Monday, June 14, 2010

2010 Bible Conference

You can click here to get directly to sermons preached in the 2010 Bible Conference at Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Dothan, Alabama.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Who Teacheth My Hands to War and My Fingers to Fight

Below are Spurgeon's thoughts on the above expression in Psalm 144:1. I have emphasized words of particular interest to me with bold. We all have our realm of service and we need strength and training to perform our tasks well:

Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. The word rock is the Hebrew way of expressing strength: the grand old language is full of such suggestive symbols. The Psalmist in the second part of the verse sets forth the Lord as teacher in the arts of war. If we have strength we are not much the better unless we have skill also. Untrained force is often an injury to the man who possesses it, and it even becomes a danger to those who are round about him; and therefore the Psalmist blesses the Lord as much for teaching as for strength. Let us also bless Jehovah if he has in anything made us efficient. The tuition mentioned was very practical, it was not so much of the brain as of the hands and fingers; for these were the members most needful for conflict. Men with little scholastic education should be grateful for deftness and skill in their handicrafts. To a fighting man the education of the hands is of far more value than mere book learning could ever be; he who has to use a sling or a bow needs suitable training, quite as much as a scientific man or a classical professor. Men are too apt to fancy that an artisan's efficiency is to be ascribed to himself; but this is a popular fallacy. A clergyman may be supposed to be taught of God, but people do not allow this to be true of weavers or workers in brass; yet these callings are specially mentioned in the Bible as having been taught to holy women and earnest men when the tabernacle was set up at the first. All wisdom and skill are from the Lord, and for them he deserves to be gratefully extolled. This teaching extends to the smallest members of our frame; the Lord teaches fingers as well as hands; indeed, it sometimes happens that if the finger is not well trained the whole hand is incapable.

David was called to be a man of war, and he was eminently successful in his battles; he does not trace this to his good generalship or valour, but to his being taught and strengthened for the war and the fight. If the Lord deigns to have a hand in such unspiritual work as fighting, surely he will help us to proclaim the gospel and win souls; and then we will bless his name with even greater intensity of heart. We will be pupils, and he shall be our Master, and if we ever accomplish anything we will give our Instructor hearty blessing.

This verse is full of personality; it is mercy shown to David himself which is the subject of grateful song. It has also a presence about it; for Jehovah is now his strength, and is still teaching him; we ought to make a point of presenting praise while yet the blessing is on the wing. The verse is also preeminently practical, and full of the actual life of every day; for David's days were spent in camps and conflicts. Some of us who are grievously tormented with rheumatism might cry, "Blessed be the Lord, my Comforter, who teacheth my knees to bear in patience, and my feet to endure in resignation"; others who are on the look out to help young converts might say, "Blessed be God who teaches my eyes to see wounded souls, and my lips to cheer them"; but David has his own peculiar help from God, and praises him accordingly. This tends to make the harmony of heaven perfect when all the singers take their parts; if, we all followed the same score, the music would not be so full and rich.


Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Heart of the Saviour

The Lord seems to place in my path at work from time to time people that I need in a special way.

A second shift janitor a few years back would brighten my day as she came by and shared with me her joys and burdens ever so briefly and simply.

Now, I have another friend. I hear the door open close to my office at 2:45pm almost every day that he works. His presence cannot be missed because of his loud booming voice which fits quite proportionately to his tall, slender frame. My life is richer for knowing him. I have learned that we have one common interest: the Saviour. He listens to BBN and absorbs much of what he has heard over the years from sound men. We have had several conversations that went well beyond the surface of spiritual things and delved into a depth of Bible knowledge that only comes by study and a heart that is willing to submit to what it is shown. I consider him 'highly favored'.

Today, this dear man, stopped by my office speaking with a voice tinged with sadness. 'What can you do', he says, 'when people that you love are going to hell?'. He does not hesitate to talk with others of Christ. And, he loves those to whom he talks. My response to his question was really only an observation, not an answer. 'You are showing that you have the heart of the Saviour', I said. Our Lord had compassion for the multitude for they were as sheep without a shepherd. He wept silently at Lazarus' grave. He wept openly over (the inhabitants of) Jerusalem. He loved His own to the uttermost and greatly desired to spend time with them at the last passover He observed before His death.

My friend loves people. My Saviour loves people. Oh, forgiveness I need for my cold, cold indifferent heart.