The Two Petitions of the Prodigal

The Two Petitions of the Prodigal
A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that calls to me. And he divided unto them his living— Luke_15:11-12
Father, Give Me
I wonder if my readers ever noticed that the prodigal made two petitions to his father. The first was: "Father, give me." "Give me the portion of goods that falls to me." 
The son was growing weary of the home. He felt acutely that he was missing things. The world was big, and the days were going by, and he was young, and he was missing things. It is always bitter, when the heart is young, and the world is rich in visions and in voices, to dwell remote, and feel that one is missing things. The fatal mistake the prodigal made was this—he thought that all that he wanted was far off. He thought that the appeasing of his restlessness lay somewhere over the hills and far away. He was destined to learn better by and by; meantime he must have every penny for his journey, and he came to his father and said, 
"Father, give me." Mark you, there is no asking of advice. 
There is no consulting of the father's wishes. There is no effort to learn the father's will in regard to the disposition of the patrimony. It is the selfish cry of thoughtless youth, claiming its own to use just as it will: "Father, give me what is mine."

Father, Make Me
So he got his portion and departed, and we all know the tragic consequences, not less tragic because the lamps are bright, and the wine sparkling, and the faces beautiful. The prodigal tried to feed his soul on sense; and the Lord, in that grim way of His, changes the cups, the music, and the laughter into the beastly routing of the swine. Then the prodigal came to himself. 
Memories of home began to waken. He lay in his shed thinking of his father. Prayers unbidden rose within his heart. And now his petition was not "Father, give me." He had got all he asked, and he was miserable. His one impassioned cry was, "Father, make me." "Father, make me anything you please. Make me a hired servant if you want to. I have no will but yours now. I am an ignorant child and you are wise." 
Taught by life, disciplined by sorrow, scourged by the biting lash of his own folly, insistence passed into submission. Once he knew no will but his own will. He must have it, or he would hate his father. Once the only proof of love at home was the getting of the thing that he demanded. But now, "Father, I leave it all to thee. Thou art wise; I have been very foolish. Make me—anything thou pleasest."

Insisting on Nothing, He Got Everything
And surely it is very noteworthy that it was then he got the best. He never knew the riches in the home till he learned to leave things to his father. When he offered his first petition, "Father, give me," the story tells us that he got the money. He got it, and he spent it; in a year he was in rags and beggary. But when the second petition, "Father, make me," welled up like a tide out of the deeps, he got more than he had ever dreamed. "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." 
He got the garment of the honored guest. "Bring shoes and put them on his feet, and a ring and put it on his finger." 
All that was best and choicest in the house, the laid-up riches of his father's treasuries were lavished now on the dusty, ragged child. Insisting on nothing, he got everything. 
Demanding nothing, he got the choicest gifts. Willing to be whatever his father wanted, there was nothing in the house too good for him. 
The ring, the robe, the music and the dancing, the vision of what a father's love could be, came when the passionate crying of his heart was, "Father, make me"—anything thou pleasest.

I think that is the way the soul advances when it is following on to know the Lord. Deepening prayers tell of deepening life. 
Not for one moment do I suggest that asking is not a part of prayer. "Ask, and it shall be given you." "Give us this day our daily bread." 
I only mean that as experience deepens we grow less eager about our own will, and far more eager to have no will but His. Disciplined by failure and success, we come to feel how ignorant we are. We have cried "Give," and He has given, but sent leanness to our soul (Psa_106:15). And all the time we were being trained and taught, for God teaches by husks as well as prophets, to offer the deep petition, "Father, make me." He gives, and we bless the Giver. He withholds, and we do not doubt His love. We leave all that to Him who knows us, and who sees the end from the beginning. Like the prodigal, we learn a wiser prayer than the fierce insistence of our youth. 
It is, "Father, make me"—whatso'er Thou pleasest.

Christ's Prayer
Might I not suggest that this was peculiarly the prayer of the Savior? The deepest passion of the Savior's heart rings out in the petition, "Father, make Me." Not "Father give Me bread, for I am hungry; give Me angels, for I stand in peril." Had He prayed for angels in that hour of peril, He tells us they would have instantly appeared. But, "Father, though there be scorn and shame in it, and agony, and the bitterness of Calvary, Thy will be done; make Me what Thou wilt." 
How gloriously that prayer was answered, even though the answer was a cross! God made Him (as Dr. Moffatt puts it) our wisdom, that is our righteousness and consecration and redemption. 
Leave, then, the giving in His hands. He will give that which is good. With the prodigal, and the Savior of the prodigal, let the soul's cry be, "Father, make me."

The Name and Fame of Jesus

The Name and Fame of Jesus

“There is salvation in no other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Act_4:12).

Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other,.... Meaning not corporeal healing, but spiritual and eternal salvation; the Syriac version renders it, neither is there פורקנא, "redemption in any other": Christ is the only Saviour and Redeemer, who was promised and prophesied of as such; who has saved and redeemed his people from the law, sin, and Satan; nor is salvation to be sought and hoped for from any other; not in a man's self, nor in any other creature, angels or men; not in and by his own works, and legal righteousness; not by obedience to the law of Moses, moral or ceremonial; nor by the light of nature, much less by an observance of the traditions of the elders: 

for there is none other name; thing or person, be it ever so great, or whatever show of power and strength, of holiness and religion, it makes; as the name of kings, princes, and the great men in the world; or of ministers and preachers in the church; or even of Christians and believers, which may be only a name to live; none but the name of Jesus, his person, blood, and righteousness: 

under heaven: throughout the whole earth, in all the nations and kingdoms of it; nor even in heaven itself, among all the mighty angels there, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers; none but the Father and the Spirit, who are one with Christ: there is none but he 

given among men; and he has been freely given by his Father, as an instance of his matchless love to the world; and also freely given by himself, to be a sacrifice for the sins of his people; and is freely preached among men, as the only Saviour of them; for there is no other, 


whereby we must be saved: God resolved in his purposes and decrees, in his council and covenant, upon the salvation of his chosen people; and he appointed his Son to be the salvation of them, and determined he would save them by him, and by no other, and in no other way; wherefore, whoever are saved, must be saved by him, see Hos_1:7 the Arabic version adds, "unless by him only".

There is only one name that opens heaven’s doors and God’s heart—the name of Jesus. There is only one name that breaks the power of sin and sets the captive free—the name of Jesus. There is only one name worthy of all praise, and deserving of your allegiance—the name of Jesus.

Early on in His public ministry the name and fame of Jesus spread like a prairie fire on a windy day. People all throughout the region—rich and poor, king and commoner, Jew and Gentile—all heard of Him; for His fame was ever-increasing.

His death on the Cross did not have the effect the rulers of the day had hoped. He rose from the dead and His followers became invincible in their faith—so much in fact that in ever-widening circles the number of disciples increased vastly in Jerusalem; and many of the Jewish priests were themselves converted as well.

Paul the Apostle, a few years later wrote, “Finally, dear brothers, as I come to the end of this letter, I ask you to pray for us. Pray first that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and triumph wherever it goes, winning converts everywhere as it did when it came to you” (2Th_3:1, Living Bible).

Jesus Christ! 
He is peerless in His exaltation, 
unrivaled in His Lordship, 
incomparable in His grace, 
invincible in His power, 
unassisted in His work as Redeemer, 
matchless in His mercy, 
adored in His glory 
and worshiped in the beauty of His holiness. 

In His birth is our significance. 
In His life is our example. 
In His death is our forgiveness. 
In His resurrection is our hope. 
In His Second Coming is our consummate glory!

Isaiah spoke for us all when he said, 
“Lord, Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts” (Isa_28:8, NIV).

Friends, we live in a fallen world where hostilities toward God run high and hot. For this reason we must become men and women of vision, passion, discipline and risk—laying ourselves out for the high honor of one Name alone…the name of Jesus.

It is a bold act in a day when all other names are exalted 
but this One, and to associate with this One is scandalized with every argument the mind of man can muster. 
But when all is said and done, and the debris of man’s fallen empires lays in shamble at Heaven’s door — 
Jesus will be there to welcome you, saying, 
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit,.... "The Lord", to whom the heart is turned, when the veil is removed, is Jesus Christ; and He is "that Spirit", or "the Spirit": He, as God, is of a spiritual nature and essence; He is a spirit, as God is said to be, John_4:24 He is the giver of the Spirit of God, and the very life and spirit of the law, without whom as the end of it, it is a mere dead letter: or rather as by Moses in 2Co_3:15 is meant, the law of Moses, so by the "Lord" here may be meant the Gospel of Christ: and this is that Spirit, of which the apostles were made ministers, and is said to give life, 2Co_3:6. 

And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;  where He is as a spirit of illumination, there is freedom from former blindness and darkness; where He is as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, there is freedom from the bondage of sin, and captivity of Satan; where He is as a comforter, there is freedom from the fear of hell, wrath, and damnation: where He is as a spirit of adoption, there is the freedom of children with a father; where He is as a spirit of prayer and supplication, there is liberty of access to God with boldness, Though rather the Gospel as attended with the Spirit of God, in opposition to the law, is here designed; and which points out another difference between the law and the Gospel; where the law is, there is bondage, it genders to it; it has a natural tendency to it: quite contrary is this to what the Jews (i) say, who call the law, חירות, "liberty": and say, 

"that he that studies in the law, hath חירו מכלא, "freedom from everything":'' 

whereas it gives freedom in nothing, but leads into, and brings on persons a spirit of bondage; it exacts rigorous obedience, where there is no strength to perform; it holds men guilty, curses and condemns for non-obedience; so that such as are under it, and of the works of it, are always under a spirit of bondage; they obey not from love, but fear, as servants or slaves for wages, and derive all their peace and comfort from their obedience: but where the Gospel takes place under the influence of the Spirit of God, there is liberty; not to sin, which is contrary to the Gospel, to the Spirit of God in believers, and to the principle of grace wrought in their souls; but a liberty from the bondage and servitude of it: a liberty from the law's rigorous exaction, curse, and condemnation, and from the veil of former blindness and ignorance. 

(i) Zohar in Gen. fol. 90. 1. & in Exod. fol. 72. 1. & in Numb. fol. 73. 3.

For the righteous LORD loves justice

Whatever Happened to Virtue?

“For the righteous LORD loves justice. The virtuous will see His face.” (Psa_11:7, Living Bible)

Whatever happened to VIRTUE?

It’s a word we don’t often hear much anymore. It didn’t use to be that way. A glance down the Hallway of History is illuminated with many great quotes regarding virtuous living. Here are but a few choice examples:

⦁ “Even in decline, a virtuous man increases the beauty of his behavior. A burning stick, though turned to the ground, yet has its flame drawn upwards.”(Saskya Pandita, Tibetan Monk, 1120).
⦁ “When a virtuous man is raised, it brings gladness to his friends, grief to his enemies, and glory to his posterity.” So said William Johnson, English Dramatist, 1572.
⦁ “No people can be great who have ceased to be virtuous.” (Samuel Johnson, English poet 1750).
⦁ Benjamin Franklin picked up on this and said, “There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.” (1780).
⦁ During the crisis of the Civil War, Frederick Douglas said, “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” (1865).

I ask again, Whatever happened to Virtue? Somewhere along the way we shifted gears and covertly turned a cold shoulder to such notions. And now we are a Nation more given to Vice than to Virtue. How did this happen?

Somewhere back there several years ago, a group of so-and-so’s decided to do a social experiment, which was founded upon the faulty notion that Life and all things in it is better without God. And they call this Enlightenment.

According to these illuminated and superior souls — Business is better without God. Politics are better without God. Education is better without God. Sex is better without God. Money is better without God. Society is better without God. The Arts are better without God.

But, clearly, such thinking is pure nonsense — and we see the full fruit of these sown seeds now shown openly in the dismal indifference which characterizes a society of non-virtuous people. Selfishness trumps self-sacrifice; personal interests take priority over the needs and concerns of others; petty arguments have replaced great debates — and this little piggy said, “ME, ME, ME,” all the way home.

But God is moving among us even still. He is summoning a people who hunger for that which is virtuous. Maybe you are one of them, and your heart is being drawn to the higher and nobler things of God. If that be so, then let me leave you today with Paul’s timeless counsel, and we’ll talk more about this tomorrow.

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.” Ask God to reveal the hidden things that are unshakable and that never pass away.   And to fill the inner you of His reality through Jesus Christ and the power of God the Holy Spirit. (Php_4:8).

proverbs 19:21 and Luke 1: 79

 I Am Lord ! Seek me as friend and lover of your soul, but remember that I am also king of kings- sovereign over all. You can make some plans as you gaze into the day that stretches out before you. But you need to hold those plans tentatively, anticipating that I may have other ideas. The most Important thing to determine is what to do right now. Instead of scanning the horizon of your life, looking for things that need to be done, concentrate on the task before you and the one who never leaves your side.

Thou art fairer than the children of men.

What Does “the Meek Will Inherit the Earth” Mean?

click on the link above to watch the video.

“Thou art fairer than the children of men.”

- Psa_45:2

The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and His life is all along but one impression of the seal. He is altogether complete; not only in His several parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of fair colours mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon another; He is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In Him, all the “things of good repute” are in their proper places, and assist in adorning each other. Not one feature in His glorious person attracts attention at the expense of others; but He is perfectly and altogether lovely.

Oh, Jesus! thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality, are all woven in one gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord; thou art many, and yet not divided; thou art all things, and yet not diverse. 

As all the colours blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and earth meet in thee, and unite so wondrously, that there is none like thee in all things; nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were bound in one bundle, they could not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection. Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God hath reserved for thee alone; and as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the apothecary; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

“Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection

Of many perfects, to make one perfection!

Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet

In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!”

By sin, is meant every sin

M“Out of sheer generosity God put us in right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ. He sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin” (Romans 3:24–25 The Message)

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death,.... By sin, is meant every sin, thought, word, and deed, original sin, actual sin, every kind of sin, lesser and greater: the "death" which sin deserves, is a corporeal death; 

which is not owing to the original nature and constitution of men; nor merely to the divine appointment; but to sin, and the decree of God, on account of it; which is inflicted on Christ-less sinners, as a punishment for sin, though not on believers as such, because Christ has took away the sting and curse of it: a death of diseases and afflictions also follows upon sin, as its proper demerit; which are properly punishments to wicked men, and are occasioned by sin in believers: there is a death of the soul, which comes by sin, which lies in an alienation from God, in a loss of the image of God, and in a servitude to sin; and there is an eternal death, the just wages of sin, which lies in a separation of soul and body from God, and in a sense of divine wrath to all eternity; and which is here meant, as is clear from its antithesis, "eternal life", in the next clause. Now this is "the wages" of sin; sin does in its own nature produce it, and excludes from life; it is the natural issue of it; sin is committed against an infinite God, and righteously deserves such a death; it is its just wages by law. The Greek word οψωνια, signifies soldiers' wages; see Luke_3:14 and in  "At which time Simon rose up, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them wages,'' (1 Maccabees 14:32) 


Sin is represented as a king, a mighty monarch, a tyrannical prince; sinners are his subjects and vassals, his servants and soldiers, who fight under him, and for him, and all the wages they must expect from him is death. So the word is interpreted in the Glossary, μισθος στρατιωτικος, "soldiers' wages"; and so it is used by the Jewish writers, being adopted into their language; of a king, they say , that he should not multiply to himself gold and silver more than to pay אספניא, which they "the hire of armies", or the wages of soldiers for a whole year, who go in and out with him all the year; so that it denotes wages due, and paid after a campaign is ended, and service is over; and, as here used, suggests, that when men have been all their days in the service of sin, and have fought under the banners of it, the wages they will earn, and the reward that will be given them, will be death: and it is frequently observed by the Jewish doctors  "there is no death without sin": 



sin is the cause of death, and death the fruit and effect of sin: 



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but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. These words, at first sight, look as if the sense of them was, that eternal life is the gift of God through Christ, which is a great and glorious truth of the Gospel; but their standing in opposition to the preceding words require another sense, namely, that God's gift of grace issues in eternal life, through Christ: wherefore by "the gift of God" is not meant eternal life, but either the gift of a justifying righteousness, or the grace of God in regeneration and sanctification, or both, which issue in eternal life; the one is the saints' right and title, the other their meetness for it: so that as death is the wages of sin, and is what that issues in, and brings unto, eternal life is the effect of grace, or what the grace of God in justifying and sanctifying his people issues in; even a life free from all sorrow and imperfection; a life of the utmost perfection and pleasure, and which will last for ever: and as the grace of God, which justifies and sanctifies them, is "through Christ", so is the eternal life itself which it brings unto: this is in Christ, comes through his righteousness, sufferings, and death; is bestowed by him, and will greatly consist in the enjoyment of him. All grace is the gift of God, and is freely given, or otherwise it would not be grace; particularly the justifying righteousness of Christ is the gift of God; and the rather this may be meant here, since the apostle had been treating of it so largely before, and had so often, in the preceding chapter, called it the gift of righteousness, the free gift, and gift by grace, and justification by it, the justification of life, because it entitles to eternal life, as here: it may be said to issue in it; for between justification and glorification there is a sure and close connection; they that are justified by the righteousness of Christ, are certainly glorified, or enjoy eternal life; and though this may be principally intended here, yet is not to be understood to the exclusion of other gifts of grace, which have the same connection and issue: thus, for instance, faith is the gift of God, and not of a man's self, and he that has it, has eternal life, and shall, Or ever possess it; repentance is a free grace gift, it is a grant from the Lord, and it is unto life and salvation; and on whomsoever the grace of God is bestowed, so as to believe in Christ for righteousness, and truly repent of sin, these shall partake of eternal glory. It may be observed, that there is a just proportion between sin, and the wages of it, yet there is none between eternal life, and the obedience of men; and therefore though the apostle had been pressing so much obedience to God, and to righteousness, he does not make eternal life to be the fruit and effect of obedience, but of the gift of the grace of God. 

The Foundation of Our Faith

The Foundation of Our Faith The Foundation of Our Faith 2 Timothy 2:19 The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them."1 The great fact on which genuine faith relies is that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,"2 and that "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God";3 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree";4"Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."5 In one word, the great pillar of the Christian's hope is substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty, Christ being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, Christ offering up a true and proper expiatory and substitutionary sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave Him, who are known to God by name and are recognized in their own hearts by their trusting in Jesus—this is the cardinal fact of the Gospel. If this foundation were removed, what could we do? But it stands firm as the throne of God. We know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be stirred and moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversation. In these days a direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the Atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth, will proclaim it confidently and unceasingly and in defiance of them. We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor distort it in any shape or fashion. It shall still be Christ, apositive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering in the place of men. We cannot, dare not give it up, for it is our life, and despite every controversy we affirm that "God's firm foundation stands." 12 Corinthians 5:19 2John 1:14 31 Peter 3:18 41 Peter 2:24 5Isaiah 53:5 Family Bible reading plan verse 1 Isaiah 53 verse 2 Matthew 1 Click here to learn more about Truth For Life  From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. The Way Of The Master or click here!               The Man Christ Jesus HOW TO GET SAVED VIDEOS

Obedience and the Lordship of Jesus

Obedience and the Lordship of Jesus
But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord," and do not do the things which I say? . . . Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them . . . [and] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 
 (Luke_6:46 and Mat_28:19-20)
As servants of the new covenant of grace, the Lordship of Jesus is part of our message. "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2Co_4:5). 
The early church proclaimed Jesus as Lord. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ . . . The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all . . . believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved . . . Then Paul dwelt two whole years . . . teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ" (Act_2:36; Act_10:36; Act_16:31; and Act_28:30-31).  
The scriptures often emphasize the fact that Jesus is our Lord. The opening verses of Paul's first letter to Corinth are a clear example. "Paul . . . to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus . . . with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord . . . Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . . . you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Co_1:1-10).  
Clearly, it is right for followers of Jesus to call Him Lord. Yet, to call Him Lord and then disobey Him is a contradiction. "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? " After believing in Jesus and identifying with Him in water baptism, disciples are to be growing in obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." As we are learning to walk in obedience, Jesus is ever present with us. 
"I am with you always." Day by day, He offers the grace we need for obedience: "Declared to be the Son of God with power . . .  through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith" (Rom_1:4-5). 
Lord Jesus, I long for my verbal confession of Your Lordship to be validated by my daily growth in obedience. You are my Master. Grant me grace each day to be obedient to the faith, in Your sovereign name I pray, Amen.

Be gentle unto all men.- Youth is the best time for religious consideration and decision

“At evening time it shall be light.”
Ecc_11:9-10
We shall read once more in the book of Ecclesiastes, and for that purpose shall select the wise mans famous address to the young in—Ecc_11:9-10.
Ecc_11:9
Solomon does, as it were, dare the young man to seek his own pleasure and throw the reins upon the neck of his passions, but he warns him of the price to be paid, that he may see that the game will not be worth the candle. It can never be worth while to sin, if it be indeed true that every sin will meet with punishment.
Ecc_11:10
There is a way of making youth truly joyous, let the wise young man try it. Our young days will soon be over, let us make them as happy as we can, and live while we live. Everyone agrees with this advice, but few know that the best way of carrying it out is to obtain salvation by believing in Jesus.
Ecc_12:1-7; Ecc_12:13-14
Ecc_12:1
Youth is the best time for religious consideration and decision. In old age little heart and little ability are left for the weighty themes of eternity; infirmity and general decay unfit the mind for contemplating subjects to which it has been all its life long unaccustomed. O that young people would beware of delay, and for ever renounce the idea that advanced years are favourable to conversion. No tree is so easily bent as the green sapling.
Ecc_12:2
meaning that in old age sicknesses are many, and are more keenly felt than in our prime.
Ecc_12:3
the arms are no longer powerful
Ecc_12:3
the old mans legs totter beneath his weight
Ecc_12:3
his teeth are almost gone
Ecc_12:3
the eyes grow dim.
Ecc_12:4
the senses are gradually closed, both ears and eyes become as doors shut up
Ecc_12:4
his nights are weary, the first crowing of the cock awakes him,
Ecc_12:4
his own voice is gone, and he is no longer able to hear the voice of others.
Ecc_12:5-6
aged men are full of anxieties, enterprise and courage fail
Ecc_12:5-6
The spinal cord, the skull, the heart, and the circulation of the blood are here set forth under beautiful imagery; all these fail us in death.
Ecc_12:14
This, then, is the sum of the matter, but the question is, how are we to fullfil the whole duty of man? We may rest assured that it is quite out of our power to do so of ourselves. Only in Christ Jesus can we find the law fulfilled, and he is ours if we believe on him: this is wisdom, Solomon had been wiser had he known nothing but this.

“Be gentle unto all men.”
2Ch_9:31
2Ch_9:31
So ended the wisest man, and so must we all end; there is no discharge in this war. What a change came over the nation when the great ruler passed the sceptre into the hands of his feeble successor. Sad is it when great fathers have foolish sons.
2Ch_10:3-4
The people had felt the government of Solomon to be too despotic, and they determined before they allowed his successor to take the crown, to bind him down to constitutional measures. Their hope of liberty lay in threatening to set up another king if Rehoboam would not grant them a charter.
2Ch_10:5
He did well to take time for consideration. Important steps ought not to be taken in a hurry; we may do in an hour what we cannot undo in a lifetime.
2Ch_10:7
Full often we must stoop to conquer. To yield a little in order to gain much is wise policy. The people had a right to what they asked, and the young prince should have granted their demands with a hearty good grace, and then he would have been the beloved monarch of an enthusiastic people.
2Ch_10:8; 2Ch_10:10-11
These young aristocrats thought it dangerous to humour the people, for what might they not ask next? Let them be at once put down with an iron hand; to consent to their demands would only inflate them with pride, and lead to yet further insubordination. We have heard men talk in this fashion in our own day, but we judged them to be vain fellows. If the people ask for right things, let them have them, and no hurt can come of it.
2Ch_10:16; 2Ch_10:19
Thus was the sin of Solomon visited on Rehoboam his son, but not unjustly, for the unwise action of Rehoboam naturally led to the breaking away of the ten tribes. God’s ways are always just, and we may rest assured that if he seems to act unjustly, it is not really the case. His ways are equal, and in the end men will confess that it is so.

When any turn from Zion’s way,
(Alas, what numbers do!)
Methinks I hear my Saviour say,
“Wilt thou forsake me too?”

Ah, Lord! with such a heart as mine,
Unless thou hold me fast,
I feel I must, I shall decline,
And prove like them at last.

How vain are all things here below!
How false, and yet how fair!
Each pleasure hath its poison too,
And ev’ry sweet a snare.

Dear Saviour! let thy beauties be
My soul’s eternal food;
And grace command my heart away
From all created good.

I thirst, but not as once I did,
The vain delights of earth to share;
Thy wounds, Immanuel, all forbid
That I should seek my pleasures there.

It was the sight of thy dear cross
First wean’d my soul from earthly things;
And taught me to esteem as dross
The mirth of fools and pomp of kings.

Jesus, my Saviour, is enough,
When all is gone and spent;
He fills and over-fills my soul,
Thus I am pure content.

My covenant with flesh and blood,
And every sinful thing,
Is broken, and is stedfast made,
With Jesus Christ my king.

Vanish from me, ye objects vain,
All scenes of lower kind;
A pleasure equal to my wish
In God alone I find.

Lord, season all my speech
With thine own Spirit’s salt,
And never let excess of words
Become my grievous fault.

Let grace dwell in my heart,
So shall it rule my tongue,
And all my faculties for thee
Become a harp well strung.

Each word a note of praise,
Each speech a line of song,
Thus like the angels round thy throne,
I’ll praise thee all day long.

Hear ye not a voice from heaven,
To the listening spirit given?
“Children, come,” it seems to say;
“Give your hearts to me to-day.”

While our day is in its dew,
And the clouds of life are few,
Jesu, may we hear thy voice,
And in thy dear love rejoice.

Then, when night and age appear,
Thou wilt chase each doubt and fear:
Thou our glorious Leader be,
When the stars shall fade and flee.

Now to thee, O Lord, we come,
In the morning’s early bloom:
Breathe on us thy grace divine;
Touch our hearts, and keep them thine.

Think gently, and as gently speak,
If thou art strong, respect the weak;
If thou art weak, from what thou art,
Judge gently of another’s heart.

For gentle thoughts and gentle words
Were ever thy dear Saviour Lord’s;
Shall worms a fellow-worm reprove,
When the great holy God is Love?

Therefore be gentle, O my soul!
Thy thoughts and words alike control;
And if thou must in aught decide,
Err ever on the gentle side.

The cross stands as witness
To the power of love so complete
By this love we are covered
By Your grace our hearts set free

This is our hope/Jesus our hope
This is our peace/Jesus our peace

Savior of the World
Your blood bought my freedom
A body broken atoned for my sin
You gave it all for love
So that I might know you
Jesus our hope You are salvation

Savior of the World

Great is the mercy flowing
From the wounds in Your hands and Your feet
All of my sin is now washed away
By the cleansing blood of the Lamb
CCLI Song #5162213
(c) 2010 Destinysong
http://www.destinysong.com

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The Call of the Fishermen

The Call of the Fishermen
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught .... And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fish: and their net broke— Luke_5:4-6

Christ Singles Out an Individual's Disappointment
It was not easy for Jesus Christ to be alone, men were so eager and so curious about Him. Not only did they crowd round Him in the villages, where at any moment there might be a work of healing, but they also watched Him as He stole away into retirement, among the hills, or by the seashore. Our lesson opens, then, with Jesus at the seaside, and there, as in Capernaum, there is a great crowd round Him, eager to listen to the Word of God. Then Jesus steps into one of the fishing boats and preaches there—note the many and strange pulpits in which Christ preached. And when the sermon was over, and Jesus was doubtless weary—what did He do? Did He ask for a drink of water? He immediately turned to Peter, in whose boat He was, and said to him, "Launch out into the deep." He had seen the disappointed look in Peter's face. He had detected that the night's fishing was a failure. All the excitement of the thronging crowd, and all the effort of telling them God's news, had not made Him careless of one man's disappointment. So may we learn to trust Christ's individual care, though we be only atoms in a countless multitude. Then follows the miracle, and the call to discipleship, and so this brief but exquisite lesson closes.

It Was in Deep Waters that the Draught Was Got
Now, note that it was in deep waters that the draught was got. The first word of Jesus was, "Launch out into the deep." if the nets were to be filled with fish that morning, the first requirement was to leave the shallows. Now, every miracle is but an acted parable; there are meanings in it that all life may interpret, and to us today, no less than to Simon Peter, Jesus is saying, "Launch out into the deep." We must come right out for God if we are ever to enjoy Him. We must unfasten the cable that binds us to the shore. It is when we launch out into the deeps of trust, that we find how mysteriously the nets are filling. For the harvest of life's sea is joy and peace, and growing insight, and increasing love, and these are beyond the reach of every fisherman, save of him who dares to launch into the deep. Then, too, as experience increases, we learn the meaning of the expression "deep waters." We learn that sorrow and care, and suffering and loss are the deep waters of the human heart. And when we find what a harvest these may bring, and how men may be blessed and purified and made unworldly by them, we understand the need of the deep waters, if the nets are ever to be filled.

God's Gifts May Cause Some Disorder at the First
Note again that God's gifts may cause some disorder at the first. When Peter at Christ's command let down the net, it enclosed a great multitude of fishes. We may be sure that the net was a good one if it was Peter's making, yet for all its goodness it began to break. Now nets are very precious to a fisherman; the loss of them is sometimes irreparable. So in a moment we see Peter and Andrew beckoning to their neighbor's boat, and like the man of Macedonia, crying, "Come over and help us." They came at once, and both of the boats were filled, and filled so full that they began to sink. And the point I wish you to note is that the first results of the kindness of the Savior were—breaking nets and sinking ships! You see, then, that when Jesus enters a life as He entered Andrew's and Simon's boat that morning, it is always possible that at the first there may be some distress and confusion and disorder. We find abundant records of it in the early Church, and every minister has seen it in his converts. Let no one be distressed, then, if when Christ steps on board it is not all joy and singing from the start. All that will come, in the good time of God, for the promise is there shall be no more sea. Meantime, just because Christ is good, and charges the empty night into such morning fullness, the nets (that are so precious to us) may seem on the point of breaking, and the waves come lapping to the gunwale of the ship.

The Nearness of Jesus Shows Us Our Unworthiness
Once more, it is the nearness of Jesus that shows us our unworthiness. One day, when Jesus was across the lake in Gadar, the Gadarenes came to Him with a strange petition: they came and begged Him to depart out of their coasts. Jesus had cured the Gadarene demoniac; He had interfered with the local trade of swine keeping; and so incensed were the people at this interference, and so dead were they to the glory of their Visitor, that they begged Him to depart, and He departed. How different is the cry of Peter here, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." It was not because he was dead in trespasses and sins, it was because he was wakened to his own unworthiness, that Peter was overpowered by the Lord's presence. And so, while Jesus departed from the Gadarenes, the next word that He spoke to Peter was "Fear not" (Luke_5:10). Sometimes, when we gather a bunch of flowers, they seem to us very sweet and beautiful; and so they may be, for they are God's creatures, and He has made everything beautiful in its time. But if we take a pure white rose and set it in the midst of them, it is strange how garish and coarse some of the others appear. They are God's creatures, but they seem less worthy now, in the near presence of that pure and perfect whiteness. Just so when Jesus Christ is far away, we may be very well contented with ourselves. But when He enters our boat, and shows us His love and power, like Peter we too would say—"I am a sinful man."
They Followed Christ When Things Were Brightest with Them
Then, lastly, these men followed Christ when things were brightest with them. They had never had such a fishing in their lives. It was not in the weary morning after a useless night that they forsook all and followed Jesus. It was when they were the envy of the neighborhood for the huge haul of fishes they had got. Will the children act as Simon and Andrew acted? 
Will they follow Jesus when life is at its brightest? It is better to come late than not at all. It is better to come in old age than to die Christ-less. But it is best to come when all the nets are full, when life is golden, and the heart is young; best, and not only best, but surest, for "they that seek Me early, shall find Me."

He is the 6th album from Donald James Moen.
Is a Hosanna! Integrity Music production.

Songs:
1: I want to be where you hare
2: Overture medley
3: Let there be glory and honor and praises
4: Come into his presence
5: Crown him
6: All we like sheep
7: Be strong and take courage
8: He is faithful (medley)
9: Blessed be the name of the Lord
10: How great, how glorious
11: Celebrate, Jesus
12: Jesus is alive
13: God will make a way
14: Name above all names
15: No other name / All hail the power
16: Give thanks
17: Crown him (reprise)

This album winner the Dove Award Best Album of 1994.

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He humbled himself

“He humbled himself.”
- Phi_2:8
Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. 
We need daily to learn of him. See the Master taking a towel and washing his disciples’ feet! 
Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble thyself? See him as the Servant of servants, and surely thou canst not be proud! Is not this sentence the compendium of his biography, “He humbled himself”? Was he not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honour and then another, till, naked, he was fastened to the cross, and there did he not empty out his inmost self, pouring out his life-blood, giving up for all of us, till they laid him penniless in a borrowed grave? How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark his scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and his whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in his outward frame; hear the thrilling shriek, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at his feet. A sense of Christ’s amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn our lesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.

THE GOD who is,was and about to arrive

Rev 1:4  I, John, am writing this to the seven churches in Asia province: All the best to you from THE GOD WHO IS, THE GOD WHO WAS, AND THE GOD ABOUT TO ARRIVE, and from the Seven Spirits assembled before his throne, 
Rev 1:5  and from Jesus Christ--Loyal Witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of all earthly kings. Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us, who blood-washed our sins from our lives, 
Rev 1:6  Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father, forever--and yes, he's on his way! 
Rev 1:7  Riding the clouds, he'll be seen by every eye, those who mocked and killed him will see him, People from all nations and all times will tear their clothes in lament. Oh, Yes. 
Rev 1:8  The Master declares, "I'm A to Z. I'm THE GOD WHO IS, THE GOD WHO WAS, AND THE GOD ABOUT TO ARRIVE. I'm the Sovereign-Strong." 
Rev 1:9  I, John, with you all the way in the trial and the Kingdom and the passion of patience in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God's Word, the witness of Jesus. 
Rev 1:10  It was Sunday and I was in the Spirit, praying. I heard a loud voice behind me, trumpet-clear and piercing: 
Rev 1:11  "Write what you see into a book. Send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea." 
Rev 1:12  I turned and saw the voice. I saw a gold menorah with seven branches, 
Rev 1:13  And in the center, the Son of Man, in a robe and gold breastplate, 
Rev 1:14  hair a blizzard of white, Eyes pouring fire-blaze, 
Rev 1:15  both feet furnace-fired bronze, His voice a cataract, 
Rev 1:16  right hand holding the Seven Stars, His mouth a sharp-biting sword, his face a perigee sun. 
Rev 1:17  I saw this and fainted dead at his feet. His right hand pulled me upright, his voice reassured me: "Don't fear: I am First, I am Last, 
Rev 1:18  I'm Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever. See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death's doors, they open and lock Hell's gates. 
Rev 1:19  Now write down everything you see: things that are, things about to be. 

Revelation 1:4

John to the seven churches which are in Asia,.... In lesser Asia; their names are mentioned in Rev_1:11, 

grace be unto you, and peace; which is the common salutation of the apostles in all their epistles, and includes all blessings of grace, and all prosperity, inward and outward: See Gill on Rom_1:7. The persons from whom they are wished are very particularly described, 

from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; which some understand of the whole Trinity; the Father by him "which is", being the I am that I am; the Son by him "which was", which was with God the Father, and was God; and the Spirit by him 

"which is to come", who was promised to come from the Father and the Son, as a Comforter, and the Spirit of truth: others think Christ is here only intended, as he is in Rev_1:8 by the same expressions; and is he "which is", since before Abraham he was the "I am"; and he "which was", the eternal Logos or Word; and "is to come", as the Judge of quick and dead. But rather this is to be understood of the first Person, of God the Father; and the phrases are expressive both of his eternity, he being God from everlasting to everlasting; and of his immutability, he being now what he always was, and will be what he now is, and ever was, without any variablenes, or shadow of turning: they are a periphrasis, and an explanation of the word "Jehovah", which includes all tenses, past, present, and to come. So the Jews explain this name in Exo_3:14, 

"Says R. Isaac (k), the holy blessed God said to Moses, Say unto them, I am he that was, and I am he that now is, and I am he that is to come, wherefore אהיה is written three times. 

And such a periphrasis of God is frequent in their writings (l), 

And from the seven spirits which are before his throne; either before the throne of God the Father; or, as the Ethiopic version reads, "before the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ"; by whom are meant not angels, though these are spirits, and stand before the throne of God, and are ready to do his will: this is the sense of some interpreters, who think such a number of them is mentioned with reference to the seven angels of the churches; or to the seven last "Sephirot", or numbers in the Cabalistic tree of the Jews; the three first they suppose design the three Persons in the Godhead, expressed in the preceding clause, and the seven last the whole company of angels: or to the seven principal angels the Jews speak of. Indeed, in the Apocrypha, 

"I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.'' (Tobit 12:15) 

Raphael is said to be one of the seven angels; but it does not appear to be a generally received notion of theirs that there were seven principal angels. The Chaldee paraphrase on Gen_11:7 is misunderstood by Mr. Mede, for not "seven", but "seventy angels" are there addressed. It was usual with the Jews only to speak of four principal angels, who stand round about the throne of God; and their names are Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael; according to them, Michael stands at his right hand, Uriel at his left, Gabriel before him, and Raphael behind him (m). However, it does not seem likely that angels should be placed in such a situation between the divine Persons, the Father and the Son; and still less that grace and peace should be wished for from them, as from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ; and that any countenance should be given to angel worship, in a book in which angels are so often represented as worshipers, and in which worship is more than once forbidden them, and that by themselves: but by these seven spirits are intended the Holy Spirit of God, who is one in his person, but his gifts and graces are various; and therefore he is signified by this number, because of the fullness and perfection of them, and with respect to the seven churches, over whom he presided, whom he influenced, and sanctified, and filled, and enriched with his gifts and graces, 

(k) Shemot Rabba, sect. 3. fol. 73. 2. (l) Targum. Jon. in Deut. xxxii. 39. Zohar in Exod. fol. 59. 3. & in Numb. fol. 97. 4. & 106. 2. Seder Tephillot, fol. 205. 1. Ed. Basil. fol. 2. 2. Ed. Amsterd. (m) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 179. 1.