Richard Baxter

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EVERLASTING JOY

“God richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Tim 6:17 ESV).

“Happiness is every man’s desire; and none will come to Christ, unless they believe that it tends to their happiness” Richard Baxter (ref#225, Jan 18th).

“[You] may be rich today and poor tomorrow; [you] may be sickly today and well tomorrow; [you] may be in happiness today and distressed tomorrow, but there is no change with regard to [your] relationship to God. If [GOD] loved me yesterday, He loves me today. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet habitation” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Feb 27th AM).

“He is not working to give us that temporary situational emotional high; he is working to produce something much better—eternal joy” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Sept 7th).

“I can be calm and free from care

On any shore, since God is there.

While place we seek, or place we shun,

The soul finds happiness in none;

But with a God to guide our way,

‘Tis equal joy to go or stay.” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Mar 16th AM).

“What a privilege to possess God in all things while we have them, and all things in God when they are taken from us” John Newton (ref#322, p137).

“I have learned to be content (Phil 4:11). This statement implies that [the Apostle Paul] did not know how to be content at one time. Do not indulge the notion that you can be contented with learning, or learn without discipline. It is not a power that may be exercised naturally, but a science to be acquired gradually” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Feb 16th AM).

“O LOVE BEYOND COMPARE, Thou art good when thou givest, when thou takest away, when the sun shines upon me, when night gathers over me” The Valley of Vision (ref#76, p111).

“The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: My soul shall dive in and shall be swallowed up in the delights of His company.” Charles Spurgeon

“The Holy Spirit gives us a new song of praise to the Lord” Charles F. Stanley (ref#230, p43).

“Sing aloud. Shout. Rejoice and exult with all your heart. The LORD your God is in your midst” (Zeph 3:14,17).

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THINKING OF OTHERS 1

“Love is the greatest and most excellent thing we are masters of” Henry Scougal (ref#321, p71).

“Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves” (1 John 3:16-17 MSG).

“We have greater work to do here than merely securing our own salvation We are members of the world and Church, and we must labour to do good to many. We are trusted with our Master’s talents to do our best, to propagate His truth, grace, and Church; to bring home souls, honour His cause, edify His flock, and further the salvation of as many as we can. All this to be done on earth, if we are to secure our goal in heaven. It is then an error, though it is but a few that are guilty of it, to think that religion only concerns the life to come” Richard Baxter (ref#225, April 19th).

“It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God” (2 Cor 5:11-14 MSG).

“God is not satisfied with informing you about the work of his kingdom, He transforms you to participate in the work of his kingdom. He has called all his children to be his ambassadors, that is, to represent his message and his character in whatever environment he has placed them. You have been called to be the look on his face, the tone of his voice, and the touch of his hand. You are to represent his presence and his love. You are placed where you are to make his mercy and faithfulness visible and concrete. His ambassadorial call drives us to him to receive the grace we need to represent his grace in the lives of others” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Nov 10th).

Note: Evangelism is my whole life; it’s not just opening my mouth and talking about GOD.

“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as shrewd as a snake, inoffensive as a dove” (Matt 10:16 MSG).

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OUR WEAKNESSES

“We are ready to turn into any house, stay and play with everything in our way, and sit down on every green bank, and much ado there is to get us home” Richard Baxter (ref#225, May 21st). Note: CHRIST does not just sit on His throne.

“[T]o keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited” (2 Cor 12:7 ESV).

“Paul’s earthy weakness, not his revelations, are to be the platform for demonstrating the Lord’s power and grace” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2238).

“[D]o not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse no barn, and yet God feeds them. O you of little faith! [D]o not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried” (Luke 12:22-24, 28-29 ESV).

“Be strong and courageous” (Josh 1:6 ESV).

“Take courage, for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give you victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.

When I am weak then am I strong,

Grace is my shield and Christ my song” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 4th AM).

“A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 4th AM).

“Purity is mastery over the inferior appetites” J.I. Packer (ref#321, p10).

“Most men study rather how to pass away their time than to redeem it” Thomas Case (ref#225, Dec 12th).

“Weak, unskillful, and unfaithful, as I am in practice, the Lord has been pleased to give me some idea of what a Christian ought to be, and of what is actually attainable in the present life” John Newton (ref#322, p135).

“Our native strength is but another term for utter weakness.” Octavius Winslow

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VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINTOPS

“[P]ut me to the test, say the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Mal 3:10 ESV).

“Endeavor to enrich and enlarge your mind with more spiritual understanding of the personal glory, love, and fullness of Christ. All declension of soul arises from things contrary to the nature of indwelling grace gaining admittance to the mind. The world—its pleasures, vanities, cares, and various temptations—enters the mind, often disguised in the shape of lawful undertakings and duties, and draws the mind away from God and the affections away from Christ. It weakens and deadens faith, love, and every grace of the indwelling Spirit. But when the mind is preoccupied by Christ, filled with meditations on His glory, grace, and love, no room is left for the entrance of external allurements; the world, other people, and the fascinations of sin are shut out, and the soul holds a constant and undisturbed fellowship with God” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jul 22nd).

“Be careful to keep your old receipts which you have had from God for the pardon of your sins. There are some display days, and Jubilee-like festivals, when God comes forth clothed with the robes of His mercy, and holds forth the scepter of His grace more familiarly to His children than ordinary. [T]hen the firmament is clear, not a cloud to be seen to darken the Christian’s comfort. Love and joy are the soul’s repast and pastime, while this feast lasts.

“Now when God withdraws, and this cheer is taken off, Satan’s work is how he may deface and wear off the remembrance of this testimony which is so important for a believer’s spiritual standing. Satan wants to deprive him of this evidence, so that when he accuses him again the believer will have nothing with which to defend himself.

“It will benefit you, therefore, to lay them up safely: such a testimony may serve to non-suit your accuser many years hence. One affirmative from God’s mouth for your pardoned state, carries more weight (though of old date) than a thousand negatives from Satan’s” William Gurnall (ref#225, Dec 14th).

“I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them” (Isa 42:16 ESV).

“God knows His grace in us, and will own it, when we doubt of it or deny it” Richard Baxter (ref#225, Dec 14th).

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THE SPIRIT, OUR PROVISION

“Jesus cannot come as long as there is anything in the way either of goodness or badness. When He comes am I prepared for Him to drag into the light every wrong thing I have done? It is just here that He comes. Repentance does not bring a sense of sin, but a sense of unutterable unworthiness. ‘He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.’ John does not speak of the baptism of the Holy Ghost as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. ‘He shall baptize you.’ The only conscious experience those who are baptized with the Holy Ghost ever have is a sense of absolute unworthiness” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, Aug 22nd).

“God has made provision for our holiness and He has also given us a responsibility for it. God’s provision for us consists in delivering us from the reign of sin, uniting us with Christ, and giving us the indwelling Holy Spirit to reveal sin, to create a desire for holiness, and to strengthen us in our pursuit of holiness. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and according to the new nature He gives, we are to put to death the misdeeds of the body” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p78).

“The saving work of the Spirit in the heart of God’s elect is a gradual and progressive one” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p78).

“It is not the work of the Spirit to tell you the meaning of Scripture, and give you the knowledge of divinity, without your own study and labour. To reject study on the pretense of the sufficiency of the Spirit, is to reject the Scripture itself” Richard Baxter (ref#225, July 22nd).

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8:16 ESV).

“Weakness is a reproach when such a might is at our service. Defeat is dishonor when the partnership of God is rejected” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p73).

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REPENTANCE

“[P]eople experience the love of God in terms of sin, condemnation, and loss and what God has done about it” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332 p525).

“[R]epentance embraces a change in the whole man, including his inclinations, purposes, and works. The works of men are visible, but the root of them is concealed. So the root must first be changed so that afterward it may yield fruitful works. We must first wash from the mind all uncleanness and conquer wicked inclinations so that outward testimonies may be added afterward. If any man boasts that he has changed and yet lives as he did before, it will be vain boasting for both conversion of the heart and change of life are necessary” John Calvin (ref#164, April 20th).

The road to repentance is godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10). Godly sorrow is developed when we focus on the true nature of sin as an offense against God rather than something that makes us feel guilty. Sin is an affront to God’s holiness, it grieves His Holy Spirit, and it wounds afresh the Lord Jesus Christ. It also gratifies Satan, the archenemy of God. Dwelling on the true nature of sin leads us to godly sorrow, which in turn leads us to repentance.

“Having come to repentance, however, we must by faith lay hold of the cleansing blood of Christ, which alone can cleanse our conscience. In fact, it is faith in Christ and the assurance of the efficacy of His cleansing blood that leads us to repentance” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p204-205).

“Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p15).

“I am elected to repent” Richard Baxter (ref#333, p195).

“[W]ithout repentance there is no salvation” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Dec 24th).

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SATAN

“[T]he god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4 ESV).

“Man was made perfect by God, but he was tempted and fell, and the result has been that the whole world has been polluted” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p109).

“This world has become the kingdom of Satan” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p318).

“The devil tempteth many millions of souls with the offers of the kingdom of heaven itself” Richard Baxter (ref#333, p 195).

“There is no greater curse than for a man to get his will and desires in the world” James Fraser of Brea (ref#333, p236).

“Satan is putting forth desperate efforts to ensnare the world. He is devising many plans to occupy minds and to divert attention from the truths essential to salvation. In every city his agencies are busily organizing into parties those who are opposed to the law of God. The arch deceiver is at work to introduce elements of confusion and rebellion, and men are being fired with a zeal that is not according to knowledge” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p219).

“Satan himself changes his outward expression from one that comes from his inner nature and is representative of it, to one that is assumed from without and not representative of his inner being, masquerading as a messenger of light” (2 Cor 11:13-14 Wuest).

“Satan attacks the church’s perseverance and purity through violent persecution, through deceptive teaching, and through affluence and sensual pleasure” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2455).

“Wickedness is reaching a height never before attained, and yet many ministers of the gospel are crying, ‘Peace and safety.’ But God’s faithful messengers are to go steadily forward with their work. Clothed with the panoply of heaven, they are to advance fearlessly and victoriously, never ceasing their warfare until every soul within their reach shall have received the message of truth for this time” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p220).

“We are not to flee from Satan, but to resist, that he may flee from us” Lady Powerscourt (ref#333, p353).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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TEMPORARY CONVERSION

“There is the possibility of a joyful conversion proving to be temporary” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Jan 21st).

This title is misleading as well as the statement above for conversion is permanent.  I’ve labeled this post “temporary conversion” because for some there is a short-lived excitement toward Christianity, but in the end they fall short of it.  “…this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy…endures for a while, and…falls away” (Matt 13:20-21 ESV).

“He seems to have received the Word, he is full of joy, but he has no root in him, and that is why he ends up with nothing at all….there is the possibility of this very joyful ‘conversion,’ and yet there is nothing there in a vital, living sense, and it proves temporary” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Jan 21st).

“Instead of believing God, he believes the contradiction of his own ungodly heart; and hopes to be saved whether God wills it or not” Richard Baxter (ref#225, Aug 25th).

“Judas was in the company of the apostles all along, he really belonged to the world, and the fate of the world is to perish….The end of the non-Christian, even though he may be highly religious, is perdition, which means perishing” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, March 14th).  “…Not everyone who talks about God comes from God….” (1 John 4:1 MSG).

“He is not a true Christian who only bears the visible badges of Christianity, but he who, with the visible badges, also partakes of the invisible grace (Mark 16:16)” Thomas Watson (ref#48, “The Counterfeits of the New Creature”).

“…we want an experience with God…You don’t experience God; you get to know him.  You submit to him.  You enjoy him, He is, after all, a person” Paul E. Miller (ref#62, p21).