Guard Against Discouragement

August 3, 2010 at 10:18 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall

Depression is one of Satan’s most dynamic weapons to divert you from God’s purpose for your life. If he can scatter a little dejection here and there in your thoughts – and even in your prayers – he can convince you to remove your breastplate of righteousness because it is too cumbersome and will go against your material and temporal interest. Do not give in that easily! First let me describe some of the devil’s weapons for wearing down the saints. Then I want to lend you a little help in making him drop his weapons at your feet. God wants you to know that because of the breastplate of righteousness He has provided, “no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;….. this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17).

Satan says righteousness hinders pleasure. The devil works to picture a holy life with such an austere, sour face that a person could not possibly be in love with it. “If you intend to be this righteous, then say good-bye to joy,” the deceiver skillfully counsels. “People who do not have such straight-laced consciences enjoy all kinds of good times – but you are missing them all.” The truth is, Christian, if you want to see the countenance of holiness in its actual color and vitality, do not trust Satan’s carnal talents to paint the portrait.

Now I agree that some pleasures are inconsistent with the power of holiness; and whoever purposes to live righteously must know what these are. – Taken from The Christian In Complete Armour, July 30; edited by James S. Bell, Jr.

Keep Your Motive Pure

July 27, 2010 at 9:36 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall

Satan’s policy is to crack the breastplate of righteousness by beating it out farther than the metal can bend. And every time you trust in this distortion you destroy the very nature and purpose of the armor – your righteousness becomes unrighteousness and your holiness degenerates into wickedness.

Is anything worse than pride, such a pride which runs rampant over the way which God Himself has made for saving souls? If you really want to be holy, be humble, because the two are clasped together. “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8). God has not asked you to earn heaven by your holiness but to show love and thankfulness to Christ who earned it for you. Thus we have insight into the way Christ persuaded His disciples to walk in holiness: “If ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). It is as if He had said, “You know why I came and why I am going out of the world – I lay down My life and take it up again to intercede for you. If you value these deeds and the blessed fruit you reap from them, prove it by loving Me enough to keep My commandments.” – Taken from The Christian in Complete Armour, July 27. Edited by James S. Bell, Jr.

Success and Contentment

July 20, 2010 at 9:53 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall

The worldly person who does not go the his business every morning by way of a prayer closet rarely returns home in the evening to give thanks to God. He begins the day without God and it would be unusual for him to end it with Him. The spider that spins her web out of her own body dwells in it when she is through; and the person who operates his enterprises by his own ingenuity entitles himself to recognition as a “self-made man.” Thus it is easier for such a person to worship his own wisdom than to worship God.

Once a man overheard his neighbor thanking God for the rich stand of corn in his field and reacted to this praise: “Thank God? Why I would rather thank my manure-cart!” It was the speech of a sewer-spirit, more filthy than the load on his cart. If you want to be a Christian you must acknowledge God in all your ways and not lean unto your own understanding (Proverbs 3:6). This selfless attitude will lead you to crown God with praise when success crowns your work.

Jacob worked as long and hard as any other businessman for his wealth; yet the foundation of his diligence was in prayer and in the expectation of blessing from heaven. He attributed his valuable holdings to the truth and mercy of God, who promised to provide for him when he was still a poor pilgrim on his way to Padan-aram (Genesis 28:2-4).

Necessity was the heathen’s schoolmaster to teach contentment; but faith is the Christian’s. Faith is what teaches the saint to enjoy the supplies of providence with sweet complacency as the will of God concerning him. This is godliness that triumphs – when the Christian can carve contentment out of God’s providence, no matter what dish it sets before him. – Taken from The Christian in Complete Armour, July 21.

Satan Wants Christians to Be Unholy

July 13, 2010 at 9:51 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall

Simple holiness, then is the flag which the soul hangs out to declare open defiance of Satan and friendship with God, even as the devil strives to shoot it down. And here is the ground of that quarrel, which will never end as long as Satan is an unclean spirit and the saint a holy child of God: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Persecutors often try to disguise their malice under the pretense of good works; but the Spirit of God looks through their hypocritical mufflers and knows the instructions they have from hell. God’s Spirit tells us that godliness is the target at which Satan levels his arrows. Of course there are more kinds of godliness in the world than on, but Satan opposes only the true one: “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus.”

Christian blood is sweet to Satan but the blood of the Christian’s godliness is far sweeter. He prefers to sever the saint his godliness rather than butcher him for it. Yet so he will not be too conspicuous, he often plays at small game and expresses his cruelty upon saints’ bodies; but this happens only when he cannot capture their souls; “They were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain” (Hebrews 11:37). What the persecutors wanted more than anything else was to entice them into sin and apostasy; thus they tempted Christians severely before they killed them. The devil considers it a complete triumph if he can strip away the saint’s armor and bribe him away from steadfastness in his holy profession.

The devil would rather see Christians defiled with sin and unrighteousness than defiled in blood and pain, for he has learned that persecution only trims the church, which soon comes back up all the thicker; it is unrighteousness which ruins it. Persecutors, then, only plow God’s field for Him and all the time He is sowing it with the saints’ blood. – Taken from The Christian in Complete Armour, July 13. Edited by James S. Bell, Jr. Moody Publishers, 1994.

Judgement of the Nation

July 6, 2010 at 9:36 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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 Wisdom from William Gurnall – Judgment of the Nation

Even when the righteous are men beloved of God like Noah and Daniel, sometimes God still denies bail for a people under the arrest of His judgment. Jeremiah, for instance, boldly testified against the sins of the times and interceded in earnest prayer for the people; but he could not convert them by preaching or divert God’s wrath by praying. Finally the Jews asked him not to prophesy against them any more and God commanded him to stop praying for the nation.

Judgment hovered like an eagle closing in on her prey. And the only thing that eased Jeremiah’s heart, swollen with grief for Israel’s sins, was his memory of sincerity to God and man: “Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them” (Jeremiah 18:20). It is as if he had said, “Lord, I cannot make this rebellious generation repent of their sins, and I cannot make this rebellious generation repent of their sins, and I cannot seem to prevail with You to reverse Your decree of punishment; but I have been faithful in my place both to You and to them.”

On the contrary, horror and a terrified spirit is the portion of hypocrites in seasons of judgments. Pashur, for example, was a bitter enemy of Jeremiah and of the prophet’s message from God. He put in long efforts to soothe the king with vain hope of golden days just ahead. And all this against the Word of the Lord at the mouth of Jeremiah! When the storm began to fall in torrents of judgment, Jeremiah tore away all such imaginary shelter by telling Pashur he would carry a personal brand of God’s anger, besides sharing in the common calamity of the people (Jeremiah 20).

Sincerity strengthens the Christian deprived of the chance to serve God. If a servant of Christ could choose any affliction, he would select everything else before he would endure the pain of being a broken instrument, unserviceable to God. A devoted servant values his life by the opportunities he has to glorify God. – Taken from The Christian In Complete Armour, July 4; edited by James S. Bell, Jr., Moody Publishers.

Wait On God

June 29, 2010 at 9:40 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall – Wait On God

You might search all over the field and still not discover the treasure hidden there. The only way we can “know the things that are freely given to us of God” is by God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12). He lives in God’s ordinances as a governor works in his graces – evidences for heaven – sealed to our consciences.

Go to God’s Spirit and wait. The fact that you are at the right door is comforting in itself. Even if you knock for a long time but do not hear anyone coming, you should not feel ashamed. Eglon’s servants waited for a dead man (Judges 3:25), but you are waiting for the living God, who hears your prayers and sees your tears. And even if He seems like a stranger, as Joseph appeared to his brothers, He is so big with mercy that He will soon fall on your neck and ease His heart by acknowledging and accepting you, and His grace in you.

Lift up your head, then – but remember, you cannot set times for God Almighty. The sun rises at its own hour, no matter what time you decide it should come up. Sometimes God comes to you in an ordinance and His heavenly light radiates into your innermost being while He quickens His Word to you. But have you not spent other nights on your face wrestling with God, wondering why He did not satisfy your soul? When someone brings a candle into the dark room we stir around and look for the thing we have lost and soon find what we had groped for in the darkness for hours. We can gauge more of our spiritual condition in a moment of His revelation than in days or weeks of His withdrawal.

Carefully watch for the seasons when God comes to you; take advantage of them. But even if God chooses to hide the treasure from your sight, comfort yourself. He knows your sincerity is real whether you see it or not. – take from The Christian In Complete Armour, Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare (June 28) by William Gurnall; edited by James S. Bell, Jr. Moody Publishers, 1994.

I hope you were encouraged and that you are helped to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory forever and ever, amen (2 Peter 3:18).

Stay faithful and hopeful,

Bill (a fellow-laborer)

Romans 15:13

Walk in View of God’s Care

June 22, 2010 at 9:10 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall – Walk in View of God’s Care

God strengthened Abraham’s faith when He told him to be upright: “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1). He was saying, “Act for Me and I will take care of you.” Once we begin to doubt God’s protection, then our sincerity will soon falter. Hypocrisy hides in distrust. The unbelieving Jews, for instance, stored up manna overnight against God’s explicit instruction because they did not have faith to trust Him for the next meal. And we do the same thing – first we doubt His care and then we start to lean son our own understanding.

This is the same old weapon Satan has always used to cheat Christians out of sincerity. “Curse God and die,” he taunted Job through his wife (Job 2:9). Her words ran with bitter distrust; “Why are you still holding the castle of your sincerity for God to live in? You have been besieged long enough with sorrows on every hand. And to this day you have not gotten any news from heaven that God cares anything about you. Why do you not just curse Him and die?”

Jesus Himself faced Satan’s identical tactic when he tempted the Son of God to turn stones into bread. We see, the, why it is so important for us to strengthen our faith in the caring heart and hands of God. This is the very reason He has made such abundant provision to shut out all doubt and fear from the hearts of His people. God has placed His promises like safe harbors, so if a storm sweeps the sea or an enemy chases us through the darkest night, we can tie up in one of them and know the comfort of full protection.

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in behalf of them,” or to unite with them “whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God does not depend on others to keep watch; His own eyes do it. He watches over us in the same way a mother takes care of her own child. – from The Christian In Complete Armour, edited by James S. Bell, Jr., Moody Publishers.

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For no matter how many promise God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Wisdom from William Gurnall – Seeking Worldly Admiration

June 15, 2010 at 10:19 am | Posted in Devotional | Leave a comment
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My hope is that these excerpts from The Christian In Complete Armour will encourage you to look into the life, ministry and writings of William Gurnall. Anyone who wants to follow closely to Christ will be challenged by Gurnall’s words.

Christ is not “ashamed to call” the poorest saints “brethren,” but He despise to have His name seen upon a rotten-hearted hypocrite (Hebrews 2:11).

Of all sinners the hypocrite does the most harm in this world and therefore will have the most torment in the other world. And yet it is religion which has consistently proved to be the most effective bait of hypocrites, as they seek to snare others into their error and sin while posing as children of God. Ehud, for example, could not have chosen a better key to open the doors into King Eglon’s presence that to say he had brought a message from God. This caused such expectation and confidence that Eglon welcomed him. When the two were alone, the king rose to hear the Word of the Lord from the deceiver – but what he received instead was brutal death (Judges 3:14-30).

I confess the hypocrite may act his part so well that he may accidentally do some good. His glistening profession, heavenly speech, and eloquent preaching might bring to the sincere seeker a measure of real comfort. Like an actor at center stage who stirs up passion in the audience by counterfeit tears, the hypocrite, playing his religious role, may temporarily spark the believer’s true graces. But that is when the Christian may be in the most serious danger, for he will not readily suspect the person who once helped him spiritually.

It would have been far better had Sisera the Canaanite done without Jael’s butter and milk than to be nailed to the tent floor, having been fooled by that woman’s seeming hospitality. Thus it is to our advantage not to sample the free gifts and give-away graces of stage play saints, applauding and drinking ourselves drunk with their admiration. Sometimes a calculated distance from the hypocrite is the safest way to avoid having our heads nailed by errors.

The Christian In Complete Armour – Aim Your Heart Toward God

June 8, 2010 at 10:33 am | Posted in Devotional, Spiritual Warfare | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall – Aim Your Heart Toward God

Today’s excerpt from Gurnall really spoke to me. I read a lot of material regarding men and men’s ministry. I have been involved in helping men grow and starting men’s groups. I have friends, some close and some more like acquaintances that lead or start men’s groups. In some way the simplicity of this spoke to me. I hope it speaks to you too.

“The world’s true man is one who will not wrong another man. Some boldly remind God that they would not steal a dime from their neighbor; yet these same people are thieves in far greater matters than all the money their neighbor is worth. They steal time from God and consistently conform the Sabbath to their personal plans instead of His. They purpose to sanctify God’s name and even pray often for His will but their unholy hearts insist on compromise even though they know His will is sanctification.

But God’s true man desires to be first true to the Father and then to man for His sake. For example, when Joseph’s brothers feared he might deal with them brutally he freed them from suspicion: ‘This do,’ he responded, ‘and live; for I fear God’ (Genesis 42:18). He assured them, ‘Do not expect anything from me except what is right. You might think because I am a man of authority you would have no one to intercede for you if I take advantage. But I see One who is above me – infinitely higher than I seem to be above you; and I fear Him.’ – from The Christian In Complete Armour, edited by James S. Bell, Jr., Moody Publishers.

Have you ever stolen time from God? Sure you have. Have you ever used the Sabbath for your personal pleasure or benefit? Sure you have. There is only one person that we cannot lie to, fool or mislead and you and I know who that is; Almighty God. Yes, our God is a forgiving Father, but He is also a consuming fire.

Let’s try to live upright and holy lives in these last days. Let’s try to live and talk and work and play in a way that shows who we belong to. Any of us who are Christians have been bought with a price, we are no longer our own, we belong to God. What would God want you to change in order for your life to be more conformed to the image of His Son? Let’s redeem the time because the days are evil. Just something to think about.

Much GRACE and peace to you,

Bill (a fellow-laborer)

Romans 15:13

(28)Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (29)for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Wisdom from William Gurnall – Boldly Profess Your Faith

June 1, 2010 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Devotional | Leave a comment
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Part of my devotional reading this morning is worth passing along. If you read through a devotional book to supplement reading through the Bible each year you may want to consider buying and reading The Christian In Complete Armour by William Gurnall, edited by James S. Bell, published by Moody. My wife and I find this devotional book very interesting and timely.

In today’s reading part of what Gurnall says is, “Paul delivered a strict charge to Timothy concerning a steadfast profession of truth: ‘But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness’ (1 Timothy 6:11). While people all around you aim at the world, run after spiritual riches with a chase as hot as theirs.

But what if this business of seeking righteousness cannot be transacted peaceably? Should we close up shop, put our profession on the shelf and postpone holiness until favorable times have come again? Paul’s solution is to ‘fight the good fight of faith’ (v. 12). Do not abandon your profession of truth but put your life on the line to keep it.”

If some Christians today are pursuing friendship with world and all the trappings that come with it they are in good company. Some Christians were doing that back in Gurnall’s day also. There has been and always will be a problem that goes on in the mind, heart and life of a Christian. That tension has to do with being in the world but not of the world.

It should be no wonder to us that so many churches today offer the things that world has to give in order to get the attention of both the saved and the unsaved. The church has believed a lie that says it is in competition with the world. That could be why it thinks it has to offer every form of entertainment and luxury to its attendees that the world would give them. Otherwise they may go somewhere else.

But I think the Church is to be used by God to show His manifold wisdom and make it known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 3:11). Many in the Church have forgotten that real freedom comes from finding your Master. So I ask you O, man or woman of God, what are you fleeing to pursue spiritual riches? Are you pursuing spiritual riches as intensely as your unsaved neighbor pursues his pleasures?

Have you denied yourself, taken up your cross and followed Jesus (Mark 8:34-36)? Don’t aim at the world, you just might hit it! Focus on Jesus and follow Him and the world just may take a swing at you. But it will be worth it because they first took a swing at Jesus. You will be in good company.

Stay faithful and hopeful,

Bill (a fellow-laborer)

Romans 15:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

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