Old Dudes Rule
It's Monday and it's nice to remember that basic trust in Christ will get us through this week, this day this hour.. keep on keepin' on.. Enjoy the nifty tidbit below from old timer Philpot...
He needed his own tv show. Courtesy of Gracegems.com
The Blessedness of Trusting in the Lord(A Posthumous Sermon)
Preached at Gower Street Chapel, London, on July 18, 1869, by J. C. Philpot
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jer 17:7, 8
What a dreadful thing it is to be under the CURSE of God; to have his curse in our body, his curse in our soul, his curse in our family, in our substance, in our goings out, in our comings in; his curse in life, his curse in death, and his curse to all eternity. And how the fear and apprehension of this curse has made the hearts of many wither like the grass, filled them with gloomy forebodings night and day, and made them sink under apprehensions of dying in despair, and lying forever under the wrath of the Almighty!
But on the other hand, what bliss and blessedness there is in being under the BLESSING of the Lord; his blessing in body, his blessing in soul, his blessing in our families, his blessing in our substance, his blessing in life, his blessing in death, and his blessing through all eternity. And as there are many who have feared and trembled under his curse, when events proved in the end there was no real cause for apprehension; so many have rejoiced, or thought they rejoiced in God's blessing, when it was all a delusion, for they were among those who said they would be blessed, though they added "drunkenness to thirst."
Thus we must not altogether take our fears and feelings, nor our doubts and apprehensions, of these matters as certain indications whether we are under the curse or under the blessing. But we must come to the word of God– that is the grand arbiter; that is God's own judgment of these matters; that speaks as the voice of God, and pronounces who, according to the mind of God and the estimate of God, are under God's curse; and who, according to the mind and estimate of God, are under his blessing. Now I do not know a more remarkable passage in the whole compass of God's word, to point out who are under the curse and who are under the blessing, than my text and the connection of it.
But the Holy Spirit, by the pen of Jeremiah, makes a contrast between those who are under the curse and those under the blessing; and he says of the former, speaking authoritatively in the name of the Lord– "Thus says the Lord– Cursed is the one who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." The Lord here does not lay down a man's moral or immoral character as a test of salvation. He does not say, "Cursed is the thief, the adulterer, the extortioner, the murderer, the man who lives in open profanity." He puts all that aside, and fixes his eye and lays his hand upon one mark, which may exist or does exist with the greatest morality, and it may be with the highest profession of religion. "I will tell you," the Lord says, "who are under my curse. This is the person who trusts in man, who makes flesh his arm, and in so doing his heart departs from Me."
Now taking a wide and general survey, who is there free from this intimation of the Lord's eternal displeasure? Who can say he does not trust in man and make flesh his arm? Why all have done it and all will do it until they are taught better. The confidence of most stands wholly upon this ground. They trust in man, in themselves, or some other, and they make flesh their working arm, to work out their own plans of salvation, build up their own goodness, establish their own righteousness, and bring forth something in and by the creature with which they hope to gain eternity with God. But this is the point that God especially sets his hand upon as marking them, that in trusting in man and making flesh their arm, their heart departs from the Lord; it being impossible in God's view for a man to be neutral in these matters; it being impossible in the judgment of God for a man to trust in man, and make flesh his arm in one direction; and to trust in God and make the power of God his arm in another direction. God knows no such neutrality; he winks at no such half measures; he does not allow a man to stand with one leg upon self and one leg upon God; one foot on free will and one foot on free grace; to work with his own right arm his own righteousness, and take with his left gospel blessings. Such neutrality in the sight of God is as bad as it would be in the case of a war for a man, a subject of Queen Victoria, to stand neutral– be sometimes in favor of the Queen, and sometimes in favor of the invader. Such a man would deserve to be shot by both armies.
"He shall be like the HEATH in the desert." You have seen, perhaps, the sorry heath, the ground not being good enough to produce food for man or beast; but it can produce a little stunted leaf, a few miserable reeds that just relieve the dry sand, please the eye, but contain in them no nutriment or utility. And so this person who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, is like the heath in the desert; with an 'appearance of verdure' and something like greenness and growth, and yet, when examined, a miserable crop that benefits neither himself nor anybody else; a few stunted starved specimens of miserable heath, that cannot feed a lamb or even sustain a goat. Such a man "shall not see when good comes." Good may come to others, but good will never come to him; a blessing may fall upon the righteous, but no blessing shall fall upon him. Trusting in man, departing from the Lord, he sets himself out of the reach of God's blessing, puts himself into a place where God's mercy falls not, and therefore never sees when good comes, for there is no good for him.
"But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." That is, a religion merely in name and appearance, without anything fruitful, god-like, or God-glorifying. And thus he lives and thus he dies under the eternal curse of the Almighty, as making flesh his arm and trusting in man.
Now it will be my object this evening, taking the words of our text, to contrast with such the character on whom God has pronounced his blessing; and you will see how the two differ in almost every point; how the Holy Spirit with his graphic and vigorous pen, has sketched both these characters and painted them in such life-like colors, that each stands out as it were in contrast to the other, that we may compare the two men in the curse and in the blessing, see the dealings of God with each, and thus, if we be under the blessing, gather for ourselves some good hope through grace, and have some testimony that not the curse rests upon us, but the blessing of the Lord which makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it.
In opening up the text, I shall, therefore, with God's help–
First, direct your thoughts to the blessedness of the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Secondly, take up the comparison which the Holy Spirit has given us– that such a man resembles "a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river."
And Thirdly, speak of the fruits and blessings that spring out of his being thus planted by the hand of God by the waters and by the river– that he "shall not see when heat comes, but his leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
He needed his own tv show. Courtesy of Gracegems.com
The Blessedness of Trusting in the Lord(A Posthumous Sermon)
Preached at Gower Street Chapel, London, on July 18, 1869, by J. C. Philpot
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jer 17:7, 8
What a dreadful thing it is to be under the CURSE of God; to have his curse in our body, his curse in our soul, his curse in our family, in our substance, in our goings out, in our comings in; his curse in life, his curse in death, and his curse to all eternity. And how the fear and apprehension of this curse has made the hearts of many wither like the grass, filled them with gloomy forebodings night and day, and made them sink under apprehensions of dying in despair, and lying forever under the wrath of the Almighty!
But on the other hand, what bliss and blessedness there is in being under the BLESSING of the Lord; his blessing in body, his blessing in soul, his blessing in our families, his blessing in our substance, his blessing in life, his blessing in death, and his blessing through all eternity. And as there are many who have feared and trembled under his curse, when events proved in the end there was no real cause for apprehension; so many have rejoiced, or thought they rejoiced in God's blessing, when it was all a delusion, for they were among those who said they would be blessed, though they added "drunkenness to thirst."
Thus we must not altogether take our fears and feelings, nor our doubts and apprehensions, of these matters as certain indications whether we are under the curse or under the blessing. But we must come to the word of God– that is the grand arbiter; that is God's own judgment of these matters; that speaks as the voice of God, and pronounces who, according to the mind of God and the estimate of God, are under God's curse; and who, according to the mind and estimate of God, are under his blessing. Now I do not know a more remarkable passage in the whole compass of God's word, to point out who are under the curse and who are under the blessing, than my text and the connection of it.
But the Holy Spirit, by the pen of Jeremiah, makes a contrast between those who are under the curse and those under the blessing; and he says of the former, speaking authoritatively in the name of the Lord– "Thus says the Lord– Cursed is the one who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." The Lord here does not lay down a man's moral or immoral character as a test of salvation. He does not say, "Cursed is the thief, the adulterer, the extortioner, the murderer, the man who lives in open profanity." He puts all that aside, and fixes his eye and lays his hand upon one mark, which may exist or does exist with the greatest morality, and it may be with the highest profession of religion. "I will tell you," the Lord says, "who are under my curse. This is the person who trusts in man, who makes flesh his arm, and in so doing his heart departs from Me."
Now taking a wide and general survey, who is there free from this intimation of the Lord's eternal displeasure? Who can say he does not trust in man and make flesh his arm? Why all have done it and all will do it until they are taught better. The confidence of most stands wholly upon this ground. They trust in man, in themselves, or some other, and they make flesh their working arm, to work out their own plans of salvation, build up their own goodness, establish their own righteousness, and bring forth something in and by the creature with which they hope to gain eternity with God. But this is the point that God especially sets his hand upon as marking them, that in trusting in man and making flesh their arm, their heart departs from the Lord; it being impossible in God's view for a man to be neutral in these matters; it being impossible in the judgment of God for a man to trust in man, and make flesh his arm in one direction; and to trust in God and make the power of God his arm in another direction. God knows no such neutrality; he winks at no such half measures; he does not allow a man to stand with one leg upon self and one leg upon God; one foot on free will and one foot on free grace; to work with his own right arm his own righteousness, and take with his left gospel blessings. Such neutrality in the sight of God is as bad as it would be in the case of a war for a man, a subject of Queen Victoria, to stand neutral– be sometimes in favor of the Queen, and sometimes in favor of the invader. Such a man would deserve to be shot by both armies.
"He shall be like the HEATH in the desert." You have seen, perhaps, the sorry heath, the ground not being good enough to produce food for man or beast; but it can produce a little stunted leaf, a few miserable reeds that just relieve the dry sand, please the eye, but contain in them no nutriment or utility. And so this person who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, is like the heath in the desert; with an 'appearance of verdure' and something like greenness and growth, and yet, when examined, a miserable crop that benefits neither himself nor anybody else; a few stunted starved specimens of miserable heath, that cannot feed a lamb or even sustain a goat. Such a man "shall not see when good comes." Good may come to others, but good will never come to him; a blessing may fall upon the righteous, but no blessing shall fall upon him. Trusting in man, departing from the Lord, he sets himself out of the reach of God's blessing, puts himself into a place where God's mercy falls not, and therefore never sees when good comes, for there is no good for him.
"But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." That is, a religion merely in name and appearance, without anything fruitful, god-like, or God-glorifying. And thus he lives and thus he dies under the eternal curse of the Almighty, as making flesh his arm and trusting in man.
Now it will be my object this evening, taking the words of our text, to contrast with such the character on whom God has pronounced his blessing; and you will see how the two differ in almost every point; how the Holy Spirit with his graphic and vigorous pen, has sketched both these characters and painted them in such life-like colors, that each stands out as it were in contrast to the other, that we may compare the two men in the curse and in the blessing, see the dealings of God with each, and thus, if we be under the blessing, gather for ourselves some good hope through grace, and have some testimony that not the curse rests upon us, but the blessing of the Lord which makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it.
In opening up the text, I shall, therefore, with God's help–
First, direct your thoughts to the blessedness of the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Secondly, take up the comparison which the Holy Spirit has given us– that such a man resembles "a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river."
And Thirdly, speak of the fruits and blessings that spring out of his being thus planted by the hand of God by the waters and by the river– that he "shall not see when heat comes, but his leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
posted by Napoleon at 12:35 PM
1 Comments:
m.a. thrope. where are you? the pony wants to know.
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