black art, and hellish skill

William Gurnall,

Satan shows his subtlety in choosing the most proper and advantageous seasons for tempting.‘To every thing there is a season,’ Solomon saith, Ecc. 3:1, that is, a nick of time, which taken, gives facility and speedy despatch to a business; and therefore the same wise man gives this reason why man miscarries so frequently, and is disappointed in his enterprises, ‘because he knows not his time,’ Ecc. 9:12.  He comes when the bird is flown.  A hundred soldiers at one time may turn a battle, save an army, when thousands will not do [it] at another.  Satan knows when to make his approaches, when (if at any time) he is most likely to be entertained.  As Christ hath the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season of counsel and comfort, to a doubting dropping soul, so Satan knows his black art, and hellish skill, in speaking words of seduction and temptation in season; and a word in season is a words on its wheels.

No sooner is this child of grace, the new crea­ture, born, but this dragon pours a flood of temptation after it.  He learned the Egyptians but some of his own craft, when he taught them that bloody and cruel baptism, which they exercised upon the Israel­itish babes, in throwing them into the river as soon as they were born.  The first cry of the new creature gives all the legions of hell an alarm.  They are as much troubled at it as Herod and Jerusalem were when Christ was born; and now they sit in council to take away the life of this new-born king.  The apostles met with opposition and persecution in their latter days when endued with larger portions of the Spirit, but with temptations from Satan in their former, when young converts; as you may observe in the sev­eral passages recorded of them.  Satan knew grace within was but weak, and the supplies promised at the Spirit’s coming not landed.  And when is an enemy more like to carry the town than in such a low condition?  And therefore he tries them all.

Indeed the advantages are so many, that we may wonder how the young convert escapes with his life; knowledge [being] weak, and [he] so soon let him into an error, especially in divided times, when many ways are held forth one saying, Here is Christ, another There is Christ.  And the Christian [is] ready to think every one means honestly that comes with good words, as a little child that hath lost his way to his father’s house, is prone to follow any that offer their conduct [or] experience of what he knows little.  And if Adam, whose knowledge [was] so perfect, yet was soon cheated—being assaulted before he was well warm in his new possessions—how much more advantage hath Satan of the new convert!  In him he finds every grace in a great indisposition to make resistance, both from its own weakness, and the strength of contrary corruption, which commonly in such is unmortified. [This] makes it act with more difficulty and mixture, as in a fire newly kindled, where the smoke is more than the flame, or like beer newly tunned which runs thick.  So that though there appear more strength of affection in such, that it works over into greater abundance of duty than in others, yet [it is] with more dregs of carnal passions, which Satan knows, and therefore chooseth to stir what he sees troubled already. [edited for the blog, The Christian in Complete Armour]

Reasons to Read Gill

A friend, knowing how much I have enjoyed and benefited from reading Gill, sent me this link:

Five Reasons to Read John Gill « Reformed Baptist Fellowship

The short of it:

1. He was Reformed.
2. He was Baptistic.
3. He was theological.
4. He was pastoral.
5. He was Christocentric.

I would also recommend George Ella’s lectures about Gill, his preaching and theology:

John Gill (1697-1771): Pastor-Scholar – SermonAudio.com

 

Bearing False Witness

by A.W. Pink

The Ninth Commandment

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“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” Ex. 20:16.

…this ninth commandment forbids all false and injurious speeches respecting our neighbor; positively, it inculcates the conservation of truth. “The end of this Precept is that because God, who is Truth itself, execrates a lie, we ought to preserve the truth without the least disguise” (Calvin). Veracity is the strict observance of truth in all our communications. The importance and necessity of this appears from the fact that almost all that mankind knows is derived from communications. The value of those statements which we accept from others depends entirely on their verity and accuracy. If they are false, they are worthless, misleading, and evil. Veracity is not only a virtue, but it is also the root of all other virtues and the foundation of all right character. In Scripture, therefore, “truth” is often synonymous with “righteousness. The godly man is “he that speaketh truth in his heart” (Ps. 15:2). The man that “doeth truth” (John 3:21) has discharged his duty. It is by the truth that the Holy Spirit sanctifies the soul (John 17:17)

The positive form of this ninth commandment is found in these words: “Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour” (Zech. 8:16). Thus the first sin prohibited therein is that of lying. Now a lie, properly speaking, consists of three elements or ingredients: speaking what is not true; deliberately doing so; and doing so with an intent to deceive. Every falsehood is not a lie; we may be misinformed or deceived and sincerely think we are stating facts, and consequently have no design of misleading others. On the other hand, we may speak that which is true and yet lie in so doing, as in the following examples: we might report what is true, yet believe it to be false and utter it with an intention to deceive; or we might report the figurative words of another and pretend he meant them literally, as was the case with those who bore false witness against Christ (Matthew 26:60). The worst form of lying (between men) is when we maliciously invent a falsehood for the purpose of damaging the reputation of our neighbor, which is what is more especially in view in the terms of the ninth commandment.

New Testament scripture:

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:29-32

Natural Conviction is not Conversion

John Hazelton’s A Declaration of Faith,

We preach to sinners; we have no one else to preach to. We are to describe the condition of all men by nature, responsible under God’s holy law; we are to show its claims, and that “by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight;” (Rom. 3:20) we are solemnly to warn of the certain consequences of living and dying in sins. We are to preach the gospel with such ability as God gives us, telling of the riches of grace and mercy in Christ, and then we are to leave all with Him who has said of His Word, “It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa. 55:11)

A true ministry must be searching and discriminating. Natural conviction is not conversion; natural faith is not that faith which is “the gift of God.” Nowhere in Scripture does God speak of His work as an offer He makes, nor have we any warrant for any man offering to his fellow that which God alone has the right and the power to bestow. How many virtually tell sinners they can do the work of the Holy Ghost. This is the plain English of much modern divinity. All the feelings and gracious influences which, in the Word of God, are attributed to or emanate from the Holy Ghost, man is addressed as capable of producing; and after all the infinitely costly expenditure of the doing and dying of Christ, it rests with the dead sinner to accept, receive, believe, and so be saved. The invitations of the gospel are to character; its blessings are purely spiritual, and therefore need spiritual eyes to see them, spiritual ears to hear them, spiritual hands to embrace them, and spiritual hearts to feel and enjoy them. To throw down a number of spiritual invitations for anybody and everybody to pick up is quite foreign to the spirit of the gospel, which is for the poor in spirit, the needy, and those described in Isaiah. 61:1-3)

Is there one of God’s sent servants who preaches without feeling an earnest yearning for the salvation of poor sinners? Having experienced personally that the whole work is of the Lord, their wrestling is with Him that He would produce that wondrous life that is alone His gift. In conclusion on this point, let us ask, is there one living child of God that would affirm, “Yes, I heard the minister say, ‘Come to Christ–come now, and you will be saved;’ and so I came and was saved. It was my accepting the invitation that was the cause of my salvation?” Would not a child of God turn away from this, and sing with gratitude of heart:

“Grace first inscribed my name
In God’s eternal book;
‘Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb,
Who all my sorrows took.

“Grace all the work shall crown
Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise.”

Q & A about the millennium

Great resource for those struggling to understand the millennium. It’s in pdf format here.

Q. What is the meaning of the word “millennium?”
A. The word millennium literally means “a thousand years,” from the Latin words mille
(thousand) and annus (year).
Q. Where in the Bible is the Millennium mentioned?
A. The only chapter in the Bible where the “thousand years” are mentioned is Revelation
20. It is mentioned nowhere else, at least not by the name “a thousand years.”

Godly Sorrow vs. Worldly Sorrow

“Godly sorrow is that sorrow that drives you to Christ. It is focused on God and our affront to Him. It causes us to fall at His feet begging mercy because we have no other hope but in His sovereign mercy.

Worldly sorrow is the sorrow of religion. It is focused on me and drives me to look to myself. It lays guilt on me and and can never purge the conscience. It brings death because it looks to me.

Psalm 51 is an example of godly sorrow. David had just killed Urriah in order to steal his wife and the prophet Nathan, as the mouth of God, called him out on it. David then wrote Psalm 51. Jer. 31:18,19 is another example of godly sorrow. Israel’s history is an example of worldly sorrow.” – Ron Wood

His Finished Work Will Free You

“The life of faith is a life of constant battle against yourself. Rom. 7:15-25, Gal. 5:16-25. If we are Christ’s we need never worry about our sin causing God to be angry with us because The Lord our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, has purged it;put it away, blotted it out and totaly removed it from the sight and memory of God by His sacrifice of Himself. That is why the Apostle John can write by the insipration of God that as He is so are we in this world. 1John 4:17. Our standing before God is much more than a position of legality but one of reality, we stand before God as righteous as the very Son Of God. Knowing that I am free from the bondage of sin because of Christ I am free to live seeking His honor and glory because of His love for me. Love will motivate you to service much more than law of do’s and don’t will. If you love Him honor Him and you will find that looking to His finishsed work will free you to serve Him.” – Ron Wood

Natural Religion

On the subject of progressive sanctification Ron Wood writes that it,

“…returns the believer to the bondage of the law for righteousness and makes holiness to be less than holiness. It denies the truth that the old man cannot be improved or healed but must be put to death at the cross of Christ. You cannot take the flesh, our natural evil nature, to the hospital of the law to be healed he must be taken to the cross to be crucified. Progressive sanctification is a subtle deception of the Devil that appeals to the natural religion of works.

Now we cannot confuse growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord with sanctification. We do grow and we do learn of Christ and follow Him and find peace and rest in His Person and work as we sojourn inthe wilderness. But the old man never gets better and we must fight the battle of faith daily. Gal. 2:20″

Still my favourite devotional…

J. Hart

Lamb of God, we fall before Thee,
Humbly trusting in Thy cross.
That alone be all our glory;
All things else are only dross.

Thee we own a perfect Savior,
Only source of all that’s good.
Every grace and every favor
Comes to us through Jesus’ blood.

Jesus gives us true repentance
By His Spirit sent from Heav’n;
Whispers this transporting sentence,
“Son, thy sins are all forgiv’n.”

Faith He grants us to believe it,
Grateful hearts His love to prize;
Want we wisdom? He must give it,
Hearing ears and seeing eyes.

Jesus gives us pure affections,
Wills to do what He requires,
Makes us follow His directions,
And what He commands, inspires.

All our prayers and all our praises,
Rightly offered in His Name—
He that dictates them is Jesus;
He that answers is the same.

He is all my acceptance with God.

written by Ron Wood

Religionists can pat themselves on the back and feel self-righteous because they have given up things.

It ain’t about what you give up it is about recognizing what you are, a sinner. The old man never gets better and will always seek to have his way. It is a battle that we fight daily with ourselves. Our only hope is to see in Christ all that God requires of us and look to Him alone as all my righteousness and holiness. He is all my acceptance with God. I can never earn anything from God by what I do that He hasn’t already earned for me as my Surety and Representative.

All that God has for me is only in, by and through Him. He is our strength in our daily battle. He is the armor of God that Paul speaks of in Eph. 6. He is the truth which girds our loins, the truth that in Him we are as He is in this world, 1John 4:17. He is our breastplate of righteousness because He is all my righteousness, justifying righteousness, sanctifying righteousness and personal righteousness. He is the preparation of the Gospel of peace that shods our feet. The good news is Him in all His glorious person and work. He is our shield of faith which quinches the firey darts. Faith looks to Him not to ourselves. He is the object of faith and the end of faith. He is our helmet of salvation and the sword which is the Word.

Christ is all, Col. 3:11. He is all my hope, all my strength, all my righteousness, all my holiness, all my acceptance with God, all my peace and all my blessings. In Him I am complete, lacking nothing, and I rest in Him.

We don’t need to learn how to not do things or do things, we need to learn of Christ. Things are nothing.

Christ Jesus the Lord is everything.