Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Spider Eats Frog!
NationalGeographic |
The fishing spider need neither rod nor reel to lure in tadpoles, fish or frogs. No catch and release program here!
Fish Fight!
NationalGeographic |
Male cichlids size each other up then smack each other down - all based on the size of their mouths!
Grace found her a maniac—and made her a minister!
(Charles Spurgeon)
"He appeared first to Mary Magdalene—out of whom He had cast seven devils." Mark 16:9
Mary of Magdala was the victim of a fearful evil. She was possessed by not one devil only—but seven. These dreadful inhabitants caused much pain and pollution to the poor frame in which they had found a lodging. Hers was a hopeless, horrible case! She could not help herself, neither could any human support avail. But Jesus passed that way, and unsought, and probably even resisted by the poor demoniac, He uttered the word of power—and Mary of Magdala became a trophy of the saving power of Jesus.
What a blessed deliverance!
What a happy change!
"He appeared first to Mary Magdalene—out of whom He had cast seven devils." Mark 16:9
Mary of Magdala was the victim of a fearful evil. She was possessed by not one devil only—but seven. These dreadful inhabitants caused much pain and pollution to the poor frame in which they had found a lodging. Hers was a hopeless, horrible case! She could not help herself, neither could any human support avail. But Jesus passed that way, and unsought, and probably even resisted by the poor demoniac, He uttered the word of power—and Mary of Magdala became a trophy of the saving power of Jesus.
What a blessed deliverance!
What a happy change!
From delirium—to delight,
from despair—to peace,
from hell—to heaven!
At once, she became a constant follower of Jesus, catching His every word, following His winding steps, sharing His toilsome life; and withal she became His generous helper, first among that band of saved and grateful women—who ministered unto Him of their substance.
When Jesus was lifted up in crucifixion, Mary remained the sharer of His shame—we find her drawing near to the foot of the cross. She could not die on the cross with Jesus—but she stood as near to it as she could. She was the faithful and watchful believer—last at the sepulcher where Jesus slept; first at the grave whence He arose!
Thus, grace found her a maniac—and made her a minister!
Grace delivered her from Satan—and united her forever to the Lord Jesus!
May I also be such a miracle of grace!
from despair—to peace,
from hell—to heaven!
At once, she became a constant follower of Jesus, catching His every word, following His winding steps, sharing His toilsome life; and withal she became His generous helper, first among that band of saved and grateful women—who ministered unto Him of their substance.
When Jesus was lifted up in crucifixion, Mary remained the sharer of His shame—we find her drawing near to the foot of the cross. She could not die on the cross with Jesus—but she stood as near to it as she could. She was the faithful and watchful believer—last at the sepulcher where Jesus slept; first at the grave whence He arose!
Thus, grace found her a maniac—and made her a minister!
Grace delivered her from Satan—and united her forever to the Lord Jesus!
May I also be such a miracle of grace!
Paul's subject!
(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860)
Paul was . . .
an extraordinary man,
called to an extraordinary office, and
being sent to perform an extraordinary work
—he chose an extraordinary subject.
He knew history,
he was acquainted with philosophy, and
he was well versed in tradition.
There were . . .
few subjects that he could not handle,
few themes that he could not discuss,
few congregations that he could not interest.
But he made the conversion of sinners the object of his life—and he chose Christ crucified to be the subject of his ministry!
No matter where he went—he took his subject with him.
No matter whom he addressed—he directed their attention to this point.
Things Which Will Be Shaken
With this last issue of the paper for this year (and it will not reach many of you until very near the end of the year) I feel a strong desire and urge to look back and on with you. For myself, it has been a very full year. So far as movements are concerned, the fullest year of my life. I have travelled by air alone twenty-six thousand miles, and quite a bit in other ways. This has involved many conferences, meetings, etc. so that there has been a very great deal given out. To this must be added all the ministries and labours of my colleagues and fellow-workers. This is not mentioned just as news or information, although it will show that "a great and effectual door" is opened to us. But I mention this because it will indicate that we are not spending our time up in some corner, imagining things, and ministering to hypothetical situations. We are in immediate and direct touch with the spiritual and actual situation as represented by a very large area. We have no hesitation, though much sorrow, in saying that the situation spiritually is very, very sad and deplorable. It is our well-considered and deeply-rooted conviction that some great and drastic judgment from heaven of Christendom is absolutely imperative. We are equally convinced that it has commenced and is moving obdurately and inflexibly across the world. Just as the Assyrians were the instrument under the sovereignty of God to sift Israel in the last dispensation, so it is most likely that the power moving over the earth today - a combination of Satanic forces with human instruments - is going to test the whole of Christendom as to its real spiritual measure. This may very well be the counterpart of what took place is the year 70 A.D. when Judaism was shaken to its foundations and fell. The Scriptures quite definitely foretell a tribulation coming upon "the whole world to try them that are upon the earth". This is something much more than Jewry.
The words quoted from the prophet seem yet to be capable of a fuller-ranged fulfilment than even the above-mentioned 'shaking'. "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also the heavens". (Hebrews 12:26,27).
There is no doubt that the Letter to the Hebrews was a supreme effort to get Christian believers detached from an earthly form of Christianity, and attached to Christ in heaven. That effort had as one of its strong reasons the fact that a great shaking was foretold, foreseen, and imminent. That shaking was to be in two parts, an earlier and a latter; an entirely earthly, and later an earthly and heavenly combined. The effect of the shaking, and, indeed, the purpose of it, would be to test everything as to abiding values. The former and earthly shaking was Jewish, but it had all the elements in principle and type of the latter.
In the destruction of Jerusalem - toward which the Letter pointed - the whole earth was shaken so far as Jewry was concerned. The Temple, as the focal point of that whole world, crashed even with the ground. The priesthood, as gathered up in the high-priestly order, passed away. The temple service ended, and the nation ceased to be an integrate and unified people.
These were things capable of being removed. And yet how long they had stood! What forces they had withstood! What confidence there was that they could never cease to be! How assured they were that God was so bound up with it all that it could never be destroyed and cease to be! How they fought and clung to it to the last terrible extremity! But it was of no avail. God was no longer wanting the framework and earthly system, which had taken so much room, and energy, and expenditure, before the really spiritual was reached. The percentage of spiritual value was so small after all, and spiritual interests lay so far along the labyrinthine ways of religious machinery and tradition, that it was not worth while. The means to the end was not immediate, that is, there was far too big a distance between the means and the end. There was no immediate touch with the real Divine requirement, and there was far too much that was intermediate. And so it had to go, and, rather than preserve it, God Himself shook it.
The Value Of One Soul by David Legge
"...he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins" - James 5:20... "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire..." - Jude 23
"A hundred thousand souls a day
Are passing one by one away
In Christless guilt and gloom;
Without one ray of hope or light,
With future dark as endless night,
They're passing to their doom"
- A. B. Simpson
Souls are passing into eternity in their thousands, so understandably we long for thousands to be saved. We cry, "Oh for the wind of the Spirit to breathe over us again that thousands in Ireland, and further afield might be swept into the Kingdom!" It is only natural to yearn for many to be saved when many are lost, but, consider: the value of just One Soul.
How can you put a value on One Soul? Our Lord said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37). Who could ever measure One Soul's torment in an eternal Hell? Or, who could appraise the joyous ecstasy of One Soul's forever in Heaven?
We hear it said "One man with God is a majority". Equally, "One Soul with God is a priority." In the beginning when God wanted to populate the planet He didn't create a nation of men, but One Soul, Adam. When God did want a nation for Himself, He didn't co-opt an already existing race but rather called One Soul, Abram, out of whose loins that nation was born. Consider the other individuals God called and see the potential impact of One Soul: a Moses, a David, a Daniel, a Paul. One Soul is still the priority with God.
If I had written one of the Gospels without Divine Inspiration, I'm sure I would have concentrated on the great multitudes that thronged Jesus everywhere He went – the crowd. However, that is not the place where the Holy Spirit rests His emphasis in much of His record. Of course the crowds are all there, yet it is the individual Soul the Spirit highlights. Take John's Gospel; among others we meet an inquisitive Nathaniel, a religious Nicodemus, and an immoral Samaritan woman whom Jesus must go on a detour to meet. In fact, even when this Saviour was dying on the Cross for a whole world, He had time for a criminal Soul impaled beside Him! John shows us a Saviour of individual Souls. Indeed even when hundreds and even thousands are converted, God saves them as individual souls not as crowds.
In recent Gospel Missions (Mallusk and Killeen) we have witnessed God convicting and saving individuals. One night travelling home from one of these meetings having heard about a person being saved, I was reminded from James 5:20 of the value of One Soul saved: "...he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." I thought to myself: it's all worth it for One Soul!
An elderly missionary lady who had been in Africa for fifty years without furlough was interviewed upon returning home. Her interviewer asked, "Is it true that after fifty years of service you only know of One Soul who was saved?...How do you feel about that now?...Was it worth it?" The elderly saint's answer was profound, she said, "I would do a hundred years for another one". There was a lady who knew the value of One Soul.
"O teach me what it cost Thee
To make a sinner whole;
And teach me, Saviour, teach me
The value of a soul"
- Lucy Ann Bennett
link
"A hundred thousand souls a day
Are passing one by one away
In Christless guilt and gloom;
Without one ray of hope or light,
With future dark as endless night,
They're passing to their doom"
- A. B. Simpson
Souls are passing into eternity in their thousands, so understandably we long for thousands to be saved. We cry, "Oh for the wind of the Spirit to breathe over us again that thousands in Ireland, and further afield might be swept into the Kingdom!" It is only natural to yearn for many to be saved when many are lost, but, consider: the value of just One Soul.
How can you put a value on One Soul? Our Lord said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37). Who could ever measure One Soul's torment in an eternal Hell? Or, who could appraise the joyous ecstasy of One Soul's forever in Heaven?
We hear it said "One man with God is a majority". Equally, "One Soul with God is a priority." In the beginning when God wanted to populate the planet He didn't create a nation of men, but One Soul, Adam. When God did want a nation for Himself, He didn't co-opt an already existing race but rather called One Soul, Abram, out of whose loins that nation was born. Consider the other individuals God called and see the potential impact of One Soul: a Moses, a David, a Daniel, a Paul. One Soul is still the priority with God.
If I had written one of the Gospels without Divine Inspiration, I'm sure I would have concentrated on the great multitudes that thronged Jesus everywhere He went – the crowd. However, that is not the place where the Holy Spirit rests His emphasis in much of His record. Of course the crowds are all there, yet it is the individual Soul the Spirit highlights. Take John's Gospel; among others we meet an inquisitive Nathaniel, a religious Nicodemus, and an immoral Samaritan woman whom Jesus must go on a detour to meet. In fact, even when this Saviour was dying on the Cross for a whole world, He had time for a criminal Soul impaled beside Him! John shows us a Saviour of individual Souls. Indeed even when hundreds and even thousands are converted, God saves them as individual souls not as crowds.
In recent Gospel Missions (Mallusk and Killeen) we have witnessed God convicting and saving individuals. One night travelling home from one of these meetings having heard about a person being saved, I was reminded from James 5:20 of the value of One Soul saved: "...he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." I thought to myself: it's all worth it for One Soul!
An elderly missionary lady who had been in Africa for fifty years without furlough was interviewed upon returning home. Her interviewer asked, "Is it true that after fifty years of service you only know of One Soul who was saved?...How do you feel about that now?...Was it worth it?" The elderly saint's answer was profound, she said, "I would do a hundred years for another one". There was a lady who knew the value of One Soul.
"O teach me what it cost Thee
To make a sinner whole;
And teach me, Saviour, teach me
The value of a soul"
- Lucy Ann Bennett
link
Monday, November 1, 2010
Entering the Narrow Gate
(Arthur Pink, "The Narrow Way")
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow gate, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Luke 13:24
Entering the Narrow Gate signifies the heart's acceptance of Christ's holy teaching. Ah, my friend, to really and actually enter this "Narrow Gate" is no easy matter! These words do not picture salvation as a thing of simple and easy attainment. That Jesus should utter such a statement, clearly implies that there are formidable difficulties and obstacles to be overcome, and that slothful nominal professors will surely not enter in.
Why is such striving necessary to "enter" the narrow gate?
First, because SATAN is striving to destroy your soul. "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour!" 1 Peter 5:8
Second, because natural appetites of the FLESH are striving to destroy you: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims--abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11
Third, because the whole WORLD is arrayed against you. It will seek to draw you by its alluring promises, its Delilah-like deceits, and fatal enticements. Unless you overcome the world, the world will overcome you to the eternal destruction of your soul.
From what has been before us, we may plainly discover why it is that the vast majority of our fellow-men, yes, and of professing Christians also, will fail to reach Heaven--it is because they prefer . . .
sin, to holiness;
indulging the lusts of the flesh, to walking according to the Scriptures;
self, to Christ;
the world, to God.
Men refuse to . . .
deny self,
abandon their idols, and
submit to Christ as Lord
--and without this, none can take the first step toward Heaven and enter through the narrow gate!
LINK
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow gate, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Luke 13:24
Entering the Narrow Gate signifies the heart's acceptance of Christ's holy teaching. Ah, my friend, to really and actually enter this "Narrow Gate" is no easy matter! These words do not picture salvation as a thing of simple and easy attainment. That Jesus should utter such a statement, clearly implies that there are formidable difficulties and obstacles to be overcome, and that slothful nominal professors will surely not enter in.
Why is such striving necessary to "enter" the narrow gate?
First, because SATAN is striving to destroy your soul. "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour!" 1 Peter 5:8
Second, because natural appetites of the FLESH are striving to destroy you: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims--abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11
Third, because the whole WORLD is arrayed against you. It will seek to draw you by its alluring promises, its Delilah-like deceits, and fatal enticements. Unless you overcome the world, the world will overcome you to the eternal destruction of your soul.
From what has been before us, we may plainly discover why it is that the vast majority of our fellow-men, yes, and of professing Christians also, will fail to reach Heaven--it is because they prefer . . .
sin, to holiness;
indulging the lusts of the flesh, to walking according to the Scriptures;
self, to Christ;
the world, to God.
Men refuse to . . .
deny self,
abandon their idols, and
submit to Christ as Lord
--and without this, none can take the first step toward Heaven and enter through the narrow gate!
LINK
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