Above All

Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what You're worth

Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Do You Know Jesus Christ?

"And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" John 17:3

Are you aware that there is a difference between knowing someone and knowing about someone? It is possible to have a vast and detailed knowledge about a person and yet never meet him. For example, many poeple know about the President of the United States. One may know his age, height, race, religion (or lack thereof), and hometown. His political promises (and whether he keeps them or not) are a matter of public record, and one may know where he is just about any day of the week: the media keeps us informed as to whether he is visiting a foreign country, diligently making decisions in the White House, or taking a vacation. The sound of his voice is familiar, and it may be that the features of his face are more well-known to some people than those of their own family members. What his wife wears, where she visits, the issues she is most concerned with, and her health problems are all items that are easily known by simply pursuing the daily paper or watching the evening news. In fact, one may know so much about the President that he may feel as though he has a very intimate relationship with him, as if he were a close, personal friend - yet the President may be a total stranger to him all the days of his life because the two have never met: therefore, a personal relationship between them does not exist. Simply stated, knowing someone and knowing about someone can be two entirely different things.

As recorded in John 17, the Lord Jesus Christ prayed to His Heavenly Father for His beloved disciples. This is one of the most important passages in all the Bible; for in it the Saviour plainly states that "life eternal" is knowing the only true God and His Son Jesus Christ.

"Life eternal" is not simply a head full of theological facts (though the Biblical doctrine of the gospel is essential to salvation); a heart overflowing with vague religious experiences (no matter how intense), membership in or baptism into a religious congregation (no matter how "biblical" its creed may be), or some "decision" that one has made in a religious meeting (no matter how sincere that "decision" may have been): "life eternal" is God's glorious work of breathing life into a spiritually dead sinner so that he trusts in Jesus Christ for the pardon of his sins and is thereby drawn into a living knowledge of God Himself by revelation of and personal union with His Son Jesus Christ.

Simply put, dear reader, the facts about Christ in the head without the life and power of Christ in the soul leave the sinner just as dead. Do you know Jesus Christ or do you only know about Him?

How does one come to this saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? Jesus called it being "born again" in John 3:3. He taught this to a religious leader (Nicodemus) who knew all about the Messiah, and yet, did not recognize Him as he spoke with Him! Nicodemus was a stranger to the One he thought he knew so much about: he did not know God.

This new birth (regeneration) is the Holy Spirit's gracious, omnipotent work of giving a sinner a new heart: it never has been nor will it ever be the product of men's religious efforts. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 3:5-6)

God sends His Spirit to reveal to the sinner his lost and rebellious condition; and when that sinner sees his sin for the hateful and loathsome cancer that it is and that because of it he is under the just condemnation of God, he will cry out for the Saviour. This is clearly seen in Acts 2:37-38:"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

The awakened sinner who thus believes will cleave to the Lord Jesus because God has given him a new heart; and he will walk in loving obedience to his Lord and Saviour, discovering the glories of His mercy and grace:"If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). To the sinner plucked from the fiery jaws of Hell, there is no one in all the earth as precious as his Saviour Jesus Christ:"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious" (1 Peter 2:7). Salvation is in a Person: do you know him?

Jesus came as God's Prophet to man, so that man might know God's will. He said,"For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:49-50). Do you know Him as God's Prophet? If you want to know God's will, then you must hear Him.

As a Priest His purpose was to be man's representative to God: He came to offer an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of His people and to intercede for them. His sacrifice was His own body and blood:"Christ being come an high priest of good things to come... neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood... obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb 9:11-12). "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25). Do you know Him as God's Priest? Have you trusted in His perfect sacrifice as your only hope for the forgiveness of your sins? Your debt of sin can only be wiped out through faith in His blood.

Jesus Christ also came as a King. He was and is the Sovereign Lord, the King of the universe, who grants His people faith and repentance, makes and keeps them holy, rules and reigns over them, and has prepared a glorious kingdom for them that they will inhabit after He returns for them. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31). Jesus is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Tim 6:15), and it is He alone "that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). Do you know Him as King? Have you bowed to this mighty Lord and cast your hope upon Him to save and keep you for all eternity? It is only Christ the King reigning supremely in your heart that can conquer your inward and outward sins and lead you in the path of righteousness.

Jesus Christ, the Prophet, Priest, and King, is not only a real man: He is the living, omnipotent God, the sovereign of the universe. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). When Jesus the Living Word walked on the earth, He was "all the fullness of the Godhead" clothed in a human body: eternity stood robed in a veil of flesh (Col 2:9). Do you know Him as God? "This is the true God, and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath no the Son hath no life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:11-13). The Word of God makes it as clear and simple as possible: do you have the Son? Then you have life. If you do not have the Son, you do not have life, and your only expectation is eternal condemnation by the Holy and Just Judge of Heaven to a never-ending, fiery torment in Hell. Jesus Himself shall say to you, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Hearing that Jesus is the Prophet is not the same as hearing God's prophet; believing that the Priest died is not the same as faith in the Priest that died; nodding the ehad that there is a King is not bowing the heart to that King. "Knowing" Jesus Christ is the very life of God working in the soul of man, leading him into a living, personal relationship with the Son of God and conformity to His blessed Word: do you know Jesus Christ?

-Jeff Pollard

Almost a Christian

(From a treatise by M. Meade 1661)

THERE ARE TWO QUESTIONS of very great importance which we should every one of us put to ourselves: "What am I?" and "Where am I?" Am I a child of God or not? Am I sincere in religion, or am I only a hypocrite under a profession? Am I yet in a natural state, or in a state of grace? Am I yet in the old root, in old Adam, or am I in the Root, Christ Jesus? Am I in the covenant of works that ministers only wrath and death, or am I in the covenant of grace that ministers life and peace? I press this upon you that are professors, because many rest in a notion of godliness and an outward show of religion, and yet remain in their natural condition. Many are hearers of the Word and not doers of it, and so deceive their own souls (James 1:22). He that slights the ordinances cannot be a true Christian, but yet it is possible a man may own them and yet be no true Christian.

Errors in the first foundation are very dangerous. If we be not right in the main, the fundamental work, if the foundation be not laid in grace in the heart, all our following profession comes to nothing. The house built upon a sandy foundation, though it may stand for a while, yet when the floods come and the winds blow and beat upon it, great will be the fall of it. There are many things like grace that are not grace. Now it is the likeness of things that deceives. Many take gifts for grace; common knowledge for saving knowledge; whereas a man may have great gifts and no grace, great knowledge and yet not know Jesus Christ. Some take common faith for saving; whereas a man may believe all the truths of the gospel, all the promises, all the threatenings, all the articles of the creed to be true, and yet perish for want of saving faith. Some take morality and restraining grace for renewing grace; whereas it is common to have sin much restrained where the heart is not at all renewed. Some are deceived with a half-work, making many mermaid Christians, or like Nebuchadnezzar's image, head of gold and feet of clay. Endless are the delusions that Satan fastens upon souls for want of this self-search. Satan will try us at one time or other. He will winnow us and sift us to the bottom, and if we now rest in a groundless confidence, it will then end in a comfrotless despair. nay, God Himself will search and try us, at the day of judgment especially, and who can abide that trial, that never tries his own heart?

Whatsoever a man's state be, whether he be altogether a Christian or not, yet it is good to examine his own heart. If he finds his heart good, his principles right and sound, this will be a matter of rejoicing. If he finds his heart rotten, his principles false and unsound, the discovery may be in order to a renewing. If a man have a disease upon him and know it, he may send it to the physician in time, but what a sad vexation it will be not to see the disease till it be past cure! So for a man to be graceless and not see till it be too late, to think himself a Christian when he is not; that he is in the right way to heaven when his is in the ready way to hell, and yet not know it till a death bed or a judgment day confute his confidence, this is the most irrecoverable misery. These are the grounds upon which I press this duty of examining our state. Oh, that God would help us in doing this necessary duty!

You will say: But how shall I come to know wheter I am almost or altogether a Christian? If a man may go so far and yet miscarry, how shall I know when my foundation is right, when I am a Christian indeed?

Christ is a King, Priest, Prophet, and all as Mediator. Without any one of those offices, the work of salvation could not have been completed. As Priest He redeems us, as Prophet He instructs us, as King He sanctifies and saves us. Therefore the apostle says He is made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Righteousness and redemption flow from him as Priest, wisdom as a Prophet, sanctification as King. Now many embrace Christ as Priest, but yet they own Him not as a King and Prophet. They like to share in His righteousness, but not to partake in His holiness. They would be redeemed by Him, but they would not submit to Him. They would be saved by His blood, but not submit to His power. Many love the privileges of the gospel, but not the duties of the gospel. Now these are but almost Christians, notwithstanding their close with Christ; for it is upon their own terms, but not upon God's. The offices of Christ may be distinguished, but they can never be divided.

But the true Christian owns Christ in all His offices. He does not only close with Him as Jesus, but as Lord Jesus. He says with Thomas:"My Lord, and my God." He does not only believe in the merit of His death, but also conforms to the manner of His life. As he believes in Him, so he lives in Him.

The altogether Christian has a thorough work of grace and sanctification wrought in the heart, as a spring of obedience. Regeneration is a whole change. All old things are done away, all things become new. It is a perfect work as to parts, though not as to degrees. Carnal men do duties but from an unsanctified heart, and that spoils all. A new piece of cloth never does well in a old garment, for the rent is made worse (Matt 9:16). When a man's heart is thoroughly renewed by grace, the mind savingly enlightened, the conscience thoroughly convinced, the will truly humbled and subdued, the affections spiritually raised and sanctified, and when the mind and will and conscience and affections all join issue to help on and with the perfornance of the duties commanded, then is a man altogether a Christian. Here the almost Christian fails. He does the same duties, but he does them not in the same manner. If he pray, he regards not faith and fervency in prayer; if he hears, he does not mind Christ's rule:"Take heed how ye hear." If he obey, he looks not to the frame of his heart in obedience; therefore miscarries in all he does. These defects spoil all.

The altogether Christian is much in duty and yet much above duty in regard of dependence. He lives in his obedience, but not upon his obedience. He lives upon Christ and His righteousness. The almost Christian fails in this: He is much in duty, but not above it, but rests in it. He works for rest, and he rests in his works. He cannot come to believe and obey too. If he believes, then he thinks there is no need of obedience, and so casts off that; if he be much in obedience, then he casts off believing, and thinks there is no need of that. He cannot say with David:"I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments"(Psa 119:166). The altogether Christian is universal in his obedience. He does not obey one command and neglect another, do one duty and cast off another; but he has respect to all the commandments. He endeavours to leave every sin, and love every duty. The almost Christian fails in this. His obedience is partial and piece-meal. If he obeys one command, he breaks another. The duties that least cross his lust, he is much in; but those that do, he lays aside. The Pharisees fasted, paid tithes etc., but they did not lay aside their covetousness, their oppression; they "devoured widows' houses;" they were unnatural to parents.

The altogether Christian makes God the chief end of all his performances. Now the almost Christian fails in this. For he that was never truly cast out of himself, can have no higher end than himself. It is dangerous to be almost a Christian, in that it stills and serves to quiet conscience. Now it is very dangerous to quiet conscience with anything but the blood of Christ. It is bad being at peace till Christ speaks peace. Nothing can truly pacify conscience less than that which pacifies God, and that is the blood of Christ (Heb 9:14). Now the almost Christian quiets conscience but not with the blood of Christ; it is not a peace flowing from Christ's propitiation, but a peace rising from a formal profession; not a peace of Christ's giving, but a peace of his own making. He silences and bridles conscience with a form of godliness and so makes it give way to an undoing soul-destroying peace. He rocks it asleep in the cradle of duties, and probably never wakes more till death or judgment. Ah, my brethren, it is better to have a conscience never quiet than quieted any way but by the blood of sprinkling. A good conscience is the greatest affliction to the saints, and an evil conscience, quiet, is the greatest judgment to sinners.

Is Christ Your Lord?

We do not ask: Is Christ your "Saviour,""? but is He, really and truly, your Lord? If He is not your Lord, then He is most certainly not your "Saviour." Those who have not received Christ Jesus as their "Lord" and yet suppose Him to be their "Saviour," are deluded, and their hope rests on a foundation of sand. Multitudes are deceived on this vital point, and therefore, if the reader values his or her soul, we implore you to give a most careful reading to this little tract. When we ask, Is Christ Your Lord? we do not inquire, Do you believe in the Godhead of Jesus of Nazareth? The demons do that and yet perish notwithstanding!
28When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
(Matthew 8:28-29)
You may be firmly convinced of the Deity of Christ, and yet be in your sins. You may speak of Him with the utmost reverence, accord Him His divine titles in your prayers-and yet be unsaved. You may abominate those who traduce His person and deny His divinity, and yet have no spiritual love for Him at all.

When we ask, Is Christ your Lord, we mean, does He in very deed occupy the throne of your heart, does He actually rule over your life? "We have turned everyone to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6) describes the course which all follow by nature. Before conversion every soul lives to please self. Of old it was written, "every man did what was right in his own eyes," and why? "In those days there was no King in Israel" (Judges 21:25). Ah! that is the point we desire to mak eclear to the reader. Until Christ becomes your King "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17) and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages..."(Revelations 15:3) until you bow to His scepter, until His will becomes the rule of your life, self dominates, and thus Christ is disowned.

When the Holy Spirit begins His work of grace in a soul, He first convicts of sin. He shows me the real and awful nature of sin. He makes me realize that it is a species of inssurection, a defying of God's authority, a setting of my will against His. He shows me that in going my "own way" (Isaiah 53:6), in pleasing myself, I have been fighting against God. As my eyes are opened to see what a lifelong rebel I have been, how indifferent to God's honour, how unconcerned about His will - I am filled with anguish and horror, and made to marvel that the thrice Holy One has not long since cast me into Hell. Reader, have you ever gone through this experience? If not, there is very grave reason to fear that you are yet spiritually dead!

Conversion, true conversion, saving conversion, is a turning from sin to God in Christ. It is a throwing down of the weapons of my warfare against Him, a ceasing to despise and ignore His authority. New Testament conversion is described thus:"for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thess 1:9). An "idol" is any object to which we give what is due alone unto God - the supreme place in our affections, the molding influence of our hearts, the dominating power of our lives. Conversion is a right-about face, the heart and will repudiating sin, self, and the world. Genuine conversion is always evidenced by "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6); it is an unreserved surrendering of ourselves to His holy will. Have you yielded yourself to Him? (Romans 6:13)

There are many people who would like to be saved from Hell, but who do not want to be saved from self-will, from having their own way, from a life of (some form of) worldliness. But God will not save them on their terms. To be saved, we must submit to His terms: "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD [having revolted from Him in adam], and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon." Said Christ, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33). Men must be turned "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God," before they can "receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified." (Acts 26:18)

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him" (Col 2:6). That is an exhortation to Chirstians, and its force is, Continue as you began. But how had they "begun"? By receiving "Christ Jesus the Lord," by surrendering to Him, by subjecting themselves to His will, by ceasing to please themselves. His authority was now owned. His commands now became thier rule of life. His love constrained them to a glad and unreserved obedience. They "gave their ownselves to the Lord" (2 Cor 8:5). Have you, my dear reader, done this? Have you? Do the details of your life evidence it? Can those with whom you come into contact see that you are no more living to please self (2 Cor 5:15)?

Oh my reader, make no mistake upon this point: a conversion which the Holy Spirit produces is a very radical thing. It is a miracle of grace. It is the enthroning of Christ in the life. And such conversions are rare indeed. Multitudes of people have just sufficient "religion" to make them miserable. They refuse to forsake every known sin - and there is no true peace for any soul until he does. They have never "received Christ Jesus the Lord" (Col 2:6). Had they doen so, "the joy of the LORD" would be their strength (Neh 8:10). But the language of their hearts and lives (not their "lips") is, "we will not have this Man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14). Is that your case?

The great miracle of grace consists in changing a lawless rebel into a loving and loyal subject. It is a "renewing" of the heart, so that the favoured subject of it has come to loathe what he loved, and the things he once found irksome are now insome (2 Cor 5:17). He delights " in the law of God after the inward man" (Rom 7:22). He discovers that Christ's "commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3), and that "in keeping of them there is great reward" (Psa 19:11). Is this your experience? It would be if you received Christ Jesus THE LORD!

But to receive Christ Jesus the Lord is altogether beyond unaided human power. That is the last which the unrenewed heart wants to do. There must be a supernatural change of heart before there is even the desire for Christ to occupy its throne. And that change, none but God can work (1 Cor 12:3). Therefore, "Seek ye the LORD while He may be found" (Isa 55:6). Search for Him with all our heart (Jer 29:13). Reader, you may have been a professing Christian for years past, and you may have been quite sincere in your profession. But if God has condescended to tuse this tract to show you that you have never really and truly "received Christ Jesus the Lord," if now in your own soul and conscience you realise that SELF has ruled you hitherto, will you not now get down on your knees and confess to God. Confess to Him your self-will, your rebellion against Him, and beg Him to so work in you that, without further delay, you may be enabled to yield yourself completely to His will and become His subject, His servant, His loving slace, in deed and in truth?

-by A.W. Pink

The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Genesis:

• 'things' were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him.
• in the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come.

After Sin's introduction

• made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul
• God was forced out of His central shrine and things were allowed to enter
• from then on there is no peace within their hearts
• God's gifts now take the place of God

Matthew 16:24-25

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

Within each of us is an enemy which we tolerate at our peril - the Self-Life. Self-Life includes possessiveness as well as gain and profit. To allow this enemy to live is, in the end, lose everything. The only way to destroy this foe is by the cross. "let him take up his cross and follow me"

In the Beatitudes, we talked about 'poor in spirit'. But what exactly is the meaning of 'poor in spirit'. This is the question that pops up in my mind the first time i read the Beatitudes. Does it mean humble? Is spirit some kind of entity within us that has a measurement? What is it?

'Poor in Spirit' is the way through the lonely valleys of soul poverty and abnegation of all things to deeper knowledge of God. The man has been rooted from his heart all sense of possessing. He is no longer slave to the tyranny of things, this is not done by fighting, but by surrendering.

One thing to note is that this should not be understood as a mere Bible teaching, but a marker on the road to greener pastures.

Many of us (including myself) were hindred from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. But we must understand and KNOW that:

• Our Lord came not to destroy but to save.
• Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
• Gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. They are God's loan to us.

Therefore put away all defence for whoever defends himself will have himself for his defence. Let him come defenceless before the Lord and he will have for his defender no less than God Himself.

There are many teachings in the Bible that we thought we understand. However, the truth must be experienced before we can really know them. Therefore in our hearts, live through Abraham's harsh and bitter experiences if we would know the blessedness which follows them. If we are set upon the pursuit of God, He will sonner or later bring us to the test.

Prayer:

Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thou wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Following Hard After God

Psalm 63:8
My soul clings to you;
Your right hand upholds me.

Doctrine of prevenient grace:

• Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man.
• The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him. (Divine upholding and Human following)

Psalm 42:1-2

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can i go and meet with God?

Doctrine of justification by faith (a biblical truth), has fallen into evil company and has been interpreted by many in such a manner as actually bar men from the knowledge of God

1. Faith exercised without a jar to the moral life
2. without embarrassment to the Adamic ego
3. The man is 'saved' but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God.

It is true in the Bible to say that a man is justified by faith, not by deeds. However this truth has often than not been interpreted wrongly. Some believe that faith alone can gain you salvation, so there is no need to change our morals. On one hand we want to go to heaven (so we believe in Jesus), and yet on the other hand we want to live our OWN life. This thinking cannot be tolerated as the Adamic ego is still in control here. Adamic ego is a form of self-worshipping, letting "me" take control of my life and often than not, a platform for sinning. As Martin Luther said, "Faith alone can save you, but if faith is alone, it is not faith."

God communicates with us through

1. the avenues of our minds
2. our wills
3. our emotions

Intercourse between God and the soul is known to us in conscious personal awareness.

• it is personal
• it is conscious - it does not stay below the threshold of consciousness and work there unknown to the soul
• comes within the field of awareness where the man can know it as he knows any other fact of experience.

The great tragedy that is happening in the world today is that

• our seeking is done for us by our teachers
• everything is made to centre upon the initial act of 'accepting' Christ (a term not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.

Some Christians today have this wrong logic of if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him.

So how do we find God then?

• first and foremost, we must be determined to find Him
• proceed in the way of simplicity
• strip down to the bare essentials
• put away all efforts to impress and come with the guileless candour of childhood.

If we would have religion 'lapped and folden in one word', it will be 'God' or 'Love'. The man who has God for his treasure has all things in one.

Prayer:

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, Amen!

The Pursuit of God

The following posts will be mostly based on this book by A. W. Tozer.

"Current evangelicalism has laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the peices with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty carmel."

Milton: "The hungry sheep look up and are not fed."
It is a solemn thing to see God's children starving while actually seated at the Father's table.

Wesley: "Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper towards Him. Satan is a proof of this."

It is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into him, that they may delight in His presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and centre of their hearts.

God's Mercy

This is a from a conversation i had with Yiqiang

Mercy is an option, not an obligation. Therefore being a Christian, we must not take God's mercy for granted. If a person is looking for justice or fairness, all of us should have gone to hell, that will be justice. It is first of all unfair for God to send his only Son to earth to die for our sins. Mercy is an option, but justice is a definite.