The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 34

Watson continues discussing reasons to be contented, or "contentation," as he puts it.

2nd. excellency. Whatever is defective in the creature is made up in contentment. A Christian may want the comforts that others have, the land, and possessions; but God hath instilled into his heart that contentment which is far better: in this sense that is true of our Saviour, “he shall receive a hundred fold.” (Mat. 19. 29) Perhaps he that ventured all for Christ, never hath his house or land again: aye, but God gives him a contented spirit, and this breeds such joy in the soul, as is infinitely sweeter than all his houses and lands which he left for Christ. It was sad with David in regard of his outward comforts, he being driven as some think from his kingdom; yet in regard of that sweet contentment he found in God, he had more comfort than men use to have in the time of harvest and vintage. (Ps. 4. 7) One man hath house and lands to live upon, another hath nothing, only a small trade; yet even that brings in a livelihood. A Christian may have little in the world, but he drives the trade of contentment; and so he knows as well how to want, as to abound. O the rare art, or rather miracle of contentment! Wicked men are often disquieted in the enjoyment of all things; the contented Christian is well in the want of all things. But how comes a Christian to be contented in the deficiency of outward comforts? A Christian finds contentment distilled out of the breasts of the promises. He is poor in purse, but rich in promise. There is one promise that brings much sweet contentment into the soul: “they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” (Ps. 34. 10) If the thing we desire be good for us, we shall have it; if it be not good, then the not having is good for us. The resting satisfied with the promise gives contentment.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.)  

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 54

In a previous excerpt, Knapp stated that there are four features of "impressions" from God. These are Scriptural; Right (consistent with good morals); Providential (in harmony with God's will); and Reasonable. His discussion of the result of living by "Convictions from Above" continues:

God's Guidance Comforts in the Dying Hour. It led the psalmist to say: "Though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." The promise Jesus made never to leave or forsake is sweetly fulfilled in death's trying ordeal. When a dear one in great agony was nearing the last moments on earth, I spoke to her of the inscrutable mystery that God should allow His children thus to suffer. "Oh," said she, "it's all right. We can't see the reason, He can. We are finite, He is infinite;" and thus God upheld, and soon she was in the land where suffering can not come. Hence the Christian triumphantly sings:

"And when my task on earth is done,
When, by Thy grace, the victory's won,
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me."

Christ Likeness. All who are divinely led will be like Jesus. Though they have many infirmities which He had not, yet in love, patience, boldness, meekness, and all the graces of a Christian life, they are like Him. The Holy Spirit seeks to bring all to be like Jesus. The Word and providences are the chisels He uses to chip us into the likeness of Jesus. Hence all who yield to Him are transformed into characters of such beauty as will make angels to marvel.

It is this that enables an eminent saint to testify: "This joyful boldness is grounded on the assurance of a conformity to the image of the Son of God, and that I am through the transfiguring power of the Spirit, like Him in purity, and that the Judge will not condemn facsimiles of Himself, 'because even as He is so are we in this world."'

Communion with God. They talk with Him and He answers them. Upham, speaking of those who are "truly sanctified," says: "It is not impossible for them to speak, if it is done with a notable degree of reverence, of holding conversation with God, of talking with God. The expression corresponds with the facts. To talk with God, to go to Him familiarly, as children to a parent, to speak to Him in the secrecy of their spirits, and to receive an inward answer, as gracious as it is decisive, is not only a privilege granted them, but a privilege practically realized."

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Sunspots 536

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Wired discusses producing fine musical instruments with 3-D printers. (They use the term, 3dvarius!)

Rebecca Luella Miller on Christianity and beauty. (She brings in Tim Tebow, too, amazingly enough.)

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey on the type of people you should associate with (hint: see Galatians 5:22-23).

Relevant on how to guard against infidelity, especially on-line infidelity. "Married people don’t just suddenly stumble into affairs ... It’s usually the inevitable result of thousands of questionable decisions, all of which slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, lead people astray."

Relevant also lists "7 Sins the Church Ignores."

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware tells about a database that lets you know, immediately, if your e-mail address has been hacked.

Health: National Public Radio has a report on six communities, on at least three continents, where people live much longer than others, and suggests reasons for this, including some things that you and I can do individually -- but community action is more important.

Literature: (or something) NPR reports on new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Science: Wired tells us why we don't know enough yet (and may never) to preserve most endangered species by artificial insemination.

National Public Radio lets us listen in on, and explains, mate-attracting sounds in treehoppers and crickets.



Image source (public domain)

Coping with sudden death

This post is in reaction to the accidental death of a seven-year-old girl that I didn't know. She died yesterday. I did know a little about her father, and had spoken briefly with him several times at his place of business. I know a number of his employees, and former employees, pretty well. I know an adult daughter of the person who was driving the vehicle that was involved in the accident. My Facebook page has had a lot of posts by others on this event in the last few hours. Some of them have been wonderful. Many of them have been perplexed. If this helps anyone else, fine. I hope it does. But I'm just musing about it. I'm not an expert.

How should sudden death be coped with?

Be ready! Death comes to everyone, and death is permanent. After death, there are no further chances for communication. Death ends all chances to fix things, to do things, to say things. I should be ready to go at any time. I should be sure that I tell the people that I love that I love them, often. I should be sure that my relationship with Christ is up-to-date. (I hope that I love Him. I know that He loves me.) I should realize that this is true of others, not just me, and, if I truly believe that heaven is for real, and that there is a hell to shun, try to lovingly persuade those others to be ready for their deaths, in as many ways as possible. In Luke 12:20, Jesus told a story of a man who wasn't ready for death, and called him a fool.

My will should be made, and up-to-date, and I should have made plans for others to access my important documents, written a tentative obituary, and planned my funeral.

Comfort! In John 14, and elsewhere, Jesus tried to comfort His disciples, in advance of His death. He sent the Holy Spirit, who is also called The Comforter, to them. The Holy Spirit didn't come right away, but several weeks later. Survivors need comfort, after death, for a long time. Comfort can be given in many ways. Showing up, taking food, helping clean, hugging, saying "I love you," or "I'm sorry," calling, and in other ways.

Forgive! This includes self-forgiveness. I don't know all the circumstances of the accident, but the driver surely has had reason to question a lot of things -- why didn't I do this, and why did I do that, and what if. The parents must have such questions, too. And not just about the accident. Did they show her enough love? Were they perfect parents? No one is a perfect parent, and no one is a perfect driver. Try to realize, and accept this, and move on. It won't be easy.

Of course, it may be necessary to forgive someone else. Is that always easy? Of course not. But what good does it do to not forgive? Unforgiveness eats away at a person. It hurts the unforgiving individual more than it can possibly hurt anyone else.

It may be necessary to ask for forgiveness, too. If so, do it carefully, prayerfully, lovingly and humbly.

It's not about me! It's about the person who has passed, and everyone else. The devil wants me to use any excuse to become the axis that the world revolves around. I'm not, and I must try to avoid trying to be, or thinking that I am or should be. Is this easy? Of course not. Christ provided the example, and Paul tells us about that in Philippians 2:5-11 and 1 Corinthians 13.

Pray! For yourself, for others affected, and, that, in the entire situation, Christ will be glorified, perhaps in ways that you never see.

May God help this family, and those associated with this tragic event, and all the other tragic deaths.

Thanks for reading. I'm no expert on this subject. Both my parents are dead, but both of them were in declining health, and had been for some time. A brother-in-law was murdered, two years ago today. But I haven't coped with the death of a spouse, or a child, a grandchild, a close friend, or, as a child, a young parent. I probably will have to do some of this at some point.

Prayers in the Bible: Paul for the Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word. (World English Bible, public domain)

Another prayer for Christians, which is the most common type of prayer in the New Testament.

This is part of a year-long series on prayers in the Bible. Thanks for reading. The previous post is here.

Comfort in hell?

One of the strangest Bible passages I have read recently is this one:

Ezekiel 32:30 “The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. 32 For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.” (ESV. This is a page that gives copyright information for the ESV.)

There is the abode of the dead, and, in Pharaoh's case, the unrighteous dead. Comforted? Really? That was so strange a phrase that I checked it with the Blueletter Bible, which gives several versions of 32:31. They all agree, so this is not a mistranslation by the ESV.

Despite the title, it is not clear that Pharaoh, in this passage, is actually in hell. (See the Wikipedia article on Sheol.)

Like a lot of other things in the Bible, I can't explain this one. Perhaps you can. I will say that, even if there is some sort of comfort in hell, that doesn't make make hell any more desirable. It should be avoided at all costs!

Thanks for reading.