Looking Back

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

The angel told Lot and his family as they were brought forth from Sodom, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. … But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Gen. 19:17, 26) Jesus cautions us to “Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Lk. 17:32-33)

“Escape for thy life” was the issue not the loss of their eternal souls. One cannot lose what is not in his possession to lose. Jesus said concerning His sheep, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (Jn. 10:28-29) If one can lose his salvation then he is greater than the Father by being able to pluck himself out of the Father’s hand. The issue is one’s sojourning and pilgrimage from the point in time of his heavenly birth until the moment he enters into the heavenly Jerusalem. He can be either a useful stone or be a castaway, a pillar of salt.

Jesus said to those that would follow Him, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk. 9:62) Following Jesus requires total commitment. Our destination is New Jerusalem where the King of kings and the Lord of lords dwells and rules. We are all guilty of wallowing in the sins of this world before we were born anew; but we are instructed to forget those things that are behind and press toward the resurrection to come. Satan would have us to look back, because looking back to what we were before will incapacitate us, a pillar of salt. Then we are fit for no service of the Lord. We become frozen by our shame and fears; our unworthiness overwhelms us to unproductiveness.

Sometimes even loved ones and friends must be left behind if we are to follow Jesus as obedient servants. Lot and his wife left many behind as they escaped from the wrath to come. Lot’s wife no doubt loved them, but was told: “look not behind thee.” Every believer must be willing to count all things and everyone loss for Christ to gain the fullness of an obedient servant. Looking forward is abundant life in Christ; looking back renders us unfit for service.

Morning and Evening

Charles H. Spurgeon
May 26, 2010

Morning Reading

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.

—Psalm 55:22

Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into His place to do for Him that which He has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy He will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this unbelief in His Word, this presumption in intruding upon His province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the "broken cistern" instead of to the "fountain;" a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's lovingkindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, and are "careful for nothing" because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us against much temptation. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."

Evening Reading

Continue in the faith.

—Acts 14:22

Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, "Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me." So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, "Excelsior." He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continueth till war's trumpet is blown no more. Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory. "It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare." Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavour to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, "Curse God, and die." Or he will attack your steadfastness: "What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do.." Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: "Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times." Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armour, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end.

Outer Man Perishing, Inner Man Renewed

Day By Day By Grace
Bob Hoekstra
May 26, 2010

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Those who learn to live by the grace of God are increasingly protected from discouragement. "Therefore we do not lose heart." This truth was touched upon in an earlier verse from this fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians. "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart" (2 Corinthians 4:1). The protection from discouragement there involved mercy and grace. Since we serve the Lord by mercy and grace (and not by our merit or by our resources), we have a built-in supply of heavenly encouragement available to us daily.

In our present verse, encouragement comes from the contrast between what is happening to the "outward man" and to the "inward man." The "outward man" is the physical person, which can be observed by human sight. This is generally the object of attention among the unredeemed (as well as among believers who are walking according to the flesh). This man is "perishing" because sin has impacted all of us.. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). Man began from dust. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Genesis 2:7). Due to sin, the outer, physical man is headed back toward that initial starting point. "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). For those who do not know the Lord, this is a discouraging fact. They often strive desperately to prevent this inevitable process.

On the other hand, servants of new covenant grace are not discouraged by this fact. "Therefore we do not lose heart." It is true that our outer man is also perishing. Yet, we see a bigger picture than that. "Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." As our outer man is deteriorating, we are still encouraged, because our inner man can be in the process of renewal: "And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him" (Colossians 3:10). As we are humbly seeking the Lord in His word, we are being changed, brought more and more into the newness of Christ: "Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

O Lord, as my outer man deteriorates, remind me of the encouraging reality that my inner man can be renewed. Help me to desire inner spiritual progress, rather than outer physical prowess. This I pray through Christ, my Lord, Amen.

Preservation is of the Lord

Daily Promises
Blue Letter Bible
May 26, 2010

Thou wilt prolong the king's life: [and] his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, [which] may preserve him. (Psalms 61:6-7)

Christ Jesus, the King of all kings, will sit unopposed upon His throne for all eternity. His reign will be kept unto everlasting. His goodness and glory shall ever be the light of His realm. And joy! We shall reign forever with Him (Ephesians 2:6)! Righteous is our way and righteous is our Lord!

But Now My Eye Seeth Thee

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

Job answering the LORD said, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42: 5-6)

One of the greatest tragedies inflicted upon lost men is that they “have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” (Ez. 12:2) They in truth cannot see their abominable state before the holy and righteous God, Creator of the heavens and the earth. They in fact cannot hear in the heart the words of God. They are by nature of such a rebellious temperament that they are corrupt in all their ways.

Have you ever noticed that out of those humans that say they believe in a God the vast majority of them also believe everything is kosher between them and God? Man has this idea, whether formed or inbred, that the God they imagine in their little minds must accept them as they are, or what they make of themselves. They have this tendency to conceive what is religiously correct for them and then this God has to adjust to their concepts. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” is not only in reference to carving out materialistic object, but it is also means not to carve out one in your imagination either. Humanity today is very guilty of this sin.

Job learned the difference between man-made religious opinions and God’s sovereignty over what is acceptable in His sight. Job heard from the very mouth of God what He has set forth and has decreed, and found it to be far above the trifling thoughts of man. Then when his eyes beheld the glorious God of all creation, he abhorred all the wonderful thoughts of himself and repented in the dust and the ashes of the earth. How tremendously different is the truth from the graven images we create in our thoughts and desires.

Multitudes make bold proclamations of salvation, but are found only to be building upon the shifting sands of human imaginations. Jesus said, “Every man therefore that hath, heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” (Jn. 6:43) When the voice of God is sent forth it shatters the graven images enthroned upon the mind and the heart. When God pulls down the deceptions and teaches eternal truth, man learns just what God in His sovereignty will accept. Then he flees to the Cross of Calvary repenting in dust and ashes.