The Wood's Secret Garden

Strong consolation is that which is not dependent upon the excitement of public services and Christian fellowship. We feel very happy on a Sunday when we almost sing ourselves away to everlasting bliss, and when the sweet name of Jesus is like ointment poured forth, so that the virgins love it. But when you are in colder regions, how is it? Perhaps you are called to emigrate, or go into the country to a barren ministry where there is nothing to feed the soul. Ah, then, if you have not good ground for your soul to grow in, what will ye do? Those poor flowers which depend altogether upon being watered, how soon they fade if they are forgotten for a little while! May we have root in ourselves and drink of the dew of heaven, and be like the “tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, whose leaf also shall not wither.” This is to have strong consolation. Ministries are blessed, but oh! we must live on surer bread than ministries if we would have...

If man were a mere animal, his joy and sorrow would depend entirely upon outward things. Let but the trough be full, and the swine are happy; let the pasture be abundant, and the sheep are content. In the sunshine every sparrow will be twittering on the trees; let the heavens weep, and every wing is drooping. In long drought, or severe frost, or pinching famine, the animal creation languishes and pines. You cannot, however, be sure of making a man happy by surrounding him with abundance, nor can you plunge a Christian man into wretchedness by any deprivations which you may cause him. Man’s greatest joy or sorrow must arise from inner springs. The mind itself is the lair of misery or the nest of happiness. Thoughts are the flowers from which we must distil the essential flavorings of life. Paul and Silas sing in the stocks because theft minds are at ease, while Herod frets on his throne because conscience makes him a coward.... Happiness lies not in the outward, but in the inward; the f...

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." — John 19:28 . It was most fitting that every word of our Lord upon the cross should be gathered up and preserved. As not a bone of him shall be broken, so not a word shall be lost. The Holy Spirit took special care that each of the sacred utterances should be fittingly recorded. There were, as you know, seven of those last words, and seven is the number of perfection and fulness; the number which blends the three of the infinite God with the four of complete creation. Our Lord in his death-cries, as in all else, was perfection itself. There is a fulness of meaning in each utterance which no man shall be able fully to bring forth, and when combined they make up a vast deep of thought, which no human line can fathom. Here, as everywhere else, we are constrained to say of our Lord, "Never man spake like this man." Amid all the anguish of his spiri...

As Iain Murray states in his book "Evangelicalism Divided": "...the problem evangelicals have faced is deeper than a common acceptance of definitions. It is one thing to agree on statements, another to apply those statements in the current church scene when it comes to admission to full church membership and to the sacraments. Part of the difficulty here lies in the fact that it is beyond human ability to discern the reality of spiritual experience with certainty. While the Bible draws a clear line between the saved and the lost, it is not a line which the church can draw with the same accuracy. Wherever Christianity has been healthy this has always been recognized. In the words of Hugh Binning, the Scottish Puritan, " Charity (love) hath much candour and humanity in it, and can believe well of every man, and believe all things as far as truth will permit. It knows that grace can be beside a man's sins; it knows itself is subject to such infirmities; therefore i...

Now this is a Valentine! Psalm 45 To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty! In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds! Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make...

On Sunday morning, December 24, 1871, entitled, "Joy Born at Bethlehem," Spurgeon began his sermon with these words: "We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English; and secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Savior's birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Probably the fact is that the "holy" days were ...

"Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." —Psalm 100:4 "OUR Lord would have all His people rich in high and happy thoughts concerning His blessed person. Jesus is not content that His brethren should think meanly of Him; it is His pleasure that His espoused ones should be delighted with His beauty. We are not to regard Him as a bare necessary, like to bread and water, but as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing delight. To this end He has revealed Himself as the "pearl of great price" in its peerless beauty, as the "bundle of myrrh" in its refreshing fragrance, as the "rose of Sharon" in its lasting perfume, as the "lily" in its spotless purity. As a help to high thoughts of Christ, remember the estimation that Christ is had in beyond the skies, where things are measured by the right standard. Think how God esteems the Only Begotten, His unspeakable gift to us. Consider what the angels think of Him, as they count i...

"I feel in such a haste to go out and obey this commandment this morning, by compelling those to come in who are now tarrying in the highways and hedges, that I cannot wait for an introduction, but must at once set about my business...... If the minister chooses to take his proper rank, girded with the omnipotence of God, and anointed with his holy unction, he is to command men, and speak with all authority compelling them to come in: "command, exhort, rebuke with all long-suffering."But do you turn away and say you will not be commanded? Then again will I change my note. If that avails not, all other means shall be tried. My brother, I come to you simple of speech, and I exhort you to flee to Christ. O my brother, dost thou know what a loving Christ he is? Let me tell thee from my own soul what I know of him. I, too, once despised him. He knocked at the door of my heart and I refused to open it. He came to me, times without number, morning by morning, and night by night...

"I used to know, years ago, a poor laboring man; he was a Methodist of the good old-fashioned school. I never met him, or spoke with him, without finding that, wherever he was, he was always singing. He was up in the morning at half-past five to get out to his farm work, and, he sang while he was dressing. He sang as he pulled on his corduroys, he sang as he put on his smock, he sang as he walked downstairs, he sang as he tramped off down the street, and he sang all day as he was at his work. He did not keep on singing while I was preaching, but he seemed almost as if he wanted to do that; and every now and then he would burst out with "Hallelujah!" or "Praise the Lord." He was so full of thanksgiving to God that he was obliged to give expression to his feelings sometimes even when it would have been more proper if he had kept quiet. He was one of the holiest men I ever knew, and I used to account very much for his simple gentleness, integrity, and happiness by...

It's one thing to live after the flesh; it is an all together different thing to do so while wearing the precious name of Christ! How can a man drag Jesus' name along with him as he wallows in the mud and filth of this world? Live as you will--but, if you choose to indulge your flesh - please leave Christ and His name out of it. If you flatter yourself a "Christian" and yet "fornicate" with the world and find pleasure in doing so - please keep your delusion (that you are one of His) to yourself. "Paul wept on account of the GUILT of those persons who, having a name to live, were dead, and while uniting themselves with a Christian church, were not walking as they should do among men and before God. Notice the sin with which he charges them. He says, "Their God was their belly;" by this I understand that they were sensual persons. There were those in the early church who, after they sat at God's table, would go away and sit at the feasts ...

"Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people ."—Isaiah 65:17-19. I must confess that I think it a most right and excellent thing that you and I should rejoice in the natural creation of God. I do not think that any man is altogether beyond hope who can take delight in the nightly heavens as he watches the stars, and feel joy as he treads the meadows all bedecked with kingcups and daisies. He is not lost to better things who, on the waves, rejoices in the creeping things innumerable drawn up from the vasty deep, or who, in the woods, is charmed with the sweet carols of the feathered minstrels. The man who is altogether bad seldom delights in nature, but gets away into the artificial and the sensual. He cares little enough for the fields e...

And now the last question: When? When does God see us? The answer is, he sees us everywhere and in every place. O foolish man, who thinks to hide himself from the Most High! It is night! no human eye sees thee; the curtain is drawn, and thou art hidden. There are his eyes lowering at thee through the gloom. It is a far-off country; no one knows thee; parents and friends have been left behind, restraints are cast off. There is a Father near thee, who looks upon thee even now. It is a lone spot, and if the deed be done, no tongue shall tell it. There is a tongue in heaven that shall tell it; yea, the beam out of the wall, and the stones in the field, shall raise up themselves as witnesses against thee. Canst thou hide thyself anywhere where God shall not detect thee? Is not this whole world like a glass hive, wherein we put our bees? and does not God stand and see all our motions when we think we are hidden? Ah, it is but a glass hiding-place. He looketh from heaven, and through stone wa...

My dear father, I am very comfortable here, and I may say, happy. Were it not for my vile heart--I might rejoice. I am the least of God's people--and I am sure I am the worst. But yet I am one--I believe in Jesus and trust in Him. Conviction of sin, I take it, is the evidence of true spiritual life. I can fall into His arms, though I cannot rest on my own merits, for I have none. Jesus, and Jesus alone--is my sure defense. I must bless the Lord for making me His son--it is of His own sovereign mercy. Not one good thing has failed. I have felt corruptions rise, and the old man is strong--but His grace always comes in just at the critical time--and saves me from myself! The Lord alone keeps me! I have no hope of persevering--but by His power. I know that His almighty arm is all-sufficient. I want to feel "less than nothing," but this is a very great attainment. Sometimes, I pour my heart out sweetly and freely; at another time, I can hardly bring up a petition. What a contr...

Nevertheless, I am continually with you. -- Psalm 73:23 "Nevertheless"-as if, notwithstanding all the foolishness and ignorance that David had just been confessing to God, not one atom was it less true and certain that David was saved and accepted, and that the blessing of being constantly in God's presence was undoubtedly his. Fully conscious of his own lost estate and of the deceitfulness and vileness of his nature, yet, by a glorious outburst of faith, he sings, "Nevertheless, I am continually with you." Believer, you are forced to enter into Asaph's confession and acknowledgment; endeavor in like spirit to say "nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am continually with God!" By this is meant continually upon His mind-He is always thinking of me for my good. Continually before His eye-the eye of the Lord never sleeps but is perpetually watching over my welfare. Continually in His hand, so that none shall be able to pluck me away. Continually o...

You must not imagine when you hear a man swear, or when he is going on in sin- you must not write his name down in the black book, and say, "I am quite sure that man will go to the devil." No- it may be that God ordains to save that man, and one of these days you will meet him lifting up his voice in prayer,outstripping you, perhaps, in the heavenly race, and serving his Master better than you have done! Jesus Christ takes many to his bosom, whose company we have shunned, when they were in their evil state. Sovereign mercy can dash into sinful places, and take captives! Free grace can go into the gutter, and bring up a jewel! Divine love can rake a dunghill, and find a diamond! There is no spot where God's grace cannot and will not go! Pile up your walls, bring up the big stones of your iniquity, but Christ shall yet take your citadel and make you a captive! Plunge into the mire if you will, but that strong arm can bring you out and wash you clean. There is not st...

I was having a conversation with a beloved friend which brought to mind some of the most inspiring quotes I ever recall hearing. They were quotes which appeared at the end of Part 5 of John MacArthur's "Does the Truth Matter Anymore?" series that he did for Cross TV several years ago. I suppose they would and should inspire all believers; but they seem to me to speak to a man's heart in a very powerful way and felt they were well worth posting: “We must never hide our colors. There are times when we must dash to the front and court the encounter, when we see that our Captain’s honor demands it. Let us never be either ashamed or afraid. Our Lord Jesus deserves that we should yield ourselves as willing sacrifices in defense of his faith. Ease, reputation, life itself, must go for the name and faith of Jesus. If in the heat of the battle our good name or our life must be risked to win the victory, then let us say: “in this battle some of us must fall; why should not I’....

When the American evangelist D. L. Moody spoke in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in October 1892, he recalled an earlier visit twenty-five years previously. He had come four thousand miles, he said, to hear C. H. Spurgeon, but what impressed him most was not the sermon, nor the singing of the great congregation, but Spurgeon’s prayer. Such was his access to God that he seemed to be able to bring down power from heaven. This was the great secret, Moody believed, of Spurgeon’s influence and success. Spurgeon came into the presence of God with deep reverence, yet with unquestioning child-like confidence, to plead God's promises in Scripture and to revel in the nearness to God into which Christ has brought all who believe. Following is just one of Spurgeon's prayers (from the book referenced at the close of this post). I would highly recommend the book to everyone; but, especially to Pastors. “Oh, to love the Saviour with a passion that can never cool; Oh, to believe in God with a con...

Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment . Isaiah 41:1 This is a noisy age, and the Church of Christ herself is too noisy. We have little silent worship, I fear. I do not so much regret the absence of silence from the public assembly as from our private devotions, where it has a sacred hallowing influence, unspeakably valuable. Be silent, that you may hear the voice of Jesus, for when He speaks you will renew your strength. The eternal Spirit is with His people; but we often miss His power because we give more ear to other voices than to His, and quite as often our own voice is an injury to us, for it is heard when we have received no message from the Lord, and therefore gives an uncertain sound. If we wait upon the blessed Spirit, His mysterious influence will sway us most divinely, and we shall be filled with all the fullness of God. Even as we have seen the frost y...

"Rend your heart--and not your garments." Joel 2:13 Garment-rending and other external signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are frequently hypocritical. True repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Unsaved men will attend to the most multiplied and minute religious ceremonies and regulations--for such things are pleasing to their flesh. But true godliness is too humbling, too heart-searching, too spiritual for the tastes of carnal men! They prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. External religious rituals are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up. But they are ultimately delusive, for at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than religious ceremonies and rituals to lean upon. Apart from vital godliness--all religion is utterly vain! When offered without a sincere heart, every form of religious worship is a solemn sham a...

I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. -- John 17:15 Even our desire to be with the Lord is usually not out of a desire for Him; but out of a selfish desire to escape the sorrow, pain, hardship, disappointment, misery of life on this earth. Have you ever thought about that? We are such a self-centered lot. Perhaps we need to really think about this. Paul said, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith..." That is a selfless desire. Note: He says "more needful for YOU". He is not considering what would benefit him; but, what would benefit others for Christ's sake. Oh, let us have that spirit within us through God's grace and for His glory. "In God's own time ev...