Soli Deo Gloria

“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction”   (Isaiah 48:10).

This has long been the motto fixed before our eye upon the wall of our bedroom, and in many ways it has also been written on our heart. It is no mean thing to be chosen of God. God’s choice makes chosen men choice men. Better to be the elect of God than the elect of a whole nation. So eminent is this privilege, that whatever drawback may be joined to it we very joyfully accept it, even as the Jew ate the bitter herbs for the sake of the Paschal Lamb. We choose the furnace, since God chooses us in it. We are chosen as an afflicted people and not as a prosperous people, chosen not in the palace but in the furnace. In the furnace beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed, and yet here eternal love reveals its secrets and declares its choice. So has it been in our case. In times of severest trial God has made to us our calling and election plain, and we have made it sure: then have we chosen the LORD to be our God, and He has shown that we are assuredly His chosen. Therefore, if today the furnace be heated seven times hotter, we will not dread it, for the glorious Son of God will walk with us amid the glowing coals.

- Charles Spurgeon

O LORD, I am a shell full of dust, but animated with an invisible rational soul and made anew by an unseen power of grace; yet I am no rare object of valuable price, but one that has nothing and is nothing, although chosen of thee from eternity, given to Christ, and born again; I am deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state, of the vanity of creatures, but also of the sufficiency of Christ.

When thou wouldst guide me I control myself, when thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself. When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself. When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself, when I should submit to thy providence I follow my will, when I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself; I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself, instead of thee I look to man’s approbation, and am by nature an idolater.

Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee. Convince me that I cannot be my own god, or make myself happy, nor my own Christ to restore my joy, nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me. Help me to see that grace does this by providential affliction, for when my credit is god thou dost cast me lower, when riches are my idol thou dost wing them away, when pleasure is my all thou dost turn it into bitterness.

Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart; show me that none of these things can heal a wounded conscience, or support a tottering frame, or uphold a departing spirit. Then take me to the cross and leave me there.

From The Valley of Vision – A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

My Father,
When Thou art angry towards me for my wrongs I try to pacify Thee by abstaining from future sin; but teach me that I cannot satisfy Thy law, that this effort is a resting in my righteousness, that only Christ’s righteousness, ready made, already finished, is fit for that purpose; that Thy chastening for my sins is not that I should try to reform, but only that I may be more humbled, afflicted, and separated from my sin, by being reconciled, and made righteous in Christ by faith; that a sense of my sufficiency and ability in Him is one means of my being immovable; that I can never be so by resting in my own faith, but by trusting in Thee as my only support by faith; that if I cast away my faith I cast away Thee, for by faith I apprehend Thee, and as Thou art very precious, so is my faith precious to me; that I fall short of the purity Thou requires, because in thinking I am holy I do not seek holiness, or, believing I am impotent, I do no more.

Humble me for not being as holy as I should be, or as holy as I might be through Christ, for Thou art all, and to possess Thee is to possess all. But to make the creature something is to make it stand between Thee and me, so that I do not walk humbly and holily. Lord, forgive me for this.

From Valley of Vision – A Collection of Puritan Prayers

Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou fount of life, Thou light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to Thee again.

Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest all that on Thee call;
To them that seek Thee Thou art good,
To them that find Thee, all in all.

We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still;
We drink of Thee, the Fountain-head,
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

Our restless spirits yearn for Thee
Where’er our changeful lot is cast;
Glad when Thy gracious smile we see;
Blest, when our faith can hold Thee fast.

O Jesus, ever with us stay;
Make all our moments calm and bright;
Chase the dark night of sin away:
Shed o’er our souls Thy holy light.

Bernard of Clairvax (1091-1153)

“Behold the infinite love of God to mankind and the love of Jesus Christ that, rather than God see the children of men to perish eternally, would send His Son to take our nature upon Him and thus suffer such dreadful things. Herein God shows His love… It pleased the Father to break His Son and to pour out His blood. Here is the love of God and of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a power, mighty, drawing, efficacious meditation this should be to us!”

- Jeremiah Burroughs (from Gospel Worship)

O Lord,
Bend my hands and cut them off, for I have often struck Thee with a wayward will, when these fingers should embrace Thee by faith. I am not yet weaned from all created glory, honour, wisdom, and esteem of others, for I have a secret motive to eye my name in all I do.

Let me not only speak the word sin, but see the thing itself. Give me to view a discovered sinfulness, to know that though my sins are crucified they are never wholly mortified. Hatred, malice, ill-will,vain-glory that hungers for and hunts after man’s approval and applause, all are crucified, forgiven, but they rise again in my sinful heart.

O my crucified but never wholly mortified sinfulness! O my life-long damage and daily shame! O my indwelling and besetting sins! O the tormenting slavery of a sinful heart! Destroy, O God, the dark guest within whose hidden presence makes my life a hell.

Yet Thou hast not left me here without grace; The cross still stands and meets my needs in the deepest straits of the soul.

I thank Thee that my remembrance of it is like David’s sight of Goliath’s sword which preached forth thy deliverance. The memory of my great sins, my many temptations, my falls, bring afresh into my mind the remembrance of thy great help, of Thy support from heaven, of the great grace that saved such a wretch as I am.

There is no treasure so wonderful as that continuous experience of Thy grace toward me which alone can subdue the risings of sin within: Give me more of it.

From Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers

O Holy Spirit,
As the sun is full of light, the ocean full of water, heaven full of glory, so may my heart by full of Thee. Vain are all divine purposes of love and the redemption wrought by Jesus except Thou work within, regenerating by Thy power, giving me eyes to see Jesus, showing me the realities of the unseen world.

Give me Thyself without measure, as an unimpaired fountain, as inexhaustible riches. I bewail my coldness, poverty, emptiness, imperfect vision, languid service, prayerless prayers, praiseless praise. Suffer me not to grieve or resist Thee.

Come as power, to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep me Thine; come as teacher, leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding; come as love, that I may adore the Father, and love Him as my all; come as joy, to dwell in me, move in me, animate me; come as light, illuminating the Scriptures, moulding me in its laws; come as sanctifier, body, soul and spirit wholly Thine; come as helper, with strength to bless and keep, directing my every step; come as beautifier, bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos. Magnify to me Thy glory by being magnified in me, and make me redolent of Thy fragrance.

From Valley of Vision – A Collection of Puritan Prayers

They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “ What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. Mark 5:1-13

After the amazing scene in the boat with the calming of the sea and the wind, Jesus and His disciples land on the other side of the sea to a small town in the country of the Gerasenes. In this account, we again see Christ’s sovereign power over the entire spiritual realm. Apparently, in this town there was a man who was so oppressed by Satan and his demonic forces that the townspeople would chain him up in a cave outside of the village. I find it important to note that Mark gives us this scene right after the conversation with the leaders about their accusation of Jesus being possessed by Satan in Chapter 3. Let us recall that Jesus is the only One who can truly release us from Satan’s power and here in this scene Mark makes it a point that this man was bound with chains and shackles (a method of human invention) to try and control Satan’s influence and this did absolutely no good. This possessed man would break out of the chains. No amount of human wisdom or actions can break the hold of Satan – only Christ can. This applies so much to the Satanic attack on humanity today in so many forms from drug addiction, sexual bondage, etc. No twelve step program or latest fad will work. Only Christ can bind the “strong man” (Mark 3:27) and truly destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

We also see from this account that Satan is bent on destruction. This man would constantly scream day and night and gash himself with stones. Do we not see this same trend today as Satan does everything he can to get people to destroy themselves through sin and addition? May we look to the only Cure – Jesus Christ. Oh to rejoice in knowing that Christ’s glorious death and resurrection not only save us from the penalty of sin but also the power of sin by transferring us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Light – by being adopted into the kingdom of God in Christ. Hallelujah!

Verse 7 gives us chilling insight into how much the demons truly believe. They know of God – they know who Jesus is and their reaction is always one of absolute fear and trepidation. Their theology is spot on! Satan is cunning and notice that time and time again the response from his army is always, “I know who you are!”. This subtle approach is to try and undermine Christ’s work by making it look like they are working together.

To be in Christ is absolute safety and security for Satan fears nothing but God in Christ! We should rejoice in this passage by seeing the absolute control of God and the absolute fear of the demonic forces in the presence of Christ. This is a reminder to us that we are either a child of Satan or a child of God. There is no middle ground and unless you are adopted in the kingdom through faith in Christ you are Satan’s child and just like this man a captive of his devilish and hateful schemes. We must see also that no amount of human philosophy or practice or restraint can control Satan – he is much too powerful for us. Only to be in Christ and only resting in Him can we have victory by His power and His grace. We should take great heed from this amazing passage. I have read accounts of people who read this passage and have more concern over the death of the pigs than the teachings Holy Scripture conveys to us about the evil devices of Satan and the omnipotent power of our Great God over all things.

We continue to get a glimpse of this poor man’s condition as we learn that the name of the demon is called ‘Legion’ which would indicate that many demons have been tormenting this man. We learn of a similar incident in one of Jesus’ parables about a person’s condition being worse than the first when the house is swept clean and yet there is no indwelling of the Holy Spirit so when the demon who were ejected return they bring more and stronger ones with them. (Luke 11:24-26) However, let us also see that no army can stand against Christ – no matter how great the Legion. The demons know who they are talking to and it is important to note that they must get permission from Christ to enter into the herd of swine nearby. We learn from this two important truths. First, absolutely everything Satan and his minions do is either ordained or allowed by God. Second, we see that Satan is bent on destruction. If he cannot destroy this man he must destroy something. Satan is cunning and disguises himself as an angel of light but never forget from this account that his motive is always death and destruction no matter how shiny and pleasurable the object he entices you with is. Christ is our treasure and He makes everything pale in comparison to anything Satan can tempt us with. While we do often succumb to the devices of Satan may we rest in Christ knowing He has completely paid the debt and may we also remember that God always provides a way out of temptation. (1 Corinthians 10:13) The only safe place is to be found in Christ. Satan has absolutely no hold on Christ for Jesus created him and is Lord of lords and King of kings. (John 14:30) Are you trusting in Christ alone to escape the wrath to come? (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Soli Deo Gloria