Tender Care of God

 

He Saw You There

Purer yet and purer

Purer yet and purer
I would be in mind,
Dearer yet and dearer
Ev'ry duty find;
Hoping still and trusting
God without a fear,
Patiently believing
He will make all clear.

Calmer yet and calmer
In the hours of pain,
Surer yet and surer
Peace at last to gain;
Suffring still and doing,
To His will resigned,
And to God subduing
Heart and will and mind.

Higher yet and higher
Out of clouds and night,
Nearer yet and nearer
Rising to the light-
Light serene and holy,
Where my soul may rest,
Purified and lowly,
Sanctified and blest.

Swifter yet and swifter
Ever onward run,
Firmer yet and firmer
Step as I go on;
Oft these earnest longings
Swell within my breast,
Yet their inner meaning
Ne'er can be express'd.
               Goethe

Saved? Condemned?

Do not let your Liberty Wound the Cause of Christ

.....The apostle Paul did willingly forego those things that
were in themselves lawful, for the furtherance of the interests
of religion and the good of men..... So it was lawful for the
apostle to take the other course of life, as in eating and drinking,
and freely using all kinds of wholesome food.....But he forbore
those things, because he supposed that in his circumstances,
and in the circumstances of the Church of Christ in that day,
he could more advance the interests of religion and the good
of men without them.  For the gospel's sake, and for the good
of men, he was willing to forego all the outward advantages he
could derive from them.  1 Cor. 8:13. "Wherefore if meat make
my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth,
lest I make my brother to offend."  He would not only avoid those
things that were useless in themselves, but those also that gave
any occasion to sin, or which led or exposed either himself or
others to sin.  Then it follows in the next chapter....”Have we not
power to eat and to drink?”.....Let this induce such persons to
consider themselves, whether they act altogether as become
Christians, who look upon it as a sufficient excuse for all the
liberties they take, that the things in which they allow themselves,
are in themselves lawful, that they are nowhere forbidden, though
they cannot deny but that considered in their circumstances, they
are of ill tendency, and expose them to temptation, and really
tend to wound the credit and interest of religion, and to be a
stumbling block to others, or as the apostle expresses it, tend
to cause others to offend.  But they uphold themselves with this,
that the things which they practice are not absolutely unlawful in
themselves, and therefore they will not hearken to any counsels
to avoid them.  They think with themselves that it is unreasonable
they should be tied up so strictly; that they may not take one and
another liberty, and must be so stiff and precise above others.
But why did not the apostle talk after their manner?  Why did not he
say within himself, it is unreasonable that I should deny myself lawful
meat and drink merely to comply with the consciences of a few
weak persons, that are unreasonable in their scruples?.....But
the apostle was of another spirit.  What he aimed at was by any
means to promote the interest of religion, and the good of the church.
And he had rather forego all the common comforts and enjoyments of life,
than that religion should suffer.
                                                                 Jonathan Edwards

Poison to the Soul

But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good. 
                            Romans 2:10

1. There is Light in this pleasure.
.....the peace of a godly man, is a peace that arises from light; when he
sees things most as they are, then he has most peace; and the distress
and trouble which he sometimes feels, arise from clouds and darkness.....

2. There is Rest in this pleasure.
.....But the pleasures of the godly afford rest in the enjoyment, and rest
and sweetness in the reflection; it oftentimes calms and refreshes the soul
to look on past comforts.....

3. There is Life in it.
.....The pleasures of the wicked are poison to the soul, they tend to enfeeble
it, to consume it; and kill it.  But the pleasures of the godly feed the soul,
and do not consume it; they strengthen, and do not weaken it; they exalt,
and do not debase it; they enrich, and do not impoverish it.....

4. There is Substance in it.
.....Worldly pleasures are easily overthrown.....But the joys of the saints are
such as the changes of time cannot overthrow.....

5. There is Holiness in it.
.....these pleasures make the soul more excellent, and more divine, as well
as more happy.....

6. There is sometimes Glory in it.
.....God sometimes unvails his face, and lets in light more plentifully.  This is a
delight and joy, the excellency, and sweetness, and admirableness of which
cannot be expressed.  It is a kind of glory that fills the soul.  So excellent is its
nature, that the sweetest earthly delight vanishes into nothing, and appears as
base and vile as dross and dirt, or as the mere mire of the street.  It is bright
above all that is earthly, as the sun is brighter than the glowworm.....
                                                                            Jonathan Edwards

Seed and Harvest