April 25

What to Leave Children

The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him. (Proverbs 20:7)

Anxiety about our family is natural, but we shall be wise if we turn it into care about our own character. If we walk before the Lord in integrity, we shall do more to bless our descendants than if we bequeathed them large estates.  A father's holy life is a rich legacy for his sons. The upright man leaves his heirs his example, and this in itself will be a mine of true wealth, How many men may trace their success in life to the example of their parents! He leaves them also his repute. Men think better of us as the sons of a man who could be trusted, the successors of a tradesman of excellent repute, Oh, that all young men were anxious to keep up the family name! Above all, he leaves his children his prayers and the blessing of a prayer-hearing God, and these make our offspring to be favored among the sons of men. God will save them even after we are dead. Oh, that they might be saved at once!
Our integrity may be God's means of saving our sons and daughters. If they see the truth of our religion proved by our lives, it may be that they will believe in Jesus for themselves.

Lord, fulfill this word to my household!

"ALIVE FOREVERMORE!"

⁹ I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

 ¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 

¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; ¹⁵ His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 

¹⁶ He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 

 ¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

1 Corinthians 15:55              “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

 

 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

"And because of all this we make a sure covenant."—Nehemiah 9:38.

HERE are many occasions in our experience when we may very rightly, and with benefit, renew our covenant with God. After recovery from sickness when, like Hezekiah, we have had a new term of years added to our life, we may fitly do it. After any deliverance from trouble, when our joys bud forth anew, let us again visit the foot of the cross, and renew our consecration. Especially, let us do this after any sin which has grieved the Holy Spirit, or brought dishonour upon the cause of God; let us then look to that blood which can make us whiter than snow, and again offer ourselves unto the Lord. We should not only let our troubles confirm our dedication to God, but our prosperity should do the same. If we ever meet with occasions which deserve to be called "crowning mercies" then, surely, if He hath crowned us, we ought also to crown our God; let us bring forth anew all the jewels of the divine regalia which have been stored in the jewel-closet of our heart, and let our God sit upon the throne of our love, arrayed in royal apparel. If we would learn to profit by our prosperity, we should not need so much adversity. If we would gather from a kiss all the good it might confer upon us, we should not so often smart under the rod. Have we lately received some blessing which we little expected? Has the Lord put our feet in a large room? Can we sing of mercies multiplied? Then this is the day to put our hand upon the horns of the altar, and say, "Bind me here, my God; bind me here with cords, even for ever." Inasmuch as we need the fulfillment of new promises from God, let us offer renewed prayers that our old vows may not be dishonoured. Let us this morning make with Him a sure covenant, because of the pains of Jesus which for the last month we have been considering with gratitude.

Revelation 12

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

 

 

 

 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. ² Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ⁴ His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 

 ⁵ She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 

⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

1 Thessalonians 4

 "A QUIET LIFE"

Plea for Purity

 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;   for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;  that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,   not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;   that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.   For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.   Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

A Brotherly and Orderly Life

 

But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;   and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;   that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,   that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

1 Timothy 2

 

Pray for All Men

 

 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,   for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.   For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,   who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.   For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,   who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,   for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

BeyondTheVeilDaily; There is a delicate balance between "the quiet life, and the call to the"utter most parts of the earth". They are intricately knit together by the hand of God, an umbilical bond. One can not live without the other. The man who learns to lives in this truth, has found true balance, and entered into the promise rest of Hebrews!

Hebrews 4:1

[ The Promise of Rest ] Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 4:9
 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

Revelation 10

"THE LITTLE BOOK

 

 

 

I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.   He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,   and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.

 

When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.   Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me,

 

 

“Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven   and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer,   but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

John Eats the Little Book

 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”
 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”
And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.   And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

The Clothing of Humility - Putting on the Garments

From The Sword & Trowel 2012, issue 1 by Dr Peter Masters

Pride rages in today's atheistic society, yet a great Fruit of the Spirit is humility. Christians are called to be humble and follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a challenge but also an exhortation to humility.

‘Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5.5).
 
What an amazing exhortation this is in these days of assertive self-confidence! As Christian believers we are to be ‘subject one to another’, not assertive, not resistant to advice, not resistant to mutual admonition between ourselves, but ready to respect the experience and light of others. Then there follows this powerful command – ‘be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.’

1 Think More of Others than Self

Firstly, humility will think less of self and more of others (Philippians 2.4). How do we become clothed with humility? When we find ourselves thinking too much about ourselves and our concerns, whether hunting for self-advantage, or feeling sorry for ourselves, we must offer emergency prayer to God and switch off this whole train of thought, turning our minds to the affairs of others and praying for them.

Humility thinks more of others than it thinks of self. Through prayer and desire, with the putting to death of self-centred thinking, and the conscious redirection of our minds to the needs of other people, especially their need of the Gospel, we put on the clothing of humility.

Firstly, humility will think less of self and more of others (Philippians 2.4). How do we become clothed with humility? When we find ourselves thinking too much about ourselves and our concerns, whether hunting for self-advantage, or feeling sorry for ourselves, we must offer emergency prayer to God and switch off this whole train of thought, turning our minds to the affairs of others and praying for them. Humility thinks more of others than it thinks of self.

Through prayer and desire, with the putting to death of self-centred thinking, and the conscious redirection of our minds to the needs of other people, especially their need of the Gospel, we put on the clothing of humility.

2 A Servant Spirit

Secondly, humility is ready to do anything for the Lord. It never recoils from any necessary task saying, ‘I am not doing that; it is beneath me. It is unreasonable to ask it of me.’ If something is advantageous to the cause, or will relieve the distress of others, humility is always willing to do it.

This is not only the standard for every believer, but it is a good test or measure of our humility. I remember hearing about a young man who had just secured his PhD in theology and been appointed as an assistant pastor. He sent a letter to the church leaders listing all the things that were beneath his dignity, such as putting out chairs for his youth meeting.

Everything we have will be at the disposal of our Master, because humility is servanthood 

Humility thinks like a servant, firstly of the Lord and also of others. The model of Christian life in the New Testament is that of a bondslave who is always looking out for the wishes of his master, and this is exactly our ideal attitude.

Nothing is too much for a bondslave of Christ. Will we take up work in the Sunday School, teaching or driving a collecting vehicle, or setting up and clearing away? Or is it inconvenient because we like to rest, or read, or visit others for social pleasure, or even watch television?

To be clothed with humility means there will be nothing we will not do to please Christ, and also to assist other believers, whatever their needs. Everything we have will be at the disposal of our Master, because humility is servanthood. Nothing which needs to be done for Christ is too much trouble or too lowly for the humble person, and putting on the clothing of humility means that we tell ourselves this every day.

3 See Our Own Weaknesses

Thirdly, humility is always ready to see one’s own weaknesses and to try harder. It is naturally inclined to self-examination and self-assessment, and it is determined to be more diligent and to learn.
Humility really believes in constant improvement, and values criticism.

It is ready to see relevant points even in hostile and unreasonable criticism, because its greatest concern is to please the Lord and to advance the cause. It is willing to be shaped by circumstances or by people, especially by husband or wife, and even by children. Prickly self-defence is a symptom of pride, whereas the clothing of humility is a longing to improve.

To put on the clothing of humility includes a daily review of sins and faults, whether of thoughts, words or deeds, whether of sins committed or duties not carried out. Pride skims over self--examination, or practises it only occasionally and superficially, but the baring of one’s heart to God in daily repentance fosters a humility which is genuine and lasting.

4 Seek no Recognition

Fourthly, humility is willing to go unrecognised, unthanked and unpraised for what it does, however unfair it may seem. As soon as the thought enters the mind: ‘No one ever thanks me for what I do; I have received no acknowledgement and no thanks,’ humility sweeps that thought aside, counting every act of service a privilege from the Lord. True humility bears no -resentment.

Moses was the meekest of men, who for most of his leadership of the Israelites received little apparent praise to sweeten the undying unreasonableness of the people. The Saviour himself endured constant hostility, and so did Paul. They were certainly loved by many, but opposed and attacked by many more.
Humility keeps no record of ingratitude and refuses to think about it. So let us put on the following garment: a constant sense of gratitude and privilege that we can serve the Lord and other people.

5 Never Unpleasant

Fifthly, humility is never rough, abrasive or unkind toward other people, nor does it have a critical spirit. It is pride that returns evil for evil, that cannot bear being offended or decried. It is pride that criticises and finds fault in everything but itself. To be clothed with humility is to adopt a determination to maintain a courteous reaction to everything outwardly, while remembering that we represent our Lord and Saviour in every situation.

Great care is needed to avoid the habit of criticising others. The devil knows that if he can plant a critical spirit in us, our pride will be boosted far more than by flattery or riches. We must test all things, and criticism in the right spirit is needed to maintain the purity of doctrine and practice in the church.

But an innate negative spirit is by its nature superior, arrogant, despising and self-blinding, all at the same time. We must tear away from us the perpetual fault-finding tendency, even when it appears in subtle form, such as in a sense of humour which majors on ridiculing other people and their ways.

To put on the clothing of humility means to adopt a positive, kindly, supportive, encouraging spirit whenever possible, never rushing to assume the role of spiritual magistrate over others.

6 Always Approachable

Sixthly, humility is never aloof, but approachable by others. It will always accommodate others, never utilising coldness to discourage conversation or fellowship. It will engage with both the youngest and the oldest fellow believer, and embrace all sorts and nationalities. It has the spirit and disposition urged upon us in James 2, where the poor man is to be welcomed and respected just like the rich.

And, of course, humility forgives and forbears, major words featuring repeatedly in the New Testament.
It is pride that will not let go of offence, but the garment of humility is always ‘peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated’ (James 3.17).

7 A Good Listener

Seventhly, humility is more than approachable: it is a good listener, willing and patient with others, their point of view, their ideas, their hopes, their pains and their woes. Humility is patient and sympathetic, ready to hear out a person’s case before making a response.

Pride is hasty, always thinking it has something better to do, and if it imagines it knows the solution to people’s problems it will cut them short with its pronouncement before they have fully explained them.

Humility respects other people, especially fellow believers, feeling it owes them helpfulness, and remembering the immense debt it owes to past help from others. Pride never remembers its indebtedness to other believers, and feels no duty to younger saints today. To put on humility means to adopt a listening spirit.

8 Uncomplaining

Eighthly, humility does not complain about its present lot in life (God’s providence) but happily obeys the command: ‘Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’ (Hebrews 13.5).

Humility never forgets that believers have grace, life, spiritual understanding, communion with God, guidance, help, Heaven and every conceivable blessing, so that any circumstances that God has appointed in this world are his gracious will and calling.

Humility wants and accepts God's will, and trusts his wise providence

This does not mean that we should not strive to improve our earthly lot. If someone is living in one room and has an unfulfilling job, of course he should do his best to get a better situation and better accommodation.

Parents should desire a good home for their children where possible. But such things should not be pursued as a proud quest for superiority and luxury.

If unsatisfactory conditions can be changed, then we should do our best to change them, but if they cannot be changed for the present, we should be willing to glorify God in them, and trust in him. Humility wants and accepts God’s will, and trusts his wise providence. Humility prays for relief, certainly, but until it comes, trusts the Lord and submits to him. Humility remembers 2 Corinthians 12.7-10.

To put on the garment of humility is to shun unnecessary luxury in possessions or clothing, to avoid the cult of designer labels, and to pursue a reasonable lifestyle. (Nothing inflames pride like luxury and superior goods.) And the clothing of humility is donned when we suppress murmurings and complaints about our earthly portion.

9 Knowledge-Seeking

Ninthly, humility always wants more knowledge of the Word. It takes a very realistic view of how little it already knows of the deep things of God, and pines for greater understanding and appreciation of God’s being and ways, of how he deals with his people, of what he has in store for them, of his promises, of how life should be conducted, and of how problems may be solved from a right use of the Word.

Humility never says, ‘I know much; I can slow down; I am well equipped.’ It never preens itself on having been in the kingdom for many years.
It feels its need, fearing the consequences if personal devotions should be missed, and glorying in the syllabus of learning, which lies ahead all the way to the end of life’s journey.

Humility in a preacher, Sunday School teacher, or witnessing Christian is always improving its manner of presentation and approach, feeling these are never good enough. To put on humility is to put on the lifelong task of refinement, and making progress for the Lord our chief happiness and labour.

10 Thankful in all Things

Tenthly, humility thanks God constantly. Do we drive a car? How often do we complete a journey in safety and step into our home without remembering that God should be thanked? Pride wants to give the credit to skilled driving, but humility knows that it is by the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, and thanks him for every journey safely completed.

But we should also commit to God every journey, or at least pray for help at the beginning of every day. If this seems unreasonable, then it is pride, not humility, that has taken hold of us. Of course, this extends far beyond driving, because true humility commits all activities to the Lord in prayer. Only pride finds this tiresome and excessive. Dependence upon God and specific gratitude to him is a vital part of putting on humility.

11 No Mental Fantasies

Our eleventh characteristic of humility is that it does not construct mental fantasies or daydreams that place self on centre-stage as the star performer. It does not write a script of self-exultation. Many good people

Self-elevating daydreams and mental fantasies feed pride and involve putting off humility

will testify to having done this, speaking of how when riding on a bus, or walking about, or doing something ‘mechanical’, the mind has enjoyed creating its own ‘soap’, imagining some situation in which self is the outstanding person.

This is a particular pastime with many young people, but humility is not at all keen to be celebrated by this personal, inner fiction. It may seem harmless, but it is seldom humble, and humility sees the offensive elements, and keeps clear. Self-elevating daydreams and mental fantasies feed pride and involve putting off humility. To don the clothes of humility we should always have ready a better ‘thought agenda’ in line with Philippians 4.8, thus avoiding the snare of vain imaginings.

12 View Christ Much

Our final feature of humility is really the first and greatest. Humility makes much of Christ. Whenever his works and attributes are extolled in worship, humility truly admires and praises him. In personal reading of Scripture, humility pauses at every view of Christ, reflects and admires him.

No sight of him is passed over lightly or taken for granted, so that our values and tastes are continuously primed and shaped by him, and we want to be like him, and conformed to his image. Paul states the principle in 2 Corinthians 3.18 – ‘But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ To admire Christ above all else, and to emulate him, is to put on the clothing of humility.