Blog Archives - Witness And Testimony

Know How To Wait

11/30/2015

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

He shall make haste to keep the LORD's commandments; but he shall not make haste in any impatient or improper sense.

He shall not haste to run away, for he shall not be overcome with the fear which causes panic.

When others are flying hither and thither as if their wits had failed them, the believer shall be quiet, calm, and deliberate, and so shall be able to act wisely in the hour of trial.

He shall not haste in his expectations, craving his good things at once and on the spot, but he will wait GOD'S time.

Some are in a desperate hurry to have the bird in the hand, for they regard the LORD's promise as a bird in the bush, not likely to be theirs.

Believers know how to wait.

He shall not haste by plunging into wrong or questionable action.

Unbelief must be doing something, and thus it works its own undoing;

But faith makes no more haste than good speed, and thus it is not forced to go back sorrowfully by the way which it followed heedlessly.

How is it with me? Am I believing, and am I therefore keeping to the believer's peace, which is walking with GOD?

Peace, fluttering spirit!

Oh, rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him!

Heart, see that thou do this at once!

~Charles Spurgeon~

Patience Versus Endurance

11/27/2015

Always, too, we should remember that patience is something different from endurance.

It is possible to endure and not be patient.

Endurance is a very noble virtue; nothing great was ever done without it.

There is a world of meaning in our Scottish proverb, He that tholes, o'er comes.

But patience in the fullness of its import is ethically finer than endurance: it is endurance with sunshine on its brow.

Patience is endurance which is willing. It is endurance with gladness in its mien.

It is the endurance which recognizes GOD and the infinite wisdom of His ordering.

It is the endurance which is only possible when one is sure that love is at the helm and that all things work together for his good.

A man may endure with curses in his heart.

But patience has no curses in its heart. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Patience is endurance in Christ's company, and it takes the cross up with a ready mind, for it leans upon the perfect love of GOD.

~George H. Morrison~

The Battle Was Before And Behind!

11/24/2015

ABIJAH'S address is full of true and noble utterances, especially when he describes GOD as being the Captain of the Host;

And this spirit soon permeated his people, so that when the battle was sorest, and they were hemmed in by their foes, it was natural for them to turn to the LORD, and for the priests to give a blast on the trumpets, like that with which the new moon and the solemn feasts were inaugurated.

The point for us to remember is that our enemies may shut us in on all sides, preventing reinforcements from north, south, east, and west; but no earthly power can ever shut off GOD from above us.

The way upwards is always kept clear; the ladder which links the beleaguered soul with GOD and heaven can never be blocked, except by transgression and sin.

The Priest is always with thee, child of GOD. His help is always at hand.

Neither death, nor life, nor height, nor depth, nor principalities, nor powers, can ever separate thee from the down coming of GOD'S love.

The battle is often before and behind.

From behind come memories of past failure, the consequences of mistakes, the misunderstandings which have alienated us from others, and made it difficult for us to live as we would;

On the other hand perplexities and anxieties seem to bar our future path.

But when the battle is before and behind, remember that GOD besets his people behind and before, and covers them with his hand.

The invisible film of his protection makes the soul invulnerable. The life that is hid with Christ in GOD is beyond the reach of harm.

~F. B. Meyer~

My Father!

11/21/2015

Jer 3:4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

This is a child's cry! It is full of meaning. It is full of love. It is full of comfort.

It is a title which the LORD loves to hear us use!

LORD, give us the Spirit of adoption this morning, and let us see and feel, that we are Your children!

Believer! To whom will you run in trouble? To whom will you look in difficulty? To whom will you cry in danger?

From whom will you ask when in need?

Surely I hear you say, "My Father!"

Who speaks to you in the Bible? Who tries you by His providence? Who chastens you with His rod?

Who purifies and cleanses you? Who humbles and reproves you?

Again you will say, "My Father!"

Who supports the world? Who controls the nations? Who chains up Satan? Who comforts the believer? Who pardons the backslider?

Again you reply, "My Father!"

Then I exhort you to . . .trust your Father's Word, abide in your Father's house, expect from your Father's hand, and say in every trial: "I will arise and go to my Father!"

~James Smith~

Outward Separation From The World

11/12/2015

The inward separation had its outward effect or outworking in separation from the world

He was here right in it, in its throng and press, in its affairs, with everything pressing upon Him; never seeking to live the life of a hermit, detached from the world, but right in it and yet while rubbing shoulder to shoulder with the world, having all the contacts of this world in every form, there was a distinctiveness about Him.

He was not a part of it, but apart from it, a wonderful outward separation.

While being able to talk with the grossest and the most defiled and the people most involved in this world, He was yet by no means a part of their system, their order, their way of life, but outwardly separate from the world.

The most unhappy people in this world are Christians who try to have both worlds.

It is my experience that if you want to find a miserable Christian, you must find what is called ‘a worldly Christian’, one in whom a constant civil war goes on between two kingdoms.

Yes, a Christian in this world, trying to get something out of this world is a miserable creature.

I used to illustrate it by the old border battles between Scotland and England. The people who lived in the border country never had a day’s rest all their lives.

One day it would be the overrunning from one side, the next day from the other side, and these poor people on the border line had the most miserable existence possible.

It is like that. You try to live on a border-line...or border-land Christian life - and you will be a miserable person, without rest or peace or joy or anything else.

You will never know exactly where you are, who is your master, which way you are going, to whom you belong.

It is a miserable existence.

The LORD Jesus was not like that. He was on one side and absolutely on one side. The border line was a very wide one for Him. Indeed, there was no border line.

He was attached to heaven, and He maintained that attachment.

You and I, if we are going to know glory now and glory afterward, will have to be on the same ground as He was in this matter no compromise with the world; in it, having to do our work here, having to meet people here, having to be friendly in a way, yet not one with their nature, their realm, their way.

It is a difficult thing – not as easy to do as to say – it works out in many practical ways.

The point is that Christ was wholly for GOD, and because of that, His Father was the Father of glory, and the Spirit of glory rested upon Him, and the Father could give Him glory.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The Way Of Reproduction~Letting Go!

11/10/2015

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

You have a life, and that life is a great trust, a great responsibility. It can stay in its own ambitions, its own interests, its own worldly concerns and considerations, it can stay by itself.

Will you give your life to GOD, will you let it go to Him, will you put it on the altar and let the knife be taken that GOD may have it utterly?

If you will, GOD will multiply your life, GOD will extend your life, GOD will make much more of it than ever it would have been if you had kept it in your own hands.

Have you got something in your life that you are holding on to as a Christian; you are not letting that go to the LORD?

You know what it is. I should miss it if I tried to catalog the things it might be.

You know you have something where you are not letting go to the LORD.

The LORD has put His finger on something, and you are holding on.

You have an argument which you think is a very good argument.

You have a reason you think perfectly good, so you are holding on.

Deep down the truth is you are not prepared to let that go....

There are times when, in recognition that a certain course is the LORD'S way, we have to wait for the LORD'S time and see to it that our strength of will coming into alliance with some purpose of GOD is not jeopardizing the fruitfulness of that thing, and doing other people harm and making other people suffer.

There are times when we have to come back to the LORD and say, LORD, You have shown me that is Your way for me, but I can see that it is going to involve others in a great deal of suffering.

I do want to be sure of Your time in this, and that I am not taking hold of it; it is not my strength of will to do Your will.

I want to do this thing in self-sacrificing love, so that the least loss shall be suffered by others.

We have seen people who are right as to their objective, right as to what the LORD wants, but the way in which they do it often spoils the whole thing.

They take hold of Divine things, and while the thing is right, they are spoiling it by bringing their own strength of will into alliance with it.

This applies in many ways. We must be circumcised in heart to do the will of GOD, ready to let go and let GOD determine the way to accomplish it.

May the LORD interpret His Word and make it fruitful. I know it is challenging. It searches us all; we shall all come up against it.

But oh, see what happened in heaven, and see that He desires that as it is in heaven, so it shall be on earth.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The Power of Thought In Our Temptations

11/8/2015

In the government of thought - in the power to bring thought to heel - lies one of our greatest moral safeguards against sin.

You have all read the words of Thomas A Kempis in that immortal book, "The Imitation of Christ."

They occur in his thirteenth chapter, Of Resisting Temptation.

How does sin reach us? That is his question...and this is his never-to-be-forgotten answer to it...

For first there cometh to the mind a bare thought of evil, then a strong imagination thereof, afterwards delight and evil motion, then consent.

First, a bare thought - that is the beginning, and it is then that the government of thought means heaven or hell.

For if a man has disciplined himself to crush that thought-which may come to the purest and holiest mind...

Still better, if he has acquired the power to change the current and to turn his thought instantly into other and nobler channels, temptation is baffled at its very start and the man stands upon his feet victorious.

A man will never regulate his passions who has never learned to regulate his thoughts.

If we cannot master our besetting thoughts, we shall never master our besetting sins.

I think you see, then, that in the interests of morality no less than in the interests of our happiness and influence, it is supremely necessary that we all give heed to the great subject of thought...discipline.

~George H. Morrison~

Heavenly Wealth

11/2/2015

Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Many pleasing things the LORD may withhold but "no good thing."

He is the best judge of what is good for us.

Some things are assuredly good, and these we may have for the asking through Jesus Christ our LORD.

Holiness is a good thing, and this He will work in us freely.

Victory over evil tendencies, strong tempers, and evil habits He will gladly grant, and we ought not to remain without it.

Full assurance He will bestow, and near communion with Himself, and access into all truth, and boldness with prevalence at the mercy seat.

If we have not these, it is from want of faith to receive and not from any unwillingness of God to give.

A calm, a heavenly frame, great patience, and fervent love--all these will He give to holy diligence.

But note well that we must "walk uprightly."

There must be no cross purposes and crooked dealings; no hypocrisy nor deceit.

If we walk foully God cannot give us favors, for that would be a premium upon sin.

The way of uprightness is the way of heavenly wealth-wealth so large as to include every good thing.

What a promise to plead in prayer! Let us get to our knees!

~C.H. Spurgeon~