SILENCE! NO MURMURING!

W.F. BELL
I have read of a gentleman, who, meeting with a shepherd in a misty morning, asked him what weather it would be. "It will be," said the shepherd, "that weather which pleases me." And being courteously requested to express his meaning, replied, "Sir, it shall be whatever weather pleases God; and whatever weather pleases God, pleases me."

"Rest in the Lord [Be silent before Him]; and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7).

"I charge you, O my soul, not to mutter, nor to murmur, but to be silent under the afflicting hand of God. Be still, leave your muttering, leave your murmuring, leave your complaining, leave your chafing, and vexing, and lay your hand upon your mouth, and be silent. O my soul, be quiet, be silent, else you will one day be called in question for all those inward mutterings, uproars, and passions that are in you, seeing no sufficient cause can be produced why you should murmur, quarrel, or wrangle under the righteous hand of God." (from Thomas Brooks; The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod, 1659)

If America is guilty of any sin above another, it is this sin of complaining and murmuring! May we be freed from this abominable cursing at the providences of God. "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD" (Lamentations 3:39-40). "Do all things without murmurings and disputings" (Philippians 2:14).

WITNESSING TO THE WORLD

D.MARTYN LLOYD-JONES

The Apostle reminds us that at a time of apostasy, at a time of gross godlessness and irreligion, when the very foundations are shaking, one of the most striking manifestations of the lawlessness is "disobedient to parents" (2Ti 3:2)...When will the civil authorities learn and realize that there is an indissoluble connection between godlessness, and a lack of morality and decent behavior?...The tragedy is that the civil authorities—irrespective of which political party is in power—all seem to be governed by modern psychology rather than by the Scriptures. They all are convinced that they can deal with unrighteousness directly, in and by itself. But that is impossible. Unrighteousness is always the result of ungodliness, and the only hope of getting back any measure of righteousness into life is to have a revival of godliness. That is precisely what the Apostle is saying to the Ephesians and to ourselves (Eph 6:1-4). The best and the most moral periods in the history of this country, and every other country, have always been those periods that have followed mighty religious awakenings. This problem of lawlessness and lack of discipline, the problem of children and of youth, was just not present fifty years ago as it is today. Why? Because the great tradition of the Evangelical Awakening of the 18th century was still operating. But as that has gone, these terrible moral and social problems are coming back, as the Apostle teaches us, and as they have always come back throughout the running centuries.
Present conditions therefore demand that we should look at the Apostle's statement. I believe that Christian parents and children, Christian families, have a unique opportunity of witnessing to the world at this present time by just being different. We can be true evangelists by showing this discipline, this law and order, this true relationship between parents and children. We may be the means under God's hand of bringing many to a knowledge of the Truth. Let us therefore think of it in that way.
(from Free Grace Broadcaster; Summer 2008. Originally from Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home & Work: An Exposition of Ephesians 5:18 to 6:9: Baker Book House, 1975 -emphasis mine-cw)

COMPLETE DELIVERANCE- C.H. SPURGEON

“But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid” (Jeremiah 39:17).

When the Lord’s faithful ones are suffering for Him, they shall have sweet messages of love from Himself, and sometimes they shall have glad tidings for those who sympathize with them and help them. Ebed-melech was only a despised Ethiopian, but he was kind to Jeremiah, and so the Lord sent him this special promise by the mouth of his prophet. Let us be ever mindful of God’s persecuted servants, and He will reward us.

Ebed-melech was to be delivered from the men whose vengeance he feared. He was a humble black man, but Jehovah would take care of him. Thousands were slain by the Chaldeans, but this lowly Negro could not be hurt. We, too, may be fearful of some great ones who are bitter against us; but if we have been faithful to the Lord’s cause in the hour of persecution, He will be faithful to us. After all, what can a man do without the Lord’s permission? He puts a bit into the mouth of rage, and a bridle upon the head of power. Let us fear the Lord, and we shall have no one else to fear. No cup of cold water given to a despised prophet of God shall be without its reward; and if we stand up for Jesus, Jesus will stand up for us.
(From Faith's Checkbook for July 5th).

THE LORD THINKS ON ME-J.C. PHILPOT

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Psalm 40:17

Are there not solemn seasons in your soul, when you think upon the Lord? When you lie awake, perhaps at midnight, thinking upon God, upon His truth, His love, His word, His dealings with your soul, and your desires, prayers, and breathings all flow forth to His sacred Majesty; is not this some evidence that you are thinking upon His name? And be assured that if you think upon Him, He has thought upon you.

Look at the giddy multitude. Do they think upon God? Is Jesus ever felt to be precious to their soul? Do they pant after Him as the hart after the water brooks? No; their language is, "There is no God." It is not their spoken language, but it is their inward language. But through mercy you can say that you think upon God; and thus there is some evidence, though you cannot rise up to the assurance of it, that He thinketh upon you. And if He thinks upon you, His thoughts are thoughts of good, thoughts of peace, and not of evil. Does He not read your heart? Does not His holy eye look into the very secret recesses of your soul? And if He thinks upon you, will He leave you, give you up, abandon you in the hour when you need Him most? No; He who thought upon you in eternity, will think on you in time, in every trial, every temptation, every sickness, and in the solemn hour when soul and body part. Through life and death He will still think on you, and will bring you at last to that Heavenly abode where these two things will be blessedly combined, the Lord's ever thinking upon His Zion, and His Zion ever thinking upon Him.

(Ears From Harvested Sheaves for May 12th)

DWELLING SAFELY APART- C.H. SPURGEON

"Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew" (Deuteronomy 33:28).

The more we dwell alone, the more safe shall we be. God would have His people separate from sinners, His call to them is, "Come ye out from among them."...A worldly Christian is spiritually diseased. Those who compromise with Christ's enemies may be reckoned with them. Our safety lies, not in making terms with the enemy, but in dwelling alone with our Best Friend. If we do this, we shall dwell in safety despite the sarcasms, the slanders, and the sneers of the world. We shall be safe from the baleful influence of its unbelief, its pride, its vanity, its filthiness. God also will make us dwell in safety alone in that day when sin shall be visited on the nations by wars and famines. The LORD brought Abram from Ur of the Chaldees, but Abram stopped halfway. He had no blessing till, having set out to go to the land of Canaan, to the land of Canaan he came, He was safe alone even in the midst of foes. Lot was not safe in Sodom though in a circle of friends. Our safety is in dwelling apart with God.
(From Faith's Checkbook for June 12th).

GOD IS GOD- A.W. PINK

One of the most flagrant sins of our age is that of irreverence, the failure to ascribe the glory which is due the august majesty of God. Men limit the power and activities of the Lord in their degrading concepts of His being and character. Originally, man was made in the image and likeness of God, but today we are asked to believe in a god made in the image and likeness of men. The Creator is reduced to the level of the creature: His omniscience is called into question, His omnipotence is no longer believed in, and His absolute sovereignty is flatly denied. Men claim to be the architects of their own fortunes and the determiners of their own destiny. They know not that their lives are at the disposal of the Divine Despot. They know not they have no more power to thwart His secret decrees than a worm has to resist the tread of an elephant. They know not that, "The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all" (Psalm 103:19). (emphasis mine, cw)

SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONS- W.F.BELL

Exodus 3:1-6; Acts 7:29-34

BURNING BUSH UNIVERSITY

Actor Charlton Heston died recently, and in an interview made with him before his death, Heston related that his most moving experience in the film, The Ten Commandments, was the "burning bush" scene. This was touching to me, says a lot about Heston himself, and gives me many holy thoughts about the great importance of us all attending Burning Bush University.

The wording of Exodus 3:1-6 is unsurpassed by any other Bible passage, or by any secular literature. Note carefully the graphic language used here: "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb." Moses was a poor shepherd here in the lonely desert of Midian. "Moses kept the flock." That is important to know. Moses had been born in Egypt, taken in by royalty, trained and learned in Egyptian ways, words, and wisdom (Acts 7:22), but he was "cast out" in fear of Pharaoh after murdering an Egyptian. Next, Moses "led the flock to the backside of the desert." Here, being even further removed, Moses learns a lesson he never forgot. "And came to the mountain of God." What solemnity! "Even to Horeb." In the Sinai peninsula (of all places) is "the mountain of God [Elohim]." Moses had no such "mountain" in Egypt, but now he comes to it in the desert of Sinai. How strangely does the sovereignty of God guide His elect people in our experiences with Him.

"And the angel of the LORD [Yahweh] appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." "When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight" (Acts 7:31). What a sight to marvel at! Greater than anything he had ever seen in Egypt! An unconsumed, burning bush out in the desert! "And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." Well he might, and so would we. Then, the mighty Elohim-Yahweh, "called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses." Only seven people in the entire Bible had their names called twice (that we know of), and Moses is one of them. How sacred is this spot and this scene! "Put off thy shoes...for the place...is holy ground." What a sight, what an experience, what an encounter with God!

"He turned aside." If we ever learn anything of the one, true God, we must be "turned aside" from the vanities and wisdom of this world. It was the faithful commentator, Matthew Henry, who said: "Moses saw more of God in a desert than ever he had seen in Pharaoh's court." So it is with you and I. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God." Humility is a rarity in Egypt with its pomp and grandeur. But Yahweh knows exactly how to get us on our faces! And in the humbling and stripping of sinners, true "fear" grips our hearts, and an awesome reverence permeates our being. Shoes [worldly things] are "cast aside" in heart-felt repentance, and there is true submission to the great God of heaven. Yes, indeed, no wonder Moses said, "I will now turn aside, and see THIS GREAT SIGHT," for no other "sight" we have even comes close to this one.

The question now remains, Have we seen "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6)? Have we been to Burning Bush University? I can assure you that you will never see this "sight" at either UCLA or UGA, as you can only get your B.D.D. from B.B.U. = Backside of the Desert Degree is only given out at Burning Bush University! How we need an encounter with the living God today, in His grace and mercy, through our Lord Jesus Christ. May it be so!