Rich in Poverty, Strong in Weakness

 By Charles Spurgeon

And for my arm they wait. Isaiah 51:5

In seasons of severe trial the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust, and so he is compelled to cast himself on God alone. When his vessel is capsizing, and no human deliverance is at hand, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God. Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone! Sometimes the multitude of our friends keeps us from God; but when a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless that he has nowhere else to turn, he runs into his Father’s arms, and is blessed to be there! When he is burdened with troubles so pressing and so specific that he cannot tell them to anyone but God, he may be thankful for them; for he will learn more of his Lord then than at any other time. Oh, tempest-tossed believer, it is a happy trouble that drives you to your Father! Now that you have only God to trust, make sure that you put your complete confidence in Him. Do not dishonor your Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears; but be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Show the world that your God is worth ten thousand worlds to you. Show rich men how rich you are in your poverty when the Lord God is your helper. Show the strong man how strong you are in your weakness when underneath you are the everlasting arms. Now is the time for feats of faith and valiant exploits. Be strong and very courageous, and the Lord your God will certainly, as surely as He built the heavens and the earth, glorify Himself in your weakness and magnify His might in the face of your distress. The grandeur of heaven’s arches would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the physical eye. May the Holy Spirit enable you to rest in Jesus on this closing day of the month.

The Power of Proper Thinking

By Alistair Begg

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 Many of us begin the day with anxious thoughts. The “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) never seems to reach us in the middle of the night or when we first open our eyes. Instead, as the morning comes we say to ourselves, “There is so much to think about. So many things are dancing around in my mind. I’ve got so many challenges.” Thoughts such as these so easily produce anxiety and stultify our commitment to prayer. Paul helps us to overcome these draining, even crippling feelings by directing our gaze toward those virtues which will liberate our thinking. A mind that is filled with the content described in Philippians 4:8 will have little space for anxiety-producing, peace-disrupting, joy-destroying notions. What Paul was encouraging his readers to adopt is a distinctly Christian way of thinking. A Christian mind, he taught, is not a mind that is trained to think only about “Christian topics” but one that has learned to think about everything from a Christian perspective. Ultimately, we are what we think about. It is in our minds that our affections are stirred, and it is through our minds that our wills are directed. It is in the mind that we conceive of and produce every action. It is therefore imperative that we learn to think about what is right and godly. The Bible is not concerned with mere mental reflection for its own sake. The Christian is not called to sit on a high hill and think blessed thoughts in abstraction, removed from the routines of everyday existence. Rather, Paul provides us with a list that will establish us in our motives, our manners, and our morals. Each of us is called to live in the realm of the real, not the phony; the serious, not the frivolous; the right, not the convenient; the clean, not the dirty; the loving, not the discordant; and the helpful, not the critical. In short, we are called to think like Jesus. Paul is not simply calling you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, though. This is not a rallying cry to try your best to perform the list. Sanctification by self-effort is not God’s agenda. The multifaceted virtue Paul speaks of is the fruit which grows on the tree of salvation. This fruit is brought forth by those whose roots are embedded in grace. So, let your heart be gripped by God’s grace, and train your mind to think on that which is truly praiseworthy. When those influences converge, your life will be one that brings glory to God. Aim to make His grace, and this fruit, the first thing you think about when you wake up tomorrow.

 

God’s Protective Word

 By Alistair Begg

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

John 17:15

When Jesus prayed these words for His disciples, He prayed them aloud. And so this prayer was also an instruction to them about how to interact with the surrounding world. The life that Jesus sets forth here is one that is neither comfortably indistinguishable from the world nor comfortably separate from it. This is Jesus’ vision for His people: to be in the world but distinct from it. This is, in fact, what God’s people have always been called to, as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9-10). The Psalms are abundantly clear that evil is a present danger. People are described as “enemies” and “bloodthirsty men” (Psalm 59:1-2), “evildoers” are all around (94:4), and there are some whose ways can only be described as “crooked” (125:5). Therefore, the great challenge is knowing how to honor Christ’s words—how to refrain from being compromised by the evil which surrounds us. Our greatest form of defense is seen in Jesus’ request to the Father: “Keep them from the evil one.” Protection is available to all who entrust themselves to God. This truth is articulated in the Psalms too, where we read of God’s protection being offered to the needy. The Lord says that “because the needy groan, I will now arise” (Psalm 12:5). In other words, it is not the arrogant and boastful that He protects but those who recognize their dependence on Him. Theirs are the groanings the Lord hears. And the Lord’s protection for the needy is also protection from the wicked. David confesses that God “will guard us from this generation forever” (v 7). Wicked people may hurt God’s people but they cannot do so in any permanent way, for ultimately they cannot hurt our souls. God will keep us from everlasting harm. The protection of God is for the needy and from the wicked, but how does it come to us? Through the word of God, which provides a lamp for our feet and a light to our paths (Psalm 119:105). His every word proves true, offering a shield against all foes (18:30). If we want to live faithfully in the world, we must devote ourselves to the Scriptures. To think rightly about the evil around you, then, the word of God must be in your heart, in your mind, and on your tongue. God has given it to you to keep you. Do you pray for yourself what Jesus prayed for His followers on that night before He died? Consider whether you are more in danger of becoming like the world or of removing yourself from it. Ask the Lord for the love, wisdom, and courage required to live as He did: in the world and yet gloriously distinct from it.

Mercy for the Believer

 By Charles Spurgeon

Have mercy on me, O God. Psalm 51:1

When one of God’s choice servants, William Carey, was suffering from a dangerous illness, the inquiry was made, “If this sickness should prove fatal, what passage would you select as the text for your funeral sermon?” He replied, “Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything said about him; but if a funeral sermon must be preached, let it be from the words, ‘Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.’” In the same spirit of humility he directed in his will that the following inscription and nothing more should be cut on his gravestone: WILLIAM CAREY, BORN AUGUST 17th, 1761: DIED— “A wretched, poor, and helpless worm On Your kind arms I fall.” Only on the footing of free grace can the most experienced and most honored of the saints approach their God. The best of men are conscious above all others that they are men at best. Empty boats float high, but heavily laden vessels are low in the water; mere professors can boast, but true children of God cry for mercy upon their unprofitableness. We need the Lord to have mercy upon our good works, our prayers, our preaching, our offerings, and our living sacrifices. The blood was not only sprinkled on the doorposts of Israel’s houses, but upon the sanctuary, the mercy-seat, and the altar, because as sin intrudes upon our holiest things, the blood of Jesus is needed to purify them from defilement. If mercy is needed to be exercised toward our duties, what will be said of our sins? How sweet the remembrance that inexhaustible mercy is waiting to be gracious to us, restore our backslidings, and make our broken bones rejoice!

Remember Your Creator

 Byu Alistair Begg

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.

Ecclesiastes 12:1

Not everyone ages at the same rate or in the same way. Some people are full of life well on into their twilight years, while others fade long before their time. But all of us, no matter how young or old, no matter how we feel or how frail we are, are moving one day at a time toward the day that the lights finally go out. It’s with that end in mind that the author of Ecclesiastes calls us to remember our Creator while we still have time. But when he says “Remember,” he’s not calling us to a mechanical exercise such as recalling irregular English verbs or multiplication tables. The call to remember encourages us to drop every sense of self-sufficiency and to cast ourselves unreservedly on God as our Creator and Sustainer. To “remember your Creator” means to know Him, love Him, and serve Him as your highest joy. The timeframe in which this exhortation is to be responded to is significant: the writer specifically urges his readers to remember God “in the days of your youth.” If you are no longer young, don’t worry—this may apply to you much more than you think! The Bible is far more flexible concerning youthfulness than we are. Even so, there is no question that those who are younger particularly need to heed these instructions. We must beware of saying to ourselves, “I’ll get around to the serious stuff when the serious time comes.” This is the serious time! The days will soon come when you will not be able to see as you once saw, hear as you once heard, or walk as you once walked. However fast or slowly, the house of your life is breaking down. How tragic it would be to assume that you can remember your Creator tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, but never today, and then find that there is no more tomorrow. Beware of allowing the best years of your life to pass filled with things that will ultimately prove to be worthless. Remember your Creator while you have the opportunity. And if you feel your best years are already behind you, remember this also: God is able to “restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25). It is better to remember now than to spend eternity with regret.

The Path Toward Rejoicing

 By Alistair Begg

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Philippians 4:4

Happiness cannot be turned on like a tap. Joy does not come at the flip of a switch. As Christians, we have highs and lows like anyone else. Sometimes we feel great; other times we feel stuck. So what do we do with a command that tells us to be joyful continually—or, as the text has it, to “rejoice … always”? Some people conceive of joy as something that ebbs and flows according to our circumstances. If this were so, the path to joy would be to ensure that our circumstances contain as many good things as possible and that we cut out anything, and anyone, that brings us down. But the apostle Paul offers us a different take. The Christian joy he describes is intended to be steady and stable. Paul clues us in to the source of this joy here: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” The key is the phrase in between “Rejoice” and “always”—“in the Lord.” Those three little words make all the difference in the world! If we let our joy ebb and flow with our circumstances, then we’re inevitably going to find ourselves in trouble. Hard times will come, sooner or later. But if we rejoice in the Lord, who is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), then our joy is anchored in someone unchanging, and so it will be unfading. Christian joy is a joy that can coexist with deep sadness. Your circumstances may bring you grief, but they need not extinguish your joy if you find it “in the Lord”—in who He is, how He loves you, and what He has promised you. Place your hope in Him and remind yourself of His unchanging nature and you will be on the path toward rejoicing always, even in hardship. Today, no matter your circumstances, you can find solace, rest, and, yes, even joy in the glorious truth that God is with you through it all and will one day set all things aright.

Doubt and Unbelief

 By Charles Spurgeon

How long will they not believe in me … ? Numbers 14:11

Strive with all diligence to keep out the monster of unbelief. It is so dishonoring to Christ that He will withdraw His visible presence if we insult Him by tolerating it. It is true it is a weed that we can never entirely remove from the soil, but we must aim at its root with zeal and perseverance. Among hateful things it is the most to be defeated. Its hurtful nature is so poisonous that he that uses it and he upon whom it is used are both harmed by it. In your case, believer, it is most wicked, for the mercies of your Lord in the past increase your guilt in doubting Him now. When you distrust the Lord Jesus, He may well cry out, “Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down.” To doubt is to crown His head with thorns of the sharpest kind. It is very cruel for a well-beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband. The sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has never given the slightest ground for suspicion, and it is hard to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is consistently affectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest and has unlimited wealth; it is shameful to doubt Omnipotence and distrust His sufficiency. The cattle on a thousand hills will be enough for our most hungry feeding, and the granaries of heaven are not likely to be emptied by our eating. If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust His fullness, but who can drain a fountain? Countless believers throughout the ages have drawn their supplies from Him, and not one of them has complained at the insufficiency of His resources. Dispel this lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut the bonds of communion and make us mourn an absent Savior. Bunyan tells us that unbelief has “as many lives as a cat”; if so, let us kill one life now, and continue the work until the whole nine are gone. Down with you, traitor, my heart detests you.