Read Good Books...Again

 King Solomon admonished his son in Ecclesiastes 12:12, "...of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh."  It is no easy feat to write a book (especially that is widely read), and it is easier to collect books than read them.  It would be a great shame to put our effort into acquiring books to our library without reading them with careful consideration.  Whether our books be many or few, their primary value is not as familiar decor:  we ought to read and re-read them as we welcome their input like dear friends.  The pile of books to be read for the first time can be interrupted as the LORD leads by books we already possess.

One book which has proved to be an invaluable resource over the years is C.S. Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students.  It is by far the most useful book I own outside the scriptures, as it has provided great insights, wise counsel and encouragement from a man of godly character.  One of the chapters which Spurgeon writes from intense personal experience is that on The Minister's Fainting Fits.  The "prince of preachers" was no stranger to seasons of despondency, and the chapter is steeped in compassion as he urges ministers to continue to keep their hand to the plough in following Jesus and fulfill the ministry given to us according to the richness of God's grace. Following are some highlights from the chapter which work to uplift the downcast:

"As it is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint, so may it be written of all the servants of the Lord.  Fits of depression come over the most of us.  Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down.  The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.  There may be here and there men of iron, to whom wear and tear work no perceptible detriment, but surely the rust frets even these; and as for ordinary men, the Lord knows, and makes them to know, that they are but dust..."

These infirmities may be no detriment to a man's career of special usefulness; they may even have been imposed upon him by divine wisdom as necessary qualifications for his peculiar course of service.  Some plants owe their medicinal qualities to the march in which they grow; others to the shades in which alone they flourish.  There are precious fruits put forth by the moon as well as by the sun.  Boats need ballast as well as sail; a drag on the carriage-wheel is not hindrance when the road runs downhill.  Pain has probably in some cases developed genius; hunting out the soul which otherwise might have slept like a lion in its den.  Had it not been for the broken wing, some might have lost themselves in the clouds, some even of those choice doves who now bear the olive-branch in the their mouths and show the way to the ark..."

The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking.  Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body...Even the earth must like fallow and have her Sabbaths, and so must we...Rest time is not waste time.  It is economy to gather fresh strength.  Look at the mower in the summer's day, with so much to cut down ere the sun sets.  He pauses in his labour--is he a sluggard?  He looks for his stone, and begins to draw it up and down his scythe, with a "rink-a-tink--rink-a-tink--rink-a-tink."  Is that idle music--is he wasting precious moments?  How much he might have mown while he has been ringing out those notes on his scythe!  But he is sharpening his tool, and he will do far more when once again he gives his strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate before him.  Even thus a little pause prepares the mind for greater service in the good cause..."

If it be enquired why the Valley of the Shadow of Death must so often be traversed by the servants of King Jesus, the answer is not far to find.  All this is promotive of the Lord's mode of working which is summed up in these words:  "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, said the Lord."  Instruments shall be used, but their intrinsic weakness shall be clearly manifested; there shall be no division of the glory, no diminishing the honour due to the Great Worker.  The man shall be emptied of self, and then filled with the Holy Ghost.  In his own apprehension he shall be like a sere leaf driven of the tempest, and then shall be strengthened into a brazen wall against the enemies of truth.  To hide pride from the worker is the great difficulty.  Uninterrupted success and unfading joy in it would be more than our weak heads could bear..."

By all the castings down of His servants God is glorified, for they are led to magnify Him when He sets them on their feet, and even while prostrate in the dust their faith yields Him praise.  They speak all the more sweetly of His faithfulness, and are the more firmly established in His love.  Such mature men as some elderly preachers are, could scarcely have been produced if they had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and made to see their own emptiness and the vanity of all things round about them.  Glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, and the file.  Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our training in the school of adversity..."

The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble.  Count it no strange thing, but a part of ordinary ministerial experience.  Should the power of depression be more than ordinary, think not that all is over with your usefulness.  Cast not away your confidence, for it hath great recompense of reward.  Even if the enemy's foot be on your neck, expect to rise and overthrow him.  Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not His saints.  Live by the day--ay, by the hour.  Put no trust in frames and feelings.  Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement.  Trust in God alone, and lean not on the needs of human help.  Be not surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world. Never count upon immutability in man:  inconstancy you may reckon upon without fear of disappointment.  The disciples of Jesus forsook Him; be not amazed if your adherents wander away to other teachers: as they were not your all when with you, all is not gone from you with their departure.  Serve God with all your might while the candle is burning, and then when it goes out for a season, you will have the less to regret.  Be content to be nothing, for that is what you are.  When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full except in the Lord." (Spurgeon, C. H. Lectures to My Students: Complete & Unabridged. Ministry Resources Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989. excerpts from pages 154-164.)

Praise of His Glory

"Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the LORD. ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD, through which the righteous shall enter. ²¹ I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation."

Psalm 118:19-21

The psalmist asked God to open the gates of righteousness so he could go through them with praise.  All who attempted to become righteous by attempts to keep the Law of Moses ended in failure without any assurance of salvation.  Even before the Law was given the life of Abraham demonstrated plainly righteousness comes by faith in God alone.  The Gospel of Jesus provides righteousness to all who trust in Jesus Christ who is the Door by faith through whom Jew and Gentile alike must enter the kingdom of God.  If we want to receive salvation, we must enter in by faith in Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  To these souls by grace God imputes salvation, and all praise to Him.

There is a persistent fallacy that man must work to purify himself or become righteous by effort to be accepted by God.  Because all have sinned and have no power to cleanse or forgive ourselves from sin the only way we can be declared righteous is to have this status imputed to us by God.  It is on the basis of Christ's substitutionary, atoning sacrifice on Calvary which enables sinners who place their faith in Jesus to be deemed righteous.  Jesus is the divine answer to man's fervent prayers for salvation and righteousness we cannot obtain by any other way.

For mankind the gate of righteousness was more impassable than the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the temple for the unsanctified or the sealed Golden Gate today.  Praise the LORD Jesus who addressed the church in Philadelphia and said in Revelation 3:7, "These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens..."  Jesus is the Door and He also has the keys!  The gate of righteousness for people is wide open today through faith in Jesus for all who willingly enter.  A day will come when God will shut this Door for entry, even as God shut Noah, his family and the animals in the ark before the great flood recorded in Genesis.  God shut Noah in and He shut every other living thing out.  If we will have abundant life now and eternal life, now is the time to enter into righteousness through the Door God has opened wide to all who believe.

Having received forgiveness, righteousness and so great a salvation, it is fitting praise would be on the lips of God's redeemed.  The psalmist said he would praise the LORD because "...You have answered me, and have become my salvation."  Having believed the word of truth we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as proof of our future redemption "...unto the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:13-14).  Instead of complaints and criticisms our hearts ought to pour forth praise unto God for the glorious things He has done.  How privileged we are to be blessed and no longer cursed!  With our mouths may we make known God's faithfulness to all generations as the praise of His glory rises to His everlasting throne.

Praise as God Intended

In New South Wales we remain under the COVID restriction of congregants refraining from singing during church services.  While the worship team was wrapping up the service with a song of praise to the LORD, I considered the words being sung.  Then suddenly I had a thought that never occurred to me before.

I recalled that when we were legally free to sing without restrictions, not everyone was pleased with their "singing voice."  This may also be reflected in the way people critically view their own bodies.  As happy we are to have a living, functional body there can be aspects of our appearance some might change:  people can criticise their body's shape, size, height or lack thereof, type or colour of hair, noticeable features they find embarrassing, scars and defects.  People think about their perfected, eternal state and look forward to having the "perfect body" or "pitch-perfect" voice with immaculate rhythm.  As I worshiped silently with the worship team yesterday, I'm not so sure.

Hasn't God made us to have voices and bodies according to His design?  Wouldn't it bring more glory to God if we retained our voices that sing off-key (which is not a sin, by the way!) because He created us unique as He desired?  Who ever said all the voices of angels sound exactly the same?  And what makes us think our bodies will resemble those pressed into a mold of our ideal body shape and size when God created us according to His good pleasure?  Gone will be the days of selfishness, self-consciousness and pride:  the eternal state in the presence of God will be a new era in living to please Him without criticising ourselves or envying others.

Do these thoughts disappoint you believer, that you may never have those ripped abs, be taller, more slim or have the "perfect" voice?  When we are born again by faith in Jesus the voices we now possess can be used to praise and honour God with exceeding joy--not because we are skilled at singing or can carry a tune or clap in time but because God is worthy to be praised.  Isn't God good to receive our praise such as it is today?  Why do you suppose He would ever refuse to joyfully hear your voice as He created it to be?

Transgressions Removed

It is amazing the God who knows all things determines not to remember the sins committed by those who have received atonement and forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for sins and His righteousness has been credited to those born again by the Gospel.  Hebrews 10:14-17 states, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ¹⁶ "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," ¹⁷ then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."  People agree no one is perfect, yet Christians certainly ought to affirm Jesus has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.  There will be no divine recall of our sins in the eternal state, for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has purified us wholly from sin.

Because we remember wrongs done against us and are prone to hold grudges against others, perhaps we assume God will do the same concerning our transgressions.  We imagine God will trot out all our sins before us because we do not comprehend the extent of what Jesus accomplished on Calvary.  Those who are born again through faith in Jesus have entered into a new covenant in Christ's blood, and even the memories of our faults are washed away on the basis of Christ's atonement God remembers our sins no more.  In many cases we carry guilt for our past sins needlessly when we sin by holding a grudge against ourselves!  It is profitable to us to remember past mistakes so we will recognise and avoid them and do what is right, but in Jesus Christ we are free from all guilt before God.

Psalm 103:10-13 reads, "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  The heavens above us stretch beyond we can see with the naked eye, and telescopes that peer beyond our solar system cannot see the end of an endless expanse of space.  God's mercy towards those who fear Him is infinitely greater than this.  It is insightful David did not say "As far as the north is from the south" because this is a fixed distance that can be measured on the earth.  There is a point on the globe when you reach the north pole you begin to travel south, but not so with east and west along the equator:  God has put our sins farther away from us than we can possibly measure--even if we shudder with shame upon their remembrance.

Better than remembering our sins with shame is rejoicing in our Saviour who has forgiven us and remembers our sins no more.  We connect past sins with guilty people so their character become synonymous with their sin:  we call someone a liar, thief or adulterer.  Jesus came to call sinners to repentance to save them.  We have all sinned and are sinners, but God remembers the sins of His redeemed no more because Jesus has provided atonement.  Being a sinner speaks of our need met by our Saviour Jesus Christ.  If God has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west, what does it profit to cling to feelings of guilt in our hearts and minds?  How good it is for us to praise the LORD for forgiveness and give thanks by walking righteously.