EMPTY WALLS

I just discovered one of the most unusual websites I have ever come across… The Remnant Café.

This guy doesn’t pussy-foot around… he tells it like it is. Sometimes we need to hear the message with a slightly different ring to it, at least it gets our attention.   Here is a sampling with links provided:

Empty Walls

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1John:2:16

From my corner table here in the dingy Cafe, I've decided to look up from my espresso and voice my disgust with that which I see outside in the streets of what we call the "Camp" of God. Maybe it's just too much espresso! Maybe it's sideline boredom. Maybe it's just an overflowing of righteous indignation at how Jesus Christ has been used to "certify" the lies of the dumb and dumber dogs, wailing mindlessly and urinating all over the Truth. And I can use a "flush"...

The communion tables are full of darkness. Many have come. None have left.

A long time ago, '03 to be precise, I was given to preach that the "watchmen" were being called from the walls around the "city". As reticent as my contemporaries were to acknowledge this as having any basis in truth, they disregarded the warnings to themselves, and continued merrily on their predestined paths, preaching spiritual hogwash and "educated " irrelevancy. Today, despite rumors, myriad "Christian" ministries or claims of "God's men" working to "educate" the sheep, ...there are no true "Watchmen" on the walls about the camp. Not any more. And as far as I'm concerned, the use of the name of Jesus Christ in any of this nonsense, is blasphemy and vanity. Diversity is the death of sound doctrine. And diverser and diverser is the gospel today. Yep, new word.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  Joh:17:16

Oh Really ...?

I hear the name of Jesus Christ used to plug every "truth" in our inane tirades concerning everyday news and "knowledge". Somehow, all the bad news and scientifically based spiritual logic, is supposed to draw us closer to Christ too. I'm not impressed, myself! I'm repulsed by today's "preaching". I want Christ, not Revelation 16. If I die in Christ, it won't be with the "knowledge" of the order of the seals, trumpets or vials issuing from my lips. Jesus could care less who has or who has not, been enlightened with eyes to understand the prophecies of the end times. Jesus will be interested in seeing someone who has been conformed (by God) into His own image (Rom:8:29)! And also how they have walked in Him as servants. If Jesus Christ sees nothing resembling Him standing before Him, He tells them to depart. Do they get to spout dissertations on timelines, or tell Jesus how many folks ordered their written biblical gibberish and prophetic paraphernalia? Nope. Those "watchmen" will simply hear "depart". And that alone should scare some of my brethren in ministry STRAIGHT! Buuuut one can only hope and pray.

These claims of mine, that there is a famine of the Word and the absence of "watchmen" on the walls, are passed off as the rantings of a madman with nothing left to say. These claims are passed off as Jesus Christ is passed off, replaced by the "preaching" that goes on via the ranks of village idiots in the square, who have never been called to preach a single word of Truth. And I did say "never called".

How can there be a famine of the Word today?! The name of Jesus Christ is all over the place! We have Matrix preachers; preachers who use every catch slang word from Omni and Hollywood, to help us "relate" to our spiritual times. What does Jesus Christ have to do with avatars?

Every preacher I hear buries the hearers in the "news" of this great tribulation that has come to rest upon our heads, hearts and land. Oil gushers, stock markets, food shortages, earthquakes and windstorms, FEMA camps, the correlation between the eugenics plan and our "need" to take the "psychopaths" down. And every damned one of these modern "preachers" has to stick Jesus Christ somewhere into their spiels, to certify their "connections" to their biblical foundations. Connections!? That's a laugh. I'd call it a ground fault interruption! A permanent one at that! And foundations, I might add, that are built upon silt.

And woe to you "preachers" who have disobeyed God's command to feed your sheep godly food! You who bring certain knowledge of the translations of the scriptures and feed it to your sheep! Your sheep are not to eat that! Paul told Titus and Timothy and whoever else he ordained, to "rightly divide". Just because you possess certain negative "knowledge" which does NOT change the Gospel you say you "preach", you do not have to feed it to your sheep and confuse them! Woe unto you wicked servants!!! I have heard the bleating of the flock bro's. And I condemn your lack of gravity, sobriety and responsibility!

From Altar Calls To The Ditches!

After we're wooed and awed with the "science" of da tribalayshun, we're exhorted to "come to Jesus while we still can". EXCUSE ME?!! We can NO MORE come to Jesus on our own, than we can summon fire from the sky! Did we miss something in John 6? We're exhorted to "works" to come to Jesus, after we've listened to master apologists showing off the hat size of their "spiritual education"! Now thatz reeel good preachin' ! I want to follow the apologists. Uh huh.

I make no apology for preaching the Christ I had been given to preach. And them...? The news, health, economy, revolution, signs and wonders, supersede the simplicity of Jesus Christ and the importance of His simplicity in finding Life at the end of our journeys. Where, in the name of Jesus Christ have we all ended up?! I'm sad to say that the truth of the matter is that we've landed precisely where the Sovereign God has ordained we land. Either in the ditch with many, or in the wilderness with a few. And don't hit me with your crap that I'm boasting. I happen to fear God. A "few" of us do. But that doesn't mean that we judge. If I see and smell a pile of stinking manure under the preacher, I can only state the fact that he (or SHE) is full of it. And the pipes of our modern day "Christian" plumbing are certainly full to bursting with plenty of fertilizer.

Oh, and these Christian "news hounds" and these who bring Jezebel "pastorettes" on to their stages and revere them before the flock, ...be accursed! There's more than one flavor of fruit in your wine presses! And by some miracle, you "men" think you will squeeze out an unadulterated version of the simple Truth? You, my brethren, ARE adulterers! You've been soundly deceived. Taking and delivering the "wine" of Jesus Christ straight, ...is too strait for you lot. Forgiveness and humility will not ensure a long enough run on the radio or a continuous supply of mammon. We must have war, famine, pestilence, conspiracy and death to round out the Gospel. Huh.

And speaking of "watchmen"; we have a clown up my way, who calls himself "God's Watchman". Well, no room for other watchmen, I guess. Sorry guys, slot's taken. This pimply little Pentecostal freak, barks out line after line of the "news", then interjects a "watchman's comment". Often repeating a scripture for lack of finding an applicable scripture to "balance" the news item. And don't forget that if you don't babble in tongues while at the grocery store, you're not "saved". Yeah man. This is really going to help you in your walk of Faith, isn't it? And this "Christian toad" calls his an "international ministry". Another flavor of fertilizer down the pipes. This is the style of the Apostles; The manner of ministering set down to us by the Apostles? Oh yeah, I forgot; a new dispensation. It's called rebellion, kids. Like in sorcery?

They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.  1Jo:4:5

My friends, virtually every damn preacher today CANNOT sustain themselves psychologically nor keep themselves in the limelight, UNLESS they overload their "preaching" with the cares of this world, genealogies or science to draw the crowds. Don't forget months of tithing messages. They must mix and mingle with the world's views and it's machinations. And we won't forget a cameo for Christ once in a while, in the midst of the stream of the stinking effluent, they consider relative to their "ministries". Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again, ...they called themselves. And I know it.

Those, like my favorite "Chefs from Hell", and MANY MANY MORE, have about as much "knowledge" of what a TRUE calling to preach Christ means, as a pig has of Geometry. They have to have a "knowledge" of Christ, first off. I don't hear it in my ears. You? The only direction in which my "brethren of the cloth" are going, ...is south. I take that back. They've arrived. They've arrived with all the confused and deluded sheep they have been ordained to lead into the ditch. They were never "called". Were they ordained to deceive and to be deceived?

And oh yes, we are in the last days for sure. And those calling themselves preachers, teachers, pastors and watchmen are living proof of the power of apostasy and delusion. LOL, and they preach that they themselves are NOT deluded. Just everyone else who doesn't subscribe to their "doctrine". I don't hear doctrine, sound or otherwise, coming from the news hounds. I don't hear Christ, the narrowness of the Way, repentance or anything. I hear everything but. How do we teach our flocks to live as Christ by teaching them the difference between thesis and antithesis? How do we teach our flocks sound doctrine by "educating" them in the ways of the Illuminists? ...the world?

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Rom:7:19

So what is the implied meaning of Romans 7? Can we do anything "good for God"? Including having a desire for the Truth? Who wants Truth? Answer: Only those to whom Truth, and the desire for it, is given as a gift of God. Like calling, Faith, election...? Not the "truth" of the abounding conspiracies!!! Give me a break! That doesn't set anyone free! The Truth of Christ IS Christ! And straight up or on the rocks, Jesus Christ doesn't draw much of a crowd at all. The only things on the rocks today are multitudes of spiritual ships.

The only "gifts" I see are those that our "watchmen" have refused. We can't even conjure up Godly desire, unless it is given by our merciful and gracious God, ...to us, that we "receive" it. "Receive" the love of the Truth...(2Thess:2:10)...? Whoa, no wonder I don't have an "international ministry". The Truth is too contrary to our flesh folks. So we follow the flesh and the "watchmen" who are definitely on the wrong walls.

The desire for the Truth is only given by God to those whom He has ordained receive it. And don't we hate, foreordination, predestination, foreknowledge when it applies to a God Who does as He pleases and has decided things from before the foundation of the world...? Yep, we do so hate God don't we? Especially when He takes the fun out of doing so many "things" for Him. Nope, no real servants here folks. Just "spirit" filled go-getters. No, not THE Spirit, I'm afraid. Today's "Christian" go-getters have been had. And will you be deceived as well? That's a much deeper question in the light of God's sovereignty, isn't it? Ponder that Saints. Not some freaking oil spill or a war in the Middle East.
"And Jeremiah spake unto them saying, the Babylonian system is corrupt and must be overthrown"

Uh huh. Well if the prophets and Apostles didn't speak against their NWO, why do we?

Did the prophets need to read the news to those God sent the prophets to? Did Paul or the other Apostles ever amplify Jesus', prophecy of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in their day? The preparations that should be made for the coming Diaspora? Did they preach it at all to their flocks?! Did they need to include it in their preaching of reconciliation, eternal life, and walking this world AS Jesus Christ did, as a stranger? Was it necessary to preach Rome, that one might come to Jesus Christ because of fear mongering rhetoric? If so, where is it in scripture that they made the sacking of Jerusalem more important than the Christ they preached?

Like our great sociopathic, last days prophet, voice and sign, Mr. Snare, we need to include all the horrendous news of the day to PROVE dat da tribalayshun is upon us. Thus shifting the emphasis of Godly living, Faith and a Kingdom NOT of this world, ...over to the world. Stir up them passions! Throw the name of Jesus into the mix. Then get your gunz, "git some" and get "saved"!? Such elemental depravity. How can we cause repentance with a sword at their throats?

If some of you "men" in ministry have been ordained to be pulled from the flames, let it be known that I was called to singe my cuffs to warn you lot, that you've played with fire long enough. Stop kidding yourselves…

The NWO is not Jesus Christ.

Societal upheaval is not Jesus Christ

World and local news is not Jesus Christ.

Science and economics is not Jesus Christ.

Exposing Satanic influences and societies is not Jesus Christ.

Revolution and survival is not Jesus Christ.

The declaration of independence is not Jesus Christ.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.  Jas:4:4

If we are not "of" this world, then you brethren who preach the world to your flocks are facing a greater condemnation (Jas:3:1). You should examine your own selves, whether your were truly ordained to carry forth the Truth of Jesus Christ.

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of  Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.  Ph'p:3:18-19

And by virtue of the shameful proofs of your pathetic "preaching" alone, it seems that Jesus Christ is much too weak a commodity to stand out over the great waves of strife-fueled, belly-fired sensationalism which you "watchmen" pass off as entrées to the feasts of darkness you lay out for your sheep. The Gospel, barely ends up as an after dinner mint! And you imbeciles think you're defending the Faith? You're more consumed with defending yourselves; your integrity; minimalizing the "competition; justifying your callings; justifying your "righteousness". Clue, our righteousness is in the One we preach. You count yourselves as good. Did we forget Luke:18:19? Yeah, enemies of the cross.

The way is narrow. And though I have heard many of you use this term in your preaching, your way is yet broad. And leads to your certain destruction.

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in,
and shall not be able.  Luke:13:24

Take it or leave it bro's. I don't plan on changing my warning to you one bit. Your true God is watching. Time is running out. My espresso's getting cold. And I'm done with this message.

WHET THE EDGE - Bill Britton

Whet the Edge


"If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success" (Ecclesiastes 10:10).

These are such critical days we live in, that we cannot afford to waste strength and time. It is my observation that one thing the Body of Christ needs, desperately is to be more efficient in the ministry God has given us.

I want you to see a picture of a man with two axes, going out to cut some trees. He needs the lumber to build a house. Other workers are waiting for him to bring in the lumber so they can get their jobs done. He has two axes in case one breaks, he would not have to waste time returning home for another one. But one of the axes is dull, and one is very sharp. Which one do you think he will use first to cut down the trees? Unless he is very stupid, he will of course use the sharp axe. For with the sharp axe he would be able to cut down and trim eight trees in eight hours (depending on the size of the trees). But if he used the dull axe, he would have to work much harder, and in ten hours he would only be able to cut and trim five or six trees, or less. Yes, he could still get the lumber, but it would take more of his strength, and it would hinder others from getting their part of the job done. His inefficiency would be very costly indeed.

Apologies to woodcutters, if the above figures are too optimistic. What I am really after is the comparison. I used to work in the woods of southeast Minnesota, cutting trees to be used for pile drivers in the conservation of farmland. Every morning we would load up to go to the woods to cut trees all day. It has been more than 45 years ago now, and I don't remember how many trees we cut each day. But one thing I do remember, and that is that we made sure our axes were sharpened to a razor's edge. We knew that with a sharp axe we would not have to work so hard to get our quota. For one thing those young men did not want was to have to work harder than was necessary. So we sharpened our axes every night. There is one important thing to remember... the sharper the axe, the more careful you have to be in using it. An axe with a razor sharp edge is not for children or novices. It is for those who know how to use it without seriously injuring themselves.

The methods in using a sharp axe is important. Many a foot or leg has been critically sliced in the trimming of a fallen tree, by carelessness or wrong methods. Our instructor was very stern in dealing with frivolous or careless workers. And so it is with the Gospel of Christ. For this is what the Bible is speaking of in our scripture. "Doth God take care for trees? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written" (1 Corinthians 9:9-10 paraphrased).

"God's Battle Axe"

According to the prophet (Jeremiah 51:26), we are God's battle axe and weapons of war, to break in pieces the nations, and to destroy Satan's kingdoms. But God will not use a dull axe. So He is now sharpening those whom He will use in these last days for that great battle of the ages. In many cases He is using our brethren to bring our lives and ministry to a razor's edge in the sight of God. It takes a lot of friction for this sharpening process. Proverbs 27:17 tells us that "Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another" (NIV). Love is the oil that is applied during the sharpening process to keep the friction from producing too much heat and ruining the temper of the edge. Thank God for the friends you have who are able to point out, in love, your shortcomings and failures.

They are the means by which God can deliver you from the dullness of your ministry, and make you more efficient for the Kingdom of God. It is not a destructive criticism, but a ministry of love to cause you to come to your full potential. We once had a young lady in our church who had received a gift of the Spirit. She was delighted, and very zealous in her gift. But her administration of that ministry was so lacking in wisdom, that it became ineffective and offensive. So I tried to help her by instructing her how to move in her ministry in a more effective way. She was enraged, and accused me of "putting your foot on the Holy Ghost." I was not to interfere in what she did with her gift. She unsuccessfully tried to split the church over it, finally quit the church, and she and the gift was heard of no more. She would not let her axe be sharpened, even though much oil was used in the process.

Some Swords to Sharpen

There are many areas in our lives and ministries that need to be improved. I know that God will use you even if you resist the sharpening process. But the results will be limited and hard to come by. God says in Deuteronomy 32:41 "I lift my hand to heaven and declare; as surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries." And again in Psalm 7:12 we read: "God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses His wrath every day. If He does not relent, He will sharpen His sword..." And in Ezekiel 21:9 the prophet speaks to us: "The Lord says: A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished, sharpened for the slaughter, polished, and flashing like lightning." The Word here is not talking about killing people or women and children. It is speaking of the slaughter of sin and demonic powers. Satan's kingdom shall fall by this sword, and utter destruction shall come upon all his works. And you, dear friends, are the swords God has chosen to sharpen for this great end-time work.

Sharpen Your Hearing

The prophet Amos warns us (8:11) that the day is coming when God will send a famine for the hearing of the words of the Lord. People are starving today for the word of the Lord, not because He is not speaking but because their ears are dull of hearing. The Bible says they have ears but will not hear. Their hearing is dull and needs to be sharpened.

Those who are to be His battle axe need to be sharp in their hearing of His Voice. Hearing covers two areas: (I) Our obedience to Him; and (2) The revelation of His Word. If we cannot hear, we cannot obey. A rebellious spirit brings deafness. When we hear and do not obey, soon we will not hear. Our ears will be deaf. The Church today is full of deafness.

God has leadership in the Church who will sharpen our hearing and obedience if we let them. They will deal with our rebellion. They will bring discipline to our hearing. We obey those whom we hear, those to whom we listen. A gold ear ring was put through the ear of a slave to signify that his ear belonged to his master and he would hear and obey him. When Israel broke off their ear rings in Exodus 32 and gave then to Aaron to make a golden calf, they thus signified that they were no longer servants of God, but servants to that religious thing they were building with their own hands. So it has been with the religious systems of our modern day. People cannot hear from God, for their ears belong to a religious system, and they can only hear what headquarters' tells them. Thus truth is rejected, and manmade traditions are substituted. It was this way in the days of Jesus when the scribes and Pharisees designed their religion, and so it is today. When the real Purpose of God came to earth in reality, they crucified Him, and they are still doing it today. They cannot hear. They claim to be obedient but they are obedient to a monster created by man. The Word of God touches them and their rebellion is manifested. Dull of hearing.

Divine revelation comes from being able to hear what God is saying in our time. Good hearing brings light. Those whom God will use in these closing days, will be sharp in their hearing of the Word of the Lord. And God has ministries who will sharpen us, as iron sharpens iron. Please notice that those who are obedient to bless others in this way, will even themselves be changed and sharpened in their efforts. A new word will sometimes cause such upheaval and turmoil in someone who is hooked into a strong tradition, that much friction will result. But if they sincerely want to be more effective for the Kingdom of God, they will want to be sharpened in hearing. Many times I have had calls from preachers asking forgiveness for having fought this message of sonship, only to have God show them that it was truth and life.

Greater Power for Deliverance

Does the world need deliverance from demonic powers? Certainly! Do God's people need deliverance from the powers of darkness? Absolutely! I have ministered in deliverance for many years, have seen many demons cast out, and have rejoiced greatly in the results of God's grace. But one thing I have noticed in all deliverance ministries... we are using dull axes. Many books have been written, and many tapes sold on how to cast out demons. But demons are populating faster than we are getting rid of them. Have a good deliverance service where demons are being cast out with great manifestations and you will have half the church lined up for ministry. HALF THE CHURCH! Most of the other half are just too proud to admit their need. And sometimes hours are needed just for one person who is really possessed. Thank God for the deliverance that is wrought, after hours of prayer and sweat. I have spent all day on one case, and rejoiced in the beauty of a soul set free from Satan's power. I have had the demons shout at me that they were not coming out, argue and plead, and finally scream as they left for the pit. I have come to the conclusion that if we are to cleanse the Church, and set creation free, our axe is too dull. God will sharpen His glittering sword. Jesus is our example of a razor sharp ministry of deliverance. With little physical effort or time, but with a mighty slash of God's sword, He set the prisoners free! He is my example, and I will settle for no less. He said "the works that I do, shall ye do also." With the same results!

The Word of the Lord is Sharp

An entire book could be written about the tongue, and how God will use it in dealing with the nations. But just a short word here to make you want to get sharp in your words. Proverbs 18:21 (NIV) tells us: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Psalm 64 says that "evildoers sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows." So it's our responsibility to be even sharper in speaking life. The Word of the Lord coming forth from the mouth of His sons will restore creation.

Bill Britton

Loving Jesus - G.D. Watson

LOVING JESUS


by G. D. Watson

We have a revelation of God's personal feelings in the first commandment. We are to love Him with all our heart! The complaint that Jesus had against the Church at Ephesus was their lack of fervent, personal love for Him; they had "works" and "labor" and "patience," and great zeal in searching out heretics, and in bearing persecution and the scorn of their neighbors, and had not fainted under hardships. If such a list of graces were now found in one person, he would be esteemed a great saint ; and yet the infinite Searcher of hearts saw the lack of something for which all these noble virtues could not atone; and that was a warm, deep, incessant, cleaving, tender passion of soul for the person of the Lord Jesus.

Very few Christians reach such an intimacy with our dear Lord as to receive and appreciate His individual feelings. Jesus is an infinite lover, and nothing will satisfy Him but a pure, sacred, passionate, and personal love. He loves to be loved. He loves those most who have the most personal affection for Him. There are so many things that are eminently religious, and brave, and enterprising, and reformatory, which display great zeal and orthodoxy, but which do not satisfy the longings of our Savior's heart. There are so few Christians that are positively affectionate with Jesus. Personal love of Jesus is marked by several characteristics.

We can love Jesus with more different kinds of affection than any other person in the universe. Look at the number of tender relationships that He sustains toward a soul that is perfectly wedded to Him by the Holy Spirit. As our Creator, we adore Him; as our Redeemer, we boundlessly trust Him; as our King, we obey Him; as our Judge, we fear Him; as our Master, we submit to Him; as our Savior, we praise Him; as a little infant, we feel a fatherly and motherly love toward Him; as a Brother, we feel a brotherly and sisterly love for Him; as our spiritual Bridegroom, our hearts are passionately devoted to Him. Every relation that He sustains to us calls forth a new form of love. There is no kind of affection possible to the human soul which Jesus should not receive. See in how many ways Eve was related to Adam; being built out of his rib, she was his own daughter, and at the same time his own sister, and at the same time his bride; and he being the lord of the human family, she was his servant, and all these relations entered into her affections for him. Jesus is to us, in a similar way, all that Adam was to Eve, with a great deal more besides. Now do we love our precious Lord in all these relationships! Is our love for Him an ever-flowing stream, which is made up from all these several rivulets?  There is no one in the universe, to a divinely-illuminated mind, so lovable as our blessed, Divine Jesus.

Personal love for Jesus has in it the extremes of the most sacred fear and the most child-like familiarity. Some people think that those who have much sacred fear can not have much love; and, on the other hand, that those who have a found familiarity of love can not have a reverential fear; but such people are greatly mistaken. Fear and love are the two equal wings to this soaring devotion. Those who have an awe which in the least hinders their love, have a slave's awe, and not that of a child. There is nothing more beautiful in the interior life than that sacred awe, that sweet and sacred dread, which the soul feels in the presence of the Lord. When we gaze at His beautiful and blazing majesty, when our whole soul feels a gentle trembling before Him, there is something in the very holy dread that draws us to a deeper and more tender love. And, on the other hand, there is a spotless familiarity which the soul can take with Jesus - a boldness and liberty of thought and speech - which only serves to make our worship more true, so that, in reality, sacred fear and familiar love act and react on each other.

Personal love of Jesus is indicated by an extreme sensitiveness for His honor. The soul feels an insult at every dishonor that is shown to its Divine Husband. When Jesus is wounded, His name lightly used, His majesty disregarded, His precious blood ignored, this hot personal love will feel a delicate, divine indignation. The heart is as sensitive to the preciousness and honor of Christ as the apple of the eye. The truly wedded soul is very touchy as to the glory of its husband. And, on the other hand, this kind of love is always elated and happy at every advancement of Christ's glory. It loves to see Him extended; it glories in the spread of His glory.

This kind of love has an incessant yearning for all the dispositions manifested in the life of Jesus. This personal love of Jesus has large, bright eyes, and, from the New Testament records, it can see marvelous things in the Christ-life. It has vast and penetrating visions into the depths of His lowliness, the vastness of His charity, the tenderness of His Spirit, the perpetual self-sacrifice of His will, the absolute courage of His obedience, the everlastingness of His kindness. It sees His whole inner life, like a magnificent city, all lifted up with unspeakable attributes, and all bespangled with majesties and virtues and graces and sweetness, that charm and bewilder the soul, and make it leap with intense desire to possess everything which it sees in its lovely Lord. No splendor in creation can compare with the dazzling charms which an ardently loving soul perceives in Jesus. It cries out, with St. Paul, "Oh, the depth of the riches!" It is this vision which makes the soul pine and pray, and weep loving tears, and dream over and over of the ineffable transformation of being made just like its heavenly Bridegroom.

This form of love is strongly attached to the possessions of Christ. There is a peculiar attachment which always goes with the possession of a thing. It is the affection of ownership. As soon as anything becomes our property, we have a peculiar attachment which never could exist previous to ownership. This is; why Jesus said, "Where your possessions are, there will your heart be," He does not say the possessions will go where the heart is, but the heart will go where the possessions are. Hence the soul in perfect, loving union with Jesus will find itself taking hold of all His personal kingdom and all His property, as a young queen finds the affections of her heart stretching out to all the subjects and enterprises of her King's dominion. I should not omit to say that this personal love for Jesus has in it a fond, caressing spirit for Him. It twines its thoughts around Him. It folds Him round and round with the delicate embraces of the Spirit. It often finds itself, like John, leaning on His breast; or, like Mary, sitting at His feet; or, like Magdalene, bathing His feet with tears; and whatever posture the body may be in, the soul is often on its face before Him in perfect, repentant tenderness.

The love of Jesus would not be complete if it did not include a longing for His personal appearing, and to see Him come in the glory of His kingdom. The Holy Spirit loves Jesus with an infinite love, and He alone can flood our being with fervent love for Christ; and the Holy Ghost has told us that we are to "love Christ's appearing." St. Paul speaks of a crown of righteousness for all those who love our Lord's appearing. Any love for Jesus which does not include an intense desire to see and be with Him is below the standard of affection which He requires of us. They please Him most who love Him personally and ardently up to their capacity.

Holy Ghost Tears - G.D. Watson

Holy Ghost Tears


G.D. Watson

Tears have a language just as definite and emphatic as smiles or gestures. Words do not constitute the only language we speak, for everywhere there are many languages spoken by every human being. There is a language in our gait, our tones of voice, our eyes, smiles, gestures, and our physical movements, in our laughter, facial expression, and in our tears.

The Bible is full of tears. See how the patriarchs "lifted up their voices and wept". Read in the prophets how the tears poured down their cheeks night and day. Go through the New Testament and see Jesus weeping with His friends at the grave of Lazarus. Read Paul's Epistles where the burning tears fell on the page as he wrote. What a vast ocean of heart life and pathos and feeling pervades the whole Bible. It is not a stoical, human, philosophical book; it throbs with deep feeling from beginning to end. It is a wonderful blessing to any human soul to have the Holy Ghost plow up the deep, interior fountains, and melt all the emotions, and cause the heart to pour itself out in tears.

There are different types of Holy Ghost tears. There are the tears which flow from conviction of sin, especially when we see the sin in the light of God and look at it in contrast with the Divine compassion and longsuffering toward us. All truth, to be forcible, must be seen with its two sides as a whole and not as a half truth. And so the sight of our sins, would not of itself break up the depths of the heart into weeping. But when this vision of sin is seen in connection with God's longsuffering and compassion towards us, we get a little glimpse into the tenderness and merciful feeling of God for sinners. Then sin seems heart breaking, and so the conscience is touched to the quick, which produces a flow of tears.

It was this kind of weeping that Mary Magdalene poured out over the feet of her precious Lord. It was this kind of tears that flowed thick and fast from the eyes of Peter when he heard the cock crow. No sinner can be made to weep by a mere cold, formal sight of his sins. Mt. Sinai made the Jews tremble, but did not make them weep, and so the denunciation of sin or the portrayal of it can never of itself produce repentant tears. It is only when the sins are seen under the soft, melting light of infinite pity and love that the heart is broken and the tears flow. Law may reveal sin, but nothing in the universe except love will make a man hate his sins. Water may be locked up in ice, but you cannot drink it till it is melted, and it takes the warmth of the tenderest love to bring forth the waters of repentance.

There are tears we shed out of an intense desire of seeing God, of beholding Jesus. These are tears of a still higher order. These are tears such as David shed when he longed for the courts of the living God during his banishment and when he said his soul thirsted for God as the panting hart after the water brooks. These are the tears Mary shed when she sat at the empty tomb of Jesus with an unspeakable longing to find her dear Lord. There are no tears that give us such a deep and beautiful insight into the preciousness of Christ's person and character as these tears of holy longing. When we get an opportunity for long seasons of secret prayer and pour out our hearts to our Heavenly Father, and then leave ourselves open for the Spirit to work in us as He pleases, He begins to draw us out in pure heart longings after God. It is glorious beyond description to have Him give us glimpses of Himself that seem to entice our souls almost out of the body, and draw us away with such inward pantings, that the heart seems to leap and bound upward into the Heavenly world.

We seem in spirit to be running with all our might to get closer to His blessed face, and at every bound it seems our hearts will break with desire after the living God, till the great fountain of tears is broken up and they flow like hot salt streams down our cheeks. Then the soul cries out, "O my Lord! My Love! Thou infinitely blessed, tender, precious God; when shall I see thee in thy glory, and when shall I drink myself full of thine eternal blessedness!" These tears give to our inner eyes telescopic visions into the beauties of God as they are clustered and set forth in the meek and lowly JESUS. These tears are supernatural, and float us, like Noah's flood, above the highest mountain tops of earth into the deep blue dome of the peace and joy of God.

Another kind of spiritual tears are those we shed out of pure love for our fellows, when we weep over the sins of mankind, the calamities of our neighbors, and out of a heart sorrow, for the salvation of souls. Such are the tears St. Paul shed over the wayward Galatians, and over those persons who had made shipwreck of their faith. It was tears like this that Samuel shed, when the Lord told him that Saul had turned away from God, and was rejected from being king, and the great loving prophet wept all night long. It was such holy, loving tears as these that fell from the eyes of Jesus as He sat on Mt. Olivet, and looked over His beautiful but ill-fated Jerusalem, and said, while the tears trickled down His cheeks, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you, as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings, and ye would not."

These were the kind of tears the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, poured out all his life over the sins and desolations of his people. These are the tears that soul winners who are filled with holy love shed over the souls that they are seeking to save. These are the Holy Ghost tears which the humble and holy ones pour out in the silent night watches before God over the awful backslidings in the churches, over worldly ministers, and over cold, lifeless congregations.

Perhaps these tears take us down deeper in the heart of Jesus because they bring us into the plan of His sacrifice for others and knit us in sympathy with His soul over the lost. There are many professed Christians who seldom weep; in fact, many of them speak slightingly of tears, but such persons are leagues away from the true Bible life. May God pity the dry eyed Christians, for if the eye is dry, the heart behind the eyes is dry also. We must never have self complacency in our tears, or look upon them as good in themselves; they are simply the effect which proves the working of a deep spiritual cause, back in the soul. But while we are not to be attached to our tears, we are to thank God that He gives them to us, and above all things, we are to seek that inward tenderness of nature, that lowly contrition of heart, that interior union with the Christ life out of which Holy Ghost tears may flow.

DAILY WALKING WITH CHRIST

                                                                                    DAILY WALKING WITH CHRIST



                                                                         by James F. Jarjou

The true seeker of Christ must be strong and vigilant in HIS pursuit of Christ. He/She must be willing to pass through many nights of darkness, thick clouds and ever increasing temptations. He/She must experimentally learn the truth of waiting and waiting, doing nothing until the sun of righteousness shines within his/her soul. THE shining of the sun of righteousness comes with a revelation of Christ will and mind in every situation, the seeker find Himself. “Then spake JESUS again unto them saying I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8v 12) In every situation he/she must wait for the shining of the sun lest he/she walk in darkness. He/She must not be hasty in spirit, but persistently waiting in patience until the day star arises in his or her soul (1 Peter 1v19) as he/she goes through the normal daily activities of life.

“In me ye shall have peace, but in the world tribulations,” saith Christ. The tribulations we encounter through life can either lead us to Christ or out of Christ. “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of troubles.” (Job 14v 1). As long as we are in the rule of the first born we can never be free from trouble and tribulation. Until Esau is separated from Jacob in the womb (the kingdom of God) they must always struggle within (Genesis 25 v22-23). “The son of man shall send forth HIS angels (His message either through the direct leading of HIS spirit or other instruments, the message is to reveal the wicked nature or the first born which must be destroy before we enter HIS peace or rest ) and the shall gather out of HIS kingdom everything that offend and them which do iniquity (the nature of Esau or first born)” (Matthew 13v 41).

The only tribulation that leads us to Christ is our willingness to allow the nature of Esau which is basically our selfish nature to be kept out of the womb (the kingdom of God). Until then we can never enter the fullness of the life of the second born, which is the fullness of our inheritance.

The process of the crucifixion of the judgment we give out of our natural understanding is a cross we must carry.

Christ comes to lead us:

I. Out of our self to HIMSELF

II. Out of our understanding to HIS UNDERSTANDING

III. Out of our judgment to HIS JUDGMENT

The imperfect can only walk in perfection when he is LEAD by the PERFECT. “Be ye therefore perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5v48 ). Unless Christ spirit controls our tongue and mind in our everyday activities, we can never please HIM nor enter HIS REST. Christ’s Spirit is within us, to give us the right words to speak at the right time in every situation.

In many cases we have misjudged and misinterpreted things by the use of our natural mind. Except we submit our mind to be possessed by the mind of Christ, Who alone can search the inward parts and reveal the hidden works of darkness, we will always be devouring and tearing each other.

Some of the tribulations we must pass through in entering Christ’s rest is:

I. We must know that we know nothing with a quick readiness to know what He would like us to know.

II. We must be willing to speak nothing until HE gives us the right words to speak in every complicated circumstance we find our selves.

III. Naturally we all love our selfish desires. We can only deny what we love. We must be willing to deny our selfish desires. In partaking of the cross of denying self it is in this process we come to know the divine union with our Savior. The LORD desires to take us where HE IS (John 14v3). In our following HIS leading, when HE walks we walk, When HE speaks we speak, when HE is quiet we become quiet. All this process is within. We must earnestly strive to enter the narrow way of HIS REST. Our striving is to wait and wait, even when nothing seems to be happening. Seeking HIM daily with unceasing prayer.

IV. We must be willing to enter a life of forgiveness, mercy and humility in our every day life. This are divine virtues a heavenly seeker must posses. The impact of such a heavenly life to the creation is a mystery the natural mind cannot comprehend.

V. To be free from sinning is simply to follow the leading of the LIGHT. “He that believeth on me shall never walk in darkness,” saith Christ. How can we believe in Christ if we do not hear HIS voice within us? and how can we hear the leading of HIS voice, if we do not earnestly seek HIS will and guidance in our everyday life?

A Tender Heart - G.D. Watson

A Tender Heart

G.D. Watson

Without tenderness of spirit the most intensely righteous, religious life is like the image of God without His beauty and attractiveness. It is possible to be very religious, and stanch, and persevering in all Christian duties, even to be sanctified, and be a brave defender and preacher of holiness, to be mathematically orthodox, and blameless in outward life, and very zealous in good works, and yet to be greatly lacking in tenderness of spirit, that all-subduing, all melting love, which is the very cream of Heaven, and which streamed out from the eyes and voice of the Blessed Jesus.

Many Christians seem loaded with good fruits, but the fruit tastes green; it lacks flavor and October mellowness. There is a touch of vinegar in their sanctity. Their very purity has an icy coldness to it. Their testimonies are straight and definite, but they lack the melting quality. Their prayers are intelligent and strong and pointed, but they lack the heart-piercing pathos of the dying Jesus. The summer heat in them is lacking. They preach eloquently and explain with utmost nicety what is actual and original sin and what is pardon and purity, but they lack the burning flame, that interior furnace of throbbing love, that sighs and weeps and breaks down under the shivering heat of all-consuming love.

Divine tenderness of spirit has a behavior to it which is superhuman and heavenly. It instinctively avoids wounding the feelings of others by talking on unpleasant things, wrangling in an argumentative way, by referring to painful and mortifying subjects. It carries its point by ceasing to contend and wins its opponent by seeming to let him have his way. It cannot scold, or scowl, or threaten; it has lost the power of quarreling.

Tenderness of spirit makes its home in the bosom of Jesus, and from that Holy Castle, looks out upon all other creatures, good and bad, through the hopeful, pleading medium of the Heart that was pierced on the cross. It feels all things from God's standpoint, and lives but to receive and transmit the spotless sympathies and affections of Jesus. It understands the words of the Holy Ghost, "Be ye tender hearted, forgiving one another."   Tenderness must be in the very nature, and forgiveness is but the behavior of that nature.

A Critical Spirit - G.D. Watson

A Critical Spirit


From ‘Pure Gold’- by G.D.Watson

A critical spirit may be described by the following features. It deems itself gifted from God with particular genius to detect and correct evil in others. With every step in the advances of grace, there is given to the mind a new degree of light to discriminate finer shades of right and wrong. But unless there is a continual increase of love which keeps fully abreast or even runs ahead of this added light, the foolishness and weakness of human nature will turn this power of discrimination into a death-dealing instrument.

There is an ingrained frailty in fallen human nature that leads man to think he has a right to climb on God’s throne to be the judge of others. Because of his God-given power to discriminate, he begins to misapply the gift by looking for defects in other people. And it is not long before he is also exercising a police authority in hunting down everyone with an opposing view. Like the Pharisee, he can be very precise in conforming to certain laws, but he ends up being void of merciful love. Consequently, no one ever sees the “light” that is able to draw people into the heavenly life found in the true kingdom of God.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin (in keeping all the outward laws), and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. (Matt. 23:23)

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven (the heavenly Kingdom-life of perfect love) against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering (those who have been called out from the world) to go in. (Matt. 23:13)

The spirit of criticism is invariably a legal spirit. It focuses on the technicalities in the law without ever understanding the principle behind the law. There is a reason behind God’s laws. And God will not fill the temple with His glory until the heart is fully submitted to the principles. Many of those who think they are right because of how they obey certain laws have not been filled with the glory of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” When people live by law without understanding the underlying spiritual principle, they will inevitably violate these principles at points not covered by their list of rules. And so the Lord is unable to manifest His heavenly life of merciful love within the temple of their body.

The person with a critical spirit spends more time fixing boundary lines than improving the country. He clings more to a definition of religion than to the life it is intended to produce. You will find him exerting much more fervor in staking out the exact limits of the first and second blessings than he expends in drawing others into the life of the meek and lowly Jesus.

A person who has remained critical will invariably make himself the meter or gauge that is used to judge everything else. It reveals a self-exalted state that has never entered into the kind of humility that would enable the Spirit of God to lift them spiritually into Christ’s heavenly life of merciful love.

It is an infallible law of God that our severity in judging others marks the lowness of our own spiritual state. It reveals how far we are separated from Christ’s heavenly life.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. (Luke 23:34)

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted {and fall into a judging and critical spirit}. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (Gal. 6:1-3)

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved {find the life of heaven}. (John 3:17)

There is a mysterious quality of heart-gentleness and soul-sweetness in those who have truly been crucified with Christ. It is far more than outward correctness of life, or even an orthodox profession of sanctification and it is infinitely mightier than “holiness preaching” or “correct doctrine.” It is the breath of Jesus in the heart and the perfume of the rose of Sharon permeating the life. These Christians who have truly died to their own righteousness begin to walk in the light of life from heaven.

God has designed and created every believer to be a channel for the outflow of His life. A critical spirit actually chokes up the channel in the soul. It ends up preventing Christ’s Living Water from flowing out to touch the souls of others. And we cannot expect to further His Kingdom-life in this world without first displaying His life. A harsh and critical spirit will never draw others to the true Christ. Our capacity to further the true kingdom of God will be in proportion to how the fruit of His Spirit flows out of our life.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

There are persons who rank themselves as perfectly orthodox and very correct in their outward life and teachings while missing the very nature of Jesus. There is an interior choking that prevents the divine life from coming out. If their heart nature were to be thoroughly explored, it would reveal a lack of kindness, a smallness of charity, a severity of judgment and a subtle dictatorialness that has corrupted their spirit. It has prevented the sweet nature of God’s love to consistently flow through them.

Wherever we walk we carry an unpronounced but recognizable spirit with us. A critical spirit can be felt by others even when we try to conceal it. Our only safety against this malady is to count everything as loss, including our self-produced righteousness, so we may come to “know Christ.” We must receive the imparted righteousness that comes from God by faith. (Phil. 3:2-11)