Be Gone Unbelief – John Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBegone, unbelief,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Savior is near,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for my relief<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will surely appear;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By prayer let me wrestle,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And He will perform;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Christ in the vessel,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I smile at the storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though dark be my way,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since He is my Guide,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2019Tis mine to obey,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2019Tis His to provide;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though cisterns be broken,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And creatures all fail,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word He hath spoken<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shall surely prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His love, in time past,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forbids me to think<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019ll leave me at last<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In trouble to sink:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each sweet Ebenezer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have in review<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confirms His good pleasure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help me quite through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why should I complain<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of want or distress,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Temptation or pain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He told me no less;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The heirs of salvation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know from His Word,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through much tribulation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Must follow their Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How bitter that cup<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No heart can conceive,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which He drank quite up,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sinners might live!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His way was much rougher<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And darker than mine;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did Christ, my Lord, suffer,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And shall I repine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since all that I meet<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shall work for my good,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bitter is sweet,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medicine, food;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though painful at present,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2019Twill cease before long,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then, oh, how pleasant<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conqueror\u2019s song!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despised Privileges\nBecome A Curse <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 69:22<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em><\/strong>Often\nthose things that should have been a blessing become a curse, those things\nwhich should have been the means of salvation, when despised and neglected,\nbecome a snare and a trap by which the souls of many are brought down to hell.\nWhat a solemn warning! The Word of God, which is able to make you wise unto\nsalvation, if neglected, will demand your condemnation. The preaching of the\ngospel, which is the means of faith, if despised, will rise up in judgment\nagainst you. The worship of God in the assembly of his saints, if scorned, will\nprove to be an everlasting torment to your soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n This reptile heart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “The carnal mind is enmity<\/strong> against\nGod.”<\/em> Romans 8:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘Enmity against God’ must not only include in its bosom the seeds\nof every other crime\u2014but be in itself the worst of all crimes. To be an enemy\nto God must be a most dreadful position for a creature to be in\u2014but to be\nenmity itself must be the concentrated essence of sin and misery! An enemy may\nbe reconciled, appeased, turned into a friend\u2014but enmity, never. Enmity knows\nno pity, feels no remorse, is subject to no control, is unappeasable and\nirreconcilable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when we think for a moment who and what the great and glorious\nGod is, against whom this reptile heart<\/strong> bears an enmity so\nenduring and so wicked\u2014when we view Him by the eye of faith as filling heaven\nand earth with His glory, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto,\nand yet day after day loading all His creatures with benefits, and to His\npeople so full of the tenderest love and compassion\u2014then to see a dying mortal,\nwhom one frown can hurl from all the pride of health and vigour, into the lowest\nhell of misery and woe\u2014spewing forth, like some miserable toad, his spit and\nvenom against the glorious King of kings and Lord of lords\u2014well may we stand\namazed at the height of that presumption and the depth of that wickedness which\ncan so arm a ‘worm of earth’ against the ‘Majesty of heaven!’<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n The general religion of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are few things more sickening to us than this widespread\nprofession of religion\u2014without the vital power. Open profanity is bad. It is\ngrievous to see the sin which runs down our streets like water. The scenes\nwhich meet the eye, especially in London, are grievous\u2014but they carry with them\ntheir own condemnation, and do not intrude into the sacred precincts of truth\nand godliness. But a loud, noisy profession, with just enough ‘truth in the\nletter’ to salve over the convictions of the natural conscience\u2014but not enough\nof life or power either to save or sanctify\u2014to deliver from the dominion of sin\nor separate from the world\u2014like the salt that has lost its savour, is good for\nnothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. True religion differs\nas much from the general religion of the day<\/strong> as grace differs\nfrom nature, spirit from flesh, and the power of God from the wisdom of man!<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n See the old man rise and fume!<\/strong>\n Hated Without Cause\n \n \u201cBut this cometh to\n pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They\n hated me without a cause<\/em>\u201d (John 15:25).\n \n When we\n think about the sin of our fallen race, we ought always to think of it in\n terms of deicide. Here is the essence of sin. It is the murder of God! Man,\n because of his hatred for his Creator, nailed the Son of God to a cross and\n threw a hellish party as they watched him die! That is the master crime of\n hell-bent humanity, the pinnacle of man\u2019s guilt. Sin out did itself when it\n slew the Lord of glory who came on earth to die in the place of fallen men.\n Never does sin appear so exceedingly sinful as when we see it nailing the\n Lamb of God to the cursed tree, whom it hated without a cause!\n \n Perfect, but Hated\n \n Our\n Lord Jesus here refers us to two verses in the Psalms (Ps. 35:19; 69:4),\n affirming plainly that the Psalms, though written by men from their own\n experiences, were written by divine inspiration as prophecies of our Savior.\n From the time that he entered into this world, until the hour that he was\n hanged upon the tree, the Son of God was the constant, unceasing object of\n man\u2019s cruel hatred. No human being was ever so lovely as our Savior. It would\n seem almost impossible not to love him. Yet, lovely, loving, and loveable as\n he was, \u2014 \u201cYea, he is<\/em> altogether lovely!<\/em>\u201d \u2014 no creature\n ever endured such a relentless hatred. As soon as he was born, Herod sought\n to kill him. And that was just the beginning. All the days of his life, he\n was \u201cdespised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with\n grief<\/em>.\u201d\n \n Without\n a Cause<\/strong>\n \n Anyone\n who bothers to read history, let alone the Word of God, knows that the Lord\n Jesus was the object of man\u2019s cruel hatred. But why did they hate him? They\n had no reason. Yet, three times we read, \u201cThey hated me without a cause.<\/em>\u201d\n There is nothing that can be, or ever has been, pointed to in the life of our\n Redeemer that was even objectionable, let alone a cause for hatred. Our Lord\n Jesus was perfect in his character. In his conduct, he was without flaw. His\n doctrine was pure and good. The law of God he upheld, obeyed, and exemplified\n is, in the opinion of all sane men, good. The doctrine he taught was pure\n doctrine. All his works were works of mercy. His kindness, sympathy, and\n tenderness were obvious to all.\n \n The\n Cause<\/strong>\n \n Yet,\n though there was no cause for it, the Lord of Glory was hated of all men in\n this world, and still is. The cause of man\u2019s hatred for Christ was and is\n altogether in himself. Here is the cause of man\u2019s hatred for Christ. \u2014 \u201cThe\n carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,\n neither indeed can be<\/em>.\u201d Men hated him without a cause, because they hate\n God who sent him, and everything about the Lord Jesus stirred man\u2019s hatred\n for God against him.\n \n \u201cThey hated me without a cause.\u201d\n John 15:25<\/em>\n \n It is\n obvious that all men hated the Lord Jesus Christ while he walked on the\n earth. And it is obvious to all who know anything about human depravity and\n understand the teaching of Holy Scripture, that all men by nature hate him\n still. All men hated him then for the very same reason that he is hated now:\n \u201cbecause the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to\n the law of God, neither indeed can be<\/em>.\u201d\n \n His Doctrine\n \n People\n did not hate him because he lived more uprightly than they, but because of\n the gospel he preached. Their hatred against him was and is drawn forth and\n made manifest by the doctrine he taught.\n When our Savior declared himself to be God, one with the\n Father and equal to the Father, they took up stones to kill him\n (John 10:25-33). When he exposed the evil of their hearts and the\n hypocrisy of their religion, they were enraged (Mark 7:20-23; Luke 16:15;\n John 8:40). When the Lord Jesus openly proclaimed God\u2019s sovereignty in the\n exercise of his mercy and grace, they tried to murder him\n (Luke 4:25-32). When he preached redemption, righteousness, and\n salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in him alone, the multitudes\n who followed him for the loaves and fishes, refusing to hear such doctrine,\n walked away (John 6:37-40, 44-45, 47-51, 53, 61-65).\n The Lord Jesus was and is hated by men because he forgave, and\n still forgives, sinners of their sins, freely and fully, while refusing to\n accept and honor their works of righteousness (Rom. 9:31-10:4). For all these\n things they hated him. Yet, had they believed him, the gospel he preached\n would have saved them (Matt. 11:25-30).\n \n God\u2019s Purpose\n \n All\n this, our Savior tells us, came to pass that the Scriptures might be\n fulfilled, according to our God\u2019s sovereign, eternal purpose of grace toward\n his elect. The hatred of men for the Son of God resulted in him being\n crucified upon the cursed tree as our Substitute, according to the purpose of\n God (Acts 2:23, 36; Acts 4:27-28; Rom. 8:28-30). Yet, the guilt was theirs.\n They did exactly what they wanted to do. Nothing in him gave them cause for\n their hatred. The evil was altogether in them. \u201cSurely the wrath of man\n shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain<\/em>.\u201d\n \n A Question\n \n Do you\n hate him, or do you love him? If you refuse to trust him, if you refuse to\n bow to him and believe him, your unbelief reveals your hatred for the Son of\n God (1 John 5:10). If you trust him, your faith in him causes you to\n love him. \u2014 \u201cUnto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious.<\/em>\u201d \u2014 \u201cLord,\n thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.<\/em>\u201d \u2014 \u201cWe love\n him, because he first loved us<\/em>.\u201d Believing him, trusting him, loving him,\n I am confident that he loves me even as he is loved by his Father, with an\n everlasting love. And his love for me casts out all fear!\n \n Don\n Fortner\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\n(author unknown)
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\nWe must have . . .
\n our idols exposed,
\n our lusts dragged forth from their holes,
\n our carnal religion made loathsome in our eyes,
\n our own righteousness shown to be filthy rags.
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\nHeart-searching preaching, where it does not convince, is sure to offend.\nNothing is so cutting to an unrenewed heart, especially when there is a decent\noutside, as to have its rottenness exposed, its refuge of lies swept away, and\nthe pillow of ‘forms’ whereon it was sleeping removed from under its head.\nWhoever attempts this, must expect to see the old man rise and fume<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n