Blog Archives - Witness And Testimony

An Appeal; Deliverance

7/31/2016

Psa 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

This is a promise indeed!

Here is an urgent occasion..."the day of trouble." It is dark at noon on such a day, and every hour seems blacker than the one which came before it.

Then is this promise in season: it is written for the cloudy day.

Here is condescending advice, "Call upon me."

We ought not to need the exhortation: it should be our constant habit all the day and every day.

What a mercy to have liberty to call upon God!

What wisdom to make good use of it!

How foolish to go running about to men!

The LORD invites us to lay our case before Him, and surely we will not hesitate to do so.

Here is reassuring encouragement: "I will deliver thee."

Whatever the trouble may be, the LORD makes no exceptions but promises full, sure, happy deliverance.

He will Himself work out our deliverance by His own hand.

We believe it, and the LORD honors faith.

Here is an ultimate result: "Thou shalt glorify me." Ah, that we will do most abundantly.

When He has delivered us we will loudly praise Him; and as He is sure to do it, let us begin to glorify Him at once

~Charles Spurgeon~

Christ Offers Something Superior And Of Permanent Value To The Inner Man

7/27/2016

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

So Jesus gently deals with the Samaritan, reading her heart and showing her what she was and leading her upward from the well of Jacob to the wellsprings that are found in Jacob's God.

Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Two features of this promised gift arrest us. (a) The first is that he that drinketh of the living stream shall never thirst again.

But do we not find the Psalmist saying, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God?

Is every longing of the soul satisfied forever when we have tasted of the wells of God?

Nay, God forbid. The more we drink of holiness, the more we thirst for it.

The more we drink of purity, the more we crave it.

The more we taste of God, the more we long for Him.

But under the power of this new affection, sinful affections gradually die; and baser cravings that dominated once sink slowly in this newborn life in God until at last the very craving is forgotten, and having tasted God, we thirst no more.

(b) And then this fountain is within our heart.

This poor Samaritan had to take her pitcher and run the gauntlet of the village street whenever she wanted a draught of Jacob's well.

But the gladness and the peace are within us when we have truly met with Jesus Christ.

There is a sense in which a Christian is dependent.

There is another sense in which a Christian is the most independent man alive.

He can go singing under the dullest skies; he can have royal fellowship in crowded streets, for he carries his heaven in his heart, and heaven in the heart is heaven on earth.

~George Morrison~

Trust And Rest

7/25/2016

Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

The word trust is the heart word of faith. It is the Old Testament word, the word given to the early and infant stage of faith.

The word faith expresses more the act of the will, the word belief the act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart.

The other has reference more to a truth believed or a thing expected.

Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love.

So let us "trust also in him," through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still "trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass."

The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last.

Trust and rest when all around thee Puts thy faith to sorest test;

Let no fear or foe confound thee, Wait for God and trust and rest.

Trust and rest with heart abiding, Like a birdling in its nest,
Underneath His feathers hiding, Fold thy wings and trust and rest.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The REASON For Chastisement

7/23/2016

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

What! God loves me when He is discharging His quiver upon me - when He is emptying me from vessel to vessel - when He is causing the sun of my earthly joys to set in clouds?

Yes! O afflicted, tempest-tossed one, He chastens you because He loves you!

This trial comes from His own tender, loving hand...from His own tender, unchanging heart!

Are you laid on a sickbed with sorrowful months and wearisome nights appointed unto you?

Let this be the pillow on which your aching head reclines: It is because He loves me!

Is it bereavement that has swept your heart and desolated your dwelling?

He appointed that chamber of death because He loves you!

As it is the suffering child of the family which claims a mother's deepest affections and most tender solicitude, so have you at this moment embarked on your side, the most tender love and solicitude of your heavenly Father.

He loved you into this sorrow and will love you through it.

There is nothing capricious in His dealings. LOVE is the reason for all He does.

There is not one drop of wrath in that bitter cup you are called to drink!

Says one, "He has purchased these afflictions for us, as well as everything else.

Blessed be His name, it is part of His covenant to visit us with the rod.

What does our adorable Lord Himself say?

The words were spoken, not when He was on earth, a sojourner in a sorrowing world but when enthroned amid the glories of Heaven. "As many as I love — I rebuke and chasten."

Believer! rejoice in the thought that the rod, the chastening rod is in the hands of the living, loving Savior who died for you!

Tribulation is the King's Highway and yet that highway is paved with love.

As some flowers require crushing before shedding their fragrance so does your God think it suitable to bruise you.

As some birds are said to sing their sweetest notes when the thorn pierces their bosom so does He appoint affliction to lacerate...that you may be driven to the wing, singing, in your upward soaring, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed!"

Be it ours to say, "Lord, I will love You not only despite Your rod but because of Your rod!

I will rush into the very arms that are chastening me!"

~John Macduff~

Reassured And Bold

7/21/2016

Reassured by the Word of the Lord, the poor trembling citizens of Zion grew bold, and shook their heads at Sennacherib’s boastful threats.

Strong faith enables the servants of God to look with calm contempt upon their most haughty foes.

We know that our enemies are attempting impossibilities.

They seek to destroy the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives; to overthrow the citadel, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.

They kick against the pricks to their own wounding, and rush upon the bosses of Jehovah’s buckler to their own hurt.

We know their weakness. What are they but men? And what is man but a worm?

They roar and swell like waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame.

When the Lord ariseth, they shall fly as chaff before the wind, and be consumed as crackling thorns.

Their utter powerlessness to do damage to the cause of God and his truth, may make the weakest soldiers in Zion’s ranks laugh them to scorn.

Above all, we know that the Most High is with us, and when he dresses himself in arms, where are his enemies?

If he cometh forth from his place, the potsherds of the earth will not long contend with their Maker.

His rod of iron shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,
and their very remembrance shall perish from the earth.

Away, then, all fears, the kingdom is safe in the King’s hands.

Let us shout for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and his foes shall be
as straw for the dunghill.

As true as God’s own word is true; Nor earth, nor hell, with all their crew, Against us shall prevail.

A jest, and by-word, are they grown; God is with us, we are his own, Our victory cannot fail.”

~Charles Spurgeon~

Valiant For Truth

7/17/2016

Dan 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

The Lord is a man of war, Jehovah is his name.

Those who enlist under His banner shall have a Commander who will train them for the conflict and give them both vigor and valor.

The times of which Daniel wrote were of the very worst kind, and then it was promised that the people of God would come out in their best colors: they would be strong and stout to confront the powerful adversary.

Oh, that we may know our God: His power, His faithfulness, His immutable love, and so may be ready to risk everything in His behalf.

He is One whose character excites our enthusiasm and makes us willing to live and to die for Him.

Oh, that we may know our God by familiar fellowship with Him; for then we shall become like Him and shall be prepared to stand up for truth and righteousness.

He who comes forth fresh from beholding the face of God will never fear the face of man.

If we dwell with Him, we shall catch the heroic spirit, and to us a world of enemies will be but as the drop of a bucket.

A countless array of men, or even of devils, will seem as little to us as the nations are to God, and He counts them only as grasshoppers.

Oh, to be valiant for truth in this day of falsehood.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Lest Madam Bubble Bewitch Them With Her Vile Suggestions

7/14/2016

Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

In contending with certain sins, there remains no mode of victory, but by flight.

He who would be safe from acts of evil must hasten away from occasions of it.

A covenant must be made with our eyes not even to look upon the cause of temptation; for such sins only need a spark to begin with and a blaze follows in an instant!

Who would wantonly enter the leper's hut and sleep amid its horrible corruption?

He alone who desires to be leprous himself would thus court contagion.

If the mariner knew how to avoid a storm, he would do anything rather than run the risk of weathering it.

Cautious pilots have no desire to try how near the quicksand they can sail, or how often they may touch a rock without springing a leak; their aim is to keep as nearly as possible in the midst of a safe channel.

This day I may be exposed to great peril...let me have wisdom to keep out of it and avoid it.

The wings of a dove may be of more use to me than the jaws of a lion.

I may be an apparent loser by declining evil company - but I had better leave my cloak...than lose my character!

It is not needful that I should be rich...but it is imperative upon me to be pure.

No ties of friendship, no chains of beauty, no flashings of talent, no shafts of ridicule must turn me from the wise resolve to flee from sin.

I am to resist the devil and he will flee from me.

But the lusts of the flesh, I must flee or they will surely overcome me!

O God of holiness, preserve your Josephs-lest Madam Bubble bewitch them with her vile suggestions.

May the horrible trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil never overcome us!

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Devil In Sheep's Clothing

7/11/2016

If the devil comes to my door with his horns Visible, I will Never let him in;

But if he comes with his hat on as a respectable gentleman, I would Admit him at once.

The metaphor may be very strange, but it is quite true.

Many men and women has taken in an evil thing, because it has been varnished and glossed over, and did not appear evil;

And they had thought in their hearts, there is not much harm in it; so they have let in the little thing, and it has been like the bursting forth of water...the first drop has brought after it a torrent.

The beginning has been but the beginning of a fearful end.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Therefore Choose

7/6/2016

The LORD has placed before us Life And Death today lets choose Life!

Dealing With the Past

7/3/2016

God deals with impossibilities. It is never too late for Him to do so, when the impossible is brought to Him, in full faith, by the one in whose life and circumstances the impossible must be accomplished if God is to be glorified.

If in our own life there have been rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disaster, it is never too late for God to deal triumphantly with these tragic facts if brought to Him in full surrender and trust.

It has often been said, and with truth, that Christianity is the only religion that can deal with man's past.

God can "restore the years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); and He will do this when we put the whole situation and ourselves unreservedly and believingly into His hands.

Not because of what we are but because of what He is.

God forgives and heals and restores. He is "the God of all grace."

Let us praise Him and trust Him.

~Sunday School Times~

Nothing is too hard for Jesus No man can work like Him.

We have a God who delights in impossibilities. "Nothing too hard for Me."

~Andrew Murray~