The Sifford Sojournal

This is our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life (Hebrews 11:8-10) along the narrow way (Matthew 7:14), even the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16), submitting to the Bible as a light unto both (Psalms 119:105). It is our prayer that these documented moments in our earthly time benefit whom God might choose to edify, but ultimately that God glorifies Himself through them.

Category: David’s Digest (Page 4 of 14)

David’s Digest: Of Sin’s Filthiness & Abundant Wickedness

December 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

James 1:21 – “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Whether we like it or not, or believe it or not, our hearts are full of uncleanness and wickedness:

Jer 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“

This is a result of the fall, and the continued sin in man through all generations. It is as odious as odious can be to a perfectly holy and righteous God. But we don’t want to believe it, really, about ourselves; yet, the Bible says it’s there.

Puritan Thomas Manton in his most excellent work “A Practical Commentary, or an Exposition with Notes, on the Epistle of James” paints a picture of sin’s filthiness and depth of wickedness.

You can listen to all of verse 21 here:


or download it:
Download

The entire book is scanned in here: https://archive.org/stream/apracticalcomme01mantgoog/apracticalcomme01mantgoog_djvu.txt…

…or you can listen to the entire book on this page:
Thomas Manton – James Commentary

From Thomas Manton:

Verse 21. – Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Obs 5. From that word filthiness. Sin is filthiness. It sullies the glory and beauty of the soul, defaces the image of God. This expression is often used, “Filthiness of flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. vii. 1), where not only gross wickedness, such as proceeds from fleshly and brutish lusts, is called filthiness, but such as is more spiritual, unbelief, heresy, or misbelief, etc., nay, original corruption is called so, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” (Job xiv. 4.) “How can man be clean?” (Job xv. 14.)

Nay, things glorious in the eyes of men: duties they are called dung, because of the iniquity that is found in them: “I will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts” (Mai. ii. 3).

So it was in God’s eyes. The Spirit of God everywhere uses comparisons taken from things that are most odious, that our hearts may be wrought into the greatest detestation of sin. Certainly they are much mistaken that think sin an ornament, when the Spirit of God calls it dung and excrement. But more especially I find three sins called filthiness in Scripture:

(1.) Covetousness, because it debases the spirit of man, and makes him stoop to such indecencies as are beneath humanity; so it is said, “filthy lucre” (1 Pet. V. 2).

(2.) Lust, which in Scripture dialect is called filthiness, or the sin of uncleanness (1 Thess. iv. 7), because it makes a man to subject or submit his desires to the beasts’ happiness, which is sensual pleasures.

(3.) In this place [here in James; see the verses leading into vs 21: vs 19-20] anger and malice are called filthiness. We please ourselves in it, but it is but filthiness. It is brutish to yield to our rage and the turbulent agitation of our spirits, and not to be able to withstand a provocation. It is worse than poison in toads or asps, or what may be conceived to be most filthy in the creatures. Poison in them does hurt others, it cannot hurt themselves: anger may not hurt others, it cannot choose but hurt us.

[The Solution:] Well then, all that hath been said is an engagement to us to resist sin, to detest it as a defilement. It will darken the glory of our natures. There are some spots that are not as “the spots of God’s children” (Deut. xxxii. 5). Oh! let us get rid of these “filthy garments”, (Zech. iii. 4, 5), and desire change of raiment, the righteousness of Christ. Ay, but there are some lesser sins that are spots too: “The garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23); unseemly words are called “filthiness” (Ephes. v. 4), and duties “dung”.

Obs 6. From that superfluity of wickedness. That there is abundance of wickedness to be purged out of the heart of man. Such a fulness as runs over, a deluge of sin; “All the imaginations of the heart are evil, only evil, and that continually” (Gen. vi. 5). It runs out into every thought, into every desire, into every purpose. As there is saltness in every drop of the sea, and bitterness in every branch of wormwood; so sin in every thing that is framed within the soul. Whatever an unclean person touched, though it were holy flesh, it was unclean: so all our actions are poisoned with it.

We read of the “overspreading of abominations” (Dan. ix. 27); and David said, “They are all become vile, and gone out of the way” (Psa. xiv.); all, and all over.

In the understanding there are filthy thoughts and purposes, there sin begins; fish stink first at the head.

In the will filthy motions; the affections mingle with filthy objects.

The memory, that should be like the ark, the chest of the law, retains, like the grate of a sink, nothing but mud and filthiness.

The conscience is defiled and stained with the impurities of our lives.

The members [of our physical body] are but instruments of filthiness. A rolling eye provokes a wanton fancy, and stirs up unclean glances, “Having eyes full of adultery” (2 Pet. ii. 14): in the original, “full of the adulteress”.

The tongue bewrays the rottenness of the heart in filthy speaking.

[The Solution:] Oh! what cause have we to bless God that there is “a fountain opened for uncleanness”! (Zech. xiii. 1.) Certainly conversion is not an easy work, there is such a mass of corruption to be laid aside.

May we see the filthiness and pervasive wickedness in our sin, even the smaller ones. May God grant us His Son’s perfect righteousness, and cleansing from the blood of Christ. May He grant us a hatred of sin as it is an offense to a perfect and holy God, and a desire for holiness and purity in living. And may He grant that we do these out of love for Him!

— David

David’s Digest: The Godliness of Music

October 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I took piano lessons from age 5-15, and so music has been a good part of my life. But if you think about it, what is music actually? We all sort of know about it, understand it exists, participate in it when we sing or hear a song, but what’s going on “under the covers”, so to speak?

I would suggest that it is all God’s specific doing, and that it is inherent and literally built in to creation by the Creator. Let me try to explain…

Sound is based on waves of vibrations in the air, like a Sine wave, where the wave starts at a mid point, goes up to a point, and goes down below the midpoint an equal distance, and this repeats over and over. The characteristics of the wave give the distinctions of the sounds: the higher the wave apexes from the middle, the louder the sound is, which is called amplitude, where we get “amplify”, or make louder; the closer together each wave is to the next one in the cycle, the higher the sound, which is called frequency (ie. how many times a wave happens per unit of time). If we were to pipe sounds into an oscilloscope, you could see these represented, and watch the changes as the sound changed.

This in itself shows a constant in creation. But there’s more…

Most believe it was Pythagoras (yes, that Pythagoras) that discovered an interesting “phenomenon”. Two different tones together could be categorized mathematically in 2:1 ratios (ie. the frequency of the upper tone being 2 times that of the lower tone) and 3:2 ratios (the frequency of the upper tone making 3 vibrations in the same amount of time that the lower tone makes 2). Then, if you crawl up tones using the 3:2 ratio, on the 12th iteration, you land basically, with some slight mathematical variance, on the 7th iteration if you had crawled up using the 2:1 ratio, thus ending the cycles of each before starting a new round (this is where we get the 7-note scales and the 12-note chromatic scale, for you musically-inclined folks).

(More details are in lots of places on the internet, but here’s a starting place if you would like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_tuning. And for anyone interested, the handling of the mathematical variance mentioned above in tuning instruments in more modern times is discussed in equal temperament or well temperament.)

Notice anything about the numbers in the above description? 12 and 7? In the Bible, 12 represents God’s power and authority, or governmental foundation, or the number of completion; and 7 is the number representing completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual).

Coincidence? These are mathematically built in to nature, and shows an extraordinary degree of order. If I had nothing else, for me personally, this would show some intelligence put nature together. This is absolutely amazing to me!

Further, the base structure when notes are played together is called a “chord”, and the base structure of that consists of 3 notes, and 3 in the Bible also represents completeness.

But now, looking beyond that, I believe there are many spiritual representations in music, and how it’s used.

First, God would have us sing to Him. Many, many verses, but here are a couple:

Ps 105:2 – “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.”

Ps 135:3 – “Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.“

In fact, the Psalms are really songs. Sue and I sing them each night in family worship, using a Psalter (here’s the last set of Psalms we recorded to help people learn them: Psalm Singing – August 2020).

Usually in any song, there is the melody, or the tune we might all know, and the other parts sung with the melody that form chords which sound good together, which are called harmony parts, all working together to make the music, and to make it sound better. I think one can glean a couple things from this:

  • This is similar to the body of Christ, His people, working together in…wait for it…harmony (see this definition). 🙂

    1 Cor 12:12-14 – “12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.“

  • Not everyone in the Church has the same function, and yet they are all important for the complete picture:

    1 Cor 12:15-20 – “15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.“

Another thing that I think can be observed: when an orchestra with multiple kinds of instruments, and multiples of those, play together, there is usually a conductor. His job is:

  • To help lead and keep everyone together as they make their way in unity and not chaotically to the end, and the orchestra follows the conductor’s lead
  • To help with the interpretation of the original composer’s intent
  • To set the speed (or “tempo”) of how fast the music is played, with the idea it’s not about how quickly you get to the end, but how you get there

To me, this is similar to the Church, where:

  • Pastors and leaders help guide Christ’s flock through their earthly pilgrimage to the end, helping keep away from chaos and instead in unity, and the people follow their lead as it conforms to scripture:

    Heb 13:17 – “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.“

  • Pastors and leaders should rightly divide God’s word (the composition) as to how God would have it interpreted:

    2 Tim 2:15 – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.“

  • Our Christian walk is not about how quickly we get to the end, but how our pilgrims’ progress in this life is to be travelled as the Lord would have for us, in the manner in which He would have us get there:

    1 Cor 9:24 – “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”

    Heb 12:1 – “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,“

Finally, here is a quote from Martin Luther:

Music is hateful and intolerable to the devil. I truly believe, and do not mind saying, that there is no art like music, next to theology. It is the only art, next to theology, that can calm the agitations of the soul, which plainly shows that the devil, the source of anxiety and sadness, flees from the sound of music as he does from religious worship. That is why the Scriptures are full of psalms and hymns, in which praise is given to God. That is why, when we gather round God’s throne in heaven, we shall sing His glory. Music is the perfect way to express our love and devotion to God. It is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.

All in all, I believe music is a gift architected into creation by the Lord, thus revealing Himself in nature, and is to be used for His glory and means by which we worship Him, and which is also graciously something we can enjoy as we praise and give thanksgiving to so great a God!

— David

David’s Digest: Be Watchful of Wrath

September 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments

James 1:20 – “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

In every interaction with our fellow man, especially about religious subjects or God’s word, there is the matter of the discussion (ie. the topic), and there is the manner of how it is brought forth. The manner is just as important as the matter, because if the manner is improper, the matter, and thus the purpose of the discussion, is lost, and even Christ’s character of humility, that we are to emulate (Matt 11:29), is marred.

Puritan Thomas Manton in his most excellent work “A Practical Commentary, or an Exposition with Notes, on the Epistle of James” cautions us to be careful how we bring forth truths, where an improper manner defeats the purpose, and causes more conflict.

You can listen to all of verse 20 here:


or download it:
Download

The entire book is scanned in here: https://archive.org/stream/apracticalcomme01mantgoog/apracticalcomme01mantgoog_djvu.txt…

…or you can listen to the entire book on this page:
Thomas Manton – James Commentary

From Thomas Manton:

Verse 20. – For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Here he renders a reason of the last clause [vs. 19: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:], why they should take heed of this indignation and rising of their hearts against the word, because the wrath of man would hinder them from attaining that righteousness, and accomplishing that duty, which God requireth in his word.

…

Obs 1. From the context, the worst thing that we can bring to a religious controversy is anger. The context speaks of anger occasioned by differences about the word. Usually no affections are so outrageous as those which are engaged in the quarrel of religion; for then that which should bridle the passion is made the fuel of it, and that which should restrain undue heats and excesses engages them. However, this should not be.

Christianity, of all religions, is the meekest and most humble. It is founded upon the blood of Christ, who is a lamb slain. It is consigned and sealed by the Spirit of Christ, who descended like a dove. Both are emblems of a meek and modest humility; and should a meek religion be defended by our violences, and the God of peace served with wrathful affections, and the madness of an evil nature bewray itself in the best cause? Christ’s warfare needs not such carnal weapons; as Achish said, “Have I need of madmen” (1 Sam. xxi. 15), so hath Jesus Christ need of our passions and furies? Does the God of heaven need a “tongue set on fire of hell?” (James iii. 6.) Michael the archangel was engaged in the best cause against the worst adversary, with Satan about the body of Moses; and yet the purity of his nature would not permit him to profane his engagement with any excess and indecency of passion: “He durst not bring against him a railing accusation” (Jude 9).

And as the wrath of man is unsuitable to the matters of God, so it is also prejudicial. When tongue is sharpened against tongue, and pen against pen, what follows? Nothing but mutual animosities and hatreds, whereby, if we gain aught [anything] of truth, we lose much of love and goodness. Satan would fain [be glad to] be even with God. The devil’s kingdom is mostly ruined by the rage of his own instruments, and you cannot gratify Satan more than when you wrong the truth by an unseemly defence of it; for then he [Satan] seems to be quits [even] with Christ, overturning his [Christ’s] kingdom by those which are engaged in the defence of it.

Briefly then, if you would do good, use a fit means. The barking dog loses the prey: violence and furious prosecution seldom gain. Those engage most successfully that use the hardest arguments and the softest words; whereas railings and reviling, as they are without love, so they are without profit. Be watchful: our religious affections may often overset us.

May God grant we be meek and lowly, as Christ tells us to learn from Him, even in our approaches with others when we have the truth on our side, and may He grant we always represent Him well wherever we are or with whomever we are engaged in interactions.

— David

David’s Digest: Be Watchful of Pleasures

August 12, 2020 / / 1 Comment

James 1:14 – “but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

All three of our spiritual enemies — our own sin/carnal man, Satan, and the world — work together to hurt and destroy our souls. Now, Satan and the world cannot make us sin — that’s our own, but they do certainly entice, and then as the verse says, we are dragged away by our own evil desires. I believe this dragging away can also include how much the things of the world distract us from the things of God; and put in favor of God, even in our hearts and minds, they can become idols in our lives.

Puritan Thomas Manton in his most excellent work “A Practical Commentary, or an Exposition with Notes, on the Epistle of James” cautions us to be careful of things that please the senses, as they can play a part in bringing us to sin.

You can listen to all of verse 14 here:


or download it:
Download

The entire book is scanned in here: https://archive.org/stream/apracticalcomme01mantgoog/apracticalcomme01mantgoog_djvu.txt…

…or you can listen to the entire book on this page:
Thomas Manton – James Commentary

From Thomas Manton:

Secondly, observe, the next way of lust [generally, any corrupt desire of the heart, not just sexual] is by flattery, being “enticed”; it comes lapped up in the bait of pleasure, and that mightily prevails with men: “Serving divers lusts and pleasures” (Titus iii. 3). That is one of the impediments of conversion; lust promises delight and pleasure. So “Wickedness is sweet in his mouth, and he hideth it under his tongue” (Job XX. 12). It is an allusion to children, that hide a sweet morsel under their tongues, lest they should let it go too soon.

Neither is this only meant of sensual [things pleasing the senses, not just sexual] wickedness, such as is conversant about meats, drinks, and carnal comforts; but spiritual, as envy, malice, griping plots to undo and oppress others. “They rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked” (Prov. ii. 14). Revenge is sweet, oppression is sweet, to a carnal heart: so “It is a sport to a fool to do mischief” (Prov. x. 23): they are enticed with a kind of pleasure of that which is mischievous to another. Well then,

1. Learn to suspect things that are too delightful: carnal objects tickle much, and beget an evil delight, and so fasten upon the soul. It is time to “put a knife to the throat,” when you begin to be tickled with the sweets of the world. Your foot is in the snare, when the world cometh in upon you with too much delight.

That which you should look after in the creatures, is their usefulness, not their pleasantness: that is the bait of lust [any corrupt desire]. The philosopher could say, that natural desires are properly “to what is necessary.” Solomon said, “Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it moveth itself right” (Prov. xxiii. 31).

You need not create allurements to your fancy, and by the eye invite the taste. There are stories of heathens, that would not look upon excellent beauties, lest they should be ensnared. Pleasures are but enticements, baits that have hooks under them. The harlot’s lips drop honey in the greeting, and wormwood in the parting (Prov. vii.); like John’s book, honey in the mouth and wormwood in the bowels. God has made man of such a nature, that all carnal delights leave impressions of sorrow at their departure.

2. Learn what need there is of great care: pleasure is one of the baits of lust [corrupt desire]. The truth is, all sins are rooted in love of pleasure; therefore be watchful: noon-day evils are most dangerous, and such things do us most mischief as betray us with smiles and kisses.

Heathens were out that advised to pleasures, that by experience we might be weaned from them; as Tully said of youth, by use of pleasures let us learn to disdain them, as the desires are deadened and flattened to an accustomed object. But alas, this is the bait of lust, rather than the cure. Poor souls, they did not know a more excellent way! It is true, some curiosity is satisfied by experience; but, however, the spirit grows more sottish and sensual [run by pleasing the senses].

Wicked men, when once they are taken in that snare, are in a most sad condition, and think that they can never have enough of sensual pleasures [those aimed at the senses], all delight seems to them too short; as one wished for a crane’s neck, that he might have the longer relish of meats and drinks; and Tacitus spoke of another glutton, that though he could satisfiy his stomach, yet not his fancy or lust; his womb was sooner filled than his eye.

May God grant us the desire and the help to be very careful about the things of this world that please the senses, including how much affection we have for and time we spend with them, and may He grant our hearts and minds be focused more and more each day on the Lord Christ Jesus and on the things above!

— David

David’s Digest: Satan’s Devices & Biblical Remedies: Christ Is All

May 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments

In the recent past as I read an excellent book from Puritan Thomas Brooks called “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”, I saved snippets throughout to share on the blog, with the hopes others might benefit from them being highlighted, and we’ve been doing some of that over the past months. Why is this all important?

The Bible warns of one of our greatest adversaries of our souls:

1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:“

But we are to resist…

James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.“

Ephesians 6:11 – “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.“

…but only with God’s help:

Psalm 28:7 – “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.“

The following below are a couple of points ([9] and [10], although I list 1-8 for some context) against a device Satan uses to keep souls in a sad, doubting and questioning condition by suggesting to them that their graces are not true, but counterfeit. Now, there indeed must be true graces in the heart, which will show evidently in someone’s life, with the fruit of the Spirit and other good works, but even those the devil can try to use against a person by swinging the pendulum the other way. Mr. Brooks puts it like this:

Says Satan, All is not gold that glitters, all is not free grace that you count grace, that you call grace. That which you call faith is but a fancy, and that which you call zeal, is but a natural heat and passion; and that light you have, it is but common, it is short, to what many have attained to that are now in hell, etc. Satan does not labor more mightily to persuade hypocrites that their graces are true when they are counterfeit, than he does to persuade precious souls that their graces are counterfeit, when indeed they are true, and such as will abide the touchstone of Christ, etc.

[Footnote: Yet it must be granted that many a fair flower may grow out of a stinking root, and many sweet dispositions and fair actions may be where there is only the corrupt root of nature.]

For the full device and remedies, you can listen to it here:


or download it:
Download

The entire book is scanned in here: https://archive.org/stream/completeworksoft01broo/completeworksoft01broo_djvu.txt…

…or you can listen to the entire book on this page:
Thomas Brooks – Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices

From Thomas Brooks:

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, wisely to consider, The differences between renewing grace and, restraining grace, between sanctifying grace and temporary grace; and this I will show you in these ten particulars.

[1.] True grace makes all glorious within and without.

[2.] The objects of true grace are supernatural.

[3.] True grace enables a Christian, when he is himself, to do spiritual actions with real pleasure and delight.

[4.] True grace makes a man most careful, and most fearful of his own heart.

[5.] Grace will work a man’s heart to love and cleave to the strictest and holiest ways and things of God, for their purity and sanctity, in the face of all dangers and hardships.

[6.] True grace will enable a man to step over the world’s crown, to take up Christ’s cross; to prefer the cross of Christ above the glory of this world.

[7.] Sanctifying grace, renewing grace, puts the soul upon spiritual duties, from spiritual and intrinsecal motives, as from the sense of divine love, that does constrain the soul to wait on God, and to act for God ; and the sense of the excellency and sweetness of communion with God, and the choice and precious discoveries that the soul hath formerly had of the beauty and glory to [sic] God, whilst it has been in the service of God.

[8.] Saving grace, renewing grace, will cause a man to follow the Lord fully in the desertion of all sin, and in the observation of all God’s precepts.

[9.] True grace leads the soul to rest in Christ, as in his summum bonum, chiefest good. It works the soul to center in Christ, as in his highest and ultimate end. ‘Whither should we go? thou hast the words of eternal life,’ John vi. 68. ‘My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand; I found him whom my soul loved, I held him and would not let him go,’ Cant. v. 10, iii. 4. That wisdom a believer has from Christ, it leads him to center in the wisdom of Christ, 1 Cor. i. 30; and that love the soul has from Christ, it leads the soul to center in the love of Christ; and that righteousness the soul has from Christ, it leads the soul to rest and center in the righteousness of Christ, Philip, iii. 9. 1

[Footnote: Grace is that star that leads to Christ; it is that cloud and pillar of fire that leads the soul to the heavenly Canaan, where Christ sits chief.]

True grace is a beam of Christ, and where it is, it will naturally lead the soul to rest in Christ. The stream does not more naturally lead to the fountain, nor the effect to the cause, than true grace leads the soul to Christ. But restraining grace, temporary grace, works the soul to center and rest in things below Christ. Sometimes it works the soul to center in the praises of the creature; sometimes to rest in the rewards of the creature: ‘Verily they have their reward,’ said Christ, Mat. vi. 1, 2: and so in an hundred other things. etc., Zech. vii. 5, 6.

[10.] True grace will enable a soul to sit down satisfied and contented with the naked enjoyments of Christ.

  • The enjoyment of Christ without honor will satisfy the soul;
  • the enjoyment of Christ without riches,
  • the enjoyment of Christ without pleasures, and without the smiles of creatures, will content and satisfy the soul.

‘It is enough; Joseph is alive,’ Gen. xlv. 28. So said a gracious soul, though honor is not, and riches are not, and health is not, and friends are not, etc., it is enough that Christ is, that he reigns, conquers, and triumphs. Christ is the pot of manna, the cruse of oil, a bottomless ocean of all comfort, content, and satisfaction. He that has him wants [lacks] nothing; he that wants [lacks] him enjoys nothing. ‘Having nothing,’ saith Paul, ‘and yet possessing all things,’ 2 Cor. vi. 10.

[Footnote: Said Seneca, a contented man cannot be a poor man.]

Oh! but a man that has but temporary grace, that has but restraining grace, cannot sit down satisfied and contented, under the want [lack] of outward comforts.

[Footnote: Charles the Great his motto was, ‘Christus regnat, vincit, triumphat. And so it is the saints.’ St Austin [Augustine] upon Ps. xii. brings in God rebuking a discontented Christian thus: What is your faith? have I promised you these things? What! were you made a Christian that you should flourish here in this world?]

[The man with temporary grace continues:] Christ is good with honors, says such a soul; and Christ is good with riches, and Christ is good with pleasures, and he is good with such and such outward contents. I must have Christ and the world, or else with the young man in the Gospel, in spite of my soul, I shall forsake Christ to follow the world. Ah! how many shining professors [of religion] be there in the world, that cannot sit down satisfied and contented, under the want [lack] of this or that outward comfort and content, but are like bedlams, fretting and vexing, raging and madding [going about as mad], as if there were no God, no heaven, no hell, nor no Christ to make up all such outward wants [lacks] to souls.

That a soul truly gracious can say, in having nothing I have all things, because I have Christ; having therefore all things in him, I seek no other reward, for he is the universal reward. Such a soul can say, Nothing is sweet to me without the enjoyment of Christ in it; honors, nor riches, nor the smiles of creatures, are not sweet to me no farther than I see Christ, and taste Christ in them.

[Footnote: Content is the deputy of outward felicity, and supplies the place where it is absent. As the Jews throw the book of Esther to the ground before they read it, because the name of God is not in it, as the Rabbins have observed; so do saints in those mercies wherein they do not read Christ’s name, and see Christ’s heart.]

The confluence of all outward good cannot make a heaven of glory in my soul, if Christ, who is the top of my glory, be absent; as Absalom said, ‘What is all this to me so long as I cannot see the king’s face?’ 2 Sam. xiv. 32. So says the soul, why do you tell me of this and that outward comfort, when I cannot see his face whom my soul loves? Why, my honor is not my Christ, nor riches is not Christ, nor the favor of the creature is not Christ; let me have him, and let the men of this world take the world, and divide it amongst themselves; I prize my Christ above all, I would enjoy my Christ above all other things in the world; his presence will make up the absence of all other comforts, and his absence will darken and embitter all my comforts; so that my comforts will neither taste like comforts, nor look like comforts, nor warm like comforts, when he that should comfort my soul stands afar off, etc., Lam. i. 16.

Christ is all and in all to souls truly gracious, Col. iii. 11. We have all things in Christ, and Christ is all things to a Christian.

  • If we be sick, he is a physician;
  • if we thirst, he is a fountain;
  • if our sins trouble us, he is righteousness;
  • if we stand in need of help, he is mighty to save;
  • if we fear death, he is life;
  • if we be in darkness, he is light;
  • if we be weak, he is strength;
  • if we be in poverty, he is plenty;
  • if we desire heaven, he is the way.

The soul cannot say, this I would have, and that I would have; but says Christ, it is in me, it is in me eminently, perfectly, eternally.

[Footnote: Luther said, he had rather be in hell with Christ, than in heaven without him. None but Christ, none but Christ, said Lambert, lifting up his hands and his fingers’ end flaming. (This is the Lambert to whom he is referring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lambert_(martyr))]

May God grant that Christ indeed be our all! None but Christ, none but Christ!

— David

David’s Digest: Lovest Thou Me?

April 10, 2020 / / 2 Comments

This….

“Man,” said a thoughtless, ungodly English traveller to a North American Indian convert, “Man, what is the reason that you make so much of Christ, and talk so much about Him? What has this Christ done for you, that you should make so much ado about Him?”

The converted Indian did not answer him in words. He gathered together some dry leaves and moss and made a ring with them on the ground. He picked up a live worm and put it in the middle of the ring. He struck a light and set the moss and leaves on fire. The flame soon rose and the heat scorched the worm. It writhed in agony, and after trying in vain to escape on every side, curled itself up in the middle, as if about to die in despair. At that moment the Indian reached forth his hand, took up the worm gently and placed it on his bosom.

“Stranger,” he said to the Englishman, “Do you see that worm? I was that perishing creature. I was dying in my sins, hopeless, helpless, and on the brink of eternal fire. It was Jesus Christ who put forth the arm of His power. It was Jesus Christ who delivered me with the hand of His grace, and plucked me from everlasting burnings. It was Jesus Christ who placed me, a poor sinful worm, near the heart of His love. Stranger, that is the reason why I talk of Jesus Christ and make much of Him. I am not ashamed of it, because I love Him.”

If we know anything of love to Christ, may we have the mind of this North American Indian! May we never think that we can love Christ too well, live to Him too thoroughly, confess Him too boldly, lay ourselves out for Him too hearty! Of all the things that will surprise us in the resurrection morning, this, I believe, will surprise us most: that we did not love Christ more before we died.

So humbling, so Christ-elevating and adoring!

May we forever, from now to eternity, be thankful for God’s mercies and so great salvation toward us, in the Father’s great love, the Son’s great atoning work and sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit’s great work of application in our hearts and lives!

We are all this poor worm — full of sin and not far from God’s eternal wrath — without Christ. If you are not affected yet by God’s work of salvation, come to Him recognizing your sin, ask Him this day to save you — to grant you repentance from all your sins and to forgive you, and to cleanse you from the dirtiness of sin, and keep asking Him until He does, to save you from that everlasting ring of fire all men are in until brought out by His gracious hand into His bosom. Please, seek Him now, while you still have today, as tomorrow — even the next heartbeat — is not guaranteed.

Consider this promise:

John 6:37 – “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.“

May God grant us understanding of who we are without the Lord Christ Jesus, who He is and what He has done, and may He apply His salvific work to our hearts! Amen!

The above quote was from JC Ryle’s book “Holiness” (chapter 15) from Chapel Library, which you can get various e-versions for free or order a hardcopy for free here:
JC Ryle’s “Holiness” from Chapel Library

Also, you can listen to our audio recordings of chapter 15 entitled “Lovest Thou Me?”:

Or listen to the whole audio book here:
JC Ryle – Holiness

— David

David’s Digest: Satan’s Devices & Biblical Remedies: The Glitter of the World, Part 4

March 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This is continuing from part 3 from Puritan Thomas Brooks’ book “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”, where the devil draws people from holy duties and service using the allurements of the world.

You can listen to it here:


or download it:
Download

The entire book is scanned in here: https://archive.org/stream/completeworksoft01broo/completeworksoft01broo_djvu.txt…

…or you can listen to the entire book on this page:
Thomas Brooks – Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices

From Thomas Brooks:

The first device that Satan hath to draw souls from holy duties, and to keep them off from religious services, is,

Device (1). By presenting the world in such a dress, and in such a garb to the soul, as to ensnare the soul, and to win upon the affections of the soul.

He represents the world to them in its beauty and bravery [finery], which proves a bewitching sight to a world of men.

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these,

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell upon the impotency and weakness of all these things here below.

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell upon the vanity of them as well as upon the impotency of all worldly good.

Remedy (3). The third remedy against the device of Satan is, To dwell much upon the uncertainty, the mutability, and inconstancy of all things under the sun.

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That the great things of this world are very hurtful and dangerous to the outward and inward man, through
the corruptions that be in the hearts of men.

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That all the felicity of this world is mixed.

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To get better acquaintance and better assurance of more blessed and glorious things.

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against tins device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That true happiness and satisfaction is not to be had in the enjoyment of worldly good.

True happiness is too big and too glorious a thing to be found in anything below but God that is a Christian’s chiefest good.

(Footnote: True happiness lies only in our enjoyment of a suitable good, a pure good, a total good, and an eternal good ; and God is only such a good, and such a good can only satisfy the soul of man. Philosophers could say, that he was never a happy man that might afterwards become miserable.)

The blessed angels, those glistering courtiers, have all felicities and blessedness, and yet have they neither gold, nor silver, nor jewels, nor none of the beauty and bravery [livery] of this world. Certainly if happiness was to be found in these things, the Lord Jesus, who is the right and royal heir of all things, would have exchanged his cradle for a crown; his birth chamber, a stable, for a royal palace; his poverty for plenty; his despised followers for shining courtiers; and his mean [low] provisions for the choicest delicates, etc. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that a man may enjoy, and yet be miserable for ever.

Now a man may be great and graceless with Pharaoh, honourable and damnable with Saul, rich and miserable with Dives [the rich man in the rich man and Lazarus story], etc.: therefore happiness lies not in these things. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that cannot comfort a man upon a dying bed. Is it honours, riches, or friends, etc, that can comfort thee when you come to die?

Or is it not rather faith in the blood of Christ, the witness of the Spirit of Christ, the sense and feeling of the love and favour of Christ, and the hopes of eternally reigning with Christ? Can happiness lie in those things that cannot give us health, or strength, or ease, or a good night’s rest, or an hour’s sleep, or a good stomach? Why, all the honours, riches, and delights of this world cannot give these poor things to us, therefore certainly happiness lies not in the enjoyment of them, etc.

(Footnote: Gregory the Great used to say, He is poor whose soul is void of grace, not whose coffers are empty of money. The reasonable soul may be busied about other things, but it cannot be filled
with them.)

And surely happiness is not to be found in those things that cannot satisfy the souls of men. Now none of these things can satisfy the soul of man. ‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase; this is also vanity,’ said the wise man, Eccles. v. 10. The barren womb, the horse leech’s daughter, the grave and hell, will as soon be satisfied, as the soul of man will by the enjoyment of any worldly good. Some one thing or other will be for ever wanting [lacking] to that soul that hath none but outward good to live upon. You may as soon fill a bag with wisdom, a chest with virtue, or a circle with a triangle, as the heart of man with anything here below. A man may have enough of the world to sink him, but he can never have enough to satisfy him, etc.

Remedy (8). The eighth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, Of the dignity of the soul.

Oh, the soul of man is more worth than a thousand worlds! It is the greatest abasing of it that can be to let it dote upon a little shining earth, upon a little painted beauty and fading glory, when it is capable of union with Christ, of communion with God, and of enjoying the eternal vision of God.

Seneca could say, ‘I am too great, and born to greater things, than that I should be a slave to my body.’ Oh! do you say my soul is too great, and born to greater things, than that I should confine it to a heap of white and yellow earth.

(Footnote: Plutarch tells of Themistocles, that he accounted it not to stand with his state to stoop down to take up the spoils the enemies had scattered in flight; but said to one of his followers, You may, for you are not Themistocles. Oh what a sad thing it is that a heathen should set his feet upon those very things that most professors [of religion] set their hearts, and for the gain of which, with Balaam, many run the hazard of losing their immortal souls for ever.)

I have been the longer upon the remedies that may help us against this dangerous device of Satan, because he doth usually more hurt to the souls of men by this device than he doth by all other devices.

For a close, I wish, as once Chrysostom did, that that sentence, Eccles. ii. 11, ‘Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do, and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun,’ were engraven on the door-posts into which you enter, on the tables where you sit, on the dishes out of which you eat, on the cups out of which you drink, on the bed-steads where you lie, on the walls of the house where you dwell, on the garments which you wear, on the heads of the horses on which you ride, and on the foreheads of all them whom you meet, that your souls may not, by the beauty and bravery [livery] of the world, be kept off from those holy and heavenly services that may render you blessed while you live, and happy when you die; that you may breathe out your last into his bosom who lives for ever, and who will make them happy for ever that prefer Christ’s spirituals and eternals above all temporal transitory things.

Amen, and may the Lord grant us all that protection from Satan’s devices, and that the things of the world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace!

— David

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