From here
Second, a proper acquaintance with the grand truth of Divine Providence should also be of real help in guarding us against having recourse to artifice and craft, in the propagation of the Truth. The Apostle Paul, in spite of all his zeal for the Gospel, disdained all worldly wisdom in his efforts to advance its progress: he commended the Truth to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. Then let us stick to the means of God’s ordering and rigorously eschew all human inventions. Temptations to compromise, to lower the standard, to bring in fleshly devices so as to “draw the young people,” are multiplying today. While in Glasgow, recently, the writer seriously offended “a Christian brother” because we asked a personal favour that there should be no special “solo” sung the night we preached in his Hall. Even though it appeared that Christianity were in real danger of being banished from the earth, that would not justify our attempting to assist it by worldly methods, carnal devices, or any means which God has not appointed. We are to fight the Lord’s battles with the weapons which He has put into our hands, and leave the “success” to Him! All the ingenuity of man can not and will not extend the Gospel one inch beyond the limits which our sovereign God has assigned. It is at this point faith is so often tested: faithful preaching being sparcely attended, “churches’ with worldly attractions crowded.
- A. W. Pink
==================================
On Anxiety
The best antidote for anxiety is frequent meditation upon God's goodness, power and sufficiency. When the saint can confidently realize "The Lord is My Shepherd," he must draw the conclusion, "I shall not want!" Immediately following our exhortation is, "but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God." Nothing is too big and nothing is too little to spread before and cast upon the Lord. The "with thanksgiving" is most important, yet it is the point at which we most fail. It means that before we receive God's answer, we thank Him for the same: it is the confidence of the child expecting his Father to be gracious.
- A. W. Pink
================================
On Divine Guidance
From here
But how is the conscientious Christian to act when some emergency confronts him? Suppose he stands at the parting of the ways: two paths, two alternatives, are before him, and he knows not which to choose: what must he do? First, let him heed that most necessary word, which as a rule of general application is ever binding upon us, "he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa. 28:16). To act from a sudden impulse never becomes a child of God, and to rush ahead of the Lord is sure to involve us in painful consequences. "The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation (deliverance) of the LORD" (Lam. 3:25, 26). To act in haste generally means that afterward we shall repent at leisure. O how much each of us needs to beg the Lord to daily lay His cooling and quietening hand upon our feverish flesh!
Second, seek unto the Lord for Him to empty your heart of every wish of your own. It is impossible for us to sincerely pray "Thy will be done," until our own will has, by the power of the Holy Spirit, been brought into complete subjection to God. Just so long as there is secret (but real) preference in my heart, my judgment will be biased. While my heart is really set upon the attainment of a certain object, then I am only mocking God when I ask Him to make His way plain before my face; and I am sure to misinterpret all His providences, twisting them to fit my own desire. If an obstacle be in my path, I shall then regard it as a "testing of faith"; if a barrier be removed, I at once jump to the conclusion that God is "undertaking" for me, when instead He may be testing, on the eve of giving me up to my own "heart's lusts" (Psa. 81:12).
This is a point of supreme importance for those who desire their steps to be truly "ordered of the Lord." We cannot discern His best for us while the heart has its own preference. Thus it is imperative that we ask God to empty our hearts of all personal preferences, to remove any secret and set desire of our own. But often it is far from easy to take this attitude before God, the more so if we are not in the habit of seeking grace to mortify the flesh. By nature each of us wants his own way, and chafes against every curb placed upon him. But just as a photographic plate must be a blank if it is to receive the impression of a picture upon it, so our hearts must be freed from their personal bias if God is to work in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
- A. W. Pink
This last quote is so true in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment