Sound Words for Pilgrims

"In Thy light we shall see light." (Psalm 36:9)

Though trials and afflictions May cast their shadow o'er us,

Thy love doth throw a heavenly glow Of light on all before us.

That love has smiled from heaven, To cheer our path of sadness;

And lead the way through earth's dark day, To realms of joy and sadness.

--- H.W.

(pp. 161-164, Footprints for Pilgrims)

The next step we should take is the one Satan sets himself to hinder.

--- J.B.S.

Hold on to the highest rung of the ladder -- Satan or friends may give you a knock across the knuckles, but hold on.

--- J.B.S.

All that we pass through is that we may get a fresh view of Christ, or a deepening of a former one; but often we are so occupied with the circumstances, or ourselves in the circumstances, that we fail to learn the lesson God would teach us. 

--- C.T.

David's inordinate tenderness only paved the way for Absalom's open rebellion.  Terrible warning ! Deal tenderly with evil, and it will assuredly rise to a head, and crush you in the end.  On the other hand, meet evil with a face of flint, and your victory is sure.  Sport not with the serpent, but at once crush it beneath your foot.  Plain, unflinching decision is, after all, the safest and happiest path.  It may be trying at first, but the end is peaceful.

--- C.H.M.

He has not suffered you to walk smoothly down the streams of life, but by large and rough billows has dashed you on the promises.

--- V.P.

"My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work."  His will and His work.  There are not many considerations for the servant of Christ; there is only the will of the Father, and the work of the Father.

--- E.P.C.

You say, "You make a great deal of a meeting."  I say, "I cannot make enough of being in the presence of the Son of God."

--- E.P.C.

A young man in my office, going abroad, said, "I am going in for money," etc.  I believe Christians ought to have something they are going in for.  I am going in "to be filled with all the fulness of God."  Nothing less.  It is all in the heart of God that we should have this.

--- E.P.C.

I have often thought that the ideal way of speaking would be to so conscious of the Lord's presence as to have no eyes for the saints who are present.  Indeed, this should always be the case, and then one would only seek to commend oneself to the Lord.  Alas!  how seldom this is the case.  And yet, even in preaching the apostle says, "As from God, and as before God, we speak in Christ."  This would be the perfection of speaking.

--- E.D.

Simeon "blessed God." (Luke 2:28) "And Simeon blessed them." (ver. 34) When you bless God you will be able to bless other people, for all service must be carried on in the spirit of worship.  No service is effective that is not the overflowing of the heart.

--- E.D.

We are flattered into good thoughts of people, and slighted into hard ones.

--- J.G.B.

"To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)

O Lord !  Thy rich, Thy boundless love

No thought can reach, no tongue declare;

O give our hearts its depths to prove,

And reign without a rival there.

From Thee, O Lord, we all receive,

Thine, wholly Thine, alone we'd live.

Gerhardt

(pp. 157-160, Footprints for Pilgrims)

"Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." Fellowship with the Father is to be filled with His thoughts, His desires, His objects and His affections.  So also with fellowship with the Son ....  It is our privilege to be taken out of ourselves altogether, to be lost in the affections and aims of the Father and the Son !  ... Self disappears before such a blessed possiblity.  Shall I cling to my own thoughts and purposes when I may be occupied with those of the Father and the Son ?  Shall I have my own affections when I may be possessed with those that fill the heart of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ ?  Far be the thought ! Rather let me be lost in this illimitable sea of bliss opened out before me in the marvellous grace of God.

It is written, "All things are possible to him that believeth"; we read the words, do not doubt them, and yet we seldom think of the possibility of their being verified in our own experience.

Circumstances may be the form of the expression of God's will for us, but the normal thing for the Christian should be the inward apprehension of the Lord's mind.  "I will guide thee, having mine eye upon thee."  If this is true, we have to wait until we hear His voice, and if that attitude be maintained, I am sure that we never should be confounded.

It must ever be remembered that guidance is a matter of faith, not sight.

The Christian ought to be the most dignified person in the world.  We do not think half enough of ourselves as we are before God.

(Galations 6:14) If the cross be applied to ourselves and then to the world, you have two crucified things, and consequently there could not be the least attraction between the two.  That, therefore, is the true way of overcoming the attractions of the world.

When the heart is at leisure from itself, through being satisfied with Christ, the Holy Ghost is free to lead it out into all the circle of God's interests, whether as regards the church, His ancient people, or the world.

An open door in service is from the Lord, and not from man.  We may therefore, be independent of man altogether, and we shall be if we keep our eyes wholly upon the Lord, remembering He always sets an open door before us if we keep His Word and do not deny His Name.  (see Rev. 3:8)

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be."  (Deut. 33:25)  The whole force of this scripture depends upon the connnection.  The last words of verse 24 are, "Let him dip his foot in oil"; that is, in its Christian interpretation, let him walk in the power of the Holy Ghost, and then his shoes should be as iron and brass -- a firm and consistent walk, and his spiritual strength should never decay.  As thy days, thy strength shall be.

--- E.D.

 

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us." (Hebrews 12:1)

Is it some gently-stealing breeze,  The wiles of Nature, when at ease,

That bears a poisonous breath;

That slowly draws the heart away  From Christ, its Rick, and only stay;  Nor dreams, till far away,

How all is stamped with death ?

Is it some loved and kindred heart, From which we cannot bear to part,

Round which we fondly cling ?

We little know the danger here, Till that which to our souls too dear Has weaned us from our proper sphere, 

Has clipped our soaring wing.

(pp. 125-128, Footprints for Pilgrims)

Cares are most subtle things, because they enter as necessary duties, and there is no sin in doing one's duty.  But if these duties choke the word and a man loses his soul through it, what then ?

"What harm in being rich ? " a person once asked me.  If it shuts you out of heaven, is there any harm in that ?  "Oh, I did not think of that ! ... "  The evil is not in the things themselves, but the love in the heart for them.

It is a terrible thing if we, as Christians, have not this craving, this hungering and thirsting after a greater enjoyment of God: for where this is not, deadness and apathy of soul have come in.

There is no such thing recognized in scripture as a Christian doubting he is saved.  And it is all a totally false pretension of humility.  If my Father forgives me, and I doubt His forgiveness, I am not trusting Him ...  Let a man fear temptation, doubt his own heart -- that is another thing; but not doubt God, or fear God.

There may be a thousand and one things to vex me if self is of importance; they will not vex me at all if self is not there to be vexed ... What rubs we get when not walking with God, and thinking only of self !  There is no such deliverance as that of having no importance in one's own eyes.

When the eye is ... upon God self is forgotten; if not, I am thinking of the slights I receive, and neither faith nor grace are in exercise.

Common duties do not rob us of Him; from these the heart returns with fresh delight into its own centre.  It is the heart clinging to vanity that spoils our joy; it is anything which exalts self and lowers Christ -- an idle thought, even, if allowed in the heart.

If a thing is a snare to me I must give it up entirely.  "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin."  Different things are snares to different people ... It is an individual thing with God.  I cannot judge what may be a snare to you.  If it is a snare, let it go.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  Purity of heart (is) the absence of what would shut out God.

Alas !  feeble is he who even unconsciously leans upon man.

We have to watch, for the enemy always does, and if we are not looking actively to the Lord we lose our safeguard, and when distracted from Him he gets in, and often unconsciously ...  and then all the feebleness of walk which flows from the heart not realizing Christ as motive and power, the light of His presence, and the soul in the light before Him.

--- J.N.D.