Giving Is Godlike

Text: John 3:16; Acts 20:35; Luke 6:38; Galatians 6:9

Shortly after World War II, the saddest sight for American soldiers who were picking up the pieces in ravaged Europe, was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities.

One soldier driving along in his jeep spotted a little lad with his nose pressed to the window of a pastry shop. Inside the cook was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence, watching every move. The soldier pulled his jeep to the curb and got out to slip over to the boy's side. Through the steamed-up window he could see the mouth-watering morsels as they were being pulled from the oven, piping hot. The boy salivated and released a slight groan.

The soldier's heart went out to the orphan. "Son . . . would you like some of those?"

The boy was startled. "Oh, yes, would I!"

The American stepped into the shop, bought a dozen, put them in a bag and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning. He smiled, held out the bag, and said simply: "Here you are."

As he turned to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat. The soldier looked back and heard the child ask quietly:

"Mister . . . are you God?"

We are never more like God than when we give.

*** Written by Chuck Swindoll | www.insight.org ***

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Rejoicing In Suffering

Text: Romans 5:3-10; 8:18

Key Verse: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5 NIV)

It is clear from this that Christians are expected to experience suffering. Those who think that becoming a Christian will remove them from suffering have been seriously misled, for the Scriptures themselves teach that we are to expect suffering.

The Greek word for suffering is translated as tribulation, something that causes distress. It can range from minor annoyances that we go through every day, to major disasters that come sweeping down out of the blue and leave us stricken and smitten. These are the sufferings that we might go through, the tribulations.

According to Romans 5, the Christian response to suffering is to rejoice: Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings. Here is where many people balk. They say, I can't buy that! Do you mean to say that God is telling me that when I am hurting and in pain, I am expected to be glad and rejoice in that? That is not human, not natural!

How do you get to the place where you can rejoice in suffering? The apostle's answer is, We rejoice in suffering because we know... We rejoice because we know something. It isn't just because it's such a great feeling to be hurt, it is because we know something about it. It is something our faith enables us to know, a kind of inside information that others do not share.

What do we know? Paul says, Knowing that suffering produces... Suffering does something, accomplishes something. It is productive. We know it works, and that is what makes us rejoice. Watch a woman in labor. If you have any empathy in you, you can't help but feel deeply hurt with her because she is going through such pain. And yet, there usually is joy in the midst of it because she knows that childbirth produces children. There are many women who will gladly go through childbirth because they want a child. Suffering produces something worthwhile.

Then what does suffering produce? The apostle says there are three things that suffering produces: First, suffering produces perseverance. In some versions the word may be patience. The Greek word literally means to abide under, to stay under the pressure. Pressure is something we want to get out from under, but suffering teaches us to stay under, to stick in there and hang with it. The best translation I can think of is the English word steadiness. Suffering produces steadiness.

Second, steadiness produces character. The Greek word for character carries with it the idea of being put to the test and approved. It is the idea of being shown to be reliable. You finally learn that you are not going to be destroyed, that things will work out. People start counting on you. They see strength in you, and you become a more reliable person.

Third, we find that reliability produces something. Reliability produces hope. The hope is that we will share the glory of God, which is God's character. We have the hope that God is producing the image of Christ in us. This hope is a certainty, not just a possibility. We are being changed. We are becoming more like Jesus. We can see that we are more thoughtful, more compassionate, more loving. We are being mellowed. We are becoming like Christ — stronger, wiser, purer, more patient. He is transforming us into the image of his Son.

*** Culled from Ray Stedman Ministries | www.raystedman.org ***

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Welcome To November: Loopholes

Text: Matthew 11:28-30; James 4:7-10; 1 Peter 5:6-7

From The Truth Media family,

Happy New Month!!!

I searched and searched to find loopholes

Within, without the life I own,

Anger, malice, hate and strife

Had turned my heart into a stone

I felt my greed was justified,

I thought to hurt as well was right;

I failed to see the doom insight,

My soul was weak and dark as night

I lost it all – my joy, my peace

I’d gone too far to go back now;

My days were brief and fraught with pain,

I needed help but knew not how

Then came someone who told me how

A savior from above had come to die

To save mankind, to save my kind:

A slave to sin who lives to sigh

At first I thought it strange a man could die

To save a wretch, a git like me;

In disbelief I mocked the thought

That the savior from above could set me free

My misery grew to deep unrest,

Within fury had gained control;

I’d lost my heart to unknown fears

That soon will death surmount my soul

My days were brief and fraught with pain,

I needed help but knew not how

And then the thought arose again

To meet the Lord and humbly bow

He called my name and held my hands,

He showed me all He did for me:

The Cross, His blood, the scar, His hands;

He gave it all to set me free

I gave my life to Him that day

My chains, my pains and woes were gone;

He gave me joy and peace of mind

My days of groan and grief were done

I know the Lord, I know Jesus

He saved and washed my sins away;

He redeemed me, He rescued me

And leads me through His righteous way

He’s meek, he’s kind and gladly saves

When you in faith yield unto the Lord;

Believe in Him; He won’t fail you

For there’s nothing He can’t afford

Now when I search to find loopholes

Within, without the life I once own;

I see mercy, patience, faith and love

And grace that tells I’m not alone

*** Written by Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ***

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Lord, Leave Me Alone!

Text: Job 6-7

Key Verse: "Let me alone; my days have no meaning" (Job 7:16b)

Job turns to God and complains about the difficulty of his present experience. He has given up. He thinks he will never see any relief and that he will go on like this to the end. And out of that meaningless suffering and hopeless darkness, he cries out in honest despair.

Have you ever felt that way? Lord, leave me alone. I've had enough! Why are You so intent on making life miserable for me? Why don't You just let me go? Job cries out in baffled bewilderment. Now, even at this point in the book of Job, there are some things that we must constantly remember.

One is that we know something about this scene that Job does not know. We see some purpose in this that he has not yet seen that is also true about the sufferings we go through. In every time of trial there are two purposes in view: Satan has his purpose, and God has His.

Satan's purpose here was to use the pain of Job's illness to afflict his body; to use the priggish, well-intentioned comfort of his friends to irritate his soul; and to use the silence of God to assault his spirit and break his faith. But God's purpose is to teach Job some truths that he never knew before, to deepen his theology and help him understand God much better.

God's truth was to answer Satan in the eyes of all the principalities and powers of the whole universe and to prove him wrong in his philosophy of life. God's purpose was also to provide a demonstration for all sufferers in all the ages that would follow that He knows what He is doing.

What an encouragement to those of us who must go through some times of suffering to understand that it is not always because we are sinful. Sometimes suffering is the result of our sin, and we will know it when it is. But if, like Job, you know of nothing you have done that you have not dealt with and still the suffering goes on, look behind the curtain of God's purposes, and you will see that great and eternal events are hanging upon the outcome of the struggle.

*** Written by Ray Stedman | www.raystedman.org ***

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My Best Friend

Text: James 1:2-4

My best friend was not always my best friend. At first I couldn’t stand this guy. I despised even the mentioning of his name. My skin would crawl and my stomach would turn whenever he showed up at my door. Yuck! Yuck! Why would God make this guy in the first place? Why? The world would be a better place if he never existed. It would. It really, really would.

Then one day God said to me, “I can never bless you unless this guy becomes your best friend. Get to know him well.” So began the journey of turning my worst enemy into my best friend. I knew this was not going to be an easy task. Pain and hardship always preceded the arrival of this guy. Why couldn’t he come around on a good day? Why did he always want to come over on a day when things were going bad? I asked God this question and He answered, “Because He wants to help you.” What? My worst enemy wants to help me? What’s this all about?

The Lord continued, “Remember, I want him to become your best friend. I can’t bless you unless he is. If he’s not, hard times are all you’ll ever have in life. The choice is yours.” Okay! Okay! I get the message. Best friends, my eye! I can’t stand this guy and I don’t know anybody who does. Give me a royal break, will you?

What happened next? Yep! I had a bad day and guess who came knocking on my front door? You guessed it, my worst enemy. I opened the door, looked at him a few seconds, and then slammed the door in his face. Oh, I can’t stand this guy!! A few days went by and I had another bad day. Guess who showed up? As I answered the door, I remembered what the Lord said. I looked down my nose at him and ask, “What do you want?” and he replied, “I’m here to help you.” “Oh really! Well, you’re a little late. Goodbye!!” Once again I slammed the door in his face. The nerve of that guy showing up at a time like this.

I put him out of my mind when suddenly my world caves in around me. I’m at wit’s end and I knew not what to do. My friends are all gone, my wife is mad at me, I just lost my job, bill collectors are calling me night and day, and it didn’t seem like God heard my prayers any more. What am I ever going to do? I cried out, “God, why don’t You help me?”

Through my sobs I heard a knock at my door. “Who on earth can that be?” Sad, rejected, and lonely, I walked over and opened the front door. My mouth dropped open as I saw my worst enemy standing there with outstretched arms. I’m too worn out from all my crying to say anything, so I just hung my head in shame and cried some more.

The next thing I knew, my worst enemy walked up and puts his arms around me. Without realizing it, I reached up and embraced him also. As I cried uncontrollable tears, I felt him holding me tighter and tighter. Suddenly, a sense of comfort came over me. What’s this? The pain was leaving.

Things didn’t seem as bad as they did a few moments ago. I stepped back a few steps and with red eyes I looked at my visitor and asked, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” He replied, “I am PATIENCE and I am here to do a perfect work. God sent me so He could bless you.” Now I understood what was happening and I stepped forward and embraced PATIENCE as hard as I could.

That day my worst enemy became my best friend and I’ve been blessed ever since. From that day forward I have clung to the message of James 1:4, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” The Message Bible says, “You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”

*** Written by Randall J. Brewer ***

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The Window

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15; Romans 14:19; Philippians 4:8

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue ... There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the PRESENT".

*** Written by Sue Richardson | www.transcendinlove.blogspot.ca ***

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How To Weaken The Wrath Of God

Text: 1 Kings 21:1-29; Joel 2:13; 1 Timothy 1:15

One of the passages in the Bible that tell of the true nature of God and how to weaken His wrath is found in 1 Kings 21. It recounts the familiar story of how King Ahab, ill advised by his wife, gave in to greed and illicitly possessed a vineyard belonging to Naboth.

“And it came to pass…that Naboth the Jezreelite has a vineyard which was in Jezreel by the palace of Ahab…and Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, give me thy vineyard that I may have it for a garden of herbs…” (Verse 1-2).

The story went on with Naboth refusing to offer Ahab his father’s inheritance even when he was offered a reasonable sum of money for it. Ahab, a typical human that he was, couldn’t handle the disappointment and went to his house displeased which got the attention of his ungodly wife, Jezebel.

The vicious Jezebel devised a means to get rid of Naboth to please her husband. “So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name…and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth…saying, proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people: And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out and stone him that he may die” (Verse 8-10).

Eventually, Naboth was killed and Ahab had the vineyard that didn’t belong to him. But God wasn’t blind to this atrocity as He isn’t to all the ills in our society today – rape, terrorism, murder, abortion, adultery, theft, corruption, etc. God sees and knows everything. He saw the murder of Naboth and was bitterly angry that greed, stirred by Jezebel, could push Ahab to such length.

“And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel…and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine…Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy prosperity…for the provocation wherewith thou has provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin” (Verse 17-24).

Ahab’s reign was so notorious that the Bible says “there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols…” (Verse 25-26)

Truly, Ahab deserved the wrath of God upon his household and even more. But what amazed me in this story was what followed. Unlike some who commit one crime and proceed to another, multiplying evil upon evil and thinking no one sees them and that God can’t do anything, Ahab suddenly listened to his conscience that couldn’t allow him live with the guilt of knowing that the same fate as Naboth awaited him.

He humbled himself, put on sackcloth, observed a fast and was truly sober before the Lord. What happened? Grace happened.

Ahab’s action of remorse and repentance moved God’s heart towards mercy. God always shows mercy and grants grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6). He takes pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy (Psalm 147:11).

“He is slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever…” (Psalm 103:8-9) because He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live…” (Ezekiel 33:11).

As much as God cannot behold iniquity nor could withstand the prevalence of wickedness, when we turn to Him in penitence and humility, He never casts us away. Remember the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11-32). God is love and that is His very nature. He is ever gracious and His mercy endures forever.

I tell you today that no matter how terrible your crime may be, God is willing and able to forgive you. He has promised to be merciful to your unrighteousness and your sin and iniquity will He remember no more (Hebrew 8:12). All you need is to do as Ahab did. Humble yourself before the Lord, confess and repent of your sins, surrender your life to Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour today.

If Ahab had postponed his repentance till the next day, it could have been possible for God’s wrath to catch up with him during the night and that would be the end. There is really so much to learn from 1 Kings 21 with thorough meditation and the leading of the Holy Spirit. But this is the plain secret to weakening the wrath of God – humility and genuine repentance.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life…” “Call upon the Lord and be saved. There is salvation in no one else” (John 3:16-18; Romans 10:13; Acts 4:12).

*** Written by Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ***

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A Better Tomorrow

Text: Romans 5:5; Jeremiah 29:11; Matthew 6:34

The clock is ticking again! I say that because for the past couple of weeks, time had seemed to stand still for me. I felt like I was in a state of limbo and the world was going on without me. Life is a journey and if some type of progress is not being made on a daily basis, then I get uncomfortable and start asking questions. The Lord answered my inquiries by reminding me of Ps. 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” I now realize that limbo is the state of “being still” and it is this condition that God will reveal Himself to me as God.

I am now convinced that behind the scenes the Lord is doing a very powerful work. What it is exactly has not yet been revealed to me but a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders and the past several days have flown by faster than normal. Hope has been restored and I feel more freedom than I have in a long, long time.

The Lord recently shared a vision with me during a Saturday night service of praise and worship. I was in a large desert, where the ground was dry and broken into a million little pieces. This, I knew, represented my life for the past three years. We have experienced a continual, unending cycle of trials and unrelenting hardships. They are unexplainable in human terms and have left my family and I battered and bruised. We have been Christians long enough to know that a valley is not a bad place to be if you and Jesus are going through it together.

A noted evangelist once said, “We discover early in life that things don’t always turn out the way we planned. But we also discover that through tests and trials, and the way of the storm, a bonding takes place with God that we never knew before.” Not once did I waver in my walk with the Lord, although I occasionally raised my arms in mock surrender and asked aloud, “When is it all going to end?”

In the vision I then looked down and saw a single blade of grass growing up out of one of these cracks in the desert floor. I knew this represented life; a symbol that light can indeed shine in the darkness. I then looked up and saw not too far ahead of me the edge of a massive mountain range. To reach those mountains and the victory they represent, I knew I must keep going forward. It was the life in that single blade of grass that gave me the hope and courage to do just that.

I now realize that my journey through this long dry spell in life is nearly over. I am reminded of the story of Elijah when he prayed for rain after three and a half years of drought. Several times he sent his servant to check the horizon for rain clouds. When none were seen the prophet prayed all the more earnestly until finally the servant returned and reported a small gathering of clouds about the size of a hand. That’s all Elijah needed to hear. Rain was coming! None was falling at the time but what the servant had seen foretold what was to come. This is what hope does for you. It foresees a better tomorrow and this gives you strength and determination to make it through whatever you may be facing today.

For years I have lived my life saying that each day is the best day of my life. I live one day at a time and I make the most of each day the Lord has given me. But what about tomorrow? I believe we should live for today and hope for a better tomorrow. If one does not believe that tomorrow will be better than today when today is full of hurt and pain, then why go on at all? The enemy’s number one goal is to rob you of all your hope because this is what your faith is applied to.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” No hope, no faith. No faith, no victory. The absence of hope will steal from you what can be a promising future. The absence of hope is the greatest contributing factor in all divorces and suicides. The Bible says not to worry about tomorrow but surely we can use hope to believe for a better tomorrow. For some, this could be considered an act of survival. David wrote in Ps. 27:13, “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

The theme of the Broadway musical “Annie” was that one could always hope for a better tomorrow. The red-headed orphan would sing, “The sun will come out tomorrow….it’s only a day away.” If your world seems to be collapsing around you then hold on and put all your hope in the living God and believe for a better tomorrow.

Hope gives you the assurance that out of sorrow and pain, when borne patiently and truthfully, come the more abundant life. Rejoice in the words of the apostle Paul in Rom. 5:5, “Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.” Hallelujah!

Finally, do not only use hope when days are bad. Use it when things are going good for you as well. Michael Jordan once scored fifty-five points in a championship game and was asked if that was the best game of his career. He replied, “I don’t know if that was the best game of my career or not. Hopefully the next game will be the best game of my career.” Friend, may hope fill your heart and cause you to believe for a better tomorrow. It’s there for the taking. After all, it’s only a day away.

*** Written by Randall Brewer | Randall Brewer Ministries ***

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The Great Judgment Morning

Text: Matthew 7:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10

I dreamed that the great judgment morning

Had dawned and the trumpet had blown;

I dreamed that the nations had gathered

To judgment before the white throne;

From the throne came a bright shining angel,

And stood on the land and the sea,

And swore with his hands raised to heaven,

That time was no longer to be.

And O, what a weeping and wailing,

As the lost were told of their fate;

They cried for the rocks and the mountains,

They prayed, but their prayer was too late.

The rich man was there, but his money

Had melted and vanished away;

A pauper he stood in the judgment,

His debts were too heavy to pay;

The great man was there, but his greatness,

When death came, was left far behind!

The angel that opened the records,

Not a trace of his greatness could find.

The widow was there with the orphans,

God heard and remembered their cries;

No sorrow in heaven for ever,

God wiped all the tears from their eyes;

The gambler was there and the drunkard,

And the man that had sold them the drink,

With the people who gave them the license,

Together in hell they did sink.

The moral man came to the judgment,

But his self-righteous rags would not do;

The men who had crucified Jesus,

Had passed off as moral men, too;

The soul that had put off salvation,

"Not tonight; I'll get saved by and by,

No time now to think of religion!"

At last they had found time to die.

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An Earnest Warning About Lukewarmness

Text: Revelation 3:14-21

"Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." - Rev. 3:14-21

No Scripture ever wears out. The epistle to the church of Laodicea is not an old letter which may be put into the waste basket and be forgotten; upon its page still glow the words, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." 

This Scripture was not meant to instruct the Laodiceans only, it has a wider aim. The actual church of Laodicea has passed away, but other Laodiceas still exist—indeed, they are sadly multiplied in our day, and it has ever been the tendency of human nature, however inflamed with the love of God, gradually to chill into lukewarmness. The letter to the Laodiceans is above all others the epistle for the present times.

I should judge that the church at Laodicea was once in a very fervent and healthy condition. Paul wrote a letter to it which did not claim inspiration, and therefore its loss does not render the Scriptures incomplete, for Paul may have written scores of other letters besides. Paul also mentions the church at Laodicea in his letter to the church at Colosse; he was, therefore, well acquainted with it, and as he does not utter a word of censure with regard to it, we may infer that the church was at that time in a sound state.

In process of time it degenerated, and cooling down from its former ardour it became careless, lax, and indifferent. Perhaps its best men were dead, perhaps its wealth seduced it into worldliness, possibly its freedom from persecution engendered carnal ease, or neglect of prayer made it gradually backslide; but in any case it declined till it was neither cold nor hot. Lest we should ever get into such a state, and lest we should be in that state now, I pray that my discourse may come with power to the hearts of all present, but especially to the consciences of the members of my own church. May God grant that it may tend to the arousing of us all.

1. My first point will be THE STATE INTO WHICH CHURCHES ARE VERY APT TO FALL.

A church may fall into a condition far other than that for which it has a repute. It may be famous for zeal and yet be lethargic. The address of our Lord begins, "I know thy works," as much as to say, "Nobody else knows you. Men think better of you than you deserve. You do not know yourselves, you think your works to be excellent; but I know them to be very different."

Jesus views with searching eyes all the works of his church. The public can only read reports, but Jesus sees for himself. He knows what is done, and how it is done, and why it is done. He judges a church not merely by her external activities, but by her internal pieties; he searches the heart, and tries the reins of the children of men. He is not deceived by glitter; he tests all things, and values only that gold which will endure the fire. Our opinion of ourselves and Christ's opinion of us may be very different, and it is a very sad thing when it is so.

It will be melancholy indeed if we stand out as a church notable for earnestness and distinguished for success, and yet are not really fervent in spirit, or eager in soul-winning. A lack of vital energy where there seems to be most strength put forth, a lack of real love to Jesus where apparently there is the greatest devotedness to him, are sad signs of fearful degeneracy. Churches are very apt to put the best goods into the window, very apt to make a fair show in the flesh, and like men of the world, they try to make a fine figure upon a very slender estate. Great reputations have often but slender foundations, and lovers of the truth lament that it should be so. Not only is it true of churches, but of every one of us as individuals, that often our reputation is in advance of our deserts.