Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. Luke 6:26
In this verse Jesus speaks of those who seek to be universally popular. In order to attain that, certain traits will be evident:
(1) Those who worship wealth;
(2) those satisfied with their present life;
(3) those who live for present enjoyment;
(4) those whose aim is human praise and adulation.
Anyone who decides to follow Christ in this life, will find opposition and slander. Christ was reviled and slandered, we will receive the same. Those who need the applause of men, and are swayed by popular opinion, will never stand up under the pressure of this world's enticements, or it's attacks on his personal character. What comes out of their mouths, and their conduct, will expose what's really inside; James gives a description that defines many in this category "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways".
There's counsel in the word of God, that can help the pilgrim in their journey through this wilderness, let's take a look at some of them.
(1) Those who worship wealth;
(2) those satisfied with their present life;
(3) those who live for present enjoyment;
(4) those whose aim is human praise and adulation.
Anyone who decides to follow Christ in this life, will find opposition and slander. Christ was reviled and slandered, we will receive the same. Those who need the applause of men, and are swayed by popular opinion, will never stand up under the pressure of this world's enticements, or it's attacks on his personal character. What comes out of their mouths, and their conduct, will expose what's really inside; James gives a description that defines many in this category "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways".
There's counsel in the word of God, that can help the pilgrim in their journey through this wilderness, let's take a look at some of them.
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT—LONGSUFFERING
"If a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name. Insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, Rejoice!" — 1Pe_4:13-16.
The long-suffering silence of our Lord was a marvel to His foes.
"As a lamb that is led to the slaughter and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb," He opened not His mouth. Before the high priests, He held His peace. To Pilate He gave no answer. Facing the challenge and reproach of the Cross, He answered nothing. "When He was reviled He did not answer; when He suffered, He uttered no threats, but left His wrongs in the hands of the righteous Judge."
In every child suffering through drunken parents, in every martyr burnt at the stake, in every innocent sufferer before high-handed oppression, He has been led as a lamb to the slaughter, but remaining to the oppressor's. Man may murder His servants and blaspheme His name, but He says not a word. Even in His darkest hour, on the cross He was bearing our sin and shame-knowing the victory that lay just ahead.
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, remember that silence does not imply indifference. At the very time that our Lord was silent before His judges, He was bearing the sin of the world. When silence is proclaimed in Heaven, we find that the prayers of the saints are being presented on the throne—prayers of intercession, mingled with much incense of Christ's merit.
It is in this spirit that we are to suffer. We are to conceal our anguish as stoics. No suffering rightly borne is in vain, but in some way, which you may not understand, you are helping Christ in His redemptive work. Be calm, and quiet. Pray for those who despitefully use you, and ask that your silence and forbearance, may lead to their conversion.
Lorna Couillard
"As a lamb that is led to the slaughter and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb," He opened not His mouth. Before the high priests, He held His peace. To Pilate He gave no answer. Facing the challenge and reproach of the Cross, He answered nothing. "When He was reviled He did not answer; when He suffered, He uttered no threats, but left His wrongs in the hands of the righteous Judge."
In every child suffering through drunken parents, in every martyr burnt at the stake, in every innocent sufferer before high-handed oppression, He has been led as a lamb to the slaughter, but remaining to the oppressor's. Man may murder His servants and blaspheme His name, but He says not a word. Even in His darkest hour, on the cross He was bearing our sin and shame-knowing the victory that lay just ahead.
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, remember that silence does not imply indifference. At the very time that our Lord was silent before His judges, He was bearing the sin of the world. When silence is proclaimed in Heaven, we find that the prayers of the saints are being presented on the throne—prayers of intercession, mingled with much incense of Christ's merit.
It is in this spirit that we are to suffer. We are to conceal our anguish as stoics. No suffering rightly borne is in vain, but in some way, which you may not understand, you are helping Christ in His redemptive work. Be calm, and quiet. Pray for those who despitefully use you, and ask that your silence and forbearance, may lead to their conversion.
Lorna Couillard
My Refuge and My Fortress
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psa 91:1
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psa 91:1
For those who seek the wisdom of these verses, some notable quotes from voices years past-that continue to speak truth today:
God’s protection does not mean exemption from outward calamities. But there is an evil in the calamity that will never come near the man who is sheltered under God’s wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business; the one is a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms them. They become bankrupts. Is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other? Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side, you may say of the one, but only of the one, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” For the protection that is granted to faith is to be understood only by faith. The story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus-gives clarity to these two situations. The rich man dies, and finds himself in hell, the beggar's spirit is carried by angels to heaven. Truth of their eternal spirits lies beyond what human eyes can see.
Luk 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
“If you believe in God,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “where is there any more room for terror? If you are sure that God, in the long-run, means kindness by you, you should be happy.” Fighting a losing battle with death, he wrote: “The tragedy of things works itself out blacker and blacker. Does it shake my cast-iron faith? I cannot say that it does. I believe in an ultimate decency of things; aye, and if I woke in hell, should still believe it.”
"Don’t be too much taken up with excitements social and intellectual. The depths of life are still and ought not to be ruffled by every wanton breeze, else they lose the capacity which they ought to possess of being that center of rest, and peace, and content, to which we can withdraw when wearied of the world which is too much with us. Life to be worth anything at all must have a moral basis. After all, it is the root of the matter, unless the universe was made in jest.2 [Note: Memoir of Robert Herbert Story, 401.]
“I passed my time in great peace, content to spend the remainder of my life there, if such should be the will of God. I employed part of my time in writing religious songs. I, and my maid La Gautière, who was with me in prison, committed them to heart as fast as I made them. Together we sang praises to Thee, O our God! It sometimes seemed to me as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a cage, and that I had nothing to do now but to sing. The joy of my heart gave a brightness to the objects around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My heart was full of that joy which Thou givest to them who love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses.” [Note: Madame Guyon, in Life, by T. C. Upham.]
"Are you in peril through some crushing, heavy trial? Seek this communion with Christ, and you will receive strength and be able to conquer. "I will strengthen thee." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
May these nuggets of wisdom below be encouragement to anyone facing trials, or adversity today; in summary, let Isaiah's words lift your spirit-and strengthen your heart: God knows, and hears the prayers of His people, He renews their strength. As the eagle, the vision of the believer is keen, and far reaching, beyond the horizon of this life.
God’s protection does not mean exemption from outward calamities. But there is an evil in the calamity that will never come near the man who is sheltered under God’s wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business; the one is a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms them. They become bankrupts. Is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other? Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side, you may say of the one, but only of the one, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” For the protection that is granted to faith is to be understood only by faith. The story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus-gives clarity to these two situations. The rich man dies, and finds himself in hell, the beggar's spirit is carried by angels to heaven. Truth of their eternal spirits lies beyond what human eyes can see.
Luk 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
“If you believe in God,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “where is there any more room for terror? If you are sure that God, in the long-run, means kindness by you, you should be happy.” Fighting a losing battle with death, he wrote: “The tragedy of things works itself out blacker and blacker. Does it shake my cast-iron faith? I cannot say that it does. I believe in an ultimate decency of things; aye, and if I woke in hell, should still believe it.”
"Don’t be too much taken up with excitements social and intellectual. The depths of life are still and ought not to be ruffled by every wanton breeze, else they lose the capacity which they ought to possess of being that center of rest, and peace, and content, to which we can withdraw when wearied of the world which is too much with us. Life to be worth anything at all must have a moral basis. After all, it is the root of the matter, unless the universe was made in jest.2 [Note: Memoir of Robert Herbert Story, 401.]
“I passed my time in great peace, content to spend the remainder of my life there, if such should be the will of God. I employed part of my time in writing religious songs. I, and my maid La Gautière, who was with me in prison, committed them to heart as fast as I made them. Together we sang praises to Thee, O our God! It sometimes seemed to me as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a cage, and that I had nothing to do now but to sing. The joy of my heart gave a brightness to the objects around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My heart was full of that joy which Thou givest to them who love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses.” [Note: Madame Guyon, in Life, by T. C. Upham.]
"Are you in peril through some crushing, heavy trial? Seek this communion with Christ, and you will receive strength and be able to conquer. "I will strengthen thee." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
May these nuggets of wisdom below be encouragement to anyone facing trials, or adversity today; in summary, let Isaiah's words lift your spirit-and strengthen your heart: God knows, and hears the prayers of His people, He renews their strength. As the eagle, the vision of the believer is keen, and far reaching, beyond the horizon of this life.
THE EVERLASTING GOD THE GIVER OF STRENGTH
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isa 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isa 40:31
Day changes to night, and as the twilight deepens, the stars come out in their myriads, Isa_40:26.
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
To the poetic eye of the watcher, they appear as a vast flock following the shepherd, who calls each by its name. Not one falls out of its place, or is lacking. Will Jehovah do so much for stars and naught for men? Will He not have a name for each? Will He not guard and guide each? If He has sustained the orbs of light in their mighty rounds, will He fail the poor soul that clings to His feet?
They that wait on God change their strength. In their earliest days they rely on the energy and vigor of youth, on their blameless, unstained character, in the consciousness of their glorious manhood; but as years pass, they come to count all these as refuse in comparison with Jesus Christ the Lord, Php_3:8. F. B. Meyer
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
"Yea, I still account both all these and all things else to be mere loss, compared to the inward, experimental knowledge of Christ, as my Lord, as my prophet, priest, and king, as teaching me wisdom, atoning for my sins, and reigning in my heart. To refer this to justification only, is miserably to pervert the whole scope of the words. They manifestly relate to sanctification also; yea, to that chiefly. For whom I have actually suffered the loss of all things - Which the world loves, esteems, or admires; of which I am so far from repenting, that I still account them but dung - The discourse rises. Loss is sustained with patience, but dung is cast away with abhorrence. The Greek word signifies any, the vilest refuse of things, the dross of metals, the dregs of liquors, the excrements of animals, the most worthless scraps of meat, the basest offals, fit only for dogs. That I may gain Christ - He that loses all things, not excepting himself, gains Christ, and is gained by Christ. And still there is more; which even St. Paul speaks of his having not yet gained." John Wesley
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
To the poetic eye of the watcher, they appear as a vast flock following the shepherd, who calls each by its name. Not one falls out of its place, or is lacking. Will Jehovah do so much for stars and naught for men? Will He not have a name for each? Will He not guard and guide each? If He has sustained the orbs of light in their mighty rounds, will He fail the poor soul that clings to His feet?
They that wait on God change their strength. In their earliest days they rely on the energy and vigor of youth, on their blameless, unstained character, in the consciousness of their glorious manhood; but as years pass, they come to count all these as refuse in comparison with Jesus Christ the Lord, Php_3:8. F. B. Meyer
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
"Yea, I still account both all these and all things else to be mere loss, compared to the inward, experimental knowledge of Christ, as my Lord, as my prophet, priest, and king, as teaching me wisdom, atoning for my sins, and reigning in my heart. To refer this to justification only, is miserably to pervert the whole scope of the words. They manifestly relate to sanctification also; yea, to that chiefly. For whom I have actually suffered the loss of all things - Which the world loves, esteems, or admires; of which I am so far from repenting, that I still account them but dung - The discourse rises. Loss is sustained with patience, but dung is cast away with abhorrence. The Greek word signifies any, the vilest refuse of things, the dross of metals, the dregs of liquors, the excrements of animals, the most worthless scraps of meat, the basest offals, fit only for dogs. That I may gain Christ - He that loses all things, not excepting himself, gains Christ, and is gained by Christ. And still there is more; which even St. Paul speaks of his having not yet gained." John Wesley