Category: Miscellaneous

An Appeal to my Pentecostal Brethren

“I have many relations and very good friends who are Pentecostal and I thank God for them all. This post is dedicated to them.”

At the end of each and every year, WordPress experts or helper- monkeys as they prefer to call themselves release statistical report regarding each and every blog they host and Scripture Alone is not an exception. In the report of 2013, WordPress records that the most read article on the blog was “Do Prophets Still Exist?” followed by “Jesus Christ: The True Greatest Prophet.” The third most viewed post was “Of Anointed Water, Stickers, Handkerchiefs, etc.”

Am I surprised by these stats? Not at all! The above topics are real issues that the Church is facing today. People who claim to get direct revelations from God or prophets continue to rise almost every day.  The hunger for miracles and wonders has led to mass production of “anointed staffs” which steadily are taking the place of Christ in the hearts of many.

Now, why am I raising all this? I would like to appeal to my Pentecostal brethren to speak up against these unbiblical developments. Why? Because so many false prophets today claim to be Pentecostal in their beliefs yet what they do sometimes even leave other Pentecostals, I believe, mouth agape. For instance, who among my brethren using the Scriptures could confidently say that God will put money in your bank account or in your pair of trousers’ pockets or your pulse while you are just idling? Would a true Pentecostal, so to speak, agree that the Holy Spirit will direct a pastor to feed his congregants grass as if they are goats?  In case you missed it, check this link, http://www.africanspotlight.com/2014/01/08/south-african-pastor-makes-members-eat-grass-steps-photos-video/

My point again is that please my friends speak up against these things unless you don’t see anything wrong with such pathetic and blaspheming developments. I make this appeal because if you don’t raise your voice the old adage will prove true that silence means consent. By the grace of God, I write and will continue to write against these errors and heresies but I am not Pentecostal and some think I do so merely to score points over you brethren.

However, if truth be told, I write and denounce errors and heresies because I am concerned with God’s truth and the glory of Christ regardless of who is involved. John Calvin once observed: “Even a dog barks when it’s master is attacked, I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is being attacked and yet would remain silent.” I bark when God’s glory and truth is maligned because I can’t help it to see or hear the name of Christ my Master and Savior being brought into disrepute.

So, friends raise your voices against errors and heresies that are coming out coated with your name for Christ’s sake and his Church. Grace and peace.

“Touch Not my Anointed Ones:” What Does it Really Mean?

“Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm.” This verse is found in two books of the Bible namely 1 Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105:15. In fact, part of Psalm 105 is a repetition of the song of David in which these words were said in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36.

I would contend that this is one of verses that is often prone to abuse. I have heard different people, more especially those who claim to be special “men and women of God” and their followers respectively, using this verse to challenge or even scare those who rebuke or points out errors, heresies, or sin in the lives of these “men and women of God.” But if we interpret the verse in its context would we arrive at the implication that “men and women of God” should not be rebuked for any error or heresy or sin? This is the question I am endeavoring to answer in this post.

Understanding any passage of the Bible in its appropriate context is the first and very crucial step in the art and science of interpreting and applying Scripture. Disregard of context in which any passage of Scripture was given leads to all sorts of errors in interpreting and applying biblical truths to our present situation. Thus we should begin with context.  What is the context in which these words, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm” were said.

As already pointed out, we first encounter these words in 1 Chronicles 16:22. They are part of a song of thanksgiving that David together with Asaph and his brothers sang after they brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.  For some time, the Ark of the Covenant was outside Jerusalem. But, when David became King of Israel, he together with the elders of Jerusalem agreed to bring the ark to the headquarters of the kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem.  The first time they attempted to do this, they did not follow God’s prescribed procedures of carrying the ark hence Uzzah was killed and the ark was abandoned at the house of Obededom (1 Chronicles 13:1-14). However, on the second occasion, David and Israelites followed God’s instructions and they successfully brought it into Jerusalem.

It was after this event that David sang this song of thanksgiving to God. Briefly, in this song David gives thanks and praises God for his great and wondrous works. He goes back to the history of Israel and illustrates how God has demonstrated his great deeds starting from Abraham to his time. In recounting God’s wondrous works, he cites an instance when the Israelites came out of Egyptian slavery and began their journey to the Promised Land, Canaan. On this journey, they passed through different nations and kingdoms, and in reference to this David says:

“When you were few in number, and of little account, and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”

This is the context in which this verse is to be interpreted and applied. Some have argued that since the anointed office in Israel was that of the king, the phrase “my anointed ones” refers to kings of Israel. However, by this time, Israel had no kings. Unless, we interpret it to mean that God was speaking in reference to future kings then this interpretation undoubtedly holds water.  However, I share with John Calvin’s interpretation in which he says that “my anointed” ones or “my prophets” refer to Israel’s patriarchs since one of the patriarchs, Abraham, is also called a prophet in Genesis 20:7.

Having discovered out who “anointed ones” are in the passage, we need next to figure out the meaning of “touch not.”  One major characteristic of Hebrew poetry or songs is parallelism in which the truth of the first line is repeated in the second line but not with the exact same words. This is the instance here. In other words, David could have easily said: “Touch not my anointed ones, touch not my anointed ones.” This would seem unnecessary repetition. For that reason, Hebrew poetry or songs employed parallelism to say the same truth in different words. Hence “touch not” is the same as “do no harm” and the referent of “my anointed ones” is the same as that of “my prophets” namely the patriarchs of Israel or the Israelites who sojourned from Egypt on the way to Canaan.

Therefore, if we are to interpret the verse in its own context, it would mean that God commanded the nations and kingdoms that Israelites were passing through from Egypt to Canaan not to harm them physically but to let them pass through freely and peacefully.  Application of the verse includes the truth that God protects and guards his chosen people or servants. This is what we need to draw from the verse.  Furthermore, from this verse we can deduce that God prohibits any type of physical harm not only to his chosen people but to all people as the Sixth Commandment (Thou shall not kill) and Genesis 9:5, 6 confirm.

So, “Touch not my anointed ones” has to do with prohibition of physical harm and not rebuke of error, heresy or sin. Nowhere in the Bible has God commanded that we do not rebuke his people or servants. Instead, the Bible encourages us to rebuke error, heresy or sin in love and truth. God used his prophets in the Old Testament to rebuke sin or error or falsehood in the lives of kings and false prophets (2 Samuel 12:1-15; 1 Kings 18:17, 18; 2 Chronicles 16:7-10; Jeremiah 23; Ezekiel 11:16-21).

In the New Testament, Apostle Paul rebuked his fellow Apostle Peter of hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-14). The Scripture itself tells us that God has given us his word for among other things to rebuke error, heresy or sin: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof (rebuke), for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17, italics mine).

God has said, “Touch not or do no harm to my anointed (chosen) ones.”  But he has never said, “Rebuke not my anointed ones even though they commit error, heresy or sin in their lives and ministries.”

A Brief Catechism of Bible Doctrine-1-The Bible

reformedontheweb's avatarReformedontheweb's Blog

The Bible

 

1.What book have we that teaches about God?

The Bible.

2. By what other name is it known?

The Scriptures.

3. Into what two parts is it divided?

Into the Old and New Testaments.

4. How came it to be written?

God inspired holy men to write it.

5. Did they write it exactly as God wished?

Yes; as much as if he had written every word himself.

6. Ought it, therefore, to be believed and obeyed?

Yes; as much so as though God had spoken directly to us.

7. Does it teach us every thing about God?

It does not; no language could teach us the full glory of God, nor could we ever comprehend it.

8. How much does it teach us?

It teaches us all that is necessary about God, our duty to Him, our condition as sinners, and the way of salvation.

 

View original post 8 more words

True Repentance

“Godly sorrow worketh repentance” 2 Corinthians 7:10

Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature’s garden. Pearls itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If you have one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it you, for human nature’s thorns never produced a single fig. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Savior. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin, and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of His love.

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally – as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it – shun it in everything- not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against Him.

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. Thus dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest.

Taken from: Morning and Evening, Morning Oct. 13 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

 

 

The Blessed Saints

Text: Ephesians 1:1-14

 I remember teaching Sunday school some years ago and I asked the kids in my class what being in Christ meant to them. Some said happiness, others said joy but there was this one kid who said that being in Christ for her means blessings. She did not elaborate but just said that being in Christ means blessings.

And this is exactly what we are seeing in this passage we have read. In the passage, Apostle Paul is reminding us of the blessings we have in Christ. Of course, there are so many blessings that Apostle Paul highlights in the passage but we will dwell much on three blessings that have come to us Christians as a result of the life, death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But before we can dwell on the blessings, the author of this Epistle we have read introduces himself to us and says, “Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” Paul was an apostle of Jesus. As an apostle of Jesus he was not there to advance his own interests or his own ideas but rather he was there to proclaim Jesus. He was made an apostle to proclaim the Cross of Jesus.

Similarly, we Christians are not on our own. We are of Jesus. We belong to Christ; therefore, our lives should proclaim Christ and glorify him because we are not of our own but of Christ by the will of God. This fact should also bring comfort to us as the Hilderberg Catechism Questions number 1 asks: “What is your comfort in life and death?” The answer in part reads: “That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and death to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.” Friends, we are of Jesus. We belong to Jesus.

Then Apostle Paul goes on to introduces the recipients of the Epistle and says, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” Every believer or Christian is a saint. I remember attending a Bible Study on this passage this other day. Then the leader of the Bible study asked “Do you think, you are a saint?” Then somebody replied and said, “No, I am not a saint.”

“Why?” The leader asked. Then came a reply: “A saint is a very holy person.I mean he is very righteous….” I cut him and said, that’s what you if you are a Christian. In Christ we are righteous not basing on our own righteousness but on the righteousness of Christ which God gives to us when we believe in him for salvation. In Christ, every Christian is holy basing on the holiness of Christ.” Friends, every one who is saved is a saint. If Paul was writing to us here today, he would have definitely wrote to the “Saints at…” (put in your place there).” Of course, I don’t mean that you should address me as St. Confex. It is not that necessary although that’s what actually we are in Christ. We are saints.

Then Apostle Paul moves on to praise God for the spiritual blessings He has given us in Jesus. In verse 3 he says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.” Paul has in mind here the risen Lord Jesus Christ. As the Scripture tells us, Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father and from there he pours out blessings upon his Church, upon believers. We need to praise God for these blessings which he gives us through Christ.

Apostle Paul then lists the blessings. First he says, God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  For us to be saved. For us to be Christians today, it is not because we chose God but God chose us even before the world was created.  So, you and I are Christians today not because we are smart or we are better or we made a right choice when we heard the gospel preached to us.

NO! It is God who chose us to be believers. Sometimes I know there is a temptation to think that we did something that moved God to save us. But according to this passage, God chose us even before we were born. Before God created the world, he saw us miserable in our sin. As a matter of fact, we were dead in our sin but in his grace and mercy, God chose to save us. Apostle Paul then continues to give us a reason why God chose to save us so that we should walk in a holy and blameless life. God desires his children to be holy just as he is holy. He desires us to be set apart from the world.

Then Apostle Paul mentions another blessing  in verse 5 and says, God predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will. Two theological words here: predestination and adoption. Predestination basically means that before creation, God already foreordained or planned what will happen in our lives. And Adoption is an act whereby God after he has saved us, he goes on to take or adopt us as his children in his family. Oh, what a blessing!

God took us we who were his enemies because of sin and turned us into his children. Oh, what an amazing grace. This is why John1:12, 13 clearly tell us: “But to all who did receive him (meaning Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of the blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Oh, what a blessing we have in Christ! I would like now to move on and concentrate much on three of many blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus as we have read in the passage.

The first one is that We have the forgiveness of sins in Christ (v. 7)

In Jesus Christ we have the forgiveness of sin and this forgiveness leads to redemption and salvation. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has forgiven and delivered us from the slavery of sin. The blood of Christ that was shed on the cross cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 tells us: “If we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteouness .

And please mark the words all unrighteousness. In Jesus we do not only have partial forgiveness but full forgiveness of sins. In Christ we have forgiveness of our sins in the past, in the present and in the future. There is not limit in the forgiveness of Jesus. Christ does not tell us that I have forgiven you today but be careful because I won’t forgive you again. No, in Jesus we always have forgiveness of our sins if we approach his throne with a broken and repentant heart.

But here it is important to clarify about the consequences of sin and forgiveness of sin. If we sin we can face the consequences of sin although Christ has forgiven us. For instance, a Christian might cheat his or her partner and contract HIV/Aids Then this Christian might ask for forgiveness from Jesus after being convicted of his or her sin. Jesus will surely forgive but might not heal the disease. So, although forgiven in Christ, this Christian will still have to face the consequences or his or her sin.

Now, sometimes we are tempted to doubt if Jesus really forgave those sins we committed. Some times you can even hear the voice of the evil one whispering in your ear and say, “Do you really believe that Jesus forgave you those sins?” And you might doubt, but in the passage we have the assurance that in Christ we have forgiveness of all our sins.  This is why the Word of God says in Romans 8:1 that “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ” because in Jesus we have full forgiveness of our sins.

Friends, I don’t know what sins you have committed but I know there are sins or evil things we have done which we, human beings, might find hard to forgive but t Christ alone forgives all sins. Therefore, let’s lift our eyes to the cross of Jesus where the forgiveness of all sin is. As we sing in that famous hymn, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.

        There is a fountain filled with blood 
               drawn from Emmanuel's veins; 
               and sinners plunged beneath that flood 
               lose all their guilty stains. 
              

 Secondly, in the passage, we see that We have eternal life in Christ (v. 11)

Apostle Paul is telling us that in Christ we have obtained an inheritance. The inheritance that Paul is talking about in this verse is the gift of eternal life as well as all the benefits that belong to those who are in Christ.  And note the way the Bible puts it. It says we have obtained an inheritance in Jesus. The gift of eternal life is a present reality. Every believer has eternal life right now.

It is sad that some people think that eternal life is what we will get in the future when we go to heaven. When you ask them, “Do you have eternal life?” They will reply and say, “I can’t tell. We will see when we get there in heaven.” It might sound spiritual but it is not biblical because in verse 11 Apostle Paul assures us that we have eternal life right now if we are in Christ.

It is very important for every believer to know that they have eternal life right now because this realization determines how we live our daily lives. If we do not know that we have eternal life, we are likely to live any how and like anybody without purpose. However, when we know that we have eternal life, we start looking at things differently.

When we realize that we have eternal life, we can confidently sing:

This world is not my home

I am just passing through

 When we realize that we have eternal life, we also realize that we are strangers and a pilgrims in this world and our eternal home is where our Father is and that is heaven. As a stranger in the world you do not conform to the standards of the world because you know that your citizenship is not here but in heaven.

Furthermore, knowing that we have eternal life in Christ comforts us when our fellow believers depart from us and go to be with the Lord. We get comforted because although they have died physically, they still have life in Jesus Christ.

 As Christians who have believed in Christ we should always know that we have eternal life right now. Apostle John writing to us in 1 John 5:13 says: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” So, eternal life is a gift we receive when we believe in Christ not when we will go to heaven.

Friends, we have eternal life in Christ and this truth does not depend on how we feel or think. But if we have this risen Lord in our lives. If he is controlling our lives, then for sure we have eternal life.

 Thirdly and lastly, We have a guarantee of our salvation in Christ (v. 13, 14).

 Paul tells us that we when we heard the gospel and believed in Christ as our Lord and Savior, in him we received a guarantee of our salvation who is the Holy Spirit.

 English is my second language. So when I saw the word guarantee I consulted my dictionary and according to Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, the word ‘guarantee’ means ‘a promise that something will definitely happen.’ It goes on to say, ‘if something is guaranteed, it means that you will definitely get it or have it.”

 So when the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our salvation, it means that no matter what, eternal life is ours in Christ Jesus. Nothing and no one can take it away from us. We cannot also lose it because it is guaranteed.

Jesus Christ in John 10:28 says, “I give (every believer) eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is the guarantee we have in Christ through his death, burial and resurrection. In Christ, we are safe and secure. There is nothing or any one who can snatch us away from the hand of Christ.

 Apostle Paul also in Romans 8:37-39 assures us: “For I am sure that neither death nor things present nor things to come… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Apostle Paul again writes in Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” In other ways, Paul here is saying: “He who saved you, will make sure that you remain saved, saved, and saved to the end.”

 Now, for sure our salvation is guaranteed in Christ. But does this mean that we should deliberately sin more and more? God forbid! As the Bible says, God has given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our salvation and eternal life. Now the work of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify or make us holy or make us become more and more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit who is a guarantee of our salvation convicts us of sin and helps us to live a holy life that is pleasing to God.

 Furthermore, knowing what God has freely done to me in Christ can never make me sin against him deliberately. Instead, knowing all the good things that God has done in Christ for me provokes thanksgiving to God. Naturally, when somebody has done good to us, we don’t repay them back with evil. We pay back with good as well.

The fact that God loves us so much and that he allowed his son to die for our sins. The fact that God has given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our salvation does not mean that we should sin deliberately against him. Instead, those who have truly experienced his love and grace live a life of obedience to him out of love and appreciation for what God has done to them.

And Christ in John 14:15 says: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” We show our love and appreciation for all that God has done to us in Christ by keep his commandments.” Not out of fear but out of love and appreciation for what he has done to us.

Therefore, let this assurance from God’s Word that in Christ our salvation is secure comfort us always. We do not need any other form of assurance more than this.

A story is told of an elderly man who came to a preacher by the name of H.A. Ironside. “I struggle with assurance of my salvation. How can I be sure about it?”

Ironside replied, “Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough assurance?”

“Yes, I think it would. An angel should be right.”

Ironside continued, “But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, ‘I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.’ What would you say?”

The man was speechless. Ironside then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given the Holy Spirit who is assurance of our salvation and this was made possible through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this Christ we have  forgiveness of our sins; in this Christ we have eternal life and in this Christ we have a guarantee of our salvation.

Lets pray:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Sermons” A New Category on Scripture Alone

“Sermons” is a new category on my blog. I have thought that my sermons should also be part of this blog and I believe God can use them to speak to you. So, please  check the tab regularly as I will be posting my sermons from now on, God willing.

One of the great things I love is preaching. Honestly, preaching is heaven for my soul; however, preaching also makes me tremble, especially when I realize that every time I stand to preach, I am in essence saying:  “Thus says the Lord.” This is great when it is indeed the Lord speaking but very dangerous and scary if it is just my thoughts. Therefore, it is my prayer always that God will dim and darken my thoughts and ideas in these sermons but shine brighter His word in them.

Another thing to be noted is that usually when writing sermons, I tend to write for the ear and not much for the eye. Therefore, as you read you bear this in mind. May the good Lord the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you as you read these sermons to His glory. May He also use them to nourish your soul. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 24, 25).

Christians are Like Lebanon Cedars

“The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted” Psalm 105:16

Lebanon’s cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which He had himself prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman as his planter.

Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human irrigation; and yet our heavenly Father supplies them. Thus it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to Him alone. The dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven is his fountain.

Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal power. They owe nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and tempest. They are God’s trees, kept and preserved by Him, and by Him alone.  It is precisely the same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant, sheltered from temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no shelter, no protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover the cedars which He Himself planted.

Like cedars, believers are full of sap, having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter’s snows.

Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condition of the  cedar is to the praise of God only. The Lord, even the Lord alone has been everything unto the cedars, and therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, “Praise you the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” In the believer there is nothing that can magnify man, he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord’s own hand, and to Him let all the glory be ascribed.

Taken from “Morning and Evening” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Stand Still in God’s Word

“Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Exodus 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 you go from strength to strength, and so you shall, and neither death nor hell shall turn you from your course.  What, if for a while you are called to stand still, yet this is but to renew your 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 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 Precipitancy, but it hears God say, “Stand still,” and immoveable 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.”

Taken from Morning and Evening by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.