“Without meditation, the truth of God will not stay with us; the heart is hard, and the memory slippery, and without meditation all is lost. Meditation imprints and fastens a truth in the mind.” ~ Thomas Watson
Without meditation upon the truth, it is no better than seeking an exciting experience. One may search for a text to stir up a moment of excitement and find it, while another may search the text to see what it says and means, find it, feeling accomplished in the discovery and then close the book. We may search for the truth, find it and still miss its application in our lives. It may be looked upon, such rich treasures revealed but never delighted in. We move on. We seek more treasure. But we are not changed by it.
How is this different from the man who treats God’s Word with contempt, seeking only the fleeting thrill of temporal excitement? One boasts in his experience and another feels accomplished having dug, found and left the treasure behind? One never sought the truth and obtained the fleeting experience he desired. The other sought the truth, found it, and left it behind.
Pity the man who studies faithfully yet neglects prayer and meditation. For it is the work of God to bring out such rich treasure and to work in his heart and it is the responsibility of the man to seek the truth, pray, meditate and obey.
It is not enough merely to seek the truth and discover it; we must linger over it in daily meditation and pray for God’s mercies that we may be changed by it.
“Without meditation, the truth of God will not stay with us; the heart is hard, and the memory slippery, and without meditation all is lost. Meditation imprints and fastens a truth in the mind.” ~ Thomas Watson
“True wisdom is not merely speculative, but practical. The end of it is to guide us in the way of holiness.” ~ Jonathan Edwards
Prayer is not a means of avoiding responsibility and coasting to the end. Sometimes our prayers sound more like we want everything to happen with such ease that we never experience discomfort, we have no responsibility in our choices, and we want everything to be smooth sailing.
When we pray, do we trust that God is sovereign and He really is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose?
Consider the prayer of open and close doors. Do we pray for wisdom and that we may be sanctified in the truth? Do we desire that we be changed and that our desires be conformed to what pleases God? Or do we ask for opened and closed doors so we have no responsibility in making wise or unwise decisions? Even then, do we see a “closed door” and beat it down, or an “open door” and walk through, assuming it is proof that it is God’s will, and if it all falls apart, it’s not our fault? Do we take any responsibility for our choices?
Friend, do our prayers look to God and seek Him in all we do, desiring to obey Him and, having our minds informed by truth, we pray for wisdom to make decisions that glorify God? Or do we read the tea leaves, seek a sign, look for an opened or closed door, or listen to see if we feel like God is trying to tell us what to do?
We have far more freedom in our choices than we often realize. We don’t need a sign or to read the tea leaves in order to know what job to take, where to live, who to marry, what church to attend, if we should confront a brother in sin, or if we should expose false teaching. Scripture is clear. It does not tell us who to marry, but it does tell us what to look for in a spouse, what is expected of us in marriage, and what person not to marry. It doesn’t tell us what job to get or not take, but it does give us wisdom in what kind of employee we ought to be and using wisdom in every other area of our life in how those jobs will affect our ability to be faithful to attend a doctrinally sound church and how it will affect our family.
What is often missing in many of our prayers is wisdom and asking God to change our minds and our hearts to desire what pleases Him. We often don’t want the responsibility of making a decision, or we’ve already made up our mind and want God to agree with us, even if it’s not His will, so we seek a sign or look for an open door.
We may find an open door, or we may have peace about a decision and be completely wrong. We did not ask for what we were told to ask for: wisdom. We did not pray according to God’s will, asking Him to change our minds and help us to make wise decisions that glorify Him. We did not seek wise, godly counsel. We sought a sign, a feeling, a sense of peace—some subjective thing of which God never told us to seek or trust.
Friend, it’s not that complicated. Pray and ask God for wisdom. Make a decision based on wise counsel and put your desire and choices up against God’s objective Word. Test it there. If you have more than one decision that is wise, choose either. You don’t have to make it so mystical and super-spiritual.
And, friend, stop blaming God for bad decisions. You prayed for an open door. You saw an open door. You went through it. It was an unwise decision. That’s not God’s fault. That’s on you. Repent. Learn from it. Stop trusting your emotions and seeking a sign to support your folly. Seek the truth. Seek wisdom. Obey God. Honor Him in whatever you do.
“Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.” ~ Jonathan Edwards
Unless I understand what a wretch I am, then I will never lay hold of grace and plead for freedom from this vile man, and in earnest look forward in hope to that future glorification. No, I’ll seek rather for a grace that brings comfort to my sorrow and affliction, but I’ll never deal honestly with the sin that produces sorrow or the sin that offends a holy God. I’ll long for what calms anxiety, but I’ll never know such fear that is a terror to my soul at the reality of such holiness that I’d cry out against my greatest foe. My greatest wrestling may be against what causes me to have sorrow or loss or suffering, against what I desire. This only leads to eternal punishment. My foolish heart so darkened as not to know such depths of depravity that lie within, and such justice as awaits me.
It is grace, and only grace, that opens my eyes to see what manner of man I really am, and it is too much for me. I cannot bear the reality of such holiness. I see such vileness within myself that I cry out against my own heart. I hide. Oh God, You are too holy. It is grace that opens my eyes, and it is grace that clothes me in His own righteousness. It is grace that calls me justified by the merit of another. It is grace that gives me power over remaining sin in me. It is grace that promises me hope and a future glorification. It is grace that promises me what I do not deserve.
Let me never cease wrestling against what remains and giving glory only to God for my salvation, my hope, the power to overcome remaining sin. Should I ever become passive or lazy, oh God, what danger awaits my foolish heart. Let me remember that until I’m home, I have no opportunity to be lazy in my sanctification. The cry of my heart is not ease or comfort, but grace sufficient that I may be conformed more to the image of Christ. Let me not reason against grace, or lazily fall prey to teaching that says, “Just relax your wrestlings.” Perish the thought.
“The holiness of God is the otherness of God. It is His transcendence. It is what makes Him God and not man.” ~ R. C. Sproul
“The holiness of God is the crown of all His attributes. It is that which renders Him glorious in Himself and venerable to His creatures.” ~ A. W. Pink
There is such an otherness about God that, until we understand this, we never truly understand what it means to cry out against our own heart. The fool measures himself by the most base standard and thinks himself good. He measures himself against other finite, sinful, wicked men. The sheer absurdity of such measurements is only understood when we capture a glimpse of the glory of God revealed in Scripture. Many men preach about God, but such glory is never set forth such as even dead men tremble, though not all repent, as there’s no work of regeneration, only greater judgment that awaits them, having heard and cast off such words.
Saints find no encouragement where there is shallow theology. The Psalms are an excellent example of observing the wickedness of man, lamenting seeing the wicked seemingly prosper and the righteous suffer, where it seems God does not hear or has turned a deaf ear, though the Psalms are also rich in the Psalmists holding firmly to theological truth of who God is, even amid such wickedness of man.
The Scriptures reveal the glory of God, and in stark contrast, they go to great lengths to reveal the depths of the depravity of man. The contrast is very clear. God is not like us! His standard is perfection. He is other. And yet sinful man, regenerate and unregenerate alike, make the grave mistake of bringing God low. There’s no real comfort in that. The truth of who God is brings real peace, real comfort, real assurance, and encourages faith.
We struggle to understand or find comfort in the holiness of God, as He is perfect. The more we learn of who He is, we wrestle with how imperfect we are. We recognize that we can never achieve such perfection. We feel far apart and like we will never be holy as He is holy. How can He command something of us that we can never achieve?
That is what is missing from so many sermons. That is what we need to feel. That is what we need to understand. Until we do, we bring God low, we minimize sin, we water down the Gospel, we never truly understand justification or sanctification, and we may even begin to act as though we may experience glorification in some way now.
Oh dear saint, we must hear who God is. We must understand the otherness of God. Then we see His glory, and then we have NO room for boasting in salvation. Then we may understand justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Such holiness is impossible for us. We are not like God. We must understand that before we may ever glory in the imputed righteousness of Christ and of the imputation of our sins upon Christ. We may then understand our declared righteousness before God because of Christ alone. We may then understand what He commands of us and enables us to become. We are declared holy, and we are becoming holy. It is all grace. It is all Him!
Dear saint, we do not find encouragement by looking within and calling forth some inherent worth within ourselves or some inherent goodness within ourselves. Neither do we look to such holiness and think because we have accepted Jesus we have made it. Oh no, we recognize that God is other, and that we are declared righteous by the merit of another, Christ alone. We recognize that God, in His grace, has accepted us in the Beloved, and He has declared us holy by the merit of Christ, and at the same time we are becoming holy by His means of grace in our sanctification.
Friend, when you find in yourself that working in you that is now alien to such holiness—the dreaded wretched man that we are—we, like Paul, do not boast of ourselves, but we long to put off this body of death, that we may be with our Lord, in perfect holiness. We long for that otherness that is alien to our sinful nature. We long for future glorification. The lost man wants to add Jesus to his life to give him what he desires, or he wants to put Him out of his mind. He wants nothing of such holiness.
Be encouraged, saint, that sin which remains in us shall be put off, and though daily we crucify this wretched man, we shall at once be wholly set apart from him, such as he has no corrupting influence. We are holy by the merit of another, we are becoming holy by the sanctifying work of Christ, and we shall be holy whereby sin has no place ever again.
Wrestle now, dear saint, for in time we shall wrestle against sin no more.
“God is never helpless, never perplexed, never baffled; Satan has no power but that which God allows.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
“God governs all things, even the wicked actions of men, for the accomplishment of His eternal purposes.” ~ John Owen
Satan is not sovereign or omnipotent. When evil things happen, some are quick to speak much of the devil—the devil being messy, the devil is busy, Satan is working overtime.
Friend, the devil is real, but he is not equal with God, and he is not sovereign.
Sadly, some are stripped of any hope or comfort in tragedy, as too much emphasis is placed on the devil and God is made to appear weak and powerless against such a mighty foe. God always seems to be “trying His best” while the devil is out here winning.
I remember a Q&A where R.C. Sproul took a question—something, I think, to do with the loss of a child—and he recalled some TV evangelist having taken a question from a caller who was devastated at the loss of a loved one. This TV evangelist then tried to comfort the caller, but in an effort not to blame God, he then spoke of how God had no control over it and it was all the devil’s doing. This so upset Sproul that he began talking to him through the TV.
You see, if, when evil things happen, we remove God so as to protect Him from any responsibility for what happens, then we remove hope. We remove God’s unfolding providential plan, whereby He uses wicked men (who are entirely responsible for their wicked actions) to achieve His purposes.
This is very offensive to many Christians. They cannot see that what they feel like is making God the author of evil is not. What they are doing in removing God from His sovereign position over all things is also removing His providence and, thereby, removing any hope we may have that God is actually working all things out for good. He is sovereign and He even uses sinful man to fulfill His purposes. While men mean it for evil, God means it for good.
Friend, if Satan were one step ahead of God and God were always trying His best, then we have NO hope, no assurance, no confidence in anything God has said or promised. We cannot take Him at His Word. God is not trying; He is not weak, powerless, and He has no equal.
Satan can ONLY act within the limits God allows. Remember Job?
Friend, take courage, every Word of God is true and God is still sovereign. This is our comfort. If we look for comfort in an easy life filled with worldly pleasures and the fulfillment of our dreams and desires, we may be sorely disappointed. But if we find our comfort in who God is then even amid tragedy we may be at peace knowing God is still God!
“Be not deceived: the world may appear united, but unity apart from Christ is always dangerous.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
“Men may agree in sorrow, but unless their hearts are fixed on God, their understanding is corrupt.” ~ Jonathan Edwards
“Truth is the foundation of our faith; compromise is the first step toward destruction.” ~ John Owen
Though at first there may appear common ground in grief and anguish, we soon see that our theology drives our response. Be careful that moments of unity in sorrow do not lead to compromise in doctrinal conviction. Here is where our convictions are tried, and where some find their theology bankrupt, others hold fiercely to false beliefs, others grow hardened toward God, and few are the faithful who persevere by God’s grace.
Some will mention prayer and needing God, but they are merely cultural Christians. They have no real understanding of who God is, and they live as though God needs them. They see such moments as though they believe in a distant deity, who spun things into motion but now it’s all up to them. They believe there’s a god, and they see similarities in different religions—they may even distinguish the God of Christianity from other gods—but they see Him as having gotten things going and then stepping back, leaving it up to us.
We see those arise who confuse politics with Christianity and think that anyone who aligns morally with Christianity and fights for those beliefs politically must be saved. They believe or in their practices show themselves to believe that, “To be a Conservative means to be a Christian.” These think they are good with God because they share in common with Christians certain moral beliefs. Common ground can be good and restrain evil, but it can lead to compromise and to assuming some are saved simply because they agree with us on moral issues, though they remain enemies of God. When they make statements and call for unity that requires Christians to compromise biblical conviction, many follow. They seek to win the world by means of the world.
Then there are those who have been prophesied over their entire lives that they are special, that they are going to do big things for God, and that they are going to be world-changers. Tragedy may temporarily cause a wrestling in their mind over what they believe to be true, but they recall what has been spoken over them and they believe they are the answer and that they are going to do big things. This is their moment. They are quite dangerous. They don’t read Scripture and see those like David and his sin, which ought to reveal who they truly are. Rather, they read of David’s heroic moments and dream of themselves as the hero. They don’t see that Christ is the greater David. No, every “hero moment” is pointing to them. They are the next David.
Few are the faithful. They remember Christ. They continue through it all, steadfast and faithful, pointing to Christ. Though there may be moments of agreement in sorrow, these recognize the dangerous doctrines of those who claim Christ but do not know Him, and of those who are deceived and following after false teachers. They bring truth to bear on the hearts of men even amid tragedy. The deceived may agree, but their understanding is corrupted, and they filter the words through their own corrupt beliefs about who God is and who they are.
Truth divides!
The faithful will stand firm in the truth. They point to Christ and find their hope and refuge in Him.
Friend, we need not be famous; we need only to be faithful. Trust God! Stand firm in the truth. Test everything according to sound doctrine. Be not deceived by moments of what appear to be unity, for while we may use some of the same language, we do not mean the same thing. Test everything, and hold firm to what is good.
Truth is constant. Compromise is costly. Stand firm dear saint in the truth. Stay faithful.
“It is God alone who subdues sin and Satan; we must labor in prayer and truth, not in presumptuous exercises of power.” ~ John Owen
“Do not attempt to command the devil; he is under the Lord’s dominion, not yours. Trust in Christ and His Word.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
borders spiritual abuse.
Perhaps some of the most egregious doctrines are targeted at children. A failure to see them as sinners in need of salvation (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-3), parents blame the devil for their children’s behavior and go to war with Satan.
Sometimes, this is in their prayer closet, where they scream, shout, decree, declare, bind Satan, and put him in his place. Their children hear it and are impressed at how powerful their parent (usually a deceived mother) is over Satan.
Sometimes it is worse than that. The parent seeks to go toe to toe with Satan, but they do so by looking into the face of their precious child and talking to Satan.
Now, if someone is talking to Satan inside their child, we are now claiming that child is not saved and indwelt with a demon.
At this point, the Gospel is not shared (Romans 1:16). The child is looking into the eyes of their parent that they love and trust, who is talking to Satan in them.
I’ll be honest, this upsets me greatly!
If this parent believes their child is a Christian and they are talking to Satan inside their child, then their child is not a Christian. Never mind that Satan cannot be everywhere at once because, unlike God, he is a finite creature and is not omnipresent.
If their child is not saved, they need the Gospel, not their parent having a battle with Satan as they look in their eyes.
How traumatic for that child!
I ignore a lot that I see and hear, but I often cannot ignore it when it involves children, and deceived people celebrate what they perceive is a victory over Satan but is a failure to share the Gospel with these children. They need to hear that their bad behavior is a result of them being sinners (Romans 3:23)—and what an incredible missed opportunity to share the Gospel with them. If the child is saved, what an incredible opportunity to remind them of the Gospel that compels us to live godly in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11-12).
Consider this with me, please. If I were to tell you that my child was misbehaving and I looked at my child and talked to Satan inside my child and told him to leave my child alone, would you say that is biblical? If you appeal to verses about demon possession (Luke 9:1; Mark 1:23-26), then we are now talking about the need for the Gospel (Romans 1:16), because clearly they are not saved, and if demon-possessed, then they need to hear the Gospel. If you say they are saved but are being attacked by Satan, then should I not be using the weapons God has given me, to pray to God—not Satan—for my child—and remind them of what God’s Word says? I’m not instructed anywhere in Scripture to talk to Satan. I’m warned against that in Jude 1:9 and 2 Peter 2:9. If you say I have authority over Satan, Jude and Peter said the opposite. I’m not Jesus! He has that authority!
Some of the worst, most dangerous, and most cruel doctrines are taught to parents who do love their children and will fight for them, but they have been taught how to fight in direct opposition to what God commands!
Parents, I plead with you: test your beliefs against what God’s Word actually says (Acts 17:11). Those passages about Jesus are not about you.
Children behave sinfully because they are sinners! (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23) Stop blaming the devil for everything and look that precious child in the eyes, tell them you love them, take them to Scripture, and share with them the Gospel. If they are saved, do the exact same thing! And pray for them—not declarations or decrees. Your words have no such power or authority. Trust God! Pray to Him for them.
“No man can be happy until he forsakes the paths of sin and follows the Lord in humility and faith.” ~ Thomas Watson
Oh wicked man, you cling to this dust. In your path is but a cloud that throws those in your path into disarray. Man chokes on your wisdom and dies from dearth of knowledge. You wretched guide of the poor, desperate man who seeks not the wisdom, power, or grace of God.
Death will be scorn to the man who awakes to behold such glory that he cast off to follow such a miserable guide, to his desperate soul that longed for what was temporal and put off what was eternal.
But the man who hears the call of God and abandons his ways—your wisdom as the world’s temptations—he cries out against his own foolish heart and finds grace and mercy in a Savior who bore his wrath and clothes him in a righteousness not his own.
He lives as a pilgrim seeking a better home and warns all on your path to repent and believe on the Lord. You mock him, you blind guide, but while his days be full of persecution, wrestling against his own sinful nature, carrying his cross, and proclaiming the kingdom of God, he will be much rewarded.
And what better than that he may see his Lord face to face?
“There is no truer love than that which reproves sin; soft words that flatter are often the greatest enemies of souls.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
Priding oneself on doing nothing and “just loving everyone” is contra-Scripture. Some take no stand against evil and boast in their position to “just love everyone.” But that is not love—not as Scripture commands us to love. Refusing to stand in the truth against the evil that seeks to infiltrate churches is not something of which to boast, but something to be ashamed. Refusing to resist evil by proclaiming the truth—while embracing useless mystical practices from the new age and other false religions—is not something of which to boast.
Many abandon truth. Why? Because it is hated. It calls men to repent. It does not feel good. It exposes our sin. It does not promise all we desire. It does not flatter us with how great or wonderful we are.
Many pastors and professing Christians do not proclaim the truth. Instead, they preach a message that offends no one, saves no one, and brings no persecution. They flatter themselves and one another with how loving they are and what great things they are doing. They boast in their love and their works while forsaking Christ’s work and His love. They sacrifice truth! They allow the world to infiltrate the church with its ideologies. In doing so, they perform the work of Satan—redefining the church and her mission in the world.
Such men know nothing of persecution that identifies them with Christ, because they cater to the world and reshape the church according to its demands. Many “churches” today are Christian in name only. Yet God still has His faithful few within them, and He has not forgotten His own.
“Every man will suffer. But persecution can be avoided . . . all you have to do is compromise.” ~ Voddie Baucham
Many have not walked in the truth, stood firm in the truth, and will never be persecuted for being identified with the truth. They are identified as “accepting,” “affirming,” “loving,” and aligned with the world’s ideologies under a cloak of Christian language. They will not reason according to Scripture. They affirm the world and call it love. They have no real biblical convictions.
Trying to talk to “Christians” who claim to be more loving because they “just have a relationship with Jesus” but reject “doctrine” is frustrating to say the least. They may be agreeable and gentle in tone, but they have made an idol out of love. In their effort to “get people to Jesus,” they remove the truth that offends, building bridges that lead men by another way.
Many “Christians” do not walk in truth, and when challenged they will not stand firm either. They want the praise and glory that comes with being called a Christian, but they do not want to endure the persecution that comes with being identified with Christ. They claim courage, but even in the little things, they stand in opposition to the truth.
Dear saint, we don’t live for the highs—we live to glorify Christ, today and tomorrow.
“Nothing will make men hate sin so much as a holy God; the more we see of His purity, the more our vileness is exposed.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
Prior to picking up this book, I looked to see what others—of the doctrinally sound type—had to say about it. Many love this book and see its benefits to Christ’s bride. Some, however, while recommending it, also have concern that it may lean more heavily on warnings and not enough on grace. With this in mind, I began listening to it. I paused one chapter in, went back, opened it in my Kindle, and read along from the beginning.
This book, for me, followed my reading of Holiness by J. C. Ryle. I suppose that had an effect on my reading it. It also came during the time of the assassination of a husband and dad—the martyr of a brother in Christ.
Seeing such depravity, with some in the world looking for answers and turning to the church, while others desperately work to excuse themselves of any responsibility for the evil in our world—as a Christian, I’m constantly reminded of the evil in my own heart and the beautiful truth of God’s Word. It is there I turn for truth, for answers, for certainty, and for the examination of my own heart. I’m not desperately searching; I know where to turn, and I know “why.”
So, as I began this little book, with these things in mind, my heart already challenged by Ryle’s Holiness, I set forth to see what Bunyan had to say.
I didn’t get far before what to some may read as too heavy, or “for those people,” my own heart was searched and examined. I read this fellow Pilgrim, who walked long before me, leaving behind words that vividly deal with the depths of man’s depravity—wicked man, deceived man, “Badman”—but also words by which any wise Christian must examine his own heart.
Am I a Pilgrim who loves my life so much that my words, echoed in time, would soothe wicked consciences? Or would, and do, my words challenge fellow Pilgrims in their journey and encourage them along their way? What kind of Pilgrim am I to fellow Pilgrims? If my words perish with me, so be it, but I will give an account for each one. My thoughts so often betray my profession of love for my God. Let those wretched enemies be cast down.
I long for holiness, and I thank God for such a desire, which I could never have mustered within myself, but which is evidence of His work in me.
Many stand in pulpits, and many professing Christians never hear holy preaching—words that, as they go forth, the Holy Spirit uses to convict. Instead, they hear words that shield them from holiness, that unveiling beauty which shines in our hearts and minds, exposing remaining sin—those sinful desires that have no place before our Lord. Many hear what merely baptizes their sinful desires in Christian language. They hear words, many words, but they are not holy.
Holiness strips away the veil on depravity and reveals what manner of man we really are. It exposes those things in us that have no place before our Lord. The Christian weeps over remaining sin. And the saint cries out to God against his own heart, praising God for the power He has given over those things, and for the revealing of them, that they may be put to death. He praises God for His grace—so undeserving.
If what we hear, what we read, and what we meditate on is constantly about how great we are, how much God needs us, and the big things we are going to do, then when the world is confronted with the reality of such depravity, such men have no answers. They believe man is basically good and that he just needs to find the gold within. He has been told how much God needs him. He has not sat under holy preaching that sanctifies. He has not listened to or sung songs so theologically rich and true that his own heart might be sanctified and encouraged in the reality of who God is. Instead, he hears words that teach him morality, self-achievement, and how wonderful he is. His deceived heart hides from that which is truly holy.
When that which is desperately wicked is no longer veiled, he shudders at the vileness of the heart. He has no idea what wickedness dwells in man. For he has only caught a glimpse of depravity. If he were exposed to the holiness of God, he would begin to understand something of the vileness of his own heart. What manner of words do we desire?
Oh dear saint, fellow Pilgrims, Scripture isn’t all about me or you. It’s about God! And He is holy! Are we surprised by holiness? Are we surprised by the depths of man’s depravity? We have yet to behold such holiness as we shall. And many have yet to see how vile a wretch man really is, and that God’s justice is good. Tell him now! Warn him! Proclaim Christ and His sufficient atoning work! Proclaim God’s Word, which is holy, that in so hearing it, the Holy Spirit may convict his sinful heart and he may be saved. Many proclaim an unholy gospel and sing songs that stir emotions but produce no holiness in those who sing them.
Leaving Beyond - Grounded In Scripture 