Godward Thoughts

This is today’s reading from Morning and Evening and it was such a blessing to me!
“Salt without prescribing how much.”
— Ezra 7:22

Salt was used in every offering made by fire unto the Lord, and from its preserving and purifying properties it was the grateful emblem of divine grace in the soul. It is worthy of our attentive regard that, when Artaxerxes gave salt to Ezra the priest, he set no limit to the quantity, and we may be quite certain that when the King of kings distributes grace among his royal priesthood, the supply is not cut short by him. Often are we straitened in ourselves, but never in the Lord. He who chooses to gather much manna will find that he may have as much as he desires. There is no such famine in Jerusalem that the citizens should eat their bread by weight and drink their water by measure. Some things in the economy of grace are measured; for instance our vinegar and gall are given us with such exactness that we never have a single drop too much, but of the salt of grace no stint is made, “Ask what thou wilt and it shall be given unto thee.” Parents need to lock up the fruit cupboard, and the sweet jars, but there is no need to keep the salt-box under lock and key, for few children will eat too greedily from that. A man may have too much money, or too much honour, but he cannot have too much grace. When Jeshurun waxed fat in the flesh, he kicked against God, but there is no fear of a man’s becoming too full of grace: a plethora of grace is impossible. More wealth brings more care, but more grace brings more joy. Increased wisdom is increased sorrow, but abundance of the Spirit is fulness of joy. Believer, go to the throne for a large supply of heavenly salt. It will season thine afflictions, which are unsavoury without salt; it will preserve thy heart which corrupts if salt be absent, and it will kill thy sins even as salt kills reptiles. Thou needest much; seek much, and have much.

The following statement by Charles Haddon Spurgeon is from The Forgotten Spurgeon by Iain Murray:

Ah, my dear brethren! there are many that are deceived by this method of reasoning. They remain where their conscience tells them they ought not to be, because, they say, they are more useful than they would be if they went “without the camp.”  This is doing evil that good may come, and can never be tolerated by an enlightened conscience. If an act of sin would increase my usefulness tenfold, I have no right to do it; and if an act of righteousness would appear likely to destroy all my apparent usefulness, I am yet to do it. It is yours and mine to do the right though the heavens fall, and follow the command of Christ whatever the consequences may be. “That is strong meat,” do you say? Be strong men, then, and feed thereon … For right is right, since God is God/ And right the day must win/ To doubt would be disloyalty/ To falter would be sin.

My favorite part: “That is strong meat,” do you say? Be strong men, then, and feed thereon

What applications can think of this for this truth?

Source: DO RIGHT THOUGH THE HEAVENS FALL (Friday Church News Notes, August 5, 2011,www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Listen to Charles Spurgeon, from his sermon #1778, entitled “A Heavenly Pattern for our Earthly Life,” preached on April 30, 1884 at Exeter Hall, where he addressed the Baptist Missionary Society:

Suppose any one of you had come from Heaven…Some would be curious to see what his bodily form would be like. They would expect to be dazzled by the radiance of his countenance.

However, we will let that pass. We want to see how he would live. Coming newly from Heaven, how would he act? Oh, sirs, if he came here to do the same as all men do on Earth, only after a heavenly sort, what a father he would be, what a husband, what a brother, what a friend! I would sit down and let him preach this morning, most assuredly; and when he had done preaching, I would go home with him, and have a chat.

I should be very careful to observe what he would do with his wealth. His first thought would be, if he had a shilling, to lay it out for God’s glory. “But,” says one, “I have necessities to buy with my shilling.” So be it, but when you go pray this: “Oh! Lord, help me to lay it out to your glory.” There should be as much piety in buying your necessaries as in going to a place of worship.

I do not think this man coming fresh from Heaven would say, “I must have this luxury; I must have this nice outfit; I must have this grand house.” But he would say, “How much can I save for the God of Heaven? How much can I invest in the country I came from?”

I am sure he would be pinching pennies to save money to serve God with; and he himself, as he went about the streets, and mingled with ungodly men and women, would be sure to find out ways of getting at their consciences and hearts; he would be always trying to bring others to the bliss he had enjoyed.

Think that over, and live so—so as he did who really did come down from Heaven. For after all, the best rule of life is, what would Jesus do if he were here today, and the world still lying in the wicked one? If Jesus were in your business, if he had your money, how would he spend it? For that is how youought to spend it.

Now think, my brother, you will be in Heaven very soon. Since last year a great number have gone home: before next year many more will have ascended to glory. Sitting up in those celestial seats, how shall we wish that we had lived below?

It will not give any man in Heaven even a moment’s joy to think that he gratified himself while here. It will give him no reflections suitable to the place to remember how much he amassed, how much he left behind to be quarreled over after he was gone; he will say to himself, “I wish I had saved more of my capital by sending it on before me, for what I saved on Earth was lost, but what I spent for God was really laid up where thieves do not break through and steal.”

via: epm.org

The following is from the devotional book Awake My Heart by J. Sidlow Baxter (today’s entry):

“For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

Let the breezy unconcern and jaunty sarcasms of Christ-rejecting worldlings be what they may, apart from Christ they are lost souls. That word “lost”, usually excites pity or alarm or grief. Even a lost dog gains out ready pity. A lost child stirs us up to deep concern. If we hear that a ship has been lost with all on board, or that lives have been lost in a mine disaster, instantly we feel alarm and grief. Yet what are the greatest physical losses compared with the loss of the soul? Think what it means to be a lost soul. Read more »

A couple of events caused me to ask this question recently. First, I attended a conference where several flawed men were honored. This was even acknowledged immediately after the presentation. Next, I have been studying Christian history intensely over the past few months. Many men of the past who are honored probably wouldn’t receive an invitation to preach at my church if they ministered in this age.  Most leaders have had imperfections and faults, but we generally remember them based on their embrace of certain truths. So, does God honor flawed men? Read more »