Gather yourselves together in solemn exercises of religion; especially in times of public calamity and common danger. Persons may be helpful one to another, God sometimes expects unanimous votes which make a great sound in His ears. Many combustibles make a great blaze; grapes put together ripen one another. Is communion of saints good in heaven, and is it not good here? Are not some Christians ignorant and want informing? Are not some dead and want quickening; hard and want softening; wandering and want reclaiming? Are not some staggering and want settling? Are not some weak, and should not we lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees? Get together here as you hope to come together hereafter.

Pastor Oliver Heywood 1629-1702

• When the sun is gone all the candles in the world cannot make it day.
• Sin is a ill guest, for it always sets its lodging on fire.
• To fix our confidence upon a dying world is folly. It is as if we were building our nests when the tree is being cut down, or decorating our cabin when the ship is likely to be dashed to pieces or already sinking.
• The best of God’s people have abhorred themselves. Like the spire of a steeple (the higher it rises toward heaven the smaller it becomes) we are least at the highest. David, a king, was yet like a weaned child.
• God will open the sinner’s eyes in the next world, not by a holy illumination, but by a forced conviction. ‘Be sure your sin will find you out.’ We forget it now, and think we shall never hear of it more; but God can make all occur to memory as fresh as if newly committed, and in an instant represent the story of an ill-spent life, and show us all the thoughts, words, and actions that ever we have been guilty of. The paper goeth white into the printing house; but within one instant it is marked within and without, and cometh forth stamped with words, and lines, and sentences, which were in no way legible there before, even so will it be with the soul when conscience is aroused at the last.
• A wolf doth not worry a painted sheep, nor does the world annoy a mere professor. But when any are holy indeed, and of a strict innocency, they are hated, and contradicted, and spoken against.
• Sometimes God letteth his people alone till their latter days, and their season of fighting cometh not till they are ready to go out of the world, that they may die fighting and be crowned in the field. But first or last the cross cometh, and there is a time to exercise faith and patience before we inherit the promises.

Pastor Thomas Manton 1620-1677

1. could I spend this time no better?
2. are there better books that would edify me more?
3. are the lovers of such a book as this the greatest lovers of the Book of God and of a holy life?
4. does this book increase my love to the Word of God, kill my sin, and prepare me for the life to come?

Pastor Richard Baxter 1615-1691

OH LORD,
We rejoice in another Lord’s Day
when we call off our minds from the cares of the world
and attend upon thee without distraction;

Let our retirement be devout,
our conversation edifying,
our reading pious,
our hearing profitable,
that our souls may be quickened and elevated.

We are going to the house of prayer,
pour upon us the spirit of grace and supplications;

We are going to the house of praise,
awaken in us every grateful and cheerful emotion;

We are going to the house of instruction,
give testimony to the Word preached,
and glorify it in the hearts of all who hear;
may it enlighten the ignorant,
awaken the careless, reclaim the wandering,
establish the weak, comfort the feeble-minded,
make ready a people for their Lord.

This prayer is from a little book called The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett. I highly recommend this book; you can purchase it through Banner of Truth Trust

Sin is arguably the greatest power in existence but for the power of God himself. It is not only an evil but an infinite evil. It is a universal evil. Sin is not only wrong but totally wrong. It is not merely against God but absolutely and entirely against God. Sin is the contradiction of God and the antithesis of his nature. If its origin is a mystery so, too, to a great extent is its subtlety and craft. Sin is contempt for God, disregard for law, imperious selfishness and defiance of all that is good or right. Left to run its course unchecked sin would ravage the whole universe and even assault the throne of God with impunity. It knows no shame. It cares for no consequences. It heeds no bounds.
Maurice Roberts, The Thought of God
Banner of Truth Books

I never wanted to follow Jesus, He rescued me!
This reflects Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan’s view that man’s will is bound by sin – humanity is hostile to God & left to ourselves would never seek after God. Grace means God first gives us a new heart that desires to follow Him, subsequently we freely choose to follow. Arminian thought says, “I make a decision to follow Christ, then He saves me.” But this give too much credit to man, and followed to its logical conclusion, means that somehow something that a man does (some good work or decision) makes them acceptable to God. The biblical view of grace is unmerited favor: nothing in man, not his decision nor his good works makes him acceptable, but only the sovereign mercy and favor of God.

There is … the very real possibility in every Christian that he will learn to live at a distance from the love of Christ. Our corruption works in us a constant tendency to withdraw from Christ into the shadows. Days and even months can go past in the experience of the Lord’s people in which they are virtual strangers to the inward enjoyment of the love of Christ in their hearts. The soul grows callous. Layers of worldliness or coldness, like coats of paint on an old door, overspread the soul till we become accustomed to feeling nothing, enjoying nothing, expecting nothing, knowing nothing of those heart-warmings which are all-important to spiritual well-being. The next step is that the believer falls into a dead formalism. Prayer is got through as mere duty and routine. The Bible is read either to keep up appearances or to salve the weak voice of conscience. But spiritual exercises are now no longer enjoyed. The soul has no relish for the things of the Spirit. The consequence is that new companions are sought who are unfriendly to heart-religion. Then corners are cut in obedience to the Word of God. Finally, offense is taken at the lives of those Christians in the fellowship who are walking with God in ‘the power of godliness’. These are now criticized by the cold Christian as ‘too narrow’, ‘too strict’, ‘carrying things too far’, ‘extremists’, ‘troublemakers’, and then, at last, ‘not really belonging to our church’ because they are ‘old fashioned’ or ‘bigoted’.

Countless believers have declined in this way. Part of the tragedy is that they have fallen into coldness while convincing themselves that they were serving God. The scholar at his books persuades himself that he is too busy to spend an hour each morning in secret devotions. The pastor feels he cannot devote time to the cultivation of his soul because he has too many letters to reply to or even sermons to prepare. The missionary cannot wait on the Lord as he used to because of the pressures of language-study, and later on still, because of deputation work in the home country.

In these crafty ways does the devil lead God’s people by a staircase which winds ever downwards. But let us recall in the midst of our busy life that we may do ourselves and the cause of God great harm by our neglect of the soul. Let us once lose the dew of our spiritual freshness and we are at once a ready prey to compromise. How have so many evils come into the church but through men’s neglecting to cultivate daily fellowship with Christ? Like the Ephesian church in the Book of Revelation, they have been busily engaged in their ‘works’ and ‘labor’ and ‘patience’ and even their zeal for orthodoxy. But in the eyes of the Saviour they have ‘left their first love’ (Rev. 2:2-4) and risk loosing the very ‘candlestick’ altogether.

We may conclude … with a concern to revive in ourselves and in our brethren far more emphasis on heart-religion. As we view the state of the churches, this is the great priority everywhere. Nothing must be permitted to weaken our cultivation of fellowship with Christ.

The overwhelming concern of the Christian’s life must surely be to live unto God, upon God and for God. What else can the familiar words mean where the apostle Paul tells us, ‘For to me to live is Christ’?

What a force for good even a handful of Christians would be who lived in near intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ! What prayers would be heard again in the earth as believers took hold of the sleeve of Christ and drew down the blessings! What power and authority for our preaching would flow out of his glorious ‘fullness’ (John 1:16)! What new life would be breathed into all our meetings if an army of …(believers) …emerged from their closets melted with gospel-love! What new levels of excitement would there be in our services if preachers came into their pulpits clothed in the garments of visible holiness! In a word, what might not be done for God if only we were not so ignorant of him!

Maurice Roberts, The Thought of God, (Edinburgh:BPC Paperbacks, 1993) pg.63-66.

This morning in Bible Study, we read the following passage from Isaiah 58:13-14:

If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (NASB)

The Lord tells us that if we will refrain from seeking our own pleasures and speaking our own words; if we call the Sabbath a delight, then we are given a glorious promise. That promise is that we will then take delight in the Lord. We will ride on the heights of the earth. He will feed us with the heritage of Jacob. In other words, if we take time to sanctify the Sabbath, we will derive from the Lord a delight greater than any the world can offer us. Do you want to have great joy and pleasure? Then this passage tells us that if we will honor the Sabbath as God commands us, then we will have that joy available only in this sanctifying of the day. Let us delight in the Sabbath for in doing so we are delighting in the Lord of the Sabbath.

Its funny how, when looking for instruction in the faith, we tend to favor remote sources while neglecting our local brothers and sisters in Christ. No doubt, RC Sproul, McArthur, Ligon Duncan, and other famous teacher/preachers are gifted and we can learn from them but two questions seem obvious:

1) Who holds these ‘remote’ sources accountable, and

2) Can these ‘remote’ sources know your situation better than those brothers and sisters in your own church?

Listen to Pastor Smith as he explores this subject in this 2 minute audio clip …

__________________

Then think about this aspect of the local church:

Formative church discipline is the church edifying and disciplining itself in love. It is the sanctifying mutual ministry and influence of each member to one another, both private and public (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14; 1 Peter 4:10-11). This is done by the use of and submission to the gifts of those both old and young, office bearer and member, which Christ graciously gives to it. If formative church discipline is well understood and practiced, and every member is satisfied with his God appointed place, all shall live to the glory of God and grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We don’t know who wrote this psalm but we know that he was a man suffering through trouble or trial along with the failing health associated with advanced age. (Psalm 71:9; 18)

Psalm 71:1 – 6 he reminds himself (and us) of God’s work of grace throughout his life.

Psalm 71:7 is interesting – ‘portent’ implies that others are watching with a critical eye his distress. Ps 71:10 – 11 give us the clue – “For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together and say, “God has forsaken him …” We don’t know what is happening but perhaps this is a godly man who encounters some disappointing event. Oh, he is familiar with disappointment, but he seems painfully aware that unbelievers are watching and saying, “He lived his long life devoted to his God, but now this distress proves that his God has ‘forsaken him’ and is worthless!” Some may even ask, “why do the godly suffer yet the wicked prosper?” Can you imagine a more depressing thought? To be aware that the community is mocking you and your God? What does this old man do – he shifts the focus off himself onto his God; “but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.” (Ps 71:7-8) This is the biblical cure for the blues … turn from self and look to our Kinsman-Redeemer, our elder Brother who is able to sympathize with our weakness (Hebrews 4:14-15) and who rescues us from our enemies (Hebrews 4:13).

Ps 71:9-13 he rightfully request the Lord’s intervention then in Ps71:14-17 he, putting his previous depression firmly behind, remembers again the works of the Lord and directs his frail heart to love the Lord God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his mind. (Matthew 22:37-39)

Ps 71:18-19 This old man, in spite of a long life of labor and this recent disappointment, isn’t thinking about a comfortable retirement at the beach – he looks forward (and asks for the opportunity) to “proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come…” He has so much to tell and eagerly desires the opportunity to pass on what great thing he knows!

Ps 71:20 he says, “You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.” Here he is is praising God’s soveriegn control over this present ‘frowning providence’ (you have made me see many troubled times), at the same time, he is expressing confidence that “he who began a good work … will bring it to completion.” (Phil 1:6) Indeed, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

May we aspire to and old age filled with such hope, joy, and eager desire to make the most of our opportunities to tell what great things the Lord has done!