Recipe of the Day

Prep: 30 min. + freezing Bake: 15 min. + cooling Yield: 36 Servings 30 15 45 Ingredients •1 package red velvet cake mix (regular size) •1 quart blue moon ice cream, softened •3 cups heavy whipping cream •1-1/2 cups marshmallow creme •Red, white and blue sprinkles •Blue colored sugar Directions •Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions for cupcakes. • Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake at 350° for 11-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. • Working quickly, spread ice cream over cupcakes. Freeze for at least 1 hour. • In a large bowl, combine cream and marshmallow creme; beat until stiff peaks form. Pipe over cupcakes; decorate with sprinkles and colored sugar. Freeze for 4 hours or until firm. Yield: 3 dozen. Editor’s Note: As a substitute for blue moon ice cream, tint softened vanilla ice cream with blue food coloring. Nutritional Facts 1 cupcake equals 202 calories, 13 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 50 mg cholesterol, 137 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 3 g protein.

Recipe of the Day

Prep/Total Time: 5 min. Yield: 1 Servings 5 5 Ingredients •1 medium banana, peeled and split lengthwise •1 scoop each vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream •2 tablespoons sliced fresh strawberries or 1 tablespoon strawberry ice cream topping •2 tablespoons DOLE® Pineapple Chunks in 100% Pineapple Juice or 1 tablespoon pineapple ice cream topping •2 tablespoons whipped cream •1 tablespoon chopped peanuts •1 tablespoon chocolate syrup •2 maraschino cherries with stems Directions •Place banana in a dessert dish; place scoops of ice cream between banana. Top with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately. Yield: 1 serving. Tip Banana Basics Look for plump bananas that are evenly yellow-colored. Green bananas are under-ripe, while a flecking of brown flecks indicates ripeness. If bananas are too green, place in a paper bag until ripe. Adding an apple to the bag will speed the process. Store ripe bananas at room temperature. To prevent bruises, a banana hook or hanger is a great inexpensive investment. For longer storage, you can place ripe bananas in a tightly sealed plastic bag and refrigerate. The peel will become brown but the flesh will remain unchanged. One pound of bananas equals about 3 medium or 1-1/3 cups mashed.

Poem of the Day

Getting Close by Victoria Redel Because my mother loved pocketbooks I come alive at the opening click or close of a metal clasp. And sometimes, unexpectedly, a faux crocodile handle makes me weep. Breathy clearing of throat, a smooth arm, heels on pavement, she lingers, sound tattoos. I go to the thrift store to feel for bobby pins caught in the pocket seam of a camel hair coat. I hinge a satin handbag in the crease of my arm. I buy a little change purse with its curled and fitted snap. My mother bought this for me. This was my mother's. I buy and then I buy and then, another day, I buy something else. In Paris she had a dog, Bijou, and when they fled Paris in 1942 they left the dog behind. When my mother died on February 9, 1983, she left me. Now, thirty years later and I am exactly her age. I tell my husband I will probably die by the end of today and all day he says, Are you getting close, Sweetheart? And late in the afternoon, he asks if he should buy enough filet of sole for two. From a blue velvet clutch I take out a mirror and behold my lips in the small rectangle. Put on something nice. Let him splurge and take you out for dinner, my mother whispers on the glass.

Pic of the Day

Devotional

There has never been and will never be another you. That means the bravest thing you can do is to be who you already are. Because it's safer to be like someone else. It's easier to hide. It's simpler to say, "I'm not good enough" and walk away. But we need you, friend. We need your gifts. We need your strengths. We need your smile. When you are who you're created to be, you become a mirror of the heart of the One who made you. The enemy of your soul will try to tell you to change who you are because he would love to interfere with that reflection. Say no, my friend. No to comparing. No to competing. No to copying. Instead open your heart, spread out your wings, lift up your head and live with divine confidence. You have much to offer. You are a one-of-a-kind original. No one can ever be better than you at being you. Say yes, my friend. Yes to boldness. Yes to beauty. Yes to being who God made you. Say that "yes" with all your heart for all your life. Speak it with everything you do and all that you become. Because one of the very best ways to change the world is by refusing to change who God created you to be.

Sermon of the Week

“The Proud Brought to Shame.” “Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.” PSA 119:78 [1] Now we hold our text in context. We find that David has recognized God’s purpose in sending him afflictions by the hand of the proud. Sometimes it is so hard for you and I to understand why it seems as if the proud prosper against us. But the Lord has his reasons. And as we see our text in its context, then we want to see Psalm 119 verse 69 through 71. The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.[2] The Lord has allowed that the proud should forge a lie against David. And it is for the purpose of making David humble before the Lord. The Lord allowed the pride of the proud to be used as a weapon to slaughter our pride. There isn’t a greater enemy to the presence and the love of God than the filthy pride of our own heart. And when the Lord comes to humble us, he uses what he knows comes the closest to home. You know, it is an amazing thing. I have often thought. The things that are the most humbling to me probably wouldn’t humble the next person at all. That which humbles that person wouldn’t be anything to me at all. But the Lord knows exactly what medicine to apply for what disease. He knows how the balm of Gilead must be applied to what sore. And when the proud are brought against us and they deal perversely with us, then, as he said here, “they forged a lie against me.”[3] Now it says in our text: “They dealt perversely with me without a cause.”[4] In other words, I was not guilty of what they are charging me with. Look at the life of Job and how that he was charged with hideous crimes. Job was charged with standing before his neighbor’s door to wait to lay upon his wife. He was charged with hideous things. But Job retained his integrity. But it was humbling to Job. The Lord uses these things to humble us. Now it was through these afflictions which David suffered at the hand of the proud that he was brought near unto his God. You tell me where is a better place to be found before our God than in a humble contrite spirit. They had forged a lie perversely against him and they have forged lies against him, but it didn’t raise David up in a revengeful spirit. It didn’t cause David to retaliate, fight fire with fire. It bought David humble before his God. But he says: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.”[5] Why was it good? Because it brought him to the tender mercies of his God that brought him to his place of refuge in his God. Now I want you to see what Asaph said of God’s restraining grace. I don’t love anything that is a more blessed place than to be able to sit under the shadow of his hand. And you look up under the shadow of his hand and you see that pierced hand and you see the names of every one of your sins engraven in the palms of his hands. And as you sit under the shadow of his hand and watch him restraining the malice and restraining the anger and the bitterness of the wicked. Then you start looking at what the wicked are doing in a different light. When you understand what it is to be under the shadow of his hand, when you understand what it is to be under the shadow of that redeeming blood of the love of Christ who has redeemed you from that very iniquity, there isn’t one corruption that you have ever seen in the heart of a human being that your heart is not capable of if the Lord wouldn’t grant you restraining grace. Now do you see how Asaph speaks of the restraining grace of his God as he sits under the shadow of God’s hand in Psalm 76 verse six through 10? And see how he praises God for his restraining grace, restraining the proud. “At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.”[6] What is he talking about? He is talking about the deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea. He is talking about a wonder of God’s grace, of how the power of the elements of this world were restrained by a wonder of his grace. Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.[7] Do you understand what Asaph is talking about there? Notice how we see the wrath of the proud that the Lord uses and he unleashes it and allows it to come against us. But don’t forget that he has bound Satan in chains until the Day of Judgment. Satan can go only as far as the Lord gives him liberty to go and “the remainder of wrath he will restrain.”[8] He allows the wrath of man to be used to bring us humble before our God, but the remainder of wrath, they would have swallowed us up quickly, but he doesn’t allow that. He restrained them right at the point where he says, “Thus far and no further.” Ok? And this is what Asaph saw in the restraining grace of God and these lessons we only learn as we are becoming exposed to the lies and the wrath of the proud. Now see David’s prayer in our text: “Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause.”[9] Does this seem to contradict the spirit of the law that we are taught by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:44? I want you to see it. Do we see a contradiction here? In Matthew 5:44 the Lord Jesus says: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”[10] Does his prayer where he says, “Let the proud be ashamed,”[11] does that contradict that? No. No. David’s prayer is not against the person of his enemies. He is not asking the Lord to destroy the man. What he is asking is to let them be ashamed of their attitudes and of their tactics. See? Here Prayer is not against their person, but against their crimes. It is that they might become ashamed of their plots and of their perverse dealings. Have you ever heard of the old expression that they have egg on their face? I heard a judge use that expression and have you ever heard the expression of getting caught with your hands in the cookie jar? In other words, that you have a wicked plot or devise that you have planned to do and you are caught right in the middle of it and you were put to shame. That is what David is praying for, is that they are not going to be allowed to perform their scheme to the intent they might be made ashamed, that they might be reproved, that they might understand that they were found out. Now this word “perverse” is synonymous with being bull headed. It is synonymous with being closed minded, ruthless, vicious. Those are synonyms. The word “perversely” in our text comes from the Hebrew word twe(aw-vath’) which means to wrest, that is to coerce or force. In other words, when we become bull headed and forceful. You see, we were talking this noon about that we don’t want to come against obstacles. Perverseness means to be strong headed. In other words, to become forceful, to coerce, to twist, to wrench. In other words, at all costs, do your thing. That is what David was praying against is that those who are so strong headed and so forceful that they be made ashamed of their conduct and that the end result is that they might be brought to repentance. The prayer in our text is against the wrong attitude. It is asking that their evil intentions might be brought to shame or fail to be accomplished, in other words, that they might be brought to shame of their intent of what they were doing. Now look at Psalm 119 verse 134. It says: “Deliver me from the oppression of man.”[12] That, in effect, what David is praying for in our text that they would be made ashamed, in other words, that their oppression might be broken that he might be delivered from their schemes and from their plots. David’s prayer, “...but I will meditate in thy precepts,”[13] ...also tells us that God’s Word is his pleading ground. Look at Isaiah 66:5. And I want you to see how that we have God’s Word as a pleading ground for being delivered from the perverseness of the proud and for them being made ashamed. Look at Isaiah 66:5. “Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you...”[14] That gets pretty close to home. What is this telling us? Sometimes the proud, those who are perverse, those who are strong headed and forceful, they might be close to home. “Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified.”[15] There they are claiming the Lord is on their side, that what they are doing to you and the way they are coming against you to destroy you, they think they are doing the Lord service. But they are the proud, because they are doing it forcefully. God’s Word says: “Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.”[16] When he says they shall be ashamed that doesn’t mean they will go to hell, see. We are not praying that the Lord will destroy the person or his soul. What we are asking the Lord to do is to destroy their evil cause to make them ashamed, the Scriptures tell us. With a railer you are, no, not to eat. Why? That they might be made ashamed and repent. That is the nature of our text. In other words, he is asking the Lord to give them to see the shame of their attitudes. Now we must always be aware of what our Savior says in Matthew 10:34 through 36. “Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father.”[17] I want you to take notice. The Lord brings it close to home. Sometimes the proud could be your own father or your own son or your own wife or your own child, your own brother in the flesh. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.[18] I want you to see why. When David sinned with Bathsheba and Uriah, the Lord sent his own children to reprove him. The Lord used his own children, one of his own sons forced his own daughter. How bitter to David were the bitterness of adultery? Can you imagine one of your sons forcing your own daughter and the grief it would cause? Now David sits on the throne of Israel. If that had been anybody but his own son doing it to his own daughter he would order the man to be slain. That was the law in Israel. But I want you to see how that brings it close to home. Can you imagine Absalom taking David’s wives and bringing them on the roof of the house and going in unto them before all of Israel? You see, the Lord knows how to make us humble. And do you know what is the most piercing thing is when one of our children are the proud. And the Lord allows pride in one of our children to come against us. Now, you see, the lesson that we need to learn, the Lord is teaching us here a very valuable lesson. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”[19] Do you know what the lesson we need to learn? When we look at that proud person that we don’t start writing bitter things against him as a person, that we start to accept the fact that he is only an instrument in the Lord’s hands. David says, “It was good for me that I had been afflicted. It was good for me.” Do you know why? It brought him in his right place before God. And, you know, I have learned this by painful experience, you look at an axe and it lays at the root of a tree and it will lay there and rot and never hurt that tree. It is the hand that moves the axe that chops down a tree. And that proud person is nothing more than an instrument in the hand of God to chop us down in our pride and to bring us humble before the Lord. And when the Lord has accomplished his purpose—and I have experienced this more than once—when we have been brought into the right place and our pride has been broken, he can remove that instrument instantly. David was not praying against the person of the proud. He was praying against their conduct and the attitude of the proud. He says, “Let them be made ashamed.” And the reason that he could plead that he says because they do it without a cause. You see? David was not guilty of the things they accused him of. But the Lord had his good reasons that David would come in his right place before the Lord. The Lord used that to draw David home. Now when we have learned to see this sword of affliction in the hand of the Lord instead of in the hand of the perverse, do you know what happens? We lose sight of the person and we start looking at the hand that moved the instrument. And now we start seeing the Lord’s hand in these things and now we start accepting it as from the Lord. And do you know what that does? That puts us in the right posture of heart to be able to pray for the man that is doing it. Now we can truly come right before the Lord and pray for that man, that he Lord will deliver him and forgive him. We begin to understand how important it is that we follow in the footsteps of our Savior. And what did he do? He prayed for his enemies. Look at Luke 23 verses 33 through 34. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.[20] I want you to stop and picture something. Our Savior was not looking at their pride. Our Savior was looking at the hand of his Father in bringing about his purpose to bring about our salvation. And his Father used this as his purpose and he says they don’t know what they are doing. They didn’t realize they were fulfilling the very purpose of God. They didn’t understand that. Has it ever entered your mind when the proud come against you that you can pray our Savior’s prayer? And you can pray and say, “Lord, they don’t know what they are doing. They don’t realize that they are literally an instrument in thy hand to bring me humbled before the Lord. They don’t even realize that that is what it is for. They don’t realize that I am going to come in the end and pray. Lord, thank you. It was good for me to be afflicted. Look at the spiritual blessings that it brought for my soul. They don’t understand that.” And I want you to see the perverse attitudes of those proud, bull headed, closed minded, ruthless, vicious enemies of our Savior and what they were doing while he was praying for them. Look what they were doing. Look at verses 35 and 36, Luke 23:35-36. And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar.[21] Look how they were mocking and deriding him while he was praying for them. Do you think that would be a trial of your faith? Can you imagine in such an hour and under such circumstances that you could be praying for your enemies, that you could be praying for the proud and carrying them before the throne of grace and say, “Lord, let them see the shame of what they are doing”? You see, when the Lord Jesus says, “Father, forgive them,” I want you to realize they saw their shame. David’s prayer was also very appropriate for this occasion and I want you to see how the wretched designs of the Jews were frustrated, bringing about the very purpose by their perverse dealings. Look at Acts two verse 32 through 36. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.[22] You see there, they are pointing out what the Lord’s purpose was in what they were doing to him. And now I want you to see that blessed prayer of our Savior for his proud enemies would also answer it as see in Acts two verse 37 through 39. I want you to see how that the proud were made ashamed. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”[23] See, “You with wicked hands have crucified and slain the Lord of glory.” Their charge was laid direct to their heart and to their conscience and they were made ashamed. Hen they saw how that Peter declared what the purpose of God in that crucifixion was and how that He was now seated at the right hand of God and exalted, having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. But it says there: “...hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”[24] You see, their purpose was to destroy Christ. They were made ashamed. And that is what David is praying for, that when the purpose of God in their persecution has been brought to light and they see how that the Lord used it for your good and that it might be used to bring them like these men here in Acts two verse 37. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”[25] They are charged. Their hearts were charged. They were made ashamed. They saw how that their perverseness against our Savior worked out, the very opposite of what they had tried to do. They had tried to kill and destroy him and here he had become promoted and exalted to the right hand of the Father. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized.”[26] You see, when we rightly understand David’s prayer, that they be made ashamed of their attitude, they be made ashamed of their perverse dealings, of their strong headed and their unbending determination to destroy you and this is brought to shame. The prayer is that they be brought to repent. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.[27] Now David’s prayer was not against their persons. He was against their wrong attitude and their actions. His prayer was for them, that they would be made ashamed of their conduct and be brought to repentance. Look at Psalm 119:78. Look at our text. “Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.”[28] Now David’s prayer that they might be ashamed was that they should not succeed in their design. Men are ashamed when their devices and plots fail after they have been revealed. This is what we see in the book of Acts. This is what we see happen with the Lord Jesus Christ. When they saw through how that their very malice, that the wrath of man was used for his glory, where the wrath of man was used for God’s purpose, they saw this. They were ashamed. They said: “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”[29] Look at Psalm 70 verses two through four. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.[30] David’s pleading ground is that there is no cause. His pleading ground is the fact that he had not been guilty of the things that they had accused him of, that he was not guilty. They had used untruth, and partial truth to make a lie. David could defend his integrity on the basis of truth. Look at Psalm 56 verse four through five. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.[31] They twist my words. They wrest them. They use my word to twist them to make it say something that they can use against me. You have never had that, have you? Well, there is nothing new. It started long before David had a problem. It started in the Garden of Eden. The effects of pride are grievous to be born. But God’s ways are higher than ours. Look at Hebrews 12 verse 11. I want you to see the blessedness of how God’s ways are higher than our ways. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”[32] See, God’s ways are so much higher than our ways. He uses the very pride of man to praise him. He uses the very instruments that come against us as the instruments in his hand to bring about his purpose in our life. And what is that? To bring us in a right attitude before God, to bring us unconditionally in his hands. You know, it is an amazing thing to know what it is to eat out of the hand of the Lord, to be so totally dependent that we have to come to the Lord daily for our daily provisions. But it is also a most blessed thing when we are come to such an unconditional surrender that we can take everything we are and put ourselves in his hand and say, “Lord, thy will be done.” You see, those are the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Those are the places where God wants to bring us and he uses his afflictions to bring us there. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”[33] And now, beloved friends, many a time I have fled to the throne of grace to escape the perverse dealings of the proud and I found rich blessings in store. The Lord uses this to bring us into that place of unconditional surrender and a total dependence upon him. And then we come to such blessed riches that are laid in store. Look at 1 Peter five verses six through seven. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”[34] Do you know what is interesting? The Lord knows when it is the right time. You and I would like to be, when the proud comes against us, we would like to be exalted immediately so we can be so proud that we can run them off. No, that is not the Lord’s time. The Lord’s time is when you and I have been humbled and when he feels that he is ready now to exalt us. But he exalts us in a total different way that human pride. See, he exalts us in the way of delivering us under that hand of persecution and now our heart and our mouth may be filled with his praises. That is how God exalts us, not in a way of human pride, but in a way of exalting his name. And then it says in verse seven, it says: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”[35] Many a time that verse has been a great strength for me. Many a time I have been able to find such consolation in those two verses because humbling yourself before the mighty hand of God comes against the flesh. But it is a blessed place to be. We must remember we were not sent into this world to set up a great empire. You know, that is something that comes against the flesh. We were not sent here to set up a great empire of power but we were sent here to learn patience. Patience works experience. Experience, hope and hope maketh not ashamed. When we learn to understand patience—and that word “patience” when you take it out of the original means cheerfully enduring, not murmuring, not grudgingly, but cheerfully enduring the trial that we have received worketh patience. Look at Matthew 18 verse four. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”[36] The disciples were striving among themselves who should be the greatest and the Lord Jesus uses this to show who it will be, he who humbled himself as this little child. When we become as little children, that is when we become great in the eyes of God. When we become small in ourself, when self becomes crucified, when we can truly put the other person ahead of us. Now when we pray against the proud design of the wicked, we must consider the wretchedness of our own heart and that it is only by grace if we differ. You know, that makes you so much more forgiving for another man when you learn to recognize that same wretchedness in your own heart. You know, if you have learned to see as the Pharisees, the Lord opened their heart and they had just a little glimpse of light and they didn’t have one stone to throw at a woman that was taken in adultery. Don’t you imagine the Lord gave them a glimpse of their lust in their own heart and give them a glimpse of their adultery of the heart and they began to realize they didn’t have one stone left to throw and they walked away? You see, as we learn to understand our own heart, then we can start to have mercy and we can start to have love for the very person that has come against us with such pride, because we learn to understand a little bit of the pride of our own heart. We start to remember what we were. And then we see in 1 Corinthians 4:7: “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”[37] If you have been given the grace of humility, if you have been given the grace of a forgiving spirit, then should you look at others as though they are not forgiving and look at them with an unforgiving spirit because they can’t forgive? No. What do you have that you didn’t receive? Was there a time that you were not able to forgive? Was there a time that you harbored bitterness in your heart? See? Where do you learn to understand that? When you learn to understand the depravity of your heart you become so much more forgiving for those who are outside of that grace. That grace that gave you a forgiving spirit, now you can forgive their unforgiving spirit. Our text says: “Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.”[38] In other words, I will meditate in that law of love. My heart will be centered in the will of God. Scriptures clearly teach that pride is the root of all strife. If you have a life of strife, then don’t forget what we read in Proverbs 13 verse 10. “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”[39] Any time you see contention, pride is the author of it. And sometimes it is so easy to see it in the next man. But sometimes we have to see that we are looking at the mote in his eye and overlooking the beam in our own eye. You see, if we are able in the right state of humility to deal with the proud man, that is the best antidote there is to his pride is that you treat him in total humility. Then there is not much room for contention even though he is proud. The Lord allows us to become confronted with our fellow man’s weaknesses to try our patience and to prove our humility. This is what David is talking about when he says: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.”[40] The proud have forged a lie against him, but it was good for him to be afflicted. I want you to notice in Philippians four verse six through seven: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.[41] In the time when the proud are forging lies against you, if you can truly retain the Spirit of Christ, you understand that peace of God that passes all understanding. Do you know why? Because you are receiving it as from the hand of God, because you look at him as no more than an instrument in the hand of God using his chastening hand to make you humble and right before him. And now the circumstances don’t always change. I had one time when the Lord had sent adversaries against me to the point I laid flat on my face on the floor and said, “Lord, what must I do?” That Scripture came to me. “I came not to send peace, but a sword.”[42] And I all of the sudden saw those people that were coming against me completely disappeared out of my sight and I had perfect peace. Do you know why? I received it from the Lord. And when I was in the right spirit and when the Lord gave me to unconditionally surrender, that it was from him and that I could forgive with unconditional forgiveness, losing sight of the adversaries, the next day the trial was over. It ended right there. See? The Lord had accomplished his purpose and do you know what I think it was that conquered the adversary? I was no longer giving resistance. All resistance had ceased and I accepted it in a friendly spirit. And the quarrel was over. The pride was still there and I saw later on that those same two people came against each other and were destroying each other to the extent it makes you cry. The Lord rewards every man according to their doings, but I had peace of heart. My adversaries left me alone. And I am sure that what the Lord used to diffuse them was that my resistance was gone. This peace of God is contingent upon keeping our hearts and minds in the right attitude towards our neighbor. That peace of God that passes all understanding has a contingency and I want you to see this. Philippians 4:8-9. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue...”[43] Now you see, instead of looking at our adversary and all the terrible things about him, we are searching if we can find something good in him. Do you see the different attitude? And it says: “...whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”[44] Do you know if we want to be critical, the Pharisees were critical against the Lord Jesus Christ. There isn’t a human being whom we can’t be critical of. If that is all we want is to be critical, but if we have a forgiving spirit we can look upon our greatest adversary and we can see if we can find something good in him. I think I explained once before about two people were out assassinating each other’s character. A person come between and was talking to the one and after he had told all about this other person he asked him, he said, “But do you really think he is honest?” “Well, yeah, I would have to admit he is probably honest.” So then that person goes to the other one and he was telling all about the terrible things of this guy. And when he got all done then this person in between he says, “But do you know what he says about you? He says you are honest.” “Oh, I can’t imagine that.” Well, anyway after some discussion he got him to admit that maybe the other guy was honest. Right away he run back and told the other one. He said, “You know what he says about you?” Two weeks later they were friends. Is there anything that we can say of good report? Can we find any virtue? Can we find anything to praise them on? Do you want to walk right? Then we run around praising and that is what our Savior tells us in Matthew five. “Bless them that curse you.”[45] Do you know what that means? Speak well of those who speak evil of you and speak well of them. Quite a challenge, isn’t it? That is the gospel. And this is what the apostle Paul is saying here. He says if there is anything... Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.[46] Do you want to live in peace? Do you want the peace of God which passes all understanding to dwell in your heart? Then observe those rules. See? Then live by these principles and you will find you will live in perfect peace. If we walk in humility under the law of love in the Spirit of Christ we will find we have no need to be concerned about the perverse or the bull headed or the closed minded or the ruthless or the vicious or the designs of the proud. Look what we see in Isaiah 51:12 through 15. “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man?”[47] You know, the Lord gave me this verse, these three verses one time and I am going to tell you what it was. I had been notified the that the president of the bank had boasted that he would go to the judge and that he would persuade the judge to set it for trial because I was embarrassing him by taking all these depositions and that his attorney and the judge were very personal friends and that they would set it for trial. They would end all discovery and that they were going to bring things to trial and have it over with and that he had no fear of going to trial because he knew the judge was friendly to him. And I come before the Lord and I says, “Lord, where am I? What must I do?” And the Lord gave me these four verses. Let me read them to you. Isaiah 51:12-15. I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.[48] Oh, then to learn to see and to rest under the shadow of thy blessed hand, that we can see that he is the one who divided the Red Sea. He is the one who destroyed the Egyptians and they all came on the bank of the sea. He is the almighty. Why should I be afraid of a man? “I, even I, am he that comforteth you.”[49] And, you know, he can take in such a storm when the billows rage and the waves wash and he can give us such perfect peace. He can bring us to where all is still and that the waves have all ceased and that the circumstances didn’t change. But we can have such perfect peace in the midst of it all. All the afflictions we receive at the hands of the proud are the Lord’s instruments to make us meet to be partakers with the inheritance in the saints in light. The thing you and I have to understand, the Lord’s purpose in this and that is to bring us into oneness and in harmony with God and his perfect will. It is to bring us to where we are partakers, that we are meet to be partakers, that we will fit in character. Our pride has to be crucified. Everything of self has to be cut down to give us to be able to dwell with God for all eternity. And so we see in Deuteronomy eight verse three: “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”[50] Do you know, friends? I want to tell you. When I get to where I am at my wit’s end and I have a passage of Scripture as I just explained to you that the Lord blesses my soul in? Then it is not that I am feasting upon what the proud are going to do, but my whole feast is on that which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord and it becomes my bread. It becomes that upon which we have for our spiritual food and we feast upon it, even in a time when those afflictions are at their roughest. I want you to see what the Scripture says about the woman who is the type of the bride of Christ. It says in 1 Peter three verse three through four: “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart.”[51] Do you see what the Lord wants when he prepares you and I to be the bride of Christ? He wants: “...the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”[52] That is what is of great price to the Lord. It is that meek and that quiet spirit. And you know how he brings us back. Most of the time it is by turning the proud loose against us. And as the proud come against us then they forge these lies against us. And we are fighting to defend ourselves, but we come to that place where we come to an unconditional surrender before the Lord. And then we can say with David: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.”[53] External splendor pleases the flesh, but it is not the sign of virtue as much as it is of pride. When you see somebody that can make all the fuss of how they look and how all their attire, it is not the sign of virtue. It is the sign of pride. The proud hate those who have the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. Look at there in 1 Peter 4:4. “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.”[54] You do not run with them anymore. You are not part of their game. But now they will start speaking evil of you. So let us beware of pride. The same Lord that hated the pride of Moab also hated the pride of Jacob. Oh be aware of pride. Do you know why? Because the Lord will humble you. And sometimes the humbling process is painful. Be aware of pride. We see in Amos six verse eight: “The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob.”[55] See, Jacob had become so excellent. He had not that meek and that quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. He had all these excellencies. “...and [I] hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.”[56] The Lord hates pride in his Jacob as much as he hates it in Ammon. The prayer of David, “Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause,”[57] will be answered in the Lord’s time because he is scorned by the proud more than we are. You know, the Lord allows the proud to come against you. But he also rewards them for their doings. And I have seen this in my life many a time when the Lord has hallowed the proud to come against me. After the Lord has performed his purpose, he rewards them according to their doings. Look at Isaiah 63:9. “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them.”[58] You don’t realize. When you and I are being afflicted if we are one of Christ’s bride, that in all things that we are afflicted, he is afflicted and he will reward the proud for their pride. Satan is so crafty. He would fill the humblest of God’s people with moral pride. You know, moral pride sometimes is just as bad as any other kind of pride. We can be come I holier than thou. And that is a lofty conceit of ourselves and a contempt for others. Satan loves moral pride. Look at 18 verse nine. “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”[59] Moral pride. Well was this conceit detected in the prayer chamber. Do you know that? When the Lord begins to withdraw the first place we will feel it is the prayer chamber. When the Lord is displeased with what we are doing and we start walking in pride the first place we are going to feel it if we have any sensitive feeling at all is we will see that the Lord withdraws in our prayer chamber. We no longer have those sweet communion and that sweet fellowship with our God. That is one thing that has been the most delicate part of my whole religion is if I feel that the Lord has withdrawn himself, that he has been offended, that he would withdraw himself and remove his favor, that I would sin against him and cause him to frown. You know, some people have to be whipped. Some children have to be whipped with a strap with many stripes. And others know what it is to melt into tears from a frown. I believe, I dare say, that is where I have lived all my life. That if I see the slightest sign of the Lord’s frown upon me, that it melts me before the Lord. But now watch what we see here. Deceit and conceit is detected in prayer. The Lord Jesus says in Luke 18:10. “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.”[60] We know the history. The Pharisee’s prayer was all self centered. But may God give each of us that publican’s prayer? Luke 18:13. “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”[61] May the Lord give us that publican’s prayer. I want you to see how our Savior is pleased with a sinner who truly humbles himself before the throne of grace. Look at Luke 18 verse 14. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”[62] If you see Luke 18 from the beginning, it is talking about prayer. It is all about prayer and it is about the posture of the heart in prayer, and that is what the Lord will look upon is those who come before him as a humble sinner. No our text says: “Let the proud be ashamed.”[63] You know, sometimes we have to pray that for ourselves. If the Lord will give us to see the pride of our own heart. We have to ask him to give us humility. “...for they dealt perversely with me without a cause.”[64] Amen. ________________________________ [1]Psalm 119:78. [2]Psalm 119:69-71. [3]Psalm 119:69. [4]Psalm 119:78. [5]Psalm 119:71. [6]Psalm 76:6. [7]Psalm 76:7-10. [8]Psalm 76:10. [9]Psalm 119:78. [10]Matthew 5:44. [11]Psalm 119:78. [12]Psalm 119:134. [13]Psalm 119:78. [14]Isaiah 66:5. [15]Ibid. [16]Ibid. [17]Matthew 10:34-35. [18]Matthew 10:35-36. [19]Matthew 10:34. [20]Luke 23:33-34. [21]Luke 23:35-36. [22]Acts 2:32-36. [23]Acts 2:37. [24]Acts 2:36. [25]Acts 2:37. [26]Acts 2:38. [27]Acts 2:38-39. [28]Psalm 119:78. [29]Acts 2:37. [30]Psalm 70:2-4. [31]Psalm 56:4-5. [32]Hebrews 12:11. [33]Ibid. [34]1 Peter 5:6. [35]1 Peter 5:7. [36]Matthew 18:4. [37]1 Corinthians 4:7. [38]Psalm 119:78. [39]Proverbs 13:10. [40]Psalm 119:71. [41]Philippians 4:6-7. [42]Matthew 10:34. [43]Philippians 4:8. [44]Ibid. [45]Matthew 5:44. [46]Philippians 4:8-9. [47]Isaiah 51:12. [48]Isaiah 51:12-15. [49]Isaiah 51:12. [50]Deuteronomy 8:3. [51]1 Peter 3:3-4. [52]1 Peter 3:4. [53]Psalm 119:71. [54]1 Peter 4:4. [55]Amos 6:8. [56]Ibid. [57]Psalm 119:78. [58]Isaiah 63:9. [59]Luke 18:9. [60]Luke 18:10. [61]Luke 18:13. [62]Luke 18:14. [63]Psalm 119:78. [64]Ibid.

Poem of the Day

Tang by Bruce Cohen If I do not witness these leaves turning orange, who will? I stir myself: I like to think Of myself as a reincarnated Poet from the Tang Dynasty, Dehydrated orange drink Astronauts gulped orbiting this planet That became a fun '60's breakfast staple, The bitter tang of a car's squealing tires as it peels out, Any distinguishing characteristic that provides special individuality. Isn't it a very personal moment when each of us Recognizes we are failing, That we're incomplete, outdated perhaps, & need something new to make us valid, Sobbing on the mudroom floor, Praying hands through a broken screen door, Begging the aftermath of someone to come back, Or watching our planet grow Smaller below us That we discover it is Impossible To ever become One hundred percent reconstituted? I am not where I am right now, in this autumn. My mind is not what it used to be either. There is no more just-add water. None of us can prove our previous lives. I mean pervious: I meant disprove:

Pic of the Day

Recipe of the Day

Prep: 1-1/2 hours + chilling Bake: 35 min. + cooling Yield: 15 Servings 90 35 125 Ingredients Savings in winchester, VA 22601 Change Zip •1 package French vanilla cake mix (regular size) •1 cup buttermilk •1/3 cup canola oil •4 eggs •FILLING: •1 package (3 ounces) berry blue gelatin •1-1/2 cups boiling water, divided •1 cup cold water, divided •Ice cubes •1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin •2/3 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries •1/4 cup fresh blueberries •FROSTING: •3/4 cup butter, softened •2 cups confectioners' sugar •1 tablespoon 2% milk •1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme Directions •Line a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan. • Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. • Transfer cake to a covered cake board. Using a small knife, cut out a 5-in. x 4-in. rectangle (1/2 in. deep) in the top left corner of cake, leaving a 1/2-in. border along edges of cake. For red stripes, cut out 1/2-in. wide rows (1/2 in. deep), leaving a 1/2-in. border. Using a fork, carefully remove cut-out cake pieces. • In a small bowl, dissolve berry blue gelatin in 3/4 cup boiling water. Pour 1/2 cup cold water into a 2-cup measuring cup; add enough ice cubes to measure 1-1/4 cups. Stir into gelatin until slightly thickened. Scoop out and discard any remaining ice cubes. Repeat, making strawberry gelatin. • In a small bowl, combine strawberries and 1 cup strawberry gelatin. In another bowl, combine blueberries and 1 cup blue gelatin. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or just until soft-set. (Save remaining gelatin for another use.) • Stir gelatin mixtures. Slowly pour blueberry mixture into rectangle; spoon strawberry mixture into stripes. • In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy; beat in the confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Add marshmallow creme; beat well until light and fluffy. Spread 1 cup over sides and top edge of cake. Refrigerate remaining frosting for 20 minutes. • Cut a small hole in the corner of pastry or plastic bag; insert a large star tip. Fill the bag with remaining frosting. Pipe frosting in between rows of strawberry gelatin and around edges of cake. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until gelatin is set. Yield: 15 servings. Nutritional Facts 1 piece equals 438 calories, 18 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 81 mg cholesterol, 363 mg sodium, 67 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 4 g protein.

Simply Horrible!

http://weare1776.org/5189/budget/could-the-last-days-of-the-marine-corps-be-here/

Pic of the Day

Sermon of the Week

WHITER THAN SNOW Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). The mere teaching of Bible doctrine and extensive Bible studies divorced from their application to one’s life is not truth in the biblical sense. It is hard to understand the distinction between the letter of the Word and the spirit of the Word. We can learn the letter of the Word with intellectual knowledge. However, the Word is spirit, and we need to understand the spirit of the Word. We learn to understand the words of Psalm 51 and what is in the heart of a true child of God who has learned to understand what we spoke of this morning when Job said: “Behold, I am vile.” It was such an exclamation of surprise. As I pointed out, all these men of God were truly God-fearing men, but when the Light shined in their hearts, they saw the vileness of their hearts by nature. Then all of a sudden they were in a state of shock. They saw something they had not realized. Psalm 51 is a psalm of David after Nathan the prophet had come to him with the message we find in 2 Samuel 12:7-9: “And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.” This was such a shock to David because he had done it so secretly, and he thought no one knew. It was strictly between him and Joab, who knew that Uriah had been put in the forefront of the battle and killed. David did not realize that his sin was naked and open before God. All of a sudden that light was flicked on, and there he stood, with every thought and every desire and every lust and every crime of his heart now naked before the Lord. It was not until God sent Nathan with the message, “Thou art the man,” that David cried out as Job, “Behold, I am vile.” Keep this in mind as we go through Psalm 51:1-7. Verse 1 says: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” Now his sins stood before his eyes. Until then he could write condemnation on his subordinate who had sinned much less than he had. Continuing in verse 2 he said: “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Now he saw his sin and how vile he was in the eyes of a Holy God. It is not until this takes place in your life and mine that we really understand what it is to plead for cleansing in the blood of Christ. David now saw how he needed cleansing for his own soul. It is so easy to come under the preaching of the Word, and to hear for someone else. We can hear a sermon and wish that someone else could hear and understand it, but the message needs to come home to us. We read in verse 3: “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” Before Nathan spoke to David, he knew his sin and he knew that God knew it, but now the Holy Spirit brought it home to his heart, and he acknowledged it. He now knew the consequences of that sin and how grievous it was to the Lord. David continued in verse 4: “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” What does he mean, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned”? He sinned against Uriah. He sinned against Bathsheba. He had sinned against his kingdom. He had sinned against the congregation of Israel. David saw the horrible, grievous nature of his sin in the sight of God. You and I have to learn to understand that when we sin, we sin against God. When Nathan came to David, he had no place to hide. If God had told David he was going to die for this, it would have been a just judgment, but now he confesses his sinfulness. All of a sudden, he realized the grievous nature of his sin. He says in verse 5: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” He realized that he was born in sin. He realized that he was conceived in sin. Continuing in verse 6 he says: “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” This confession of David was the fruit of having the Holy Spirit enlighten his understanding to realize the sinfulness of his sin and that his sin was naked and open before God. Now we come to the words of our text: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Until this happens to us, we will never understand what it is to plead for the purging of our sins, that is, to be cleansed from our sin, to be delivered from the power of our sin. He is saying he wants to be clean from his sin. It is one thing to be clean or be delivered from the penalty of sin. It is another thing to be cleansed from sin itself so that not only the guilt, but the sin itself has been purged away and it no longer has a hold on you. It no longer has power and dominion over you. It no longer reigns over you. That is what he was asking: that he would be delivered from the power and the reign of sin. David wanted to be purged from his sin as well as delivered from the penalty of sin. Notice that throughout this psalm, hell and damnation were not his greatest concerns. He was concerned about the offense he had caused against God and how he had brought reproach against God. He says in verse 16: “Thou desirest not sacrifice or else would I give it thee. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings.” That deals with the penalty of the sin. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. He understood that the Lord wanted his heart, but his heart had strayed from the Lord. He realized that it was a heart sin that the Lord was displeased with. Now before the words, “Thou art the man,” were applied to David’s heart, he could still order the execution of his subordinate for a much lesser crime. You can see this in the preceding verses in 2 Samuel 12: 5-6: “And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” David passed judgment, but Nathan’s message was that the Lord had said, “Thou shalt not die.” The Lord forgave him. David was not concerned primarily with the consequences of his sin. As we go through Psalm 51, I want you to understand he was not concerned about hell. He was not concerned about the punishment of his sin. He was concerned about being delivered from its pollution, to be cleansed from his sin. The Bible is much more than a book of revealed facts and truth. It is not only a history book. We read in Hebrews 4:12-13: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” You see the word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That is what we see in Psalm 51. We see David pouring his heart out before the Lord under the pollution of sin, having to now be cleansed from sin itself. We read in verse 13: “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Bible truths may be correctly explained without raising any opposition until it is applied to our daily lives. Bible studies are everywhere. Pulpits are everywhere, and the preachers may properly explain the word of God. They may read it verbatim and never encounter any opposition until we are required to apply it to our personal lives. That is when you hit a hornets’ nest. That is when you see opposition. That is when people become defensive. Religion becomes a source or form of entertainment that is unprofitable to the soul. A religion of entertainment is unprofitable to the soul. You see this in Ezekiel 33:31-32: “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.” The people were coming to be entertained by what Ezekiel was saying, but their hearts were still covetous. When we apply the word of God to our daily lives, it convicts us. That is when the rubber meets the road. That is when religion becomes offensive. You can get yourself into a heap of trouble. People will tolerate a lot of preaching of God’s word as long as it does not have to be applied to their personal lives. The Holy Spirit applies the words “Thou art the man” to the soul, opening our eyes to see that the word of God “is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:12-13). When we have that applied to our hearts, when it becomes personal, when our own sins are pointed out by the finger of God, then we begin to understand the words of our text: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Then we start to understand the desire for cleansing, to be delivered from that sin. Then the sin itself becomes personal. We do not apply it to another person. We desire to be cleansed. When the Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear spiritually, “Thou art the man,” we begin to truly hunger and thirst for righteousness. We start to understand the work of regeneration, when the desire of the heart is altered. The sin we used to cherish becomes our greatest enemy, and the things of God, which used to be our greatest enemy, become our chief delight. This word purge, as we find in our text, expresses David’s desire to be washed and cleansed from the pollution of his sin by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. Our text says, “Purge me with hyssop,” because hyssop was to be used for the sprinkling of the blood. In Exodus 12:22 it says: “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin.” What does he mean by “purge me with hyssop”? He is saying, Lord, bring me under the sprinkling of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, if I can be washed in the blood of the Lamb, I will be whiter than snow. He is saying: Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. That speaks of his walk of life: if the Lord will give him the blood that had been dipped with hyssop to sprinkle the lintel and the side posts of the door, which is his walk of life. This sprinkling with the blood was used also for the cleansing of leprosy. They also used hyssop. When a leper came to be cleansed, he was sprinkled with the blood with hyssop, which was to typify the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, which is the cleansing of sin. The leper had already been cured. We are not talking about justification here. We are talking about sanctification. He had already been delivered from leprosy, but he had to be cleansed from the power of it, from the pollution of it. In Leviticus 14:6-7 it says: “As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.” This is a type of the sacrifice of Christ. He says “cleanse me with hyssop,” which is the sprinkling of the blood, to cleanse him from sin. We become whiter than snow when all of our sins are washed away by the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. Before the Holy Spirit spoke, “Thou art the man,” into David’s soul, he could still pass condemnation onto his fellowman, but afterward he saw his spiritual leprosy and his need for cleansing as we see in verses 1 and 2: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” David is talking about that cleansing with hyssop, that cleansing power of the blood. Until the Lord speaks to our soul, “Thou art the man,” our soul has no rest until we have been cleansed. A mere formal religion and intellectual religion does not bring a heart’s desire to be cleansed from the power of sin. That does not bring a hatred for sin. That does not make sin become exceedingly sinful. Conscientiousness of our defilement is not automatically accompanied with a desire for cleansing. You can come under the proclamation of the word and actually come to a full realization of your defilement, but that in itself does not cause a desire for cleansing. The desire for cleansing is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is that work of regeneration. It is that new man of the heart. Jesus said in John 3:19-20: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” They realized they were defiled, but they fled from the light that revealed their defilement, like David did until Nathan spoke to him, and the Lord applied it to his soul. Until the Holy Spirit comes in the heart we see condemnation, and we will flee the light. Sure we can see that we are defiled. We can realize that what we are doing is wrong. We can realize that what we are doing is sin. This though does not put it in the light that David saw in Psalm 51. David knew that when he took Bathsheba he was wrong. David knew that when he told Joab to have Uriah slain that he was wrong, but he was hiding it. He was not coming to the light. Those who flee from the light cannot pray the prayer of our text: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” David could not pray the prayer of our text before Nathan spoke to him, “Thou art the man,” because he was hiding his sin. He was not coming to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. He was keeping it secret. The rejoicing of the wicked is in their iniquity, not in hearing the words of God. Those who know their own defilement and those who shun the light rejoice in their iniquity. They do not rejoice as we read in Psalm 51:8: “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.” David prayed in verses 9 and 10: “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Now David saw the corruption of his soul. He saw the corruption of his human nature. He saw the corruption of his sin. He saw the sinfulness of his sin. He knew his sin before this, but he had never been brought to where he cried out for the cleansing of sin. Continuing in verses 11 to 13 he prayed: “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” What a blessing it is my friends, if someone who has been brought under the power of sin, and the Holy Spirit convicts them to see the sinfulness of sin, if that person finds someone he can speak to who can relate to what he is talking about. Now when someone would come to David and say, I have been taken in such a fault, he could reply: I know the power of sin, and I know the sinfulness of sin, and he could teach that person the Lord’s ways. He could teach him that he needs to flee to that hyssop and have his sins sprinkled with the blood of Christ. David prayed in verse 14: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.” He understood that he was guilty of the blood of Uriah. It went beyond the blood of Uriah though to the blood of the church because he had been guilty of sinning against the second table of the law of love. He had committed adultery, and that is also having blood on his hands. He justly deserved to be put to death. We read in verse 15: “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.” There is never a time that a person can sing forth the praises of God like he can when he understands that Christ came to redeem us from all iniquity. David’s reference to hyssop teaches another valuable lesson, that is, his willingness to submit to being cleansed in God’s ordained way. If we rightly understand Psalm 51, we are going to learn a lesson that is powerfully important, and I am going to show you what it is. The preaching of the gospel today is centered on justification and the sacrifice of Christ, but I want to show you what David teaches us in this psalm. David said in verses 16 and 17: “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” This is the lesson that Job did not understand. He was a formal religionist. I want to show you the difference between what Job did and what David is teaching us here. Turn with me to Job 1:4-5: “And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.” David, though, said that God does not desire sacrifice. What Job was missing was the heart. He never trained his children that their hearts should be right before God. He tried to take care of it all with sacrifices. No repentance was taught. Job did not understand the vileness of his own heart, but David said that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Watch the following verses. This is a tremendous lesson for us to learn. We read in Psalm 51:18-19: “Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.” I want you to see that the sacrifice of righteousness goes ahead of the burnt offerings. The sacrifice of righteousness is the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. That has to come before our pleading the blood of Christ. We cannot come and plead the blood of Christ as Job was doing. His sons were feasting and making merry, and then he would offer a burnt offering for it. The Lord has no delight in it. This was the same thing Saul was doing. He disobeyed the Lord by using the best of the sheep and cattle for a sacrifice to Him. We cannot plead justification under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ until we understand what it is to be cleansed in the heart. We need that hyssop. We need that blood on the two door posts and on the lintel of the door so the destroying angel will pass over because he sees our walk of life. Now we can start pleading the burnt offerings. Satan loves overreaction. On one hand, he wants us to slight the authority of God’s word as Jesus warned against in Matthew 5:19: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” On the other side of this principle, Satan would load us with legalistic commandments that God has no pleasure in as we see in Isaiah 1:12: “When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?” Who has asked you to even come within the walls of my house? Continuing in verses 13 to 15 we read: “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” These verses confirm that the Lord has absolutely no pleasure in sacrifices when the heart is not right. When the heart is not right these sacrifices are an abomination to Him. That their hands were full of blood showed that they had not repented of their sins. Continuing in verses 16 to 18 we read: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” What was missing? In all this ritual, the people came and offered sacrifices and attended solemn assemblies, but this wearied the Lord. Their hands were full of blood. There was no repentance. David understood what was missing. He realized his hands were full of blood as we see in Psalm 51:16: “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.” David is saying, I understand the filthiness and pollution of my sin, and I do not need to bring a burnt offering. I know it would not be pleasing in your sight. I need to come before you with a humble and contrite heart. That is the sacrifice the Lord will be pleased with. He says in Psalm 51:19: “Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.” After the heart is broken and contrite, then there is a place for the sacrifice. Then we can start talking about pardon. See how abominable it is to only preach the blood of Christ and sacrifices without repentance. Then we come under what the Lord says in Isaiah 1: Away with it. It is an abomination to me. See what we read in Psalm 51:14: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.” David understood that he had blood on his hands and that he needed to repent and be cleansed by the perfect sacrifice before a sacrifice would be acceptable. He said in verse 15: “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.” He saw that he needed the Lord to open his mouth before Him, that he would be able to come before the throne to seek for mercy. Continuing in verses 16 and 17 he said: “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” As long as David knew he had blood on his hands, he knew that he could not bring a burnt offering and please the Lord. His heart had to be cleansed, and that cleansing had to start with the hyssop, not with the burnt offering. That is why our text says, “Purge me with hyssop.” He did not say, Purge me with a burnt offering. This repenting spirit, this desire to be cleansed from all sin, this desire to be whiter than snow is what was missing in Isaiah 1:12-15, which talks about all of the sacrifices in which the Lord was not pleased. See what the Lord said in 1:16-18: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” This is what David was praying for. He was praying for a new heart. He said in Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” He was not praying for pardon. He wanted to be cleansed with hyssop. He wanted to be washed from his sin. He wanted to be washed from the pollution of his sin. He wanted that blood washed off of his hands, so he could now bring his sacrifice as we see in verse 19: “Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.” We have to be cleansed before we can seek a pardon. We cannot preach pardon to those who are walking in sin. The Lord Jesus Christ did not come to save His church in their sins. He came to save them from their sins. You will seldom find a darker shade of guilt than David was convicted of. I want you to stop and think of the tremendous lesson we learn in this history of David. God had placed David in the highest position of public trust, yet he had yielded to the worst passions. Do you know what a fiduciary is? He is one in whom there is no tolerance for injustice, because he has been entrusted with others’ money. Think of the position David was placed in. David was the king of Israel, but he had committed murder and adultery. He had killed a man and stolen his wife. What two passions could be worse for a man to yield to—adultery and murder. This Psalm pours out the breathings of a wounded spirit touched with the richest sensibilities of spiritual feelings. Look how he grieved as he pled before the Lord. Both sides of our twofold being are revealed here. It reveals something in us so near to hell, yet it also reveals something so strangely near to God, that humble and contrite spirit. This is such a paradox. David had come so close to hell, yet he was plucked as a brand from the burning. He was pardoned and was now not primarily concerned with being slain for his sins, but he was concerned about the pollution of his sins. The knowledge of his sin humbled David so grievously before the Lord. Beloved, does not this Psalm give a blessed revelation of the spiritual warfare within the regenerate heart, as we see what it is to struggle against the power of sin? In this occasion of David’s fall, we see the germs of the most heinous crimes in the most stately saint. When we examine our own hearts, we see the seeds of sin. As the Lord reveals to us the thoughts and intents of our hearts, we see our human nature that had fallen in paradise. We see the perfect preciousness in Christ as He took on our human nature, without sin, to be our substitute. We read in 1 Kings 15:5: “Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” Think of the grief this brought in his life. When you and I examine our own hearts, can we say: except in only one case did our hearts really stray from the Lord? Solomon’s heart was not right before the Lord. With his heart, he served other gods. David’s heart though turned not aside except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. The Lord forgave him. The greatest lesson we can learn from God allowing His servant David to fall into Satan’s snares is how pleased God is in our unconditional surrender to His will. We read in Psalm 51:16-17: “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” This is a heart that is in total, unconditional surrender to the will of God. Even in the sacrifice of Christ, it was not the pain, the blood, the death with which the Father was so pleased. These satisfied the penalty against sin, but it was Christ’s obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, which was His highest evidence of His complete and unconditional surrender to the will of His Father. Therein was the Father so glorified. You and I must learn to understand what it is to be conformed to the image of Christ. As the Holy Spirit works grace in our hearts, and as we mature in grace, we become unconditionally surrendered to His will. It is our conformity to this image of Christ that is so pleasing to the Father. We see this in Psalm 34:15-16: “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” In these two verses we have such a profound proclamation of the gospel. The righteous are those whose hearts are surrendered to the will of God. Continuing in verses 17 and 18 we read: “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Are we talking about salvation? Are we talking about the elements of salvation? Are we talking about the evidence of salvation? Where is our evidence of salvation? Do we truly understand what it is to fear the Lord? Do we understand what it is to have a heart in total surrender to the will of God? Do we understand what it says in Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate”? The Lord says He is against those who do evil. Those who do evil do so in pride, arrogance and self-promotion. Who are the righteous? We read about them in Philippians 2:1-7. They are those who have the mind of Christ, those who prefer others ahead of themselves, those who have consolation in Christ.

Poem Of The Day

The High-School Lawn by Thomas Hardy Gray prinked with rose, White tipped with blue, Shoes with gay hose, Sleeves of chrome hue; Fluffed frills of white, Dark bordered light; Such shimmerings through Trees of emerald green are eyed This afternoon, from the road outside. They whirl around: Many laughters run With a cascade's sound; Then a mere one. A bell: they flee: Silence then: -- So it will be Some day again With them, -- with me.

Recipe of the Day

Tangy Shrimp Kabobs: Prep: 25 min. + marinating Grill: 15 min. Yield: 6 Servings 25 15 40 Ingredients Savings in winchester, VA 22601 Change Zip •1 can (20 ounces) DOLE® Pineapple Chunks in 100% Pineapple Juice •1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce •1/2 cup fat-free Italian salad dressing •4-1/2 teaspoons brown sugar •1 teaspoon prepared mustard •1-1/2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined •12 pearl onions •1 large sweet red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces •1 large green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces •Hot cooked rice, optional Directions •Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the tomato sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar, mustard and reserved pineapple juice. Pour 3/4 cup marinade into a large resealable plastic bag; add shrimp. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 3 hours, turning occasionally. Cover and refrigerate remaining mixture for sauce. • In a Dutch oven, bring 6 cups water to a boil. Add onions; boil for 2 minutes. Add peppers and boil 2 minutes longer. Drain and rinse in cold water; peel onions. Refrigerate vegetables until ready to grill. • In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup of reserved tomato sauce mixture to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Keep warm. • Drain and discard marinade. On 12 metal or soaked wooden skewers, alternately thread shrimp and vegetables. Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. • Grill kabobs, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until shrimp turn pink, basting occasionally with remaining tomato sauce mixture. Drizzle kabobs with warm sauce. Serve with rice if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Sermon of the Week

THE BITTERNESS OF SIN: “And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.”1KI 3:1. It is important to understand the spiritual meanings of some of the terms in Scripture. Egypt throughout Scripture is referred to as “the world,” in other words, sin. “Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter” to be his wife. The Lord had commanded Moses that the children of Israel were not to take wives from among the heathen. They were not to have affinity with Egypt. The Lord had warned them through Moses, yet this was the first move of the Kingdom of Solomon. This affinity with Pharaoh became his downfall. I want to dwell on how he became hardened to the Word of God. One of the greatest dangers for those privileged to be under the preaching of the Word of God is to become gospel-hardened. We can have so many blessings and enjoy the Lord’s presence, yet become gospel-hardened. This is a dangerous thing, and I believe that the history of Solomon teaches us the solemn reality of this. How do we see Solomon? The Lord spoke to him and gave him excellent wisdom, yet he offered sacrifices at the high places. When the Lord gave him wisdom, he went back to Jerusalem and sacrificed burnt offerings before the Ark of the Covenant. He knew where sacrifices should have been made, but he later went to the high places. When he experienced the Lord’s nearness, he went to the proper place: he went to the Ark in Jerusalem and there sacrificed his burnt offerings. This offering in the high places was an exception. It says in 1KI 3:3, “And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only [with this exception] he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.” This exception was so dangerous because Solomon became gospel-hardened and fell as an idolater. Yet he was a man who had known the nearness and the preciousness of the Lord. That is such a warning to you and me. Solomon had great respect for God’s house and was morally clean, but with exceptions, which we see all through his life. These exceptions led to his becoming gospel-hardened, which is claiming to love God and His Word and obey it, but not acting upon it. This is a warning to us in the history of King Solomon. Solomon told the Lord, “Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child,” 1KI 3:6-7. Solomon realized that the Lord had given his father David “great mercy, according as he walked” before Him. Solomon realized that it was David’s walk in the ways of the Lord that pleased the Lord, but Solomon did not walk in the ways of the Lord. I want to show you some Scriptural references of those who were gospel-hardened. First I will show you some who did not obtain the favor of the Lord and did not receive the Lord’s love. King Saul heard a clear, strong word. Samuel told him in 1SA 15:3, “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” King Saul claimed to obey that command in 1SA 15:13; “And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” King Saul disobeyed this command, yet he boldly affirmed, “I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” He was gospel-hardened. He was commanded to kill all of the Amalekites and all of their animals, yet in 1SA 15:9 we read, “But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” Those who are gospel-hardened will disobey yet claim that they have obeyed. If we compromise the Word of God with our human reasoning and claim we are obeying the Word, it is very dangerous. After becoming gospel-hardened, Saul refused to repent and blamed his sin on the people. That is the next thing that happens when we become gospel-hardened is that we put the blame on someone else. In 1SA 15:20-21 we read, “And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.” He used his human reasoning to justify his disobedience and glorify God by sacrificing that which he was supposed to have destroyed. Samuel pointed out that Saul’s heart was already given over to rebellion, which is witchcraft. Samuel said in1SA 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” When we reject the Lord, the Lord rejects us. The Lord rejected Solomon. Solomon was told that because of his sin, his son would not be king over all Israel; but for His servant David’s sake, because of his walking in righteousness, He would yet let one of Solomon’s sons have the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Israel and Judah had become gospel-proof. They loved to hear the Word of God, but refused to act upon it. Solomon was a man who dearly understood the Lord, but he became gospel-proof. That is what happened to the children of Israel and the tribe of Judah. We read that in EZE 33:30-32; “Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.” The Lord Jesus Christ says that the man who hears His words and does them is like a man who builds his house upon a rock, but the man who hears His words and does not do them is like a man who builds his house upon the sand. The gospel is not legalism, but doing His words is the evidence that the gospel has reached our souls. Was Judas Iscariot gospel-hardened? He was one of Christ’s disciples! He was chosen. He was called to preach the gospel, to cast out devils, and to heal the sick. Most important of all he sat under the ministry of the Son of God for three years! You may think Judas became the most gospel-hardened of all, but that is not true. Judas never did have the love of God in his heart. All these I mentioned, King Saul, Judah, Israel, and Judas, were gospel-hardened, but Solomon started out so spiritual, so close to God and blessed with God’s anointing. He was anointed of the Lord to be king, and he is the most shocking example of all. That makes it necessary for you and I to examine our hearts carefully. If we have the Lord’s blessing, if the Lord speaks to us and is near to us, we must not get caught off-guard and become gospel-hardened. King Solomon began as a tenderhearted, God-fearing servant of God, but he ended up a gospel-hardened idolater, wallowing in sexual lust and perversion. He fell because he did not obey the Lord. For the first point, let us consider those commandments that Solomon had full knowledge of, yet disobeyed. For the second point, let us consider Solomon’s half-and-half religion. For the third point, let us consider the distinction between Solomon and Moses. First, let us consider the commandments, which Solomon had full knowledge of, yet disobeyed. Solomon was well aware of God’s commandments. We read in 1KI 3:3, “And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father.” He was well trained in the commandments of the Lord. The Lord spoke by Moses in DEU 17:14-16, “When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose [Solomon was in compliance with this]: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother [Solomon was in compliance with this also]. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” Solomon disobeyed all three of those final commandments. He multiplied horses unto himself, he returned unto Egypt (he had an affinity with Pharaoh and married his daughter), and he received horses from Egypt. He opened a trade agreement with the Egyptians and traded with them constantly. Verse 17 says, “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself [Solomon disobeyed that], that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” We read how Solomon’s wives turned his heart away from the Lord. He heard and he knew, but he did not obey. He did the very things the Lord cautioned him against. He compromised the Word of God. “[N]either shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” Solomon made silver as common as the gravel in the streets. He sent ships to Haran to get gold year by year, multiplying unto himself silver and gold. He fell miserably disobeying the Lord; he heard the Word but did not do it. Solomon was fully aware of God’s warning in EXO 34:14-16. “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.” Solomon did not obey and ignored the Word of God. He took wives from among the heathen. He bowed down and worshipped their idol gods. Solomon truly loved the Lord, but his heart was not right with the Lord. Not only was it an exception to God’s commands that he offered in the high places, but also his whole life was filled with exceptions to the Word of God. God granted Solomon’s request, as we find in 1KI 3:9, “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad:for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” He was given the wisdom to discern between right and wrong, but he did not do it. This makes our hearts tremble, to see how the Lord is such a jealous God. He gave Solomon what he requested: a spiritual understanding to discern what was good and what was bad. This promise was granted with a warning in 1KI 3:14; “And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.” The Lord gave a warning not to turn from His ways when He granted Solomon’s request. Solomon had the Psalms and sermons of his father David ringing in his ears. His father was the sweet Psalmist of Israel. He had the example of his father’s sin and consequent judgment. He saw that the Lord would not tolerate sin. David had warned his son, when he gave him the crown, in 1KI 2:3, “And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.” Solomon was fully aware, as were the men of Judah and Israel. They loved to hear the Word, but they did not obey it. Let us look at Solomon’s total disregard for these commandments of the Lord. The Lord had commanded in DEU 17:16, “But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” That is a specific command. No little child could misunderstand that, yet Solomon violated all of these commands. We read in 1KI 10:28, “And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.” The commandment was that “Ye shall henceforth return no more that way,” but he set up open trade with Egypt. 1KI 10:29 says, “And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.” He had a regular route of transportation back and forth and a set price for the horses. 1KI 11:1-7 tells us, “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.” That is how Solomon fell. Let us look at the consequences of his fall. The Lord had told Solomon that if he would obey and walk in the ways of David his father, He would establish his kingdom forever. The twelve tribes of Israel would have remained under the leadership of Solomon and David forever. The consequences were that ten tribes were broken off and went under Jereboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin more and more. Those ten tribes of Israel never turned back to the Lord. They continued to decay further and further. Those were the consequences of the sin of Solomon. Think of the responsibility that lay upon one man! For my second point, let us consider Solomon’s half-and-half religion. This is something that you and I understand the peril and watch out for, so that we do not have a half-and-half religion. Our text says in 1KI 3:1, “And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.” He not only took this heathen woman, the daughter of Pharaoh of Egypt, to be his wife, when he was forbidden to go back to Egypt, but he brought her right into Jerusalem, into the holy place and polluted it. All of Solomon’s compromise can be traced back to this one fatal flaw: He refused to close the door to Egypt, which is the world, the flesh, and the devil. Solomon did not realize the serpent that was lurking in his heart when he asked for wisdom to discern right and wrong. He did not realize that he also needed the Lord to uphold him in His ways. In 1KI 3:11 we read, “And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment.” At this point Solomon did not covet gold or silver, nor did he trust in horses, nor had he opened up free trade with Egypt. It was at this point that we read in 1KI 2:45-46, “And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.” He was anointed by the Lord. Solomon was warned when the Lord appeared unto him the second time in 1KI 9:6-7, “But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people.” God did not say that he would cut off Solomon; He said He would “cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them.” What a responsibility lay upon that man! Solomon’s half-and-half religion was revealed by his “affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt [which is the world], and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David.” It was most provocative to the Lord that he took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David. Solomon was halfway convicted, which led to a halfway repentance. In 2CH 8:11 we read, “And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.” He knew that she did not belong there, so he built her a house and moved her out of the city. In the time of Ezra, Israel had gone out and taken strange wives and Ezra commanded them to put away the strange wives. Solomon should have sent the daughter of Pharaoh home. In EZR 10:10-11 we read, “And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.” Ezra commanded that they turn their backs upon the world, but Solomon compromised. He had two places: in the city of David, he had a place where he could worship the Lord, but in the house of Pharaoh’s daughter, he had a place where he could serve the world. That was a halfway religion. For the third point, let us consider the distinction between Solomon and Moses. Solomon was anointed by the Lord to be king of His people, but he disobeyed God’s clear command in DEU 17:16; “But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” Solomon, the anointed one, transgressed the commandments of the Lord with his eyes wide open. Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter; Moses fled from her. Moses was held to be the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, because she took him out of the water. Moses lived in the king’s palace. He could have inherited a kingly state. He could have inherited all of the riches of Egypt. He could have inherited all of the horses and all the gold and silver of Egypt, but we read in HEB 11:24-27, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” He fled from her; he fled from the world by faith. That is the distinction between Moses and Solomon. Moses could have had all the gold, silver, horses, luxuries, and pleasures of Egypt; they were his, but we read in HEB 11:25 that he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” When Solomon was in the Promised Land, and was exalted as king and given rich wisdom, he coveted that which Moses rejected. Moses was brought up in the palace of Pharaoh. Moses had all these riches, yet he turned his back upon it and refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward,” HEB 11:25-26. This is where Solomon fell so miserably. In the books of Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, you will see that Solomon understood the beauty that there is in Christ. Moses esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt,” while Solomon, sitting in the middle of all these treasures, coveted those things of Egypt and it became his downfall. Verse 27 says, “By faith [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” By faith he looked unto the Lord, not fearing what the king would do when he forsook all the luxury, wealth, and honor. At the end of his life Solomon made this confession in ECC 2:10-11, “And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” That word vanitymeans empty; it had no value; there were no durable riches; it was the work of iniquity. He saw the emptiness of all the things of this world that he had so coveted. He saw the emptiness of his life and how his life was a failure. He saw there was no value in all his gold, silver, horses, and all his labor. He saw that it was “vexation of spirit;” it was nothing but a vexation of his soul when the Lord opened his eyes to see the emptiness. Solomon goes on to say in ECC 2:17, “Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” His life was unprofitable. See the misery he brought in his soul and in his life. He hated life “because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me.” He saw the emptiness. He also said in ECC 7:26, “And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.” He realized that his life was not pleasing to the Lord; his life was empty and unfruitful. That was why the Lord allowed him to fall into that pit. “[W]hoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.” Do you know what sin is? It is transgressing the law, God’s revealed will. He openly violated the revealed will of God. He walked in open sin and so was taken by “her.” Solomon, who dedicated the temple and saw the Lord’s presence come with such mighty force, received such a revelation of God, saw such sweetness and rich promises, and loved the Lord was speaking here - not Judas, not King Saul. Think of the warning this is for you and me. We may love the Lord, but are we gospel-proof? Do we hear but not obey the Word of God? Of Moses we have a different testimony in DEU 34:10-11; “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land.” There never arose another like him, because he had a heart that was tender for the Lord. Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, but Moses refused her. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. By faith, he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” That is the distinction between Moses and Solomon. Those who become gospel-hardened are not those like King Saul, Judas, or their kind, but the Solomons, who start out right but were hardened through compromise. When my children were young, we would go to different congregations with great groups of young children. They would say, “See that your children find a partner within those circles.” It bothered me to see those who had been brought up under the truth, who had the gospel preached to them all their lives, walking in open sin. They were gospel-hardened. I said, “That is not a partner that I would covet for my children.” They and their parents may be members of the church, they may attend church, and they may have been brought up under the truth, yet they are hardened against it, and that is a scary situation! It is very dangerous and does not make a desirable partner. Solomon was hardened through compromise. Those people who are gospel-hardened cling to their idols, areas of disobedience, and little sins. Those who are gospel-hardened can be cautioned. The Lord Jesus says that we must wash each other’s feet. That means our walk of life. You and I must be able to observe in each other things in our lives that need to be corrected and wash each other’s feet. Those who are gospel-hardened do not want you to show them their little sins. They do not want to leave them. They do not want to correct those little areas of disobedience. They love the Lord, and as far as they are concerned the Lord loves them, but there is one thing they overlook: the Lord loved Solomon and Solomon loved the Lord, but his sin brought emptiness and grief in his life. Not only that, but look at the consequences of his sin for the nation of Israel. What a weight that would be to carry, to know that it was my sin that had caused a nation to fall in sin and fall in the displeasure of the Lord! That becomes a very weighty matter. When we will not step over those little sins, those little compromises, and do what is right, then we are becoming gospel-hardened. That is a very dangerous thing. Our text says, “And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David.” We cannot serve both God and mammon! We cannot be the friends of the world and the friends of the Lord. Solomon made affinity with the world, with Egypt, with Pharaoh, and took his daughter. That was the beginning of his downfall because he took her for his wife and brought her into Jerusalem. He wanted to have the world in one hand and the Lord in the other. He brought her into the city of David, into his religion, and into the inner circle of his life. We must be jealous for the Word of God, because the Lord is so jealous. His name is jealous. He is a jealous God and He is jealous of His Word. I would tremble to think of murdering a man, of violating such a command. The average person would probably tremble to think of killing another, but violating the Lord’s commands and commit “little” sins is a much greater offense to Him. Why? If we are willing to disobey Him and show our disrespect for His will for such a “trifling” thing, it is especially offensive to the Lord because they are “little.” If we trample upon His Word and disobey “little” commandments, just commit “little” sins shows our lack of love and godliness. Godliness is a desire to love, to honor, and to obey Him with our whole heart, soul, and mind. When we bring dishonor upon the Lord for a trifle, for a small thing, it is especially offensive to the Lord. We could learn from the life of Solomon and Moses. Moses chose, by faith, to refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” He chose the truth. He chose to obey the Lord and to walk in His ways. We will not enjoy the pleasures of sin and then come to the riches of Christ. We must choose one or the other. By faith, Moses forsook Egypt. He was born there, he was raised in the house of Pharaoh’s daughter, and he forsook it. That was the difference between Moses and Solomon. Amen.