Once there was a fear of hell upon you, now you have no need to fear it, for how can there be punishment for the guiltless?

He who believes, is not condemned, and cannot be punished.

Yet more than all the privileges you enjoy, is the fact that:

1. Even future sins cannot be and are not held against you.

2. All the blessings which you would have had if you had kept God's laws are yours, because Christ has observed the laws on your behalf!

3. All the love and the acceptance which perfect obedience could have obtained of God belong to you, because Christ was perfectly obedient on your behalf and has imputed all His merits to your account!

4. You are exceedingly rich through Christ, who for your sake became exceedingly poor.

Come on and give the Lord some praise! Hallelujah!