Sermon of the Month

Word timely spoken

“Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

- Exo_14:13

These words contain God’s command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut up on the right hand and on the left; what is he now to do? The Master’s word to him is, “Stand still.” It will be well for him if at such times he listens only to his Master’s word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, “Lie down and die; give it all up.” But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in his love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, “Retreat; go back to the worldling’s way of action; you cannot play the Christian’s part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles.” But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What, if for a while thou art called to stand still, yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time. Precipitancy cries, “do something. Stir yourself; to stand still and wait, is sheer idleness.” We must be doing something at once-we must do it so we think-instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something but will do everything. Presumption boasts, “If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle.” But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, “Stand still,” and immovable as a rock it stands. “Stand still;”-keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.”

Precipitancy ~ The quality of happening with headlong haste or without warning

From Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional July 24

Spurgeon On Idleness

Good evening to all of you, our precious readers!

Tonight as I was going through my frequented list of blogs, etc. I was challenged and blessed by the latest post on the Puritan Fellowship blog.  If you've never heard of them, I would highly encourage you to CLICK HERE to go to their blog site, as it has been a continual blessing  and challenge to me.  In this post are quotes by the "Prince of Preachers", as he is called, Charles Spurgeon.  May we think well on the subject of idleness and may the Spirit convict us of where we fall short and give us grace to repent and lead diligent and useful lives for our wondrous Master, who is worthy of all of our praise, worship and service.

"Everyman ought to have patience and pity for poverty, but for laziness a long whip."

"A man who wastes his time in sloth offers himself to be a target for the devil, who is an awefully good rifleman. In other words, idle men tempt the devil to tempt them."

"A sluggard is fine raw material for the devil, he can make anything he likes out of him, from a thief up to a murderer."

"If the devil catch a man idle he will send him to work [for him], and find him tools."

"Idle folks often never know what leisure means, they are always in a hurry and a mess, by neglecting to work at the proper time they always have a lot to do."

"Trying to insruct an idle man is like trying to hold water in a siv or fatten a greyhound"

John Ploughman : "For once I was going to give our minister [Spurgeon] a pretty long list of the sins of one of our people he was asking after, I began with, "He's dreadfully lazy", "That's enough!" said the old gentleman, "all sorts of sins are in that one, that's enough to know a full pledged sinner."

"Our Lord Jesus told us, the enemy sowed while men slept. It is by the door of sluggishness that evil enters the heart more often it seems to me than any other."

"My advise to my boys has been to get out of the sluggards way, or you may catch his disease and never get rid of it. I am always afraid of their learning the ways of the idle and I am very watchful to nip anything of the sort in the bud, for you know it is best to kill a lion when it's a cub"

"Some professors [of Christianity] are amazingly lazy and make sad work for the tongues of the wicked. I think a godly plowmen ought to be the best man in the field and let no team beat him. When we are at work, we ought to be at it, and not stop the plow to talk, even though the talk may be about religion. For then we not only rob our employers of our own time, but of the time of the horses, too. I used to hear people say,

"Never stop the plow to catch a mouse," and it's quite as silly to stop for idle chat; besides, the man who loiters when the master is away is an eye-server, which, I take it, is the very opposite of a Christian."

"Religion never was designed to make us idle. Jesus was a great worker, and his disciples must not be afraid of hard work"

-Charles Spurgeon

Watch for Free the movie "DIVIDED"

 

As you look on the church landscape, youth are leaving the faith in droves. The modern church, overall, is struggling to reach the next generation with the gospel. What has happened? Whether for good or bad, men, for many years, have been inventing solutions or brainstorming ideas without fully relying upon the foundation of God’s Word. God, however, is greater than man, and as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways higher than ours and His thoughts than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). We have substituted the greater for the lesser – God’s wisdom for man’s ideas. Jesus said that he who hears His Word and does it, is like a man that built his house upon a rock, and when the storm came, it stood firm. On the other hand, he who rejects His Word, is like a man who built on the sand and when the storm came, the house fell (Matt. 7:24-25). Shouldn’t the church, as a whole, abandon the sandy ideas of man and shamelessly return to the firm rock of the Word of God? God’s Word sufficiently identifies how youth are to be reached. For more information on this issue, please see the film Divided, which is a documentary on age-segregated youth ministry in America. Watch it for free (for a limited time) at www.dividedthemovie.com. For an in-depth study, the book A Weed in the Church delves into the topic and more thoroughly handles the Scripture passages that address ministry to young people. For other details or to help spread the message, visit www.dividedthemovie.com.