Author Archives: thomas

The Christian’s Strength

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The Christian’s strength lies in the Lord, not in himself. The strength of the general in other hosts lies in his troops. He flies, as a great commander once said to his soldiers, upon their wings; if their feathers be clipped, their power broken, he is lost; but in the army of saints, the strength of every saint, yes, of the whole host of saints, lies in the Lord of hosts. God can overcome his enemies without their hands, but they cannot so much as defend themselves without his arm. It is one of God’s names, “the Strength of Israel,” (I Sam. 15:29). He was the strength of David’s heart that could, when held up in his arms, defy him that defied a whole army). He was the strength of his hands, “He taught his fingers to fight,” and so is the strength of all his saints in their war against sin and Satan.

William Gurnall

Desiring to Be with Christ

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“Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterward”—words which our Lord caught up and expanded for the comfort of them all, who now with Peter for the first time realized that they were about to be parted from Jesus, and were almost beside themselves with grief: “Let not your heart be troubled. . . .”

This was paramount. These simple men had little thought of heaven as such. If Christ had begun to speak of golden pavement, gates of pearl, and walls of chrysolite, they would have turned from His glowing words with the one inquiry, “Wilt Thou be there?” If that question had been answered uncertainly, they would have turned away heart-sick, saying: “If Thou art not there, we have no desire for it; but if Thou wert in the darkest, dreariest spot in the universe, it would be heaven to us.”

F.B. Meyer

Duty and Nearing to God

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When he was finished, he examined how he had performed his duty. If he found well, he returned thanks to God. If not, he asked pardon and, without being discouraged, he set his mind right again. He then continued his exercise of the presence of God as if he had never deviated from it. “Thus,” said he, “by rising after my falls, and by frequently renewed acts of faith and love, I have come to a state where it would be as difficult for me not to think of God as it was at first to accustom myself to the habit of thinking of Him.”

Brother Lawrence

Following Hard After God

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My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. Ps. 63:8

Christian theology teaches the doctrine of prevenient grace, which briefly stated means this, that before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which may follow.

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. `No man can come to me,’ said our Lord, `except the Father which hath sent me draw him,’ and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for he act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: `Thy right hand upholdeth me.’ In this divine `upholding’ and human `following’ there is no contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hugel teaches, God is always previous.

A.W Tozer

Things

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Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and `things’ were allowed to enter. Within the human heart `things’ have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne.

This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real spiritual trouble. There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets `things’ with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns `my’ and `mine’ look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.

Our Lord referred to this tyranny of things when He said to His disciples, `If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.’ (Matt. 16:24-25).

–A.W. Tozer

God’s Strength

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Count on the strength of your own godly attributes, and you will grow lax in your duties for Christ. Knowing you are weak keeps you from wandering too far from Him.

When you see that your own cupboard is bare and everything you need is in His, you will go often to Him for supplies. But a soul who thinks he can take care of himself will say, “I have plenty and to spare for a long time. Let the doubting soul pray; my faith is strong. Let the weak go to God for help; I can manage fine on my own.” What a sad state of affairs, to suppose that we no longer need the moment-by-moment sustaining grace of God.

Not only does overestimating the strength of our own goodness make us shun God’s help, but it also makes us foolhardy and venturesome. Those who boast about their spirituality are likely to put themselves in all kinds of dangerous situations, then brag that they can handle them.

—William Gurnall

The Careful Christian

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What is our life in this world from beginning to end but a dark night of temptation? Christian, it is so important to make sure your sentry lamp does not go out in this darkness, and your enemy catch you unawares. If you drift off into spiritual slumber, you are an easy mark for his wrath. And you may be sure if you do let sleep overtake you, the devil will hear of it. He knew the apostles’ sleeping time and desired to sift them like wheat (Luke 22:31).

A thief is just getting up when honest men are going to bed. The devil, I am sure, begins to tempt when saints cease to watch. So be consistent in your watchfulness; otherwise you stand to lose everything.

Some Christians, having been injured by a serious fall into sin, will be careful for a while as to where they walk and the company they keep. But as the soreness of the consciences wears off, they forget to keep watch and become as careless as ever. A shopkeeper who has just been robbed is very careful to lock up his store thoroughly. He may even stay up late to watch it for several nights, but as time passes he relaxes his guard and at last gives it no further attention. God did not rest until the last day’s work in creation; nor should we cease to wake or work until our salvation is complete.

—William Gurnall

All is Vanity

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TreeNothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own self. Saints have tried to anchor in other roadsteads, but they have been driven out of such fatal refuges.

Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to make experiments for us all, and to do for us what we must not dare to do for ourselves. Here is his testimony in his own words: “So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor. Then I looked on all the works my hands had wrought, and on my labor: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.”

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What! the whole of it vanity? O favored monarch, is there nothing in all your wealth? Nothing in Palmyra’s glorious palaces?

“Nothing,” he says, “but weariness of spirit.” This was his verdict when he had trodden the whole round of pleasure. To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in his love, and be fully assured of union with him—this is all in all.

Dear listener, you need not try other forms of life in order to see whether they are better than the Christian’s: if you roam the world around, you will see no sights like a sight of the Savior’s face; if you could have all the comforts of life, if you lost your Savior, you would be wretched; but if you win Christ, then should you rot in a dungeon, you would find it a paradise; should you live in obscurity, or die with famine, you will yet be satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord.

—C.H. Spurgeon

The Widow’s Jars

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See the faithfulness of divine love. You observe that this woman had daily necessities. She had herself and her son to feed in a time of famine; and now, in addition, the prophet Elijah was to be fed too. But though the need was threefold, yet the supply of meal wasted not, for she had a constant supply. Each day she made calls upon the barrel, but yet each day it remained the same.

You, dear reader, have daily necessities, and because they come so frequently, you are apt to fear that the barrel of meal will one day be empty, and the cruse of oil will fail you. Rest assured that, according to the Word of God, this shall not be the case.

The sinner’s hope will perish, for he trusts his native strength; you shall see the proud Pharisee’s confidence totter, for he builds his hope upon the sand; you shall see even your own schemes blasted and withered, but you yourself shall find that your place of defense shall be the munition of rocks: “Your bread shall be given you, and your water shall be sure.”

Better have God for your guardian, than the Bank of England for your possession. You might spend the wealth of the Indies, but the infinite riches of God you can never exhaust.

—C.H. Spurgeon

Comparison with Christ

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At the end of the best day that we ever spent, when we are not aware of having consciously sinned in act, or speech, or thought, we shall still have need of the precious blood. We may know nothing against ourselves, yet we shall not be thereby justified; because He that judges us is our holy Lord, and the standard by which we are judged is his own perfect character. A piece of cambric looks extremely fine to the eye, but how coarse to the microscope! Sheep look white against the dark ground of the early spring; but how dark if there should be a fall of snow! Our characters seem stainless, only because we compare ourselves with ourselves, or with others.

But, when our eyes are opened to see God, to behold the whiteness of the great white throne, and we stand in the searching light of heaven, we are as those who have just emerged from a ditch. I heard the other day of a woman being proud of having lived without sin for ten years! So we deceive ourselves. No, at the best we are sinful men and women, needing constant cleansing; even though we may be kept from known sin by the grace of Christ. It was at an advanced period in the life of the great Apostle, and when he lived nearest God, that he realized himself to be the chief of sinners.

—F.B. Meyers