Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions, September 27, 2005

"Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord!" - Deuteronomy 33:29

He who affirms that Christianity makes men miserable, is himself an utter stranger to it. It were strange indeed, if it made us wretched, for see to what a position it exalts us! It makes us sons of God. Suppose you that God will give all the happiness to his enemies, and reserve all the mourning for his own family? Shall his foes have mirth and joy, and shall his home-born children inherit sorrow and wretchedness? Shall the sinner, who has no part in Christ, call himself rich in happiness, and shall we go mourning as if we were penniless beggars? No, we will rejoice in the Lord always, and glory in our inheritance, for we "have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

The rod of chastisement must rest upon us in our measure, but it worketh for us the comfortable fruits of righteousness; and therefore by the aid of the divine Comforter, we, the "people saved of the Lord," will joy in the God of our salvation. We are married unto Christ; and shall our great Bridegroom permit his spouse to linger in constant grief? Our hearts are knit unto him: we are his members, and though for awhile we may suffer as our Head once suffered, yet we are even now blessed with heavenly blessings in him. We have the earnest of our inheritance in the comforts of the Spirit, which are neither few nor small. 

Inheritors of joy for ever, we have foretastes of our portion. There are streaks of the light of joy to herald our eternal sunrising. Our riches are beyond the sea; our city with firm foundations lies on the other side the river; gleams of glory from the spirit-world cheer our hearts, and urge us onward. Truly is it said of us, "Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord?"

Sermon: Making All Things New

This lecture addresses a lot of our sexual issues as men, especially in the realm of temptation. This is not the normal accountability solution, but a deeper look at the issues of sin, what drives us to do some of the things we do. It is well worth the download (Go to the website, select the link, right-click, save target as) and listening to. I have downloaded all the sessions and place them on CDs for car travel. --David Powlison

Restoring Pure Joy to the Sexually Broken
Listen
From the Sex and Supremacy of God conference (J Piper) - http://www.desiringgod.org/news_events/dgm_national/2004/media.html

Hope in the Face of Disaster

Throughout history, all kinds of disasters always takes place. The Tsunami of last December, the Hurricane last week. It is hard to understand sometimes why God would allows such disasters to take place. I don't have the answers to the why, but I can tell you a little about God's character, which the Bible reveals.

It is wrong for evangelist to indicate that those areas (Asia or New Orleans) were specifically targeted for special punishment, and that those stricken are deserving. The Bible teaches that we all deserve judgment and punishment, including those same evangelicals. It is safe to say that God wants our attention and to turn towards Him, not wanting any to be lost. He does not necessarily cause these events for that purpose but allows natural events to happen so that His love can be experience, especially through Christian ministries. These disasters do create opportunity for Christians to 'roll up their sleeves' and show God's love by laboring to feed, provide clothing and shelter and to comfort the victims and their family - and also lead people to saving faith in Christ!. Believe me, it is against our nature to seek out God when everything is going well.

These disasters also contain many miraculous events, miracles that prevented even greater lose of life. If the hurricane had still been a category 5 when it hit, which it was just hours before making landfall. If the hurricane had not tracked a little east of New Orleans, dealing it a glancing blow. In the near future, as stories come out of this area, you will hear tales of the miraculous on individual levels. The people who were saved from death, and those who escape by providence.

People are coming together although the news only reports the rapes, looting, boat hijackings and many newspaper are busy blaming President Bush. The news doesn't report that Bush was on the phone with the Governor of Louisiana trying to make arrangements the day before the hurricane, or that many people (not just the poor and elderly) refused to leave when ordered to do so, or the many, many agencies had arrived within hours of the hurricane coming through or that some organizations were turned back at the border because there was no place to stage (set them up) them. The land area is large, and the number of people affected is staggering. There is no reason to believe that initial confusion could have been avoided.

This storm was an opportunity for thousands to re-evaluate their lives, including those outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, who are asking the hard questions of God and looking for ways to help. Our church has been in prayer, and we are responding in various ways, like thousands are across the country. We will all face death. Through illness, war, accident, natural disaster, old age, carelessness or in our sleep. It is not something we will ever escape. To face death (and even life), without fear, we need hope, a reason for being. God provides us a reason for being (to glorify God and enjoy Him forever) and hope by enabling us to be conciliated to Him through Christ. Without hope our existence would be unbearable; our life would be filled with such hopelessness and terror, a continuous and painful ordeal. Why do we need to be reconciliated? Because we are sinful and God's nature (Holiness) cannot abide our sinfulness without payment or sacrifice, which He Himself has provided through His son.