Gospel
Outreach Ministry
|
Brother Bill |
William
Fredrick Thompson, BA (Hons)
A Truly
Great Friend!
(1942 -
2008)
William Fredrick Thompson died of a heart attack on Thursday 18th January
2008 at 3pm in St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London.
Bill, as he was affectionately known, was born in 1942 in Preston to Frederick (d.1978) and May (d.1973) Thompson.
Bill is survived by three elderly cousins on his father's side (Albert, and Margaret Dickenson, and
Marjorie Roy) and one elderly cousin, June Hodgkinson, on his mother's side.
Funeral
On a beautiful afternoon, on 6th February 2008, we
had an Open Air Service near the grave of Bill, before his interment, where the
message, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God was preached; and the Word of God (John
3:1-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) was publicly read. It was a particularly
moving occasion with the prayers and singing.
At the end of the preaching, people were asked to reflect on their
treasured memories of Bill, and to consider the state of their own souls before
God. Tears were shed of sorrow and rejoicing, and the whole occasion was
blessed by the Triune God for this Man of God, who preached for 37 years in the
Open Air.
Two days after his 66th birthday Bill was called
home for higher service and now he is celebrating with the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Saints and the Angels.
Memorial Service
The Memorial Service for Bill Thompson was held
at Forest Hall Church, 2 Beech Road,
Loughton, Essex, IG10 4BL, at 4pm on Saturday 23rd February
2008, with lovely refreshments afterwards. There was an Open Air Service held on the
steps of the Church from 3pm, where Bill often preached the Word of God.
Visiting the Grave
For those wishing to visit the City of London Cemetery, Aldersbrook Road, it is approximately 10 minutes
walk from Manor Park Station (on the Liverpool Street Main Line).
The grave number is 149861 and the
square number is 351. It is located in Lawns section. Cemetery closes at 5pm.
Click on link for location of:
The Christian is a new man. The
difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is something which is
always emphasized in the Bible, not only in the New Testament but also in the
Old. God's people have always had a different view of everything that happens
in this world, and this view is something that goes down into details.
As Christians we view death in a different way. We are told that we must not
mourn as those who are "without hope." Those who are not Christians
have no hope; but as Christians we have hope, therefore we view death in a
different way. But this not only applies to death, it applies to everything.
The greatest revolution that can ever take place in the life of an individual
is that he or she becomes a Christian. In the twelvth chapter
of the Epistle to the Romans we read "be not conformed to this world but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is an entirely new
orientation; nothing should be exactly the same once we become Christian. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Good News
GREAT HOPE IN DEATH FOR THE
CHRISTIAN
2 Timothy
4:13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, Proverbs
8:33 Hear
instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
"Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east
to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to
worship him." Matt 2. 1-2 If wise men of old came to Jesus
and worshipped, should not we come also? My intense desire is that we all may
pay homage to him whom we sing, "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is
given." Let those of us who have long worshipped worship anew with yet
lowlier reverence and intenser love. And
God grant - oh, that he would grant it! - that some who are far off from him
spiritually, as the Magi were far off locally, may come to-day and ask
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we
have come to worship him." (C.H. Spurgeon) How Sweet the Name of Jesus
Sounds God's anger is like a river
dammed up. It is getting higher and higher, fuller and deeper, every day. I know that, if any of you have
tasted the sweetness of Christ, you would be
content to abide in Him for an eternity. (R.M.McCheyne) SUNSHINE THROUGH THE CLOUDS 'And the LORD appeared unto
Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give
this land: and there builded he an altar
unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.' Gen 12:7 Though the Lord was always with
Abraham to protect and bless him, he manifested himself or appeared to him but
now and then. Thus with respect to all necessary supplies of grace and
strength, and a liberty to seek his direction and blessing, he is ever with his
people - but there is a gracious presence, the light of his countenance, which
they do not always enjoy. In this sense he visits them but does not abide, as
the sun gives us every day for necessary uses, but does not always shine upon
us. When it does, it casts and inimitable glory and gilds every object. Be
thankful for the light and for eyes to behold it, but pray likewise for the
breaking forth of the Sun of righteousness. If you have it, rejoice in it, yet
expect a change. There are reasons both on the Lord's part and on ours why he
does not always shine. But in yonder happy world we shall have unclouded skies.
(John Newton) He called unto Adam and
said unto him, Where art thou (Gen 3.9) Adam ought to have sought out
his maker. He should have gone through the garden crying for his God, "My
God, my God, I have sinned against thee. Where art thou?..."
instead Adams flies from God. The sinner comes not to God; God comes
to him.... "Where art thou?" let us hear the voice of God saying that
to us, if today we are out of God and out of Christ. Where art thou, Adam? I
made thee in Mine own image, I made thee a little lower than the angels; I
made thee have dominion over the works of Mine hands; I put all things under
thy feet - the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea....I have the whole
garden of delight to be thy home. I honoured thee with My presence,
I thought of thy welfare....I clothed the trees with fruit for thy nourishment.
I made all things minister to thy happiness. Where art thou? I asked of thee
but that little thing that thou would'st not
touch one tree I had reserved for Myself. Where
art thou? ..... In the room of a thief, a rebel, a
traitor? has though sinned? O Adam, where
art thou?... I am come to find thee, wherever
thou mayest be. I will look for thee, till the eyes of my pity see
thee.... (C.H. Spurgeon) The Saints have Communion with
God 'Because
of sin, no man in his natural state has fellowship with God. God is light
and we are in darkness. Now the only way back into fellowship with
God is through faith in Jesus Christ. And while Old Testament believers
had communion with God through this means, they did not have the boldness and
confidence in that communion. The way to the holiest was not yet open (Heb 9v8). Under the New Testament, this way into the
holiest has been opened and believers have boldness and confidence to come into
God's presence (Eph 3:12). Christ, then, is the
foundation of all our communion with God and
by the spirit believers now receive boldness of faith. Consider how
greatly God has honoured us!' (John
Owen) Christ's Teaching about
Beneficence "Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart...and thy neighbour as thyself...But he
said, And who is my neighbour?" Luke chp10:27, 29 We cannot live alone. No one of
us can be entirely independent of others. I am not only a centre, but I am part
of another man's circumference; and every other man, woman or child I know is
part of my circumference. We are members one of another. In other words we all
have neighbours; and a complete human life, which has windows opening to the
Infinite Creator, must have doors opening on the street towards our finite
fellow-creatures. Remember that a gift of money is
by no means the only way of helping your neighbours. What men and women need
most is compassion, sympathy, your hand and heart-help. "Silver and gold
have I none" has been the confession of some of the greatest benefactors
of our race. Above all, it was true of our Lord Himself, who became poor that
He might really help us, as He never could have done had He remained rich. Let
Him be our Example. Who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. (F.B Meyer)
4 Golden Truths 1.
No one can be robbed of his delights whose joy is Christ. Eternal is his
gladness who rejoices in an eternal good. 2.
The anger of God is no furious agitation, but the judgment, which awards punishment
to the sin. 3.
When thou doest good, do it cheerfully; for whatever
good thou doest sadly it may be said to be done by
you, but thou doest it not. 4.
Faith opens a way for the understanding, unbelief closes it. (Augustine) HOW TO DEFEAT SOME OF THE
WILES OF THE DEVIL Put on the whole armour of God,
that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:10-13) The way to do so - and it is the
reason why the Protestant Reformers saw that this is the fundamental article of
a standing or a falling Church - it is to remind yourself of justification by
faith only! The devil says, 'Look at your record, there is only one conclusion
to draw, you are not a Christian, you have never been a Christian'. Answer the
devil by telling him that what makes a Christian is not anything that he finds
in himself, it is 'Jesus' blood and
righteousness'. Thank God for this, for if we all examined ourselves
truly and tried to decide on the basis of our own life's record whether we are
Christians or not, there would not be a single Christian! There is only one thing that
makes us Christian - His righteousness, and nothing else. Jesus, Thy blood and
righteousness My beauty
are, my glorious dress. So you must round on the devil and
say, 'Yes, all that is absolutely true; but it does not prove that I am
not a Christian, because, even as I am, I am still looking only unto Him and
relying on Him alone'. (D.M. Lloyd-Jones) FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT AND SING
HALLELUJAH If we let passion take the place
of judgment, and self-will reign instead of scriptural authority, we shall
fight the Lord's battles with the devil's weapons, and if we cut our own
fingers, we must not be surprised. It is not hard for the Lord to
turn night into day. He that sends the clouds can easily clear the skies. Let
us be of good cheer. It is better farther on. Let us sing Hallelujah by
anticipation. (C.H. Spurgeon) THE LORD GREATLY VALUES HIS
SAINTS Having brought his saints into a
loving fellowship with himself, Christ highly values them. They are his precious
jewels (Mal 3:17) All that Christ did or does as
Mediator was for their sakes. For their sakes he was 'made flesh' (Heb 2:14, 16). He set more values on his saints than on angels.
'He did not take on him the nature of angels.' "For their sakes he became poor,
that through his poverty, they might be eternally rich" (II Cor. 8:9). For their sakes he became a
servant (Phil. 2:6, 7). As a servant, he fulfilled all righteousness, endured
all manner of persecutions and hardships and did all manner of good to men
(Heb. 5:7, 8). For their sakes he became
obedient to the death of the cross (Phil 2:8). The curse of the law was in his
death (Gal. 3:13). The loss of God's presence was in his death (II Cor.
5:21). The wrath of God was in his death (II Cor. 5:21). (John Owen) THE SILVER LINING IN THE DARK
CLOUD "Why art thou cast down, O
my soul? and why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is
the health of my countenance, and my God." Ps 42 v 5,11 Ps
43 v 5 See how the broken-hearted may
still speak of God! This man had grievously sinned. He seemed to have forfeited
all claim on God's recognition and care. He had brought shame and disgrace on
the cause of religion. All down the years the story of wrong-doing would give
the enemies of truth abundant reason to blaspheme. And yet see how he dares to
speak of God! He describes him as the God of his life, as his Rock,
as the Health of his countenance, the God of his strength, and the Gladness of
his joy. This is a great lesson! We may change, but God changes never. We may
turn our face from Him, or allow some evil thing to loom between ourselves and
the clear shining of His face. But he shines on, and when we confess our sins,
and put them away, we find ourselves afresh in the clear shaft of His
illuminating rays. You may have lost all hope in yourself, your friends, your
circumstances, but you must never lose your hope in God. The past which can only be viewed
with repentance, is forgiven; the present, in which God is willing to be
All-in-all; the future, when again the soul shall praise Him with joyful lips.
Hope looks into the future. "I shall yet praise
Him." (F.B. Meyer) Christ's Robe of Righteousness It has not been sufficiently
realized that God's pronouncement of justification is very much more than a
mere sense of acquittal or non-condemnation. It includes as well the positive
imputation of righteousness. As
James Hervey so beautifully illustrated it: "When yonder orb
makes his first appearance in the east, what effects are produced? Not
only are shades of night dispersed, but the light of day is diffused. Thus it
is when the Author of salvation is manifested to the soul: He brings at once
pardon and acceptance." Not only are our "filthy rags removed, but
the "best robe" is put upon us (Luke 15:22) and no efforts or
attainments of ours can add anything to such a Divine adornment. Christ not
only delivers us from death, but purchased life for us; He not only put away
our sins but merited and inheritance for us. The most mature and advanced
Christian has nought to plead before God for his acceptance than the
righteousness of Christ: that, nothing but that, and nothing added to it, as his
perfect title to Glory. (A.W. Pink) SONGS OF PRAISE "My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Blessed be the Lord God
of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed His people ."
Luke 1 v 46,47,48 The most wonderful thing for us
all is that God looks upon our low estate. The greater His blessing, the more
unworthy we feel of it. There is no reason why He has stooped to our lowliness
and obscurity except that He would. He does great things for the weakest and
merciful things for the unworthiest, for His
Name's sake. "Holy is His Name." In other words, there is no
accounting for the putting forth of God's power and love, except His own
glorious character. (F.B. Meyer) THE MOURNER'S COMFORTER Shades every flower and darkens
every green; Deepens the murmur of the falling
floods, And breathes
a browner horror on the woods." To meet the sadness of the heart we
have taken a prescription, not from Galen or Hippocrates, but from the great
gospel prophet, Isaiah; and its one and only ingredient is Christ Jesus
himself, who is anointed to comfort the distressed in heart, and fulfils his
office by giving himself to them to meet all their needs. No heart, however broken, needs
any balm but Jesus to work its perfect cure. Sorrows, which like Noah's flood,
drown all, are soon assuaged by a word from his lips. Get him and keep him, O
bruised and bleeding heart, and thou art healed. For broken hearts the
broken-hearted Saviour died, and for them he lives and pleads. Look to him,
mourner, and the black horror of despair shall end. (C.H. Spurgeon) FILL YOUR MIND WITH HIM When I remember there upon my
bed, and meditate on thee in the
night watches. (Psalm 63:6) Memory is never so busy as in the quiet time while we are waiting for
sleep; and never, perhaps, are we more tempted to useless recollections and idle
reveries than in the night watches. Perhaps we have regretfully struggled
against them; perhaps yielded to effortless indulgence in them and thought we
could not help it and were hardly responsible for vain thoughts at such times.
But here is full help and bright hope. This night let us "remember
Thee." We can only remember what we already know. Oh, praise Him, then,
that we have material for memory! There is enough for all the wakeful nights of
a lifetime in the one word "Thee." It leads us straight to "His own self." Dwelling on that one word
"Thee," faith, hope and love wake up, and feed, and grow.
His Spirit shines upon His Word, and makes it sweet indeed Just like a shining lamp held up
beside me as I read And brings it to my mind again
alone upon my bed, Till all abroad
within my heart the love of God is shed. (Frances R Havergal)
As we remember our dear friend
Bill Thompson with this hymn. He has departed this life and gone to glory by
God's grace. "And is this heav'n? and am I there? How short the road! how swift the flight! I am all life, all eye, all ear; Jesus is here - my soul's
delight. Is this the heav'nly friend who hung In blood and anguish on the tree? Whom Paul proclaimed, whom David
sung? Who died for them, who died for
me? Hail thou fair offspring of my
God! Thou first-born image of his
face! Thy death procured this blest
abode, Thy vital beams adorn the place! Lo! he presents
me at the throne, All
spotless there the Godhead reigns. Sublime and peaceful through the
Son; Awake my voice, in heavenly
strains!" (James W Alexander) NONE BUT JESUS "He that believeth on Him is
not condemned"(John 3:18) Sinner, you cannot be lost by
trusting Christ, but you will be lost if you do not trust Him, Ay, and lost for
not trusting Him. I put it boldly now - sinner, not only may you come, but oh!
I pray you, do not defy the wrath of God by
refusing to come. The gate of mercy stands wide open; why will you not come?
Why will you not? Why so proud? Why will you still refuse His voice and perish
in your sins? Mark, if you perish, any one of you, your blood lies not at God's
door, nor at Christ's door, but at your own. He can say of you, "Ye will
not come unto Me that ye might have
life." Oh! poor trembler, if thou be willing to come, there is nothing in
God's Word to keep thee from coming, but there are both threatenings to
drive thee, and power to draw thee.
(C.H. Spurgeon)
LOVE TO CHRIST
Let the love of Christ take
possession of your heart, and you will find you are living for Him without an
effort. We have but one thing to do, we
have but one Person to please. Has your life been thus simplified? (Andrew A Bonar)
CLEANSING THROUGH THE BLOOD
"If we walk in the light, as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us
from all sin" 1Jon 1:7 The most important effect of the
Blood is Reconciliation for sin. The fruit of knowledge about, and faith in
Reconciliation, is the Pardon of sin. Pardon is just a declaration of what
has already taken place in heaven on the sinner's behalf, and
his hearty acceptance of it. (Murray) Space would not permit us to
enlarge upon the irrefutable fact that the Bible Revelation is a crimson
revelation, crimsoned by the Atoning Blood of Christ either symbolically,
prophetically or specifically. We can but glance at the first
and last books of the whole sublime volume, Genesis and Revelation. In Genesis
we have the genesis of blood in sacrificial atonement. Complete atonement Thou hast
made, And to the utmost farthing paid, Whate'er Thy people owed; How then can wrath on me
take place, If sheltered in Thy
righteousness, And sprinkled with Thy blood? (Ian R K Paisley)
PERHAPS YOU LIVE TOO MUCH IN
YOUR FEELINGS, TOO LITTLE IN YOUR WILL We have no direct control over
our feelings, but we have over our will. Our wills are ours, to make them
God's. God does not hold us responsible for what we feel, but what we will. In
His sight we are not what we feel, but what we will. Let us, therefore, not
live in the summerhouse of emotion, but in the central citadel of the will,
wholly yielded and devoted to the will of God. (F.B. Meyer)
THE PLAGUE IN OUR HEARTS 'What prayer and
supplication soever be made by any man, or
by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own
heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: then hear thou in heaven
thy dwelling place, and forgive....' (1 Kings 8:38-39) I can tell some of you what the
plague of your heart is, It includes such
things as these: (i) guilt. I have
sinned against the Lord (2 Samuel 12:13). Well,
there is forgiveness with him - for those who are beginning to come to him and
for those who have backslidden from him. (ii) unbelief.
This is always with us. I see the
gospel is good and true. I know and in my judgement approve the way of
salvation, and yet I cannot make it my own. Look to the temple and say, 'Lord,
increase my faith.' (ii) indwelling sin.
(iii) Some may say, O I am ready to be swept
away by the stream of corrupt nature, and especially in one instance: I have an
enemy who knows where I am weak and threatens to overpower me. But in this
temple there is a treasury of grace. (John Newton)
He prefers God before anything else
that actually is in heaven. Every godly man has his heart in heaven; his
affections are mainly set on what is to be had there. Heaven is his chosen
country and inheritance. He has respect to heaven as a traveler who
is in a distant land. The traveler can
content himself to be in a strange land for a while, but his own native land is
preferred by him to all others. Hebrews 11: 13-16: "These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but were persuaded of
them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country. And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned: but now they desire
a better country, that is, a heavenly." (Jonathan Edwards) "He that is athirst, let him
come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17 TRUE RELIGION is the union
of the Spirit of God with the human spirit and this is effected in
and through Jesus Christ. "He that is joined to the Lord is one
Spirit." Jesus is the Mediator between God and man. He reveals the Father,
unites us with the Father, and comes with the Father to make His home with us (John
14: 21-23) It is thus that our religious
life becomes a springing-fountain. Learn the habit of being still before God,
till His love rises yearningly and earnestly within you. (F.B. Meyer)
Again, to
another class of you, this word. If God has in Christ
made atonement and opened a way of salvation, what must be your guilt
who try to open another way; who say, "I will be
good and virtuous; I will attend to ceremonies; I will save myself?" Fool
that thou art, thou hast insulted God in His tenderest point,
for thou hast insulted His Son. (C.H. Spurgeon)
"Lord, how oft shall my
brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven
times?" (Matt.18:21)
The religious teachers of
Christ's day taught that four times was the extreme limit of forgiveness. Peter
exceeded this in his estimate, but how far even he fell short of the Divine
ideal! Seven was to the Jews the number of perfection, so that no expression
could more forcibly convey the impression of ever-renewed, eternal, repetition
than "seventy times seven!" What comfort there is for each one of us
here! For if God expects man to forgive his brother thus, how may we not count
on His forgiveness! This parable shows the great
wrong we do to ourselves as well as to our brother, when we fail to forgive.
Here was a man who had been forgiven the enormous debt of two millions
sterling, but was not softened and chastened by its remission, for he went
immediately from his Master's presence to lay violent hands on an unfortunate
fellow-servant, who owed him less than a five-pound note. 'Mine eyes fail while I wait for
my God' (psalm 69:3) He had almost looked his
eyes out in expectation of deliverance. Yet his pleading this with God is an
indication that he is resolved not to give up believing and praying. His throat
is dried, but his heart is not; his eyes fail, but his faith does not. Thus our
Lord Jesus, on the cross, cried out, 'Why hast Thou forsaken me?' yet, at the
same time, he kept hold of his relation to him: 'My God, My God.' (Matthew Henry)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4) The sorrows of the past, the very
sorrow that may be pressing heavily at this moment; all yours, all mine; all
the sorrows of all His children all through the groaning generations; all that
were "too heavy" for them - Jesus bore them all. "Is it nothing
to you?" It is when the Lord says, "Now will I gather them" (the
rebels and wanderers), that He adds, "And they shall sorrow a little for
the burden of the King of princes." Have we this proof that He has indeed
gathered us? But look forward! Because He has drunk
"of the brook in the way, therefore shall He lift up the head." Already
the "exceeding sorrowful" is exchanged for "Thou hast made Him
(the King) exceeding glad"; and when the ransomed and gathered of the Lord
shall return with everlasting joy, "their King also shall pass before them." (F.R. Havergal)
"Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me." Matt 25:40 Christ speaks of those who give
hand-help to others as righteous, because it is only as we are really right with
God that we are merciful to men. Righteousness and mercifulness are one. The sin of omission! Notice that
those who were banished and exiled from the presence of the King were judged
because of what they did not do. We may be condemned not simply for actual sins
committed, but for what we neglect to do. Not to bind up and care for the
wounded or ill-treated, but to pass by on the other side; not to have the oil
ready for the lamp; not to make use of the talent or gift entrusted, this
involves condemnation, and degrades the soul to the level of the devil and his
angels. (F.B. Meyer)
There be two signal and
remarkable acts of faith, both exceedingly difficult, viz. its first act, and
its last. The first is a great venture that it makes of itself upon Christ; and
the last is a great venture too, to cast itself into the ocean of eternity upon
the credit of a promise. (John Flavel)
A WARNING! LEARNING FROM PAST
HISTORY
...IT WAS NEEDFUL FOR ME TO WRITE
UNTO YOU, AND EXHORT YOU THAT YE SHOULD EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WHICH
WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS (Jude 1:3) I want to suggest that we are
confronted today by this selfsame process and that
even in the last ten years a very serious situation has arisen among
evangelical people. My whole contention is that for us to assume that because
we have once said that we are evangelical, therefore we must still be
evangelical now and shall always be, is not only to misread the teaching of the
New Testament, but to fail completely to grasp and to understand the great
lessons which are taught us so clearly by history. (D.M.Lloyd-Jones)
"Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you." John 14:27 Our Lord was now about to die, to
depart from this world, and to ascend to his Father; he therefore makes his
will; and this is the blessed legacy which he leaves to the faithful. "Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you." We may rest well assured that
this testament of our Lord Jesus Christ is valid. You have here his own signature; it is signed, sealed, and delivered
in the presence of the eleven apostles, who are faithful and true witnesses.
"Tis true a testament is not in force while the testator liveth," but Jesus
Christ has died once for all; and now none can dispute his legacy. The will is
in force, because the testator has died. (C.H. Spurgeon)
For ye have not passed this way
heretofore. (Josh 3:4) We have not passed this way
heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities" (Heb 4:15). It is alluntrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it
all by personal experience; the steep bits that take away our breath, the stony
bits that make our feet ache so, the hotshadeless stretches
that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers that we have to pass
through, our Shepherd has gone through it all before us. "For He remembered that they
were but flesh" (Psalm 78:39). Think of that when you are tempted to
question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the time; and not
one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is able to endure. Never
mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to come next;
either He will so strengthen it that is shall be able, or He will call a sudden
halt, and you shall not have to take it at all. For the year before us, oh, what
rich supplies! For the poor and needy living
streams shall rise; For the sad and sinful shall His
grace abound; For the faint and feeble perfect
strength be found. (F.R. Havergal) O wretched man that I am who.....
Thanks be unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord When we read these passages -
both Romans 7:14, 23 and 8:1, 2, we say "How wonderful is the Word of God!
What a true picture it draws of the person I really am! On the one hand I am a
slave, a prisoner, for the sin has such control over me that I cannot lead a
sinless life (Jer 17:9: Matt 6:12; 1 John 1:8,10). Yet, on the other hand I am a free person, for though
Satan tries with all his might and trickery to keep me from doing what is right
- such as trusting God for my salvation, invoking him in prayer, rejoicing in
him, working for his causes, etc., he cannot throughout stop me from so. He
cannot completely prevent me from experiencing the peace of God that transcends
all understanding. The sense of victory, which I possess in principle even now
and will possess in perfection in the future, sustains me in all my struggles.
I rejoice in the freedom which Christ has earned for me!" (cf Gal 5:1) (William Hendriksen)
SENDING THE WORD TO THEM, OR
THEM TO THE WORD O my Lord, What a series of
wonders is my history! Wonders of mercy on thy part. Wonderful
proofs of depravity on mine. Surely no one who reads this letter can surmise
how far and how often I returned thee evil for good. I remember my faults and
follies this day and fain would I praise thee for thy long-suffering and
forbearance exercised for so many years towards a most undeserving creature! (John Newton)
THE LORD, HE IT IS THAT
DOTH GO BEFORE THEE; HE WILL BE WITH THEE, HE WILL NOT FAIL THEE
The steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in
his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly
cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his
hand. I am continually
with thee: thou hast holden me by my
right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward
receive me to glory: I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Deut. 31:8, Ex 33:15, Jer.10:23, Ps. 37:23-24, Ps. 73.23-24, Ro.
8:38-39 (All words taken from the Bible) (Col 1:17) The infinite and eternal God is the basis of all being. In him we
live, and move, and have our being. If that incomprehensible influence, whereby
each thing is, and is what it is, should be withdrawn for an instant,
all things would lose their existence, and would go back into annihilation. No
positive act of God would be necessary to reduce the universe to nothing. This
perpetual and indispensable sustentation of all things is part of
Divine Providence. As creation is the will of God that things should exist
and begin to be, so Providence is the will of God that things should
continue to be. (James W.
Alexander)
'Where
is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the
East, and come to worship him' (Matthew 2 v 2) The enquirers, wise men of the
East...... Their guidance: no common star, neither fixed star
or planet - a light, in appearance a star, which they saw in their own country,
and again at Bethlehem leading them to the very house. But there was more
than this: certainly a Devine revelation to their mind. How
else should the sight of a new star lead their thoughts to Jesus? Here is
an emblem of the work of grace: a light is seen, the heart drawn.
This light is the gospel, written or preached - the Word is a light in a dark
place - and the Holy Spirit. For meditation: Shall these
wise men condemn us in judgment? You have seen the star, heard the
message. Do you yet sit still? You that are indeed come to worship,
admire his love, approach his table. He who once lay in the manger will
be there. (John Newton)
REASONS WHY CHRIST SHOULD BE
LAID IN A MANGER "And she brought forth her
firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a
manger" (Luke 2:7) I think it was intended thus to show
forth his humiliation. He came, according to prophecy, to be "despised and
rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;" he was to be
"without form or comeliness," "a root out of a dry ground."
Would it have been fitting that the man who was to die naked on the cross
should be robed in purple at his birth? Would it not have been inappropriate
that the Redeemer who was to be buried in a borrowed tomb should be born
anywhere but in the humblest shed, and housed anywhere but in the most ignoble
manner? The manger and the cross standing at the two extremities of the
Saviour's earthly life seem most fit and congruous the one to the other. He is
to wear through life a peasant's garb; he is to associate with fisherman; the
lowly are to be his disciples; the cold mountains are often to be his only bed;
he is to say, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, nut
the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head;" nothing, therefore, could
be more fitting, than that in his season of humiliation, when he laid aside all
his glory, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and condescended even
to the meanest estate, he should be laid in a manger. (C.H. Spurgeon)
MAKING A FRESH START "Put off concerning the
former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph 4
v 22-24) "Put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ." Rom 13 v14 We can all start afresh! However
far we have ascended, there is something higher; and however far we have
fallen, it is always possible to make a fresh start. We need to take our place
in the School of Christ and be taught by Him (Eph 4
v20,21) "The old man" which we
must "put off" is clearly our former manner of life. If we have not
put it entirely away, let us do so now by an immediate act of faith in the
living Spirit. It does not take long for a beggar to put off his rags and
take instead a new suit of clothes, and it need not take a moment longer to put
away old habits and thoughts, ways of speech and life which are unworthy of the
children of God. Do it now, and look up to
the Holy Spirit to keep renewing you in the spirit of your mind. (F.B. Meyer)
God's Unspeakable Gift Draw us nearer, Lord, draw us
into the inner sanctuary; draw us within the place which once was hidden by the
veil which Christ has rent; bring us right up to the throne of grace, and there
beholding the glory of God above the Mercy Seat may we have communion with the
Most High. Heal all our diseases and forgive us all our trespasses.
(C.H. Spurgeon's Prayer)
Behold the character of the
Messiah in this prophecy: a man, a God-Man, a divine person in the human
nature, God manifested in the flesh, God with us (Matt 1:23).
As fallen creatures we had lost the true knowledge of God and were unable to
conceive of him to our comfort. His glory shines in the heavens and fills the
earth, yet he is to us unknown and unnoticed. But he is known and found when
the Messiah is known. To us his glory shines in the person of Jesus Christ the
Messiah. That dear blood, for sinners
spilt, Shows my sin in all its guilt: Ah, my soul, he bore thy load, Thou hast slain the Lamb of God. Farewell world, thy gold is
dross, Now I see the bleeding cross; JESUS died to set me free From the law, and sin, and
thee! (John Newton) THE CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO THE
OLD TESTAMENT The story of God's preparation
for the coming of Christ is a story which itself unfolds the saving principles
which were fully revealed in Christ. The whole bible sets forth the Gospel of
our redemption, and the Old Testament is much more than a preface to this
gospel; it is itself the first part of the saving story. We cannot understand the New
Testament without some knowledge of what has gone before FAITH COMES BY HEARING Faith brings Christ, and Christ
brings remission of sins; but how shall we obtain faith? St
Paul teaches us this, faith cometh by hearing. Then, if we will come to
faith, we must hear God's word. We are justified by God's free
gift, and not of ourselves; but the righteousness of Christ is accounted to be
our righteousness, and through the same we obtain everlasting life. (Latimer) HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED
WONDERFUL (Isaiah 9 verse 6) (This was written 700 years
before Christ birth on earth foretelling the Good News) All the other names of Jesus are
nouns. But here is a name that is an adjective; so we may use it not only as a
name by itself, but as an adjective to all His other names; and the more we
know Him and love Him the more we shall delight in this. Jesus is Wonderful in what He is.
Even the angels must have wondered to see the Son of God, whom they all
worship, lying in a manger as a little baby. But I think they must have
wondered more still when they saw "Him taken and by wicked hands crucified
and slain." They must have marvelled indeed then at the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, yet He was not dying
for them but for you, so you may say, "Thy love to me was
wonderful." (F.R. Havergal)
...because
He is good, for his mercy endureth forever
towards Israel (Ezr 3:11). It is not a small thing to belong
to that community for which Christ died, for which he prays, and unto which he
purposes to give dominion..... When days are dark, let the soul
turn itself to him who dwelleth in Zion,
and who can never forget her. Christian supports are the more
sure and abiding when they are taken in common with all the chosen seed,
and on the grounds of covenant faithfulness. When we can place ourselves in
such a position that the promises of God towards his church become promises to
us individually, we are drinking waters which flow out of the sanctuary itself.
THE MARKS OF TRUE PRAYER True
prayer brings heaven down into the soul, and lifts the soul up to
heaven. True prayer is the prime exercise
of faith where all saving graces converge to climax in both the highest
expression of gratitude(to God) and the deepest expression of humility (with
regard to ourselves), as well as the broadest expression of love (for others). True prayer is real life. It is
the "soul's breathing itself into the bosom of its heavenly Father"
(Thomas Watson) True prayer is a holy art taught
by a groaning, wrestling Spirit who often uses the impossibilities and apparent
"artlessness" of the believer's entangled and sin-stained life to
pencil upon him the image of his worthy Master. (Joel Beeke)
CHRIST- OUR SUBSTITUTE "For he hath made Him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21) Not only hath He made Him to be
the substitute for sin, but to be sin. God looked on Christ as if Christ had
been sin; not as if He had taken up the sins of His people, or as if they were
laid on Him, though that were true, but as if He Himself had positively been
that noxious - that God-hating- that soul-damning thing, called sin. When the Judge of all the earth said, "Where is Sin?" Christ
presented Himself. He stood before His Father as if He had been the
accumulation of all human guilt; as if He Himself were that thing which God
cannot endure, but which He must drive from His presence for ever. (C.H. Spurgeon)
THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION "Knowing,
brethren beloved, your election of God." 1 Thess 1:4 "Give diligence to make your
calling and election sure." 2 Peter 1:10 It is important to state
accurately the doctrine of Election and what it means. It is perhaps true to
say that no doctrine of Scripture has suffered so much through wrong conception
or wrong description. I personally believe that the true doctrine is this. God has been
pleased from all eternity to choose certain men and women out of mankind whom
by His counsel secret to us, He has decreed to save by Jesus Christ. None are
finally saved except those who are thus chosen. Hence the Scripture gives to
God's people in several places the names of "God's Elect", and the
choice or appointment of them to eternal life is called "God's
election". Those men and
women whom God has been pleased to choose from all eternity, He calls in time,
by His Spirit working in due season. He convinces them of sin. He leads them to
Christ. He works in them repentance and faith. He converts, renews, and
sanctifies them. He keeps them by His grace from falling away entirely, and
finally brings them safe to glory. In short God's eternal Election is the first
link in that chain of a sinner's salvation of which heavenly glory is the end. (An extract by J.C. Ryle) "I believe the
doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I
should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was
born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have
elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason
in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love." (Spurgeon)
Though the accomplishment of
God's promise is always sure, yet it is often slow, and seems to be crossed and
contradicted by Providence, that the faith of believers may be tried, their
patience exercised, and mercies long waited for may be the more welcome when
they come. (Matthew Henry)
A HIDING PLACE 'And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the
tempest...'(Isaiah 32:2) Here is a wind spoken
of and a hiding place provided. In fair weather a hiding place
is not thought of, but when a storm arises, everyone is glad of a shelter.
Sinners are like those servants of Pharaoh, who, when Moses threatened a
tempest, made light of it, and even ventured their people and cattle in the
fields. The wrath of God is denounced against sin, and yet sinners are secure.
But when the Spirit convinces the heart, then all is found true. O when a
charge does conviction make, and how welcome would a hiding place be then. This may be compared to a storm of wind for: Suddenness: the storm often rises
when little expected. So conviction comes upon a soul unawares. Such
was Belshazzar's case (Daniel 5) - and such the jailer's, though a vessel
of mercy (Acts 16) (John Newton)
CHRISTIAN PRAISE To praise him, under any true
apprehension of His Excellency, is joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Employ this, beloved, as a test of
Christian character. To the unrenewed mind,
prayer is always a task, if not a burden; it may be performed, but it
is never enjoyed; a needful remedy, perhaps, but not a refreshment or a
delight. But if the testimony of your heart is, that prayer is among your
chosen comforts - if your closet is a beloved refuge - if you feel the loss or
interruption of this intercourse to be a cross and a trial - if even sometimes
your affections overflow and your heart flows out towards Christ: then, my
prevalent thought is, that you are a child of God, and an heir of grace. (James W Alexander)
LOVE'S REVELATIONS! "That disciple whom Jesus
loved saith unto Peter: It is the
Lord." John 21:7 Love will see most quickly. James
was there, full of practical common sense; Thomas also, who doubted, but
afterwards believed; Peter, who wanted to die with Him, but afterwards denied
Him; and the rest of them; but it was John whom Jesus loved, and who afterwards
became the Apostle of Love, that first recognised the Master, whether by the
intonation of His Voice, or the thoughtfulness of His inquiry, or the readiness
of His help, does not appear. The intuitions of love are as sure as they are
swift. Whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish. None of these things will help as much when we come
to that last hour. But Love will never fail, and those
who have loved will see most quickly, most certainly, most satisfyingly. (F.B. Meyer)
A RACE TO RUN "Let us lay aside every
weight." Heb 12:1 If you were going to run a
race, you would first put down all the parcels you might have been carrying.
You have a race to run today, a little piece of the great race that is set
before you. God has set a splendid prize before you, "the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus," a crown that is incorruptible. What
are you going to do about the weights, the things that hinder you from running
this race? You know some things do seem to hinder you; will you keep them or
lay them aside? Will you only lay aside something that everyone can see is
hindering you, so that you will get a little credit for putting it down, and
keep something that your own conscience knows is a real hindrance, though no
one else knows anything at all about it? It may seem hard to lay our pet weight
down; but oh! if you only knew how light we
feel when it is laid down, and how much easier it is to run the race which God
has set before us! Unfurl the Christian Standard,
with firm and fearless hands! For no
pale flag of compromise with Error's legion bands. And no faint-hearted flag of
truce with Mischief and with Wrong, Should
lead the soldiers of the Cross, the faithful and the strong. (Frances Ridley Havergal)
SEEKING GOD '...If thou seek him, he will be
found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will
cast thee off for ever.' 1 Chronicles 28:9 This leads to the
encouragement: if you seek him he will be found. It is his own
promise - Seek and him ye shall find. Come and he will receive you. But do you
ask, What is it to come or to seek? To come
to Christ is to venture yourselves as poor,
perishing creatures upon his blood and promise; and to seek him is to wait upon
him according to his word for grace and power to do so. Though you are not
sufficient in yourselves to come to Christ, yet you cannot, without stifling
and rebelling against the light he has given you, put off seeking him a day
longer. Seek him by prayer. Entreat him to make you truly sensible of these
things, to soften your hearts, to give you the knowledge of himself. Search the scriptures. Attend upon the ministry of
the gospel. Be found in the way. If you are sincere in your desires, you will
break off from sinful and ensnarling company and the things which you
yourselves know are contrary and displeasing to him. (John Newton)
To keep us from
fainting, know, that the reward promised is very near, 'Our salvation
is nearer than when we believed' (Romans 13:11). We are but within a few days
march of the heavenly Canaan; it is but a few more prayers and tears shed,
and we shall be perfect in glory. As that martyr Dr Taylor said, 'I have but
one stile more to go over, and I shall be at my Father's house.' Stay but a
while Christians, and your trouble shall be over, and your coronation-day shall
come. Christ who is the oracle of truth hath said, 'Surely I come quickly'
(Revelation 22:20). And yet death's coming is sooner than Christ's personal
coming, and then begins the saint's blessed jubilee. (Thomas Watson)
WHICH SHALL IT BE Leaving us an example, that ye
should follow his steps (1Peter 2:21) Now what are those steps? Following steps in quite a different thing from thinking to follow
one's own idea of the general direction of a course. If you would
only take one Gospel, and read it through with the earnest purpose of noting,
by the Holy Spirit's guidance, what the steps of Jesus are, you would soon see
clearly whether you are following or not, far more clearly than by reading any
amount of books about it, or consulting any number of human counsellors.
Take for today only one indication of what those steps were. "Who went
about doing good." Do your steps correspond
with that? It is not, "went about doing no harm," but actively and
positively "doing good." Lord speak to me,
that I may speak In living echoes of Thy tone; As Thou hast sought, so let me
seek Thy
erring children, lost and lone. O lead
me, Lord, that I may lead The wandering and the wavering
feet; O feed me, Lord,
that I may feed Thy
hungering ones with manna sweet. (Frances R Havergal)
I have been taught that joy in
the Spirit is the frame in which God blesses us to others. Joy arises from
fellowship with Him - I find that whatever sorrow of humiliation of spirit
presses on us, that should give way in some measure to
a fresh taste of God's love when going forth to preach. Seeking
the "joy unspeakable" at its fountainhead; "In Whom
believing." (Andrew Bonar)
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS Last night went to sleep,
repeating "the Lord my righteousness," and feeling as if with this
upon my forehead I could go into the New Jerusalem and to the just. "Are you more weary than ever of your own righteousness - of
self, which is truly a hydra - of your fellow-men and corruption? Are you
not 'looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God'? You
and I shall then stand in our Redeemer's beauty, all fair, no spot, without
blemish, without wrinkle, white and clean, in fine linen, in garments of
needlework, like Jesus. Will you know me in that day? Will you know
yourself?" (Andrew Bonar) THE FAMILY ALTAR 'AND THE LORD APPEARED UNTO
ABRAM, AND SAID, UNTO THY SEED WILL I GIVE THIS LAND:
AND THERE
BUILDED HE AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD, WHO APPEARED UNTO HIM.' GENESIS 12:7 Abraham had a family and therefore
he had an altar. He was not content to pray in his closet, but worshipped God
with his household. I remember my fault today. I have spoken too seldom and too
faintly upon this topic - it is a very important point. Let me entreat you, as
many fear the Lord, to see to it that you set up an altar in your houses. Your
children, your servants, if you have any, are entrusted to you for this end.
How is Abraham commended on this account! I know him, says the
Lord, that he will command his children and his household after
him (Genesis 18:19). Family mercies require family acknowledgement. If
you would have obedient children and faithful servants and peace, the peace of
God in your dwellings, live not without family prayer. John Newton (he wrote the hymn: Amazing
Grace) OUR COMFORTER
'HE SHALL GIVE YOU ANOTHER COMFORTER, THAT HE MAY ABIDE WITH YOU FOR EVER' John
14:16 Is His presence recognized as it
ought to be? We cannot control His working; He is most sovereign in all His
operations, but are we sufficiently anxious to obtain His help, or sufficiently
watchful lest we provoke Him to withdraw His aid? Without Him we can do
nothing, but by His almighty energy the most extraordinary results can be
produced: everything depends upon His manifesting or concealing His power. Do
we always look up to Him both for our inner life and our outward service with
the respectful dependence which is fitting? (C.H. Spurgeon) THE LEADING PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC WORSHIP True worship must be directed to the
Right Object. The Bible is adamant that God alone should be the object of
worship. Prayers and adoration to anything or anyone else are unwarranted by
Scripture, a waste of time and most offensive to God. God is a
jealous God, and He has declared that He will not give His glory to
another. It is well to remember that the second commandment forbids us not only
to worship, but even to "bow down" to anything besides God. (extract from J.C. Ryle) THE GLORY OF CHRIST "The Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 The Glory of Christ apparent, as
we study the titles which are given to Him in the first chapter of St
John's Gospel. The Word (v.
1) As the words we speak reveal our
character, so Jesus is the speech of the invisible God. He has uttered of
declared God (14:9) The Psalmist said that the heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth His
handiwork to the ends of the earth, but in the fairest panorama of the starry
heavens, or the sunset clouds, there was never such a presentation of God in
nature as we have in Jesus. The Only-begotten Son (v
12, 14) We may be sons, thank God,
but He was The Son. Whatever is implied in that phrase
"Only-Begotten," He is separated from the noblest of the children of
men by a measureless and impassable chasm. Yet how
wonderful it is, that He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Let us
give glory and homage to Him. (F.B. Meyer) David
Brainerd Review by Elizabeth Foley Full Book
Review Pioneer Missionary to the American Indians John Thornbury,
Evangelical Press, 1996, 305pp., pbk. David
Brainerd was born in 1718 in Connecticut, BlIP, and died of consumption at
the age of 29 years. It is said that he burnt himself out through ministry,
although this is no doubt true, yet it was God's appointed time to take him
home to Heaven. He was a
most godly, compassionate man, forsaking all of life's comfort to take the Gospel
to the American Indians. He called them "my people", or "my poor
people". Often he slept on the ground, and once in the hollow of a tree,
which he dug out with his own hands while the rain poured down. No sacrifice
for Christ was too great for him, for he kept the reality of eternity and the
wonderful hope of being with the Lord Jesus Christ ever in view. David
Brainerd traveled many hundreds of miles
over hostile terrain, usually on horseback with his interpreter, or other
Indian friends. He was also given to great bouts of melancholy, yet he
knew true communion with God, spending great periods of time in prayer. He
would plead with God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon the Indians, a heathen
people, with such earnestness and pleadings that he states: "I could
scarce walk straight, my joints were loosed; The sweat
ran down my face and body; and nature seemed as if it would dissolve." He
pleaded with God to make him as holy as the blessed angels. David Brainerd
always sought to introduce the people to the Gospel straightway. He would
access the Sachem (Chief) first, then arrange
a meeting to teach the Indians. One of the first great obstacles he encountered
was sadly the bad reputation of the English Christians, the latter teaching the
Indians to get drunk. They took their land from them by force, and murdered
their people. David Brainerd displayed great sorrow of heart over this, and
said sorry for such awful behavior, and sought
to show them that these people were not true Christians at heart. He was convinced
that God was fully able to bring about a great awakening among the Indians, and
this came to pass as the number of Indians coming to hear the Word of God
increased as did their concern and distress of soul. It should
be noted that the beginnings of a great pouring out of the Holy Spirit occurred
as he preached on the abundant mercy and love of God in giving Christ as the
Saviour. The more David Brainerd preached on this theme, and the more he
invited them to partake of His love, the more distressed the Indians became
because they felt themselves unable to come. Their hearts were pierced with the
tender and melting invitations of the Gospel. Two came to Christ. After two
more days of discoursing with the Indians and seeing several newly awakened
there was to be a Pentecostal pouring out which was not to be repeated. A time
of Divine visitation, not upon one or two, but upon 65 Indians who sat quietly
listening to David Brainerd preach on Luke 14:23
- "And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and
hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." In his
own words "when I spoke to one and another more particularly, who I
perceived under much concern, the power of God seemed to descend upon the
assembly 'like a mighty rushing wind,' and with astonishing energy bore down
all before it. I stood amazed at the influence which seized the audience almost
universally; and could compare it to nothing more aptly, than the irresistible
force of a mighty torrent or swelling deluge , that
with its insupportable weight and pressure bears down and sweeps before it
whatever comes in its way. Almost all persons of all ages were bowed down with
concern together, and scarcely one was able to withstand the shock of this
surprising operation. Old men and women, who had been drunken wretches for many
years and some little children, not more than six or seven years of age,
appeared in distress for their souls as well as persons of middle age. It was
apparent that the children, some of them at least, were not merely frightened
with seeing the general concern; but were made
sensible of their danger, the badness of their hearts, and their misery without
Christ, as some of them expressed it...the most stubborn hearts were now
obliged to bow." This is an extraordinary evidence of the powerful working
of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners. O that we had this manifestation
today. It is
interesting to note that when Jonathan Edwards preached that famous
sermon, entitled: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, it resulted in a great
awakening in the Enfield congregation, when he taught the terrors of Hell, and
eternal agony. They were especially stubborn, thoughtless and vain churchgoers.
In contrast, David Brainerd preached the love and abundant mercy of God in
Christ to the Indians, and they were gloriously converted to Christ. David
Brainerd died in the home of Jonathan Edwards as a young man,
reminding us too of yet another great servant of God, Robert Murray McCheyne. David Brainerd loved God, he
truly lived life to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. We do well to follow
his example. (Elizabeth A. Foley) POWERFUL CALVINISM "The
more powerful Calvinism is the more likely you are to have a genuine revival
and reawakening. It follows of necessity from doctrine....I regard the term
'dead Calvinism' as a contradiction in terms. I say that a dead Calvinism is
impossible and that if your Calvinism appears to be dead it is not
Calvinism" (Dr Lloyd-Jones) The Believer's Standing Before God? In
the eyes of God the believer stands as righteous as Christ Himself because he
had been clothed with God's own righteousness. Why?
Because the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to
the believer. On what basis do we believe this doctrine? Romans
3:22 confirms this fact: "Even
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe." This
is a total and absolute covering and protection from God's wrath and judgment.
"Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ" (Romans 5:1) "There
is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1) This
is truly Good Tidings of Great Joy in a world of ungodliness and
unrighteousness and where the fear of God Almighty seems so absent. May
God have mercy on us only and exclusively through Jesus Christ. REPENTANCE Repentance follows faith and is produced by it. The
internal fruits of repentance are - piety towards God, charity towards men,
purity of life. The principle part of repentance consists in turning to God,
confession and acknowledgement of sin. Christian repentance ends with the end
of our earthly life. Repentance has its origin in grace, and repentance is
granted by the Lord.
The Covenant of Grace cannot be changed, abrogated
or annulled; it contains all things necessary for the salvation for God's
Elect, and it cannot be added to or subtracted from, and it secures in Christ
salvation for all of God's people both in the Old Testament and New
Testament. There has always been only
one way of salvation from the people of God, and that is exclusively and only
Jesus Christ. God's Will and Covenant of Grace are absolute and
comprehensive, no detail has been omitted or forgotten; it is perfect in all
points. We cannot negotiate with God for our salvation, or be in partnership
with God in contract for salvation. The contract is within the Trinity with the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit as co-equal and co-eternal personalities in the
one God, in unity of purpose and execution. The Father is the Initiator and
Planner of Salvation, The Son is the Redeemer and Mediator in our Salvation and
the Holy Spirit is the Applier and Comforter. This is the teaching of the
Scripture. Jesus said, "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John.10:35). Sinners are
deluded if they think they can put a few things into The Eternal Agreement or
Covenant of Grace. The sinner is further deluded if they think it is a
'partnership' there is no such thing, salvation for all believers is only and
exclusively if the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore it is not conditional on
them, not on their merit, works of righteousness or any desire emanating from
their enslaved fallen and sinful will. We cannot buy salvation; it is finished, and
complete in Christ who said on the Cross, "It is finished"(John 19:30). Mission Accomplished. God gives the power to become a son we are
spiritually born of God, not on the basis of our will (see John 1:12, 13). There is the fallen will of man and there is
the perfect will of God, which one is God in your thinking? Will the will of God triumph or the will of man?
Bow in humility and accept what you cannot change, do not attempt to do a deal
or impress God with your works, but trust the Eternal God for your salvation.
His Will, His Decrees are absolute. All things in and for salvation by grace are a gift, including election,
regeneration, calling, justification by faith and repentance. God is and will always be sovereign in His grace
and redemption in Christ. The Scripture says: it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy (Romans 9.16). Our
will and our works are sinful and fallen in the totality of our being and for
the duration of our existence on this earth. Salvation is of the Lord, and it
is a gift (Eph. 2:8,9) "Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth" (James 1:18). God's will is paramount and pre-eminent at all times in our salvation
In his work 'Visits to and from Jesus', we
find Hawker looking back on his previous thoughts concerning free grace and
God's sovereign, electing love with dismay, saying:
'How long and how daringly violent did I myself oppose this glorious truth, which now, through thy grace subduing my rebellion, and teaching my soul its blessedness, is become my greatest joy and
delight. Lord! thou knowest well, with what bitterness of a fallen nature,I contended against the sovereignty of thy grace, in thy free-will election; while in the very moment audaciously insisting upon my own power in a free-will ability of serving thee! Oh, what mercy hath been shown me on the recovery of my soul from a delusion so awful!'
when thou comest, bring with thee,
and the books, but especially the parchments.
THE STAR AND THE WISE MEN
"Its
gloomy presence saddens all the scene,
BILL
THOMPSON
THE
ATONING BLOOD OF CHRIST IS AT THE HEART OF THE WHOLE BIBLICAL REVELATION
ALTOGETHER LOVELY
A godly
man prefers God before anything else in heaven.
SPRING UP, O WELL!
THE OLD, OLD STORY
FORGIVENESS
EXCEEDING SORROWFUL...EXCEEDING
GLAD
MY BRETHREN
ACTS OF FAITH
SPIRITUAL PEACE
A LEADER YOU CAN TRUST
WRETCHED BUT FREE IN CHRIST
'Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.'
(Acts 16:31)
THE PROVIDENCE OF
GOD
Born King
A GOD-MAN -
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
GOD'S EVERLASTING MERCY
I BELIEVE THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION
PRAY AND FEINT NOT
NOT BEING WEARY IN WELL-DOING
THE JOY OF THE LORD
GOD'S COVENANT OF GRACE
HAWKER LOOKING BACK ON HIS PREVIOUS LIFE
&
SEEING THE TRUTH OF GOD'S SOVEREIGN FREE GRACE
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit (Matt.5:3)
"But the poor in spirit, means poor in soul concerns.
They
know, through the Lord's teaching, their spiritual
poverty, their lost, their undone estate before God. They are conscious
they owe ten thousand talents, and have nothing to pay.
Ruined in
Adam, they view their lost estate, and are convinced that there can be no
salvation but in Christ.
Such
Jesus declares to be blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
They were
chosen in Christ, and are thus training for the everlasting enjoyment of
Christ, to all eternity"(Hawker).
Blessed Are They That Mourn (Matt.5:4)
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And this mark of grace
follows the former. The eye of the soul is no sooner opened to see his state of
poverty and wretchedness before God, but the heart melts at the view of it.
Sin; in-dwelling, in-bred sin, opens a constant spring of sorrow.
Like Paul
they cry out, Oh! wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of
death? And never, until Jesus is opened to their view, in all the glories of
his person, blood, and righteousness; yea, until by the Holy Ghost, Christ is
brought personally home, and applied to the heart, and formed in the heart the
hope of glory, can any comfort be found.
And even
to the close of life, the conscious sense of the remains of in-dwelling
corruption, tends, under grace, to keep open an unceasing spring of our
repentance towards God, while the soul is supported in the assured interest in
Christ; by which, Christ is more and more endeared to the heart, to be more in
love with him, and more out of love with themselves, until grace is finished in
everlasting glory.
It is
such holy mourners, the Lord Jesus saith, shall be
comforted. All the persons of the Godhead do now comfort them: the word of God
is their comfort: ordinances are their comfort: the promises are their comfort:
all the discoveries of pardoning love, grace, mercy, refreshments,
manifestations of divine love, providences; all and every tendency of the Lord
towards them are full of comfort: and, at length, when they come to drop the
body in the grave, they will be indeed comforted, for they will be introduced
unto the general assembly of the first-born, and dwell for ever in the joy of
their Lord
Isaiah
lxi.
1. James ii,5" (Hawker).
Blessed Are the Meek (Matt.5:5)
"Blessed
are the meek: not the meekness of suppressed anger induced by the rigid
constraints of philosophy; but the meekness induced by the fruits of the Spirit
of God.
Had
Christ meant the mere moral virtue of meekness, such as it is called of the
Stoic; who so much esteemed as the Romans and the Lacedemonians
of old? But yet they perished in their heathenism and sins.
The
meekness the Son of God pronounced blessed, is the
meekness inwrought in the soul, by the gracious influence of God the Holy
Ghost. It is learnt of Jesus. Matt. xi. 29. It is
wholly from Jesus. John xv. 4, 5.
And it is
his regenerated members of whom he saith, the Lord will beautify the meek with salvation. Psalm
cxlix. 4.
This
meekness of the Lord's own creating in the soul is of great price" (Hawker).
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness (Matt.5:6)
"So again, the blessedness is pronounced on them who hunger and thirst after
righteousness. It were a weakness of judgment indeed, to suppose, that the righteousness
such souls most earnestly desire, is the righteousness of mere moral honesty
and justice between man and man in life. These things the laws among men
enforce, and the Scribes and Pharisees of our Lord's days, prided themselves
upon them.
Surely no
one who reads his Bible can for a moment, if he thinks rightly, suppose that
the Son of God came upon earth to preach what even unenlightened heathens had
always insisted upon. This would be indeed to run back to the law of Moses, instead of preaching the Gospel of Christ.
But the
righteousness the Son of God had in view, when declaring these souls blessed
which hungered and thirsted for it, was his own complete righteousness, which
alone can justify a poor sinner in the sight of God. So that in the hungering
for it, the soul gave evident proofs that he had no righteousness of his own to
appear in before God, and therefore earnestly longed to be clothed with
Christ's robe of righteousness, and garment of salvation.
And
graciously the Lord Jesus here declares all such shall not hunger in vain, he
who excites the hunger in the soul, is he who also satisfieth
it.
And
hence the promises and the performance. Psalm cxxxii. 9-16. Isaiah lxi. 1,2, 3, 10, 11"(Hawker).
Blessed Are the Merciful (Matt.5:7)
"Blessed are the merciful. Not merely kindness to the bodies of men, no nor to the souls
of men only. These are the fruits and effects of the mercifulness the Lord
Jesus speaks of, and not the thing itself.
But the
mercifulness Jesus pronounceth blessed,
is that mercy of soul inwrought by the regenerating influence of the Holy
Ghost, and from an union with Christ, the mercy of mercies. And from this
source within, this union and communion with Christ, all the gracious acts will
flow forth in mercy to others, and which the blessed souls themselves are
receiving from their glorious merciful Head"(Hawker).
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart (Matt.5:8)
"Blessed are the pure in heart; made so by regenerating grace; for by nature the heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked. Jer. xvii.
9. Hence the Lord promiseth his people to take away
the heart of stone, and give them an heart of flesh. Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26.
The people that are
blessed are those whose hearts the Lord hath changed, who are indeed holy and
pure in the cleansing and justifying purity and holiness of the Lord their
Righteousness; but who feel conscious of the remains of indwelling corruption
under which they groan.
They see God in
Christ in all the blessedness of salvation here in the life that now is, and they shall see him in the complete enjoyment of him in the life of glory that is to come"(Hawker).
Blessed Are the Peacemakers (Matt.5:9)
"The peacemakers are said to be blessed. But of whom doth Christ speak? Not simply peace-makers
between man and man in the strifes of the world, for
there is no peace saith my
God to the wicked.
Neither
can it mean a man making his own peace with God, for that is impossible. Christ
is the alone peace-maker, in making our peace in the blood of his cross.
But the
peace-makers here said to be blessed, shall be called the children of God. They
are proved to be so by adoption and grace. And that peace of God which ruleth in their hearts, will
manifest itself in acts of peace among them which makes peace"(Hawker).
Blessed Are They Who are Persecuted for Righteousness Sake (Matt.5:10)
"And the blessedness to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, and reviled falsely for Christ's sake, very plainly refer not to
the mere act of persecution or reviling, but when those acts of cruelty are
shown to the followers of the Lord Jesus on his account, and for their
attachment to him. Then, and then only, is it said by the Lord to be blessed"(Hawker).
Useful links
Institutions
of Learning
Evangelical Bible College and Seminary
North-West University (formerly Potchefstroom University
for Christian Higher Education), SA
Evangelical Church Alliance, USA
Regent's
Park College, Oxford University
Christian Churches
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:16,17).
"The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"(Romans 10:8-10).
A DOXOLOGY (Ephesians 1:3-14)
Photograph of Bill fellowshipping with a friend, Fred. Both men were saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are now in glory with the LORD.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Thank you so much for viewing this web page. I trust you have found it helpful, informative and encouraging to your soul.
Updated: June 21st, 2017