Living in the Light of God
\n
\nGive me the support of God, and I can easily bear the insults
\nof men. Let me lay my head on the chest of Jesus, and I will
\nnot fear the interruptions of care and trouble. If my God will
\nforever give me the light of His smile, and a glimpse of His
\nblessing–it is enough. Come on enemies, persecutors,
\ndemons, yes, the Devil himself, for “the Lord God is my sun
\nand shield.” Gather, you clouds, and surround me, I carry a
\nSun within me; blow, wind of the frozen north, I have a fire of
\nliving coal within me; yes, death, kill me, but I have another
\nlife–a life in the light of God’s countenance.
\n-Spurgeon
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nFour great concerns….
\n
\nby Don Fortner
\n
\n“Enoch WALKED with God….” Genesis 5:24
\n
\nMy heart is motivated, driven and governed by four great concerns.
\nHere are four things I want more than anything in this world.
\nI am not an ambitious man. But I am ambitious for these
\nfour things. For the attainment of these four things I am
\nprepared, by the grace of God, to sacrifice everything else.
\nI count all other things to be but rubbish by comparison.
\n
\n1. I want to know Christ (Phil. 3:10).
\nYes, I believe that in measure I do know him. God has revealed
\nhis grace and glory to me in the Person of his dear Son.
\nStill, I want a growing, spiritual, experimental knowledge of the
\nLord Jesus Christ. I want to know all that he has done for me.
\nI want to know him. I want to know him fully.
\n
\n2. I want to be totally committed to Christ.
\nI want to totally lose my life to Christ and in Christ, so that I
\ncan truthfully say with the Apostle Paul, “For me to live is Christ.”
\nI want to be committed to Christ as he was to the Father, so that
\nmy heart says to him in all things, “Not my will, thy will be done”
\nIt is my continual prayer that God will give me a heart–
\ncommitted to the Lord Jesus Christ,
\ncommitted to his will,
\ncommitted to his gospel,
\ncommitted to his people,
\ncommitted to the cause of his glory in this world.
\n
\n3. I want to be like Christ.
\nMy heart longs to be like him, conformed to him, made into
\nhis likeness. I want to be like him love, tenderness, and
\nthoughtfulness, in zeal, dedication, and devotion, purity,
\nholiness, and righteousness.
\n
\n4. I want to live in communion with Christ.
\nLike Enoch of old, I want to walk with God.
\n
\nI know these goals are not attainable in this life. Yet, they are
\nthe things for which my soul hungers and my heart thirsts. I cannot
\nbe satisfied with less. “I count not myself to have apprehended:
\nbut this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
\nand reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
\ntoward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
\nJesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). “I shall be satisfied when I awake with
\nChrist’s likeness” (Psa. 17:15), but not until then.
\n
\n“Enoch WALKED with God….” Genesis 5:24
\n
\n
\n
\nThe religionists of the day
\n
\n(J. C. Philpot, “Faith’s Standing-Ground” 1862)
\n
\n“And everyone will hate you because of your
\nallegiance to Me.” Luke 21:17
\n
\nProfessors of religion have always been the
\ndeadliest enemies of the children of God.
\n
\nWho were so opposed to the blessed Lord as the
\nScribes and Pharisees? It was the religious teachers
\nand leaders who crucified the Lord of glory!
\n
\nAnd so in every age the religionists of the day
\nhave been the hottest and bitterest persecutors
\nof the Church of Christ.
\n
\nNor is the case altered now. The more the children
\nof God are firm in the truth, the more they enjoy its
\npower, the more they live under its influence, and
\nthe more tenderly and conscientiously they walk in
\ngodly fear, the more will the professing generation
\nof the day hate them with a deadly hatred.
\n
\nLet us not think that we can disarm it by a godly life;
\nfor the more that we walk in the sweet enjoyment of
\nheavenly truth and let our light shine before men as
\nhaving been with Jesus, the more will this draw down
\ntheir hatred and contempt.
\n
\n“And the world hates them because they do not
\nbelong to the world, just as I do not.” John 17:14
\n
\n
\n
\nWeak and singular and odd!
\n
\n(John Newton)
\n
\nA consistent Christian, whose integrity, humility, and philanthropy,
\nmark his character and adorn his profession \u2014 will in time command respect.
\n
\nBut his attachment to the unfashionable truths of the Gospel, and his
\nseparation from the maxims and pursuits of the world \u2014 will render him
\nweak and singular and odd in their eyes.
\n
\n“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you
\nbelonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do
\nnot belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is
\nwhy the world hates you!” John 15:18-19
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nThe highest honor?
\n
\nSpurgeon, “INDEPENDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY”
\n
\nTo be pampered, flattered, and applauded by men,
\nis a poor, base thing, that is not worth having.
\n
\nTo be despised, to be spit upon, to be caricatured, and to
\nbe jeered, is the highest honor that a Christian can have.
\n
\n
\n
\nHis children began to hiss!
\n
\n(Excerpts from the letters of William Tiptaft)
\n
\nDear brother,
\nSince I last wrote, I have preached in Abingdon Great
\nChurch, on Christmas evening. I preached the truth, I
\ntrust, to a very crowded congregation, supposed to be
\n(sitting and standing, who were able to get in) about
\n5,000 people. I pleased the believers; but very much
\ndispleased the carnally-minded, who were never before
\nso puzzled and confounded in all their lives! I spoke the
\ntruth faithfully, and so as all could hear; but I had no
\nidea that the gospel would have given so much offence!
\nIt is the truth that offends and disturbs Satan’s
\nkingdom! The neighboring clergymen, who are in
\ndarkness, say of me, “Away with such a fellow from
\nthe earth; it is not fit that he should live!”
\n
\nMy mind is not moved by the persecution. I believe
\nif God has a work for me to do, I shall do it, in spite
\nof the devil and all his children!
\n
\nNature is not changed, the gospel is not changed,
\nand Christ is not changed. What reason is there why
\nthey should not hate the truth now, as much as in the
\ntime of the apostles? I never saw any fruits of my
\nlabors until I roused and disturbed the ‘roaring lion’.
\nWhen, through the grace of God, I began to disturb
\nhis kingdom, I soon found that his children began
\nto hiss!
\n
\nThe world and Satan hate believers. The Pharisees
\nhate me the most. I cut off all their rotten props,
\nand all their fleshly devotion!
\n
\nIt is not coming near to the truth, it is not the ‘mere letter’
\nof the gospel, that will convert men; but the Holy Spirit.
\n
\nMake the Word of God your study. Pin your faith to
\nno man’s views! I scarcely read any other book.
\n
\nBeware of those who want to exalt man in any manner.
\n
\nYours very affectionately,
\nWilliam Tiptaft, Jan. 30th, 1830
\n
\n
\n
\nEven your own relatives think you are almost insane
\n
\n(J. C. Philpot, “The Abiding Comforter” 1858)
\n
\n“The Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him,
\nbecause it neither sees Him nor knows Him.”
\nJohn 14:17
\n
\nThe world\u2014that is, the world dead in sin, and the
\nworld dead in profession\u2014men destitute of the life
\nand power of God\u2014must have something that it can
\nsee. And, as heavenly things can only be seen by
\nheavenly eyes, they cannot receive the things which
\nare invisible.
\n
\nNow this explains why a religion that presents itself
\nwith a degree of beauty and grandeur to the natural
\neye will always be received by the world; while a . . .
\nspiritual,
\ninternal,
\nheartfelt and
\nexperimental
\nreligion will always be rejected.
\n
\nThe world can receive a religion that consists of . . .
\nforms,
\nrites, and
\nceremonies.
\n
\nThese are things seen.
\n
\nBeautiful buildings,
\npainted windows,
\npealing organs,
\nmelodious choirs,
\nthe pomp and parade of an earthly priesthood,
\nand a whole apparatus of ‘religious ceremony’,
\ncarry with them something that the natural eye can
\nsee and admire. The world receives all this ‘external
\nreligion’ because it is suitable to the natural mind
\nand intelligible to their reasoning faculties.
\n
\nBut the . . .
\nquiet,
\ninward,
\nexperimental,
\ndivine religion,
\nwhich presents no attractions to the outward eye, but
\nis wrought in the heart by a divine operation\u2014the world
\ncannot receive this\u2014because it presents nothing that
\nthe natural eye can rest upon with pleasure, or is
\nadapted to gratify their general idea of what religion
\nis or should be.
\n
\nDo not marvel, then, that worldly professors despise a
\nreligion wrought in the soul by the power of God. Do not
\nbe surprised if even your own relatives think you are
\nalmost insane, when you speak of the consolations of
\nthe Spirit, or of the teachings of God in your soul. They
\ncannot receive these things, for they have no experience
\nof them; and being such as are altogether opposed to
\nthe carnal mind, they reject them with enmity and scorn.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nOf Suffering
\nIt is not every suffering that makes a martyr, but suffering for the
\nword of God after a right manner; that is, not only for righteousness,
\nbut for righteousness\u2019 sake; not only for truth, but out of love to
\ntruth; not only for God\u2019s word, but according to it; that is, in that
\nholy, humble, meek manner, as the word of God requires.
\nIt is a rare thing to suffer aright, and to have my spirit in suffering
\nturned only against God\u2019s enemy, sin; sin in doctrine, sin in worship,
\nsin in life, and sin in conversation. \u2026
\nI have often thought that the best of Christians are found in the worst
\nof times. And I have thought again that one reason why we are no better,
\nis because God purges us no more. Noah and Lot\u2014who so holy as they in
\nthe time of their afflictions? And yet who so idle as they in the time
\nof their prosperity? \u2013John Bunyan
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nThis is true obedience, whether to God or man, when we look not so much
\nto the letter of the law, as to the mind of the law-maker. \u2013John Trapp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Living in the Light of God Give me the support of God, and I can easily bear the insults of men. Let me lay my head on the chest of Jesus, and I will not fear the interruptions of care and trouble. If my God will forever give me the light of His smile, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5408,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407\/revisions\/5408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}