Heart Trouble

King David was having heart trouble...the worst kind. His heart was failing him, losing confidence before God because of his own sinfulness.

Compounding his misery were his powerful enemies who took delight in his failures. So he was besieged by a bad conscience within and demonically inspired pressure from without.

By God's grace, David knew God's truth, and that it was higher than his present experience. As the Apostle John wrote hundreds of years later, "God is greater than our hearts and knows all things."

So David confessed his sins and sought the blessing of God's presence. His heart was troubled, but he dealt with it by seeking the Lord's blessing and waiting patiently for God to answer his prayers.

So too, we should not allow our hearts to be troubled because we have the truth of God in Christ. Yet when and if such trouble gets to us deep inside, let us not go by our heart, but rather by the written Word of God. Scripture says, "The fool trusts in his own heart." We need God's wisdom in these matters so we don't over react nor fail to act.

Here's the story (Psalm 40) of David's distress and how God brought him back into spiritual balance:

11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;
Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.

("iniquities" may be seen as those plans we make outside of the will of God as revealed in scripture)

(And then):
16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
"The Lord be magnified!"

17 But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

A healthy heart has Christ seated on its throne.

Suggest the reading of the whole of Psalm 40. The Psalms are the experiential side of the believer's life. We can always find an "aha" moment in them as we peruse these common experiences of God's people through life.

Part #2 of Comments Re Calvinist Spurgeon's Treasury of David

PART #2. Regarding Charles Haddon Spurgeon's classic "The Treasury of David". The following are comments of men of God Spurgeon included in his notes while writing on Psalm 119.

Comment on Psalm 119:18:. Wondrous things.

There are promises in God's word that no man has ever tried, to find. There are treasures of gold and silver in it that no man has taken the pains to dig for. There are medicines in it for the want of a knowledge of which hundreds have died. It seems to me ...like some old baronial estate that has descended to a man (who lives in a modern house) and thinks it scarcely worth while to go and look into the venerable mansion.

Year after year passes away and he pays no attention to it, since he has no suspicion of the valuable treasures it contains, till, at last, some man says to him, "Have you been up in the country to look at that estate?" He makes up his mind that he will take a look at it. As he goes through the porch he is surprised to see the skill that has been displayed in its construction: he is more and more surprised as he goes through the halls.

He enters a large room, and is astonished as he beholds the wealth of pictures on the walls, among which are portraits of many of his revered ancestors. He stands in amazement before them. There is a Titian, there a Raphael, there is a Correggio, and there is a Giorgione. He says, "I never had any idea of these before." "Ah, "says the steward, "there is many another thing that you know nothing about in the castle, "and he takes him from room to room and shows carved plate, and wonderful statues, and the man exclaims, "Here I have been for a score of years the owner of this estate, and have never before known what things were in it."

But no architect ever conceived of such an estate as God's word, and no artist, or carver, or sculptor, ever conceived of such pictures, and carved dishes, and statues as adorn its apartments. It contains treasures that silver, and gold, and precious stones are not to be mentioned with. Henry Ward Beecher, 1872.

Second comment on Ver. 18. That I may behold wondrous things. The great end of the Word of God in the Psalmist's time, as now, was practical; but there is a secondary use here referred to, which is worthy of consideration, — its power of meeting man's faculty of wonder. God knows our frame, for he made it, and he must have adapted the Bible to all its parts.
If we can show this, it may be another token that the book comes from Him who made man... That God has bestowed upon man the faculty of wonder we all know. It is one of the first and most constant emotions in our nature. We can see this in children, and in all whose feelings are still fresh and natural. It is the parent of the desire to know, and all through life it is urging men to enquire. John Ker.

Part #1 of Comments Re Calvinist Spurgeon's Treasury of David

This is a Part #1. of a two part posting regarding Charles Haddon Spurgeon's classic "The Treasury of David"

 A word about Brother Spurgeon...he was a Calvinist. As you may know, I am opposed to Calvinism which I understand to be a system of looking at scripture based on some basic errors. It also has a convoluted eschatology (the study of end time things).

Being a Calvinist is no guarantee of being a Christian, nor does it preclude anyone from being such.. Many of us hold certain things to be true that are not and this is especially true of our earlier years as Christians. We can all grow and discard error for truth as we pursue truth in the Scriptures.

It is what one believes about Christ which determines his/her salvation.
1 John 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Brother Spurgeon is a brother beloved because he loved Jesus. It has often been noted by the Calvinists Spurgeon said Christianity and Calvinism are synonymous.

Non-Calvinists have pointed out Spurgeon did not PREACH like a Calvinist. His evangelical heart of love often burst the bonds of the narrow coldness of Calvinism, which is seemingly content to see millions consigned to Hell on the whim of a god more intent on exercising His sovereignty than His wonderful grace.

One can find in the writings of Spurgeon his chastising of his Calvinistic brothers for their wrong take on several doctrines, most notably the eternal security of the saints. The Perseverance of the Saints is biblical nonsense. It's really no security whatever because it's based on nothing other than one's natural ability to "hold out."

It must be remembered too, that Spurgeon was self taught, having missed the burden of "higher education" by the Calvinists schools. Nevertheless, Calvinists were prodigious writers, and all of Spurgeon's formative years were greatly influenced by their writings, as little else was available in the way of commentaries.

Those who were brave enough in the Christian world to oppose the Calvinists were made the target of their literary heavy artillery. Dear John Wesley, correctly opposed the harsh errors of Calvinism and was vilified for it, not withstanding his obvious love and service for the Savior. Yet this is certainly not an endorsement on my part of Wesley's own errors of teaching perfectionism or his erroneous doctrine of the loss of salvation by a believer. See 1 John 5:12.

So with these precautions in mind, I want to post some comments from The Treasury of David. I will put a link at the end of this article.

I have found great benefit from the Psalms as it is the experiential side of the believer's inner life, exposed and enlightened, leading to exulting in the Lord. The Treasury of David is very helpful too. Be aware the word "law" is often used when speaking of the whole word of God and the comments reflect varying degrees of light received. Some will suggest believers can lose their salvation and other such errors, especially in the comments not directly Spurgeon's own...


http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tod/view.cgi…

Dumbing Down Christiaity

Is it funny, ironic or just crazy that Jimmy Fallon would be over dressed for the pulpit in many churches?

Doesn't he realize many of his millions of viewers might be made to feel uncomfortable by his dapper appearance? He needs to be more "user friendly" if he wants to be successful. :)

We are also told by the gurus of what-will-fly-for-churches-who-really-want-to-reach-people we need to change our terms. Seems our language is known as "Christianese".  Apparently,  the general public doesn't understand terms like "washed in the blood", "justification by faith", "sanctification", "the Rapture" or "the redeemed".

This (supposedly) makes them feel excluded. We are told by the self-appointed gurus of approachability, the public won't join our club unless we change the rules. This conclusion is stupid. It demeans the general public as not being able to learn.  It further depreciates the teachers of Christianity, who presumably are not able to teach what Biblical terms mean.

It's irony is the social secretaries of the church coined a new term "Christianese" which has to be explained. Duh! The smarter we get the further we get from simply preaching the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is able to use His own scriptural terms to bring faith into the heart of a sinner.

The Word Is Alive!

 A MESSAGE TO ALL CHRISTIANS FROM CHRIST’S APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES Colossians 1:9-14

 
9 “For this reason, (because you are Christians) since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.”

COMMENT: (Paul had never met these Christians…he wrote and prayed from jail.)

SCRIPTURE: “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,”

COMMENT: (Before we do anything for the Lord, even though we are saved forever, we need to be “filled with the knowledge of His will”. Many pray for the “filling of the Spirit” who neglect the written Word of God. We would expand the idea of the knowledge of His will to include “full knowledge of His will…meaning a correct understanding of future events too.)

Yet the Spirit gives wisdom and understanding through His own Word! Being filled with the Spirit and being filled with the Word, understood in wisdom, are seen as synonymous and harmonious in the Scripture and experience.

 Note; there are conflicting teachings on every major and many minor points in scripture. This does not annul or make void the Biblical claim that there is a true meaning to every doctrine coming from the God of truth.

For example, Christians believe, among all the many false notions about Jesus, that He is indeed the Son of God, perfect God and perfect man. We believe the Gospel alone saves anyone against all the false claims of all religions and earthly philosophies.

Shall we then quit looking at lesser matters which the Word teaches because they are disputed? No, we shall use the same spiritual discernment in these matters as we have in the past to find a happy resolution of difficult teachings. When these issues are settled, we shall find their truth to be in harmony with the larger truths of God’s Word.)


SCRIPTURE: 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,


COMMENT: The purpose of understanding and assimilating the Word of God is to feed the inner man in order to “live a life worthy of the Lord.” This message, this Word of God, this written Scripture is ALIVE and carries transforming power with it to enable true, Spirit filled, Godly living!

Weak as we believers are, even though born again, we are strengthened (continually as we feed on this wonderful Word) according to “His glorious might”…the same power that broke the seal of mighty Rome to allow the resurrected Son of God to emerge from the tomb and rise right through Satan’s territory (Satan is the “Prince of the Power of the Air) to enter Heaven as the glorified Son of God, victor over sin, death and Hell, alive evermore!

SCRIPTURE: 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

COMMENT: Paul reminds us again, the Christian has rejoicing rights forever, springing from a grateful heart and soul because we are QUALIFIED to go to Heaven only by the death of Christ!

 

He has RESCUED us from the darkness that once dominated our lives and brought us into a kingdom dominated by the love of Jesus! The redemption price was paid by the blood of Jesus and is a “done deal”…our sins are forgiven…not piecemeal as some erroneously teach, but once and for all!

Renewal Guarantee

True story; Last Spring (remember Spring?) the burner of my five year old barbeque was rusted out and needed to be replaced.

Clever shopper, do-it-your-selfer that I am, I began looking for a replacement unit. I just knew the original brand would be very expensive. After purchasing and returning a "universal" burner, and rejecting an expensive one of uncertain origins, I gave up.

I went to the original seller, prepared to pay any price just to move on and get it done. I reached for my wallet as the helpful clerk looked up the original sale.

"Oh", she said, "you are covered by the warranty."

The salvation we received from Jesus Christ when we first believed comes with an eternal guarantee.

Romans 4:16 states this very clearly: "Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham."

Every believer, regardless of the degree of faith in Christ, is saved forever, guaranteed.

Therefore, we should only look to Him for our spiritual needs to be met when we are burned out and rusted away in this corrosive world.

His Book, the Bible, contains all we need for this time as well as eternity. The 'living water" will never run dry; drink, today.

Isaiah 8:19 (ASV) "
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: SHOULD NOT A PEOPLE SEEK TO THEIR GOD? On behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?
 


Author's notes:

In times of stress that come to all, everyone seeks for ways to cope. God's dear people need to go deeper with Him through deeper understanding of Jesus through the scriptures.