How may we know whether we love God?

How may we know whether we love God?

(Thomas Watson, "The Ten Commandments")

How may we know whether we love God?

He who loves God desires His presence. Lovers cannot be
long asunder, they soon have their fainting fits, for lack
of a sight of the object of their love. A soul deeply in love
with God desires the enjoyment of Him. David was ready
to faint away, when he had not a sight of God. "My soul
faints for God." Psalm 84:2

He who loves God, does not love sin. "You who love the
Lord--hate evil." Psalm 97:10. The love of God--and the
love of sin, can no more mix together than iron and clay.
Every sin loved, strikes at the being of God. He who loves
God, has an antipathy against sin. He who would part two
lovers is a hateful person. God and the believing soul are
two lovers; sin parts between them, therefore the soul is
implacably set against sin. By this try your love to God.
How can he say he loves God, who loves sin--which is
God's enemy?

He who loves God is not much in love with anything else.
His love is very cool to worldly things. The love of the world
eats out the heart of piety; it chokes holy affections, as earth
puts out the fire. He who loves God--uses the world but
chooses God. The world engages him--but God delights
and satisfies him. He says as David, "God, my exceeding
joy!" Psalm 43:4. "God is the cream of my joy!"

He who loves God cannot live without him. Things we love,
we cannot be without. A man can do without music or flowers,
but not food. Just so, a soul deeply in love with God looks upon
himself as undone without Him. "Hide not Your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down into the pit." Psalm 143:7.
If God is our chief good--we cannot live without Him! Alas!
how do they show they have no love to God--who can do
well enough without Him! Let them have but food and drink,
and you shall never hear them complain of the lack of God.

He who loves God will be at any pains to get Him. What
pains the merchant takes, what hazards he runs--to have
a rich return. Jacob loved Rachel, and he could endure the
heat by day, and the frost by night--that he might enjoy her.
A soul that loves God will take any pains for the fruition of
Him. "My soul follows hard after You." Psalm 63:8. The soul
is much in prayer; it strives as in agony, that he may obtain
Him whom his soul loves. "I will seek Him whom my soul
loves." Canticles 3:2.

He who loves God, prefers Him before estate. "For Whom
I have suffered the loss of all things." Phil 3:8. Who that
loves a rich jewel--would not part with a flower for it?

Grace Gems (choice electronic books, sermons & quotes)

Sovereign Grace Treasures (choice printed books)

Walking pictures of Christ!

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

"Leaving you an example--so that you
 should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21

"The one who says he remains in Him should
 walk just as He walked." 1 John 2:6

"I have set you an example that you should
 do as I have done for you." John 13:15

True true religion is to imitate Christ.
There are four things in which we should
labor to be like Christ.

1. Be like Christ in DISPOSITION.
He was of a most sweet disposition.
He has a heart to pity us.
He has breasts to feed us.
He has wings to cover us.

He would not break our heart--but with mercy. Let us
be like Him in sweetness of disposition. Do not be of a
morose spirit. It was said of Nabal, "He's so ill-tempered
that no one can even talk to him!" Some are so sour, and
breathe forth nothing but revenge! Or they are like those
two men in the gospel, "possessed with devils, coming
out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could
pass that way." Let us be like Christ in mildness and
sweetness. Let us pray for our enemies--and conquer
them by love. David's kindness melted Saul's heart.
A frozen heart will be thawed, with the fire of love.

2 Be like Christ in HUMILITY.
"He humbled himself." He left the bright robes of His
glory--to be clothed with the rags of our humanity--a
wonder of humility! Let us be like Christ in this grace.
Humility is the glory of a Christian. We are never so
lovely in God's eyes--as when we are black in our own
eyes. In this let us be like Christ. Indeed, what cause
have we to be humble--if we look within us, about us,
below us, and above us!

If we look within us--here we see our sins represented
to us in the looking-glass of conscience--lust, envy, passion.
Our sins are like vermin crawling in our souls. "How many
are my iniquities!" Job 13:23. Our sins are as the sands
of the sea for number; as the rocks of the sea for weight!
Augustine cries out, "My heart, which is God's temple--is
polluted with sin!"

If we look about us--there is that which may humble us.
We may see other Christians outshining us in graces, as
the sun outshines the lesser planets. Others are laden with
fruit--and perhaps we have but here and there, a berry!

If we look below us--there is that which may humble us.
We may see the mother earth, out of which we came.
The earth is the most ignoble element. "They were viler
than the earth." Job 30:8.

"Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from
the ground." Genesis 2:7. "You will return to the ground
from which you came. For you were made from dust, and
to the dust you will return." Genesis 3:19. You who are
so proud, behold your pedigree--you are but walking dirt!
And will you be proud? What is man? The son of dust!
And what is dust? The son of nothing!

If we look above us; there is that which may humble us.
If we look up to heaven, there we may see God resisting
the proud. God pursues the proud in vengeance. He threw
proud Lucifer out of heaven! The proud man is the mark
which God shoots at--and He never misses the mark!
Oh then--be like Christ in humility!

3. Be like Christ, in the contempt of the WORLD.
Christ was not ambitious for titles or honor. He declined
worldly dignity and greatness--as much as others seek it.
When they would have made Him a king--He refused it.
He chose rather to ride upon the foal of an donkey, than
be drawn in a chariot. He chose rather to hang upon a
wooden cross--than to wear a golden crown! He scorned
the pomp and glory of the world. He ignored secular
affairs. "Who made Me a judge?" He did not come into
the world to be a judge--but a Redeemer. He minded
nothing but heaven.

Let us be made like Him--in heavenliness and contempt
of the world. Let us not be ambitious for the empty honors
and glories of the world. Let us not purchase the world--
with the loss our soul. What wise man would damn himself
--to grow rich? or throw his soul down to hell--to build up
an earthly estate?

Be like Christ in a holy contempt of the world.

4. Be like Christ in HOLINESS of life.
No temptation could fasten upon Him. Temptation to Christ,
was like a spark of fire upon a marble pillar, which glides off.
"As the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in
all your conduct." 1 Peter 1:15.

A Christian should be both a magnet and a diamond!
A magnet--in drawing others to Christ; a diamond
--in casting a sparkling luster of holiness, in his life.
Oh let us be . . .
  so just in our dealings,
  so true in our promises,
  so devout in our worship,
  so unblamable in our lives;
that we may be the walking pictures of Christ!

 

Grace Gems  (choice electronic books, sermons & quotes)

Sovereign Grace Treasures  (choice printed books)

Dare we experiment on a mind which no longer belongs to us?

"I am asked sometimes to read an heretical book: well, if I believed my reading it would help its refutation, and might be an assistance to others in keeping them out of error, I might do it as a hard matter of duty, but I shall not do it unless I see some good will come of it. I am not going to drag my spirit through a ditch for the sake of having it washed afterwards, for it is not my own. It may be that good medicine would restore me if I poisoned myself with putrid meat, but I am not going to try it: I dare not experiment on a mind which no longer belongs to me. There is a mother and a child, and the child has a book to play with, and a black lead pencil. It is making drawings and marks upon the book, and the mother takes no notice. It lays down one book and snatches another from the table, and at once the mother rises from her seat, and hurriedly takes the book away, saying: “No, my dear, you must not mark that, for it is not ours.” So with my mind, intellect, and spirit; if it belonged to me I might or might not play tomfool with it, and go to hear Socinians, Ritualists, Universalists, and suchlike preach, but as it is not my own, I will preserve it from such fooleries, and the pure word shall not be mingled with the errors of men." -Taken from Flashes of Thought by C. H. Spurgeon, 1883

 

 

Who sees us? Who will know?

Who sees us? Who will know?

(Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670)

Atheism reigns in the hearts and lives of sinners.

The covetous make their gold their god.

The drunkard and glutton make their bellies their god.

The ambitious make honors their god.

The voluptuous make pleasures their god.

The religionists make pious duties their god.

The moral make virtue their god.

"The fool says in his heart--There is no God!"
    Psalm 14:1

Atheism denies God either:
  in opinion--saying there is no God; or
  in affection--wishing there were no God; or
  in practice--living as if there were no God.

What abundance of atheists there are in the land!

"He says to himself--God has forgotten; He covers
 His face and never sees." Psalm 10:11

"They say--How can God know? Does the Most
 High have knowledge?" Psalm 73:11

"They say--The Lord does not see; the God
 of Jacob pays no heed." Psalm 94:7

What horrid blasphemy, what gross atheism is here!
How do these atheists ungod the great God! How do
they deny His omnipotence and omniscience! What
an idol-god do they make the great God to be!

There are many who sin freely in secret, who can
be drunk and filthy in the dark, when the eye of man
is not upon them. Certainly those men's hearts are
very atheistic, who dare do that in the sight of God
--which they tremble to do before the eyes of men!

How many are there who flatter themselves in their
sins, and conclude that surely the bitterness of hell
and wrath is past, and that they are in a fair way for
heaven--when every step they take is towards the
bottomless pit, and divine vengeance hangs over
their heads, ready every moment to fall upon them!

"On earth are atheists many,
 In hell there are not any."

"Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their
 plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness
 and think--Who sees us? Who will know?"
    Isaiah 29:15

 

Grace Gems  (choice electronic books, sermons & quotes)

Sovereign Grace Treasures  (choice printed books)

FW: A house without light!

 

A house without light!

(Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670)

"Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness:
 there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Mt. 25:30

Our earthly fire, when it burns it shines, it casts a light.
It has light as well as heat in it. But the fire of hell burns
--but it does not shine, it gives no light at all. It retains
the property of burning--but it has lost the property of
shining. Christ calls it "outer darkness," or utter darkness
--that is, darkness beyond a darkness.

Light is a blessing that shall never shine into that infernal
prison. In Jude verse 6, you read of "chains of darkness."
It would be a little ease, a little comfort, to the damned
in hell--if they might have but light and liberty to walk up
and down the infernal coasts; but this is too high a favor
for them to enjoy; and therefore they shall be shackled
and fettered down in chains of darkness, and in
blackness of darkness--so that they may fully undergo
the scorchings and burnings of divine wrath and fury
forever and ever.

In Jude verse 13 you thus read, "To whom is reserved
the blackness of darkness forever." The words signify
exceeding great darkness. Hell is a very dark and dismal
region, and extreme are the miseries, horrors, and
torments which are there. Sinners, when they are in
hell, when they are in chains of darkness, when they
are in blackness of darkness--they shall never more
see light! Hell is a house without light!

Though our earthly fires have light as well as heat--yet
the infernal fire has only heat to burn sinners; it has no
light to refresh sinners; and this will be no small addition
to their torment.

"He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and
 brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves!"
     Colossians 1:13

 

Grace Gems  (choice electronic books, sermons & quotes)

Sovereign Grace Treasures  (choice printed books)

Fully, completely and perfectly

(Thomas Brooks, "Paradise Opened" 1675)

"I will be their God, and they will be My people.
 For I will forgive their wickedness and will
 remember their sins no more." Heb. 8:10, 12

God will pardon the sins of His people fully,
completely and perfectly. Neither the . . .
  many kinds of sins,
  nor many degrees of sin,
  nor many aggravations of sin,
  nor even the multitude of sins,
can ever harm those souls who are in covenant
with God. God has mercy enough, and pardons
enough, for all His covenant-people's sins--
  whether original or actual,
  whether against the law or against the gospel,
  whether against the light of nature or the rule of grace,
  whether against mercies or judgments.

The covenant remedy against all kinds and degrees
of sin--infinitely transcends and surpasses . . .
  all our infirmities and enormities,
  all our weaknesses and wickednesses,
  all our follies and unworthinesses, etc.

What is . . .
  our unrighteousness--compared to Christ's righteousness;
  our debts--compared to Christ's pardons;
  our unholiness--compared to Christ's holiness;
  our emptiness--compared to Christ's fullness;
  our weakness--compared to Christ's strength;
  our poverty--compared to Christ's riches;
  our wounds--compared to Christ's healing balm?

"The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to
 anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining
 love to thousands; and forgiving wickedness, rebellion
 and sin." Exodus 34:6-7.

A merciful God, a gracious God--will pardon all kinds
of sinners, and all kinds and degrees of sin.

Oh, what astounding mercy, what rich grace is here!
that God will not only pardon our light, our small
offences; but our great and mighty sins! God will
never upbraid His people for . . .
  their follies,
  their miscarriages,
  their unkindness,
  their unfruitfulness,
  their unthankfulness,
  their vileness,
  their stubbornness,
  their wickedness.

 

Grace Gems  (choice electronic books, sermons & quotes)

Sovereign Grace Treasures  (choice printed books)

Painted pleasures, sugared poisons, envenomed baits
(John Owen)

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,
 set your hearts on things above, where Christ
 is seated at the right hand of God. Set your
 minds on things above, not on earthly things."
     Colossians 3:1-2

Fix your affections upon the things that are above,
and this will enable you to mortify sin. Heavenly
things are blessed and suitable objects--God Himself,
in His beauty and glory; the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
'altogether lovely,' the 'chief of ten thousand'; grace
and glory; and the blessed promises of the gospel.

Were our affections filled, taken up, and possessed
with these things, as it is our duty that they should be
--and it is our happiness when they are--what access
could sin, with its painted pleasures, with its sugared
poisons, with its envenomed baits, have into our souls?
How should we loathe all sin's proposals, and say unto
them, "Away with you, you abominable thing!" For what
are the vain, transitory pleasures of sin--in comparison
to the heavenly glories which are proposed unto us?

The devil's best customers!

(Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")

"God will surely judge people who are immoral." Heb. 13:4

If men will not judge them, God Himself will, and give
them a portion of misery answerable to their transgression.
Sometimes He judges them in this life--by pouring forth of
His wrath upon their bodies, souls, consciences, names and
estates. But if He does not thus judge them in this life, He
will be sure to judge them in the life to come! Yes, He has
already adjudged them "to the fiery lake of burning sulfur,"
Revelation 21:8

The unchaste are the devil's best customers! Oh, the
thousands of men and women who are sent to hell for
immorality! Other sins are toilsome and troublesome,
but sexual immorality is pleasant, and sends men and
women merrily to hell!

Mary Kay Lady

I have decided to try my hand at being an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay. Hopefully this will be as fun an experience as I am hoping. If nothing else it will give me some quality time with my Mother In Law and Sister In Law who are also Mary Kay Consultants.  If you are interested in view my webpage it is:

www.marykay.com/MelissaLSeaman or email me at MelissaLSeaman@MaryKay.com

 

 

Hope to hear from you soon!

Pleasure, delight, contentment and satisfaction in God

Pleasure, delight, contentment and satisfaction in God

(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)

There are no people under heaven, who take any real pleasure, delight, contentment and satisfaction in God--but those who are genuinely holy.

"How is your Beloved better than others, most beautiful
 of women? How is your Beloved better than others, that
 you charge us so?" Song of Songs 5:9

The covetous man takes pleasure and delight in his money-bags.

The ambitious man takes pleasure and delight in his honors.

The voluptuous man takes pleasure and delight in his lusts.

The malicious man takes pleasure and delight in his revenge.

The envious man takes pleasure in the harms which befall others.

The drunkard takes pleasure and delight in his cups.

The adulterer takes pleasure and delight in his harlots.

The gamester takes pleasure and delight in his shifts and tricks.

The worldling takes pleasure in his fopperies and fooleries.

It is only the holy man who takes pleasure and delight in God.
To delight and take pleasure in God, is a work too high, too
hard, too spiritual, and too noble--for any but holy people!

"My Beloved is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand
 others! Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and
 this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:10, 16
 

"I delight greatly in the Lord! My soul rejoices in my God!"
    Isaiah 61:10

Worse than sodomy!

Worse than sodomy!

(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity,
 or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)

"If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words,
 shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house
 or town. I assure you: It will be more tolerable on the
 day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah
 than for that town." Matthew 10:14-15 

Sodom and Gomorrah shall have an easier and cooler
hell than such shall have--who have despised the offers
of His grace, and the offers of His mercy. Contempt of
Christ and His gospel--is worse than sodomy!

"Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from
 the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah!" Genesis 19:24

The punishments of Sodom and Gomorrah, are but scratches
on the hand, and flea-bitings--compared to those dreadful and
astonishing judgments which God, in the great day of account,
will inflict upon all Christ-refusers and gospel-despisers!

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
 rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on
 him." John 3:36

True repentance

True repentance includes a sensibleness of sin's sinfulness—how opposite and contrary sin is to the blessed God.
God is light, sin is darkness;
God is life, sin is death;
God is heaven, sin is hell;
God is beauty, sin is deformity.

Also true repentance includes a sensibleness of sin's destructiveness; how sin cast angels out of heaven, and Adam out of paradise; how sin laid the first cornerstone in hell, and brought in all the curses, crosses, and miseries, which are in the world; and how sin makes men liable to all temporal, spiritual and eternal wrath; how sin has made men Godless, Christless, hopeless and heavenless.

Further, true repentance includes sorrow for sin, contrition of heart. It breaks the heart with sighs, and sobs, and groans—that by sin—a loving God and Father is offended; a blessed Savior afresh crucified, and the sweet Comforter, the Spirit, grieved and vexed.

Again, repentance includes, not only a loathing of sin—but also a loathing of ourselves for sin. As a man does not only loathe poison—but he loathes the very dish or vessel which has the smell of the poison; so a true penitent does not only loathe his sin—but he loathes himself, the vessel which smells of it. So Ezek. 20:43: 'And there shall you remember your ways and all your doings, wherein you have been defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.' True repentance will work your hearts, not only to loathe your sins—but to loathe yourselves!

Again, true repentance does not only work a man to loathe himself for his sins—but it makes him ashamed of his sin also: 'What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed?' says the apostle (Rom. 6:21). So Ezekiel: 'And you shall be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God' (16:63). When a penitent soul sees his sins pardoned, the anger of God pacified, the divine justice satisfied, then he sits down and blushes, as one ashamed.

Yes, true repentance makes a man to deny his sinful self, and to walk contrary to sinful self, to take a holy revenge upon sin, as you may see in Paul, the jailor, Mary Magdalene, and Manasseh. This the apostle shows in 2 Cor. 7:10, 11: 'Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.'

True repentance is a continual act. The word repent implies the continuation of it. Anselm confesses, that all his life was either damnable for sin committed, or unprofitable for good omitted; and at last concludes, "Oh, what then remains, but in our whole life—but to lament the sins of our whole life." True repentance inclines a man's heart to perform God's statutes always, even unto the end. A true penitent must go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength; he must never stand still nor turn back. Repentance is a grace, and must have its daily operation as well as other graces. True repentance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing: 'My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3). A true penitent is often casting his eyes back to the days of his former vanity, and this makes him morning and evening to 'water his couch with his tears.' 'Remember not against me the sins of my youth,' says one blessed penitent; and 'I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man,' says another penitent.

Repentance is a continual act of turning, a repentance never to be repented of, a turning never to turn again to folly. A true penitent has ever something within him to turn from; he can never get near enough to God; no, not so near him as once he was; and therefore he is still turning and turning that he may get nearer and nearer to him, who is his chief good and his only happiness, optimum maximum, the best and the greatest. They are every day a-crying out, 'O wretched men that we are, who shall deliver us from this body of death!' (Rom. 7:24). They are still sensible of sin, and still conflicting with sin, and still sorrowing for sin, and still loathing of themselves for sin. Repentance is no transient act—but a continued act of the soul.

Those who do not burn now in zeal against sin must before long burn in hell for sin.

As the flood drowned Noah's own friends and servants, so must the flood of repenting tears drown our sweetest and most darling sins.

In loving memory of Dee Keown

If You Could See Me Now

Our prayers have all been answered. I finally arrived.
The healing that had been delayed has now been realized.
No one's in a hurry. There's no schedule to keep.
We're all enjoying Jesus, just sitting at His feet.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing strong and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

My light and temporary trials have worked out for my good,
To know it brought Him glory when I misunderstood.
Though we've had our sorrows, they can never compare.
What Jesus has in store for us, no language can share.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing strong and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing strong and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

You wouldn't want me to ever leave this perfect place
If you could only see me now
If you could see me now
If you could only see me now

* * * * * * * * *

by Kim Noblitt

 

 

 

 

Believe it or Not!!!!

The Tale of the Magic Rock Apes

Okay, now sit down now, boys and girls - it's story time! Shhhh.... Once upon a time, billions of years ago, there was nothing. Suddenly, magically, the nothing exploded into something. That something is called hydrogen. Can you say "hydrogen?" I knew you could. This hydrogen eventually cooled down enough to condense into solid rock. It was magic rock. Inert and lifeless, but still magical. And then, magically, water formed in the sky above the rock. The waters rained on the rock for, oh, let's say billions of years. Some of the rock broke down into minerals, and these minerals washed into a pool of water.

Then one day some of these minerals magically formed into a kind of goo in the pool of water. Can you say "goo?" I knew you could. Well do you know what happened then? That's right! The goo magically became ALIVE. So anyway, this bit of magic goo magically found something to eat. Then, magically, it found another bit of magic goo to marry, and they had a whole bunch of magical little goos. Eventually - millions of years later - some of this goo grew up into all the plants and animals in the world around us. If it's alive, it came from that first bit of magic goo! Well, more time went on. Finally some of this goo magically evolved - can you say "evolved?" I knew you could - some of this goo magically evolved upwards and upwards, growing ever more advanced, bigger, stronger, smarter, until it became a kind of magical hairless ape with thumbs.

And do you know who those apes are? That's right! They're YOU and ME! We are the magic rock apes! And you know what else? Someday we'll evolve enough that we'll become the God we all know doesn't exist. Now take a nap.

 

 

 

 

Fire! Fire!
by

J. C. Ryle
(1816-1900)



When a house is on fire, what ought to be done first? We ought to give the alarm and wake the inhabitants. This is true love to our neighbor. this is true charity. Reader, I love your soul, and want it to be saved. I am therefore going to tell you something about hell. There is such a place as hell. Let no one deceive you with vain words. What men do not like, they try hard not to believe. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to judge the world, he will punish all who are not his disciples with a fearful punishment. All who are found impenitent and unbelieving; all who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and set their affections on things below; all who are without Christ; all such shall come to an awful end. Whosoever is not written in the book of life shall be "cast into the lake of fire." Rev 20:15.

The punishment of hell shall be most severe. There is no pain like that of burning. Put your finger in the candle for a moment if you doubt this, and try. Fire is the most destructive and devouring of all elements. Look into the mouth of a blast furnace, and think what it would be to be there. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live in air, and earth, and water; but nothing can live in fire. Yet fire is the portion to which the Christless and unbelieving will come. they will be "cast into the lake of fire." The punishment of hell will be eternal. Millions of ages will pass away, and the fire will never burn low and become dim. The fuel of that fire will never waste away and be consumed. it is "unquenchable fire." O reader, these are the sad and painful things to speak of. I have no-pleasure in dwelling on them. I could rather say with the apostle Paul, "I have great sorrow." But they are things written for our learning, and it is good to consider them. They are part of that Scripture which is all profitable, and they ought to be heard. Painful as the subject of hell is, it is one about which I dare not, cannot, and must not be silent.

Who would desire to speak of hell-fire if God has not spoken of it? When God has spoken of it so plainly, who can safely hold his peace? I dare not shut my eyes to the fact, that a deep rooted infidelity lurks in men's minds on the subject of hell. I see it oozing out in the utter apathy of some: they eat, and drink, and sleep, as if there was no wrath to come. I see it creeping forth in the coldness others about their neighbor's souls: they show little anxiety to awaken the unconverted, and pluck brands from the fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with all my might. Believing that there are "terrors of the Lord," as well as the "recompense of reward."

I call on all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their guard. I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil of course, rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his old favorite doctrine, "Ye shall not surely die." I know furthermore, that some do not believe that hell is eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will punish men for ever. He will surely open the prison doors at last. This also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. "Take your ease, "he whispers to sinners-" if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not for ever." I know also that some believe there is a hell, but never allow that anybody is going there. All people with them are good, as soon as they die, all were sincere, all meant well, and all, they hope, got to heaven. Alas! what a common delusion is this! I can well understand the feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all the wicked people were buried, for she found no mention on the gravestones of any except of the good.

And I know very well that some believe there is a hell, but never like to hear it spoken of. It is a subject that should always be kept back, in their opinion. They see no profit in bringing it forward, and are rather shocked when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to the devil. "Hush! hush!" says Satan, "say nothing about hell." The fowler wishes no noise to be made when he has laid his, snares. The wolf would like the shepherd to sleep, while he prowls round the fold. The devil rejoices when Christians are silent about hell. reader, all these notions are the opinions of man. What is it to you and me what man thinks of religion? Man will not judge us at the last day. There is but one point to be settled, "what says the word of God?" do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is real and true. it is a true as heaven, as true as justification by faith, as true as the fact that Christ died upon the cross. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt, if you doubt hell. Disbelieve hell, you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin everything in the Scripture. You may as well throw your Bible aside at once. From "no hell" to "no God" is but a series of steps. Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell will have inhabitants. The wicked shall certainly be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God. The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgement, and men will see there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb." The same, lips which now say, Come, come unto me," will one day say, "Depart, ye cursed" Alas! how awful the thought of being condemned by Christ himself, judge by the Saviour, sentenced to misery by the lamb! Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell will be intense and inalterable woe.

It is vain to talk of all the expressions about it being figures of speech, the pit, the prison, the worm, the fire, the thirst, the blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the gnashing of teeth, the second death, all these may be figures of speech if you please. But Bible figures mean something beyond all questions, and here they mean something which man's mind can never fully conceive. O reader, the miseries of mind and conscience are far worse than those of the body. The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future, will never be thoroughly known except by those who go there.

Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is eternal. It must be eternal, or words have no meaning at all. "For ever and ever," "everlasting," "unquenchable," "never-dying" all these are expressions used about hell, and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must be eternal, or the very foundations of heaven are cast down. If hell has an end, heaven has an end too. They both stand or fall together. It must be eternal, or every doctrine of the gospel is undermined. If a man may escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there was no such great need of Christ's making an atonement. And where is the warrant for saying that hell can ever change a heart, or make it fit for heaven? It must be eternal, or hell would cease to be hell altogether. Give a man hope, and he will bear any thing. Grant a hope of deliverance, however distant, and hell is but a drop of water.

Alas! for that day which will have no tomorrow - that day when men shall seek death and not find it, and shall desire to die but death shall flee from them! Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is a subject that ought not to be kept back. It is striking, to observe that none say so much about it as our Lord Jesus Christ, that gracious and merciful Saviour, and the apostle John, whose heart seems full of love. Truly it may well be doubted whether we ministers speak of it as much as we ought. I cannot forget the words of a dying hearer of Mr. Newton: "Sir, you often told me of Christ and salvation: why did you not remind me of hell and danger?" Let others hold their peace about hell if they will; I dare not do so. I see it plainly in Scripture, and I must speak of it. I fear that thousands are on the broad, way that leads to it, and I would fain arouse them to a sense of the peril before them.

What would you say of the man who saw his neighbor's house in danger of being burned down, and never raised the cry of "fire?" What ought to be said of us as ministers if we call ourselves watchmen for souls, and yet see fires of hell raging in distance, and never give the alarm?

Call it bad taste, if you like, to speak of hell. Call it charity to make things pleasant, and speak of smoothly, and soothe men with constant lullaby of peace. I have not read my Bible. My notion of charity is to warn men plainly of danger. My notion of taste in the ministerial office, is to declare all the counsel of God.

If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil. Reader, I beseech you, in all tender affection, beware of false views of the subject on which I have been dwelling. Beware of new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment. Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who as a heaven for every body, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and broad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your won, as truly an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple. The hands of your won fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all.

Your heaven would be no heaven at all. A heaven containing all sorts of characters indiscriminately would be miserable discord indeed. Alas! for the eternity of such a heaven. There would be little difference between it and hell. Ah! reader, there is a hell! There is a fire! Take heed lest you find it out to your cost too late. Beware of being wise above that which is written. Beware of forming fanciful theories of your own, and then trying to make the Bible square with them. Beware of making selections from your Bible to suit your taste. Dare not to say, "I believe this verse, for I like it. I refuse that, for I cannot reconcile it with my views." Nay! but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? By what right do you talk in this way? Surely it were better to say, over every chapter in the word, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Ah! if men would do this, they would never deny the unquenchable fire.

 

 

Afflicted, tormented, and destroyed!

Afflicted, tormented, and destroyed!

(Thomas Brooks, "Crown and Glory of Christianity" 1662)

Let me give you a little abridgment of the sufferings of some of the early Christians, "of whom the world was not worthy."

1. In the reign of Hadrian the emperor, there were ten thousand Christians crowned with a crowns of thorns, thrust into the sides with sharp lances, and then crucified.

2. Others were so whipped, that their entrails were seen, and afterwards they were thrown upon sharp shells, and then upon sharp nails and thorns. And after all this cruelty, they were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured.

3. Multitudes were banished.

4. Others were pulled apart with wild horses.

5. Some were beaten and racked with bars of iron.

6. Others were cast into loathsome dungeons.

7. Some were burnt in the fire.

8. Others were knocked down and had their brains beaten out with staves and clubs.

9. Some were pricked in their faces and eyes with sharp reeds.

10. Others were stoned to death with stones, as Stephen was.

11. Some were dashed in pieces against millstones.

12. Others had their teeth dashed out of their jaws, and their joints broken.

13. Some were cast down from very high places.

14. Others were beheaded.

15. Some were tormented with razors.

16. Others were slain with the sword.

17. Some were run through with pikes.

18. Others were driven into the wilderness, where they wandered up and down, suffering hunger and cold, and where they were exposed to the fury both of wild beasts, and also to the rage of the barbarous Arabians.

19. Some fled into caves, which their persecutors crammed up with stones, and there they died.

20. Others were trodden to death by the people.

21. Some were hanged on gibbets with a slow fire under them.

22. Others were cast into the sea and drowned.

23. Some were slain by being thrown in mines.

24. Others were hanged by the feet, and choked with the smoke of a small fire, their legs being first broken.

25. Some were covered with oil, and then roasted with a soft fire.

26. Others were hung by one hand, that they might feel the weight of their whole bodies scorching and broiling over burning coals.

27. Some were shot through with arrows, and afterwards thrown into stinking prisons.

28. Others were stripped stark naked, and thrown out in cold, frosty nights; and burnt the next day.

29. In Syria, a company of Christian virgins were stripped stark naked to be scorned by the multitude, then shaved, and then torn in pieces and devoured by beasts.

30. Lastly, many women had the joints of their bodies pulled from another, and their flesh and sides clawed with talons of wild beasts to the bones, and their breasts seared with torches until they died.

And thus you have an account of thirty different ways by which the precious sons and daughters of God have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and destroyed! What heart of stone can read over this list with dry eyes? And now tell me, sirs, whether your sufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the sufferings of the precious servants of God in the primitive times are spoken of? Oh, no! Well then, take heed of making molehills mountains, and of crying out, "Is there any sorrow compared to my sorrow; or any sufferings compared to my sufferings?"

 

 

Happy New Year!

Lead On, O King Eternal

Lead on, O King e-ter-nal,
The day of march has come;
Hence-forth in fields of con-quest
Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of prep-a-ra-tion
Thy grace has made us strong,
And now, O King e-ter-nal,
We lift our bat-tle song.
Lead on, O King e-ter-nal,
Till sin's fierce war shall cease,
And ho-li-ness shall whis-per
The sweet a-men of peace.
For not with swords' loud clash-ing,
Nor roll of stir-ring drums--
With deeds of love and mer-cy
The heaven-ly king-dom comes.

Lead on, O King e-ter-nal,
We fol-low not with fears,
For glad-ness breaks like morn-ing
Where-e'er Thy face ap-pears.
Thy cross is lift-ed o'er us,
We jour-ney in its light;
The crown a-waits the con-quest:
Lead on, O God of might.