Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

April 10, 2019

4/10/2019

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7).

    But what shall we ask? There is a story of an old Bible woman in Leicester, England, whose custom it was to carry flowers to the hospital and to talk with the patients, the nurses, and even the doctors about religion, about the Lord and His work. One day one of the doctors asked her, "Do you believe God really hears our prayers? I'm hard up. If I asked Him, would He send me five pounds?"

    The old saint answered, "If you were introduced to the prince of Wales, would you immediately put your hand into his pocket?"

    "No," replied the doctor, "not until I knew him better."

    Then the Bible woman said, "You will need to be a great deal better acquainted with God before you can expect such an answer as you wish."

    Notice the promise is that if we abide in Christ, we may ask what we will. This promise is taken from our Savior's description of the believer as a branch abiding in Him, the True Vine. If we are abiding in the Vine and partaking of His nourishment and life, then we shall pray according to His will, and whatsoever we ask shall be done unto us. We are to abide in Christ's love as Christ abides in the Father's love (John 15:10).

    This abiding in Christ is not only a glorious privilege but an apostolic command. "And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming" (1 John 2:28). We abide in Him when His words abide in us. Those who are "in Christ" feed upon the Word of Christ. Their prayers are according to His will; therefore, they are answered. Let us seek to abide in Him. Let us seek His Word; let us seek His will. Then we shall know better how to pray, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips" (Ps. 21:12).

April 9, 2019

4/9/2019

  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts 17:30, 31).

    Repent! the message of John the Baptist.  Repent! the message of Jesus.  Repent! the message of the apostles. Repent! the message of every true minister of Christ.  Repent! the most unpopular subject with all sinners.

    Visiting St. Michan's church, built by the Danes outside the walls of Dublin about the eleventh century, I noticed a chair near the pulpit facing the congregation. I was told that it was the chair of repentance. In the old Scottish churches such a chair was called a cutty stool. It was a low stool on which open sinners who were repentant were made to sit for public rebuke. In Roget's Thesaurus the cutty stool is used as a synonym for stool of repentance. "Sackcloth and ashes" is another phrase meaning the same, or to "eat humble pie."

    God actually commands all people everywhere to repent. Why the command? Because the day of judgment is already appointed. That judgment will be in righteousness, and it is "by that man whom he [that is, God] hath ordained," and that man is Jesus Christ.

    Not only is it good for sinners to repent, not only must repentance precede forgiveness, but God has given us assurance of Christ as judge, "in that he hath raised him from the dead." Did you ever think of it that way before? The resurrection of Christ should bring us seriously face to face with the coming judgment and the necessity of repentance. It is true, for God "hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22). The command of God is ringing in our ears, Repent, repent! "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19).

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid" (Ps. 32:5).

April 8, 2019

4/8/2019

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Eccl. 12:14).

    William Thackeray tells of a visit to the Naples museum, where he saw a piece of wall from Herculaneum, which had been covered by the great volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. On that wall he saw a picture scratched with a nail. It was the figure of a soldier, and was evidently the work of a child. You could almost imagine the child turning around and smiling after finishing the etching.

    Nearly all of us who have come to the years of accountability have had our Pompeii, our Herculaneum. Deep under the ashes of life lies the past--careless deeds, careless words, sins, and sorrows. Every time we open a box of old letters and look at our own childish scrawls or our mother's letters to us while we were away at school, we excavate our hearts and walk through the streets and rooms of the buried city, the city of memory.

    But someday God will "bring every work into judgment," and then He "will render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:6).  We have all "sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Will we not all, then, be terrified at the thought of judgment? There is only one way to be saved from such fear, and that is to know that the Judge Himself has already died for us, has paid our penalty, and will appear before the court as our advocate. "For the Father...hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22). And "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). Those who have repented, and forsaken their sins, and put their case in the hands of Christ need have no fear of the judgment. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord" (Ps. 26:1).

April 7, 2019

4/7/2019

The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable (Isa. 42:21).

    The law of God was spoken with audible voice from Mount Sinai. Again it was repeated by Jesus Christ in its spiritual principles in His sermon on the mount. Our Lord, in His own life, was the Word made flesh, which "dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus appeared among men as God's "righteous servant" (Isa. 53:11). He revealed God's law as a law of love.

    The first table of the Ten Commandments reveals love to God, the second reveals love to other people. "Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:10), and Jesus Christ is incarnate love. He put the magnifying glass of His holy righteousness, as it were, over the law, and it became "exceeding broad" (Ps. 119:96). The commandment said, "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13. Through Christ the commandment includes all hatred, and therefore its scope is greatly magnified. The seventh commandment forbids adultery, unfaithfulness in marriage; but, through the magnifying glass of Christ's holy teaching, it includes even the lustful look or thought.

    So the entire law of God is magnified through His life and reaches every heart and every human life. And since the transgression of the law is sin, and Jesus died for our sins upon the cross, His atoning sacrifice shows the holy nature and eternal character of God's law.

    Notice that this prophetic promise pointed to Him who said, "I am not come destroy, but to fulfil" (Matt. 5:17).

                                O that the Lord would guide my ways
                                        To keep His statues still!
                                    O that my God would grant me grace
                                        To know and do His will!
                                                                    __Isaac Watts

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. 119:10).

April 6, 2019

4/6/2019

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and al these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).

    Every day our lives should open just as the Bible opens--"In the beginning God." What we seek first will be first to us.

    D. L. Moody tells of a man who came to him one day weeping and told a strange story. This man had left his hometown and gone to another town to seek success, but had found none. He went to church, and the sermon was from the text: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." He felt that it was preached just to him, but he did not want to be a Christian yet; he wanted to get rich first.

    He moved to another village, and still another, with always the same experience--the first sermon he heard in each place was "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." The last time he heard this sermon it was an arrow to his heart, but he wanted to own a farm at least before becoming a Christian, so he delayed.

    "Now," he said the Mr. Moody, "I am rich. I go to church every week, but no sermon ever touches my heart. It is as hard as stone."

    It's the biggest mistake possible not to make first things first. Solomon sought God's glory first, and God gave him earthly glory. The widow of Zarephath made the first cake for the prophet; after that her meal barrel was never empty. "I have been young, and now am old," said David, "yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Ps. 37:25). The promise of Jesus is that those who give up house, siblings, parents, and children for the sake of the gospel shall receive an hundredfold in this life, and in the world to come, eternal life (Mark 10:29, 30). The kingdom of God and His righteousness are the goal of life. Then God adds the clothing, food, drink, homes, and friends. If we seek Him, He will look after the "things" we need.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek" (Ps. 27:8).

April 5, 2019

4/5/2019

  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight (1 John 3:22).

    In harmony with this promise are the words of our Savior in Matthew 7:7, 8: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Believers ask according to God's will. And should they ask what He wills not, they bow to God's will; so He gives them their request or something better. We are heard, not because our works merit a hearing, but because our works of faith are the fruit of God's Spirit and so are "pleasing in his sight." Then our prayers, being the voice of the same Spirit (Rom. 8:26), are answered. "Then shall ye call upon me,...and I will hearken unto you" (Jer. 29:12).

    A host, on leaving the room to which she had just escorted a guest, pointed to a bracket containing a candle and matches, and said, "This is the emergency light. We once had a serious emergency in the night, when the electric lights failed. Now we always keep a candle here in case of need."

    Prayer is the believer's emergency candle within easy reach, and always ready to give light. It requires no machinery to keep it in order. It is not affected by droughts, coal strikes, or hurricane. All it needs is the match of faith to light it.

    Yes, prayer is a light for times of special need--and for every day, too, and every time of day. "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Ps. 55:17).

                                My soul needs light, Thy light, O Lord, to share;
                                Give me the faith to light the lamp of prayer.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps. 141:2).

April 4, 2019

4/4/2019

  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1 John 2:17).

    With this text sacred memories of childhood overcome me. Sweet worship on Sabbath eve in our home, the reading from the great family Bible as only Father could read it--or Mother, when he was away--the prayers all around, and then the song "Abide with me." Especially impressive was the second verse:

                                Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
                                Earths joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
                                Change and decay in all around I see;
                                O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!
                                                                            __Henry F. Lyte

    Everything human changes, fades, passes away. We return to the old home and find only strangers. A few more years, and "he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more" (Job 7:10).

    There is a text that infidels as well as Christians believe. It is Psalm 103:15, 16: "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."

    Truly the world with its desires is a passing show, "but"--what a word of promise that is here--"but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." And the will of God is love.

    The earth itself may change, but God is eternal and so is His love. "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy of thee" (Isa. 54:10). So, amid the changing scenes about us, we may say, "Now abideth faith, hope, love" (1 Cor. 13:13, ARV).

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever, and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations" (Ps. 135:13).
  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1 John 2:17).

    With this text sacred memories of childhood overcome me. Sweet worship on Sabbath eve in our home, the reading from the great family Bible as only Father could read it--or Mother, when he was away--the prayers all around, and then the song "Abide with me." Especially impressive was the second verse:

                                Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
                                Earths joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
                                Change and decay in all around I see;
                                O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!
                                                                            __Henry F. Lyte

    Everything human changes, fades, passes away. We return to the old home and find only strangers. A few more years, and "he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more" (Job 7:10).

    There is a text that infidels as well as Christians believe. It is Psalm 103:15, 16: "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."

    Truly the world with its desires is a passing show, "but"--what a word of promise that is here--"but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." And the will of God is love.

    The earth itself may change, but God is eternal and so is His love. "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy of thee" (Isa. 54:10). So, amid the changing scenes about us, we may say, "Now abideth faith, hope, love" (1 Cor. 13:13, ARV).

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever, and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations" (Ps. 135:13).

April 3, 2019

4/3/2019

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it (Mark 8:35).

    This is Christ's challenge: "Fling away life to keep it."

    Fra Angelico renounced wealth, ease, and luxury, and by fasting wasted to a shadow, kneeling as he painted. John Howard renounced his patrician position in society in favor of the poor. The apostle Paul turned from national leadership and honor to poverty and persecution for the love of Christ. And our Savior "made himself of no reputation" and came to earth as a Son of man, and was made subject unto death, "even the death of the cross," for our sakes. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:7-9).

    All the heroes, martyrs, and refiners of the past, and multitudes of missionaries and everyday Christians of the present, have left lands, houses, homes, dear ones, ambition, and have gone forth to sacrificial service for God. Losing life, they fount it. It is by denying self and taking up their cross that the disciples of Jesus truly follow Him, and so, losing their life, find it.

    What could be more foolish than for people to make first things last; to gain all this world, and yet lose their soul--themselves? "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:37). So, in language the weightiest because it is the simplest, our Lord urges full surrender and promises a full reward.

                                Take my will and make it Thine;
                                        It shall be no longer mine;
                                Take my heart, it is Thine own!
                                        It shall be Thy royal throne.
                                                                __Francis R. Havergal

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works" (Ps. 9:1).

April 2, 2019

4/2/2019

  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:10).

    These things cannot be separated--abiding in obedience and abiding in the love of Christ.

    Travelers in the Alps tell us that they come to have a very peculiar feeling toward their mountain guides. It is not alone companionship, friendship, or fellowship, but really a combination of all three. They learn to obey the guide in everything as they have never obeyed anyone else.

    Our Guide once said, "If ye keep me commandments, ye shall abide in my love." Obedience will produce a fellowship, a heart association, a nearness, that could never be produced by all the zeal and fervor in the world without obedience. Someone has said, "Obedience is the key that unlocks the door into the dwelling of the indwelling Christ." Do we have faith in Christ? Obedience is the test. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7:20).

                                Trust and obey, for there's no other way
                                To be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
                                                                            __Rev. J. H. Sammis

    We have our Savior's example. He was obedient to His Father's commandments, and so abode in His love. Our Savior said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Everything goes back to love, after all. "Love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:10), not its breaking, denial, or neglect.

    When asked if she always came when her mother called, a little girl said, "Yes, but sometimes I go as far away I can't hear her call." Is that our trouble? Let us come close to Jesus and be obedient.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Teach me O Lord, the way of thy statues; and I shall keep it unto the end" (Ps. 119:33).

April 1, 2019

4/1/2019

  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Cor. 15:51, 52).

    One day while in London we visited Bunhill Fields cemetery, the resting place of many of God's children. There lie John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, Dr. John Conder, and others. On the latter's tomb are these words: "I have sinned, I have repented; I have trusted, I have loved; I rest, I shall rise; and through the grace of Christ, however unworthy, I shall reign." Love demands a future life. Even Hume's skepticism disintegrated as he pathetically confessed that whenever he thought of his mother he believed in immortality.

    The poet Browning's last words were "Never say that I am dead." To the believer death is a sleep. Jesus said of Lazarus, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep" (John 11:11). Death is an anomaly, a disharmony in God's universe. Someday it will be unknown. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:26). The day of life is coming, and then we shall understand this mystery that we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed.

    "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (! Thess. 4:16-18).

                                Surely He cometh! then the end of sickness,
                                        Death, and heartache in a world deranged;
                                This is the end and this is the beginning,
                                        This the beginning, for we shall be changed.

MEDITATION PRAYER: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness" (Ps. 17:15).