Horatio Spafford And The Hammer Of Hell

Horatio Spafford is best remembered for his hymn 'When Peace Like a River' or "It is Well With My Soul.' I have often heard the story behind this hymn. Spafford's wife and four daughter were traveling to Europe on a ship when they collided with another ship. Spafford's wife lived but all four daughters died. Later as Spafford sailed past the spot where his daughters had drowned, he wrote this famous hymn, which is often sung in churches. This is the first verse of that hymn.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

• Refrain:
  It is well with my soul,
  It is well, it is well with my soul. 

       But the story of Spafford's life after this hymn was written is often forgotten or ignored. Later on Spafford returned to America with his wife. They left their church after some doctrinal disputes and set up their own church. They believed that they were the only true church. The church was very much like many of the charismatic churches of today. The meetings were chaotic, filled with strange practices. Fake healings and resurrections were attempted. All manner of 'new' revelations were received. They looked for guidance from God through one women's sniffles, for example. And then there were the sanctified oranges, which I don't know exactly what purpose they served. All in all there was a lot of strange happenings at this church. 

 Bad practice comes from bad theology and Spafford and his group had plenty of it. Spafford denied the doctrine of hell. He believed that all people would go to heaven, even the devil would make it there. He held to some form of purgatory. Spafford was really interested in eschatology. He believed he knew when Christ was coming back and went out to Jerusalem to meet Him there. Or he may have been running away from all his debts and debtors. 

 Spafford and some of his followers went to Jerusalem to meet Christ, which never happened. But they did set up a cult-like organization. They shared everything in common there. All the strange behavior continued there. This group abolished marriage and family for a time. They were known for gross sexual immorality. Spafford died in 1888 and then his wife took over leadership. She considered herself a prophetess and continued the wild immoralities. 

When I read all this, it was hard to believe that this was the man who wrote that well known hymn. How could he go from that height to this low? The pathetic ending of this man's life makes you seriously question his salvation. A true Christian perseveres. Ironically Spafford called his group 'The Overcomers.' Yet when you look at his life and the lives of his followers, they were not at all overcomers. "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith." 1 John 4:4   

 A true Christian continues on in the faith to the end. The reason no Christian will lose their salvation is that God will enable them to persevere. Jesus said, "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no on will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:28-30. Charles Spurgeon expressed this truth like this, "If He hath called thee, nothing can divide thee from His love. Distress cannot sever the bond; the fires of persecution cannot burn the link; the hammer of hell cannot break the chain." God Almighty will not let go of us, even if all the powers of the devil and his host should try to pull us from His hands. 

 It is also true that we are commanded to persevere. Here are some examples: 

"But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house- whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." Heb 3:6. 

"For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end." Heb 3:14.   

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,..." Heb 10:23. 

"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what has been promised." Heb 10:35-36.   

 God causes the Christian to persevere by working in His people so that they endure and hold fast. We strive to endure because God is at work in us.  

It is easy to start well in the Christian faith. It is hard to finish well. Every Christian will get over the finish line, even if God has to drag us over it. But let us make every effort to run well even to the end. A story like the one about Horatio Spafford should give us cause to pause and tremble. We ought to watch and pray more diligently that we will not fall into temptation and disgrace our Lord and Savior. 

"Now to Him, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." 

Jude 24-25.

Brad

Sources: 

http://www.cprf.co.uk/articles/spafford.html#.WYce3IjyuUk 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/chorusinthechaos/the-disturbing-past-behind-the-author-of-it-is-well-with-my-soul/

The Christian Test: Part 2

 In the last post I looked at 3 evidences of a Christian. Repentance, faith and obedience will be seen in every true Christian. In this post I will look at a number of other evidences of a Christian so that we may obtain assurance of faith or be shown to not be Christians and so turn from our sin to Christ.

  1) Do you see the work of the Spirit in your life?

 When a person is saved the Holy Spirit indwells them. "Having believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance," Eph 1:13-14.  The Holy Spirit's primary task is to sanctify us. Thus if we are Christians we will see the results of the ministry of the Spirit in holy lives. "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." 1 John 4:13.

 The Holy Spirit will produce holiness in the life of the believer. This is not just outward action, but an inward transformation. The famous passage is Galatians 5: 22-23. There it lists the fruit of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law." An apple tree will produce apples. An orange tree will produce oranges and a person that has the Spirit living inside them will produce the fruit of the Spirit. Are these seen in your life?

  The Holy Spirit is the teacher of truth. He reveals the glorious truths of God's word. "As for you, the anointing which you have received  from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in Him." 1 John 2:27. "But when He , the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;" John 16:13. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us the truth of God's word. For when we are dead in our sins we can't understand or appreciate the glory of the truth. "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them , because they are spiritually appraised." 1 Cor 2:14.  An evidence the Spirit is working in our lives is when we begin to see the truth, wisdom and greatness of the gospel and the glory of Christ. We love God's word. Our eyes are opened and it becomes clear to us. We have a hunger for the Bible which results in the daily reading and study of God's word. All this is evidence that the Spirit is at work within us.

 The Spirit also gives true believers spiritual discernment so that they hold fast to essential doctrine. Consider 2 John 9, "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son." Or 1 John 4:6, "We are from God; he who know God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." Or "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him." 1 John 4:15. Consider also 1 John 2:20-24 and 1 John 5:1.  This doesn't mean Christians are never in doctrinal error. But the Spirit works in us so that we hold fast to those essential and major doctrines, like the divinity and humanity of Christ, the Trinity, the substitutionary atonement. Cults like the Mormons, JW's and others deny these and other essential doctrines. Thus they show by what they believe that they are not Christians. Christians will be able to discern false teachers and teaching.

  The Holy Spirit will also testify to our adoption as God's children. "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God," Rom 8:16.  In salvation we are adopted as God's children. He is now our Father. The Holman study note on this verse says this "By the Spirit we have a consciousnesses that God is our Father. It is the mark of a Christian to cry out to his Father in prayer." John Macarthur in his study Bible says this, ""God's Holy Spirit confirms the validity of our adoption, not by some inner, mystical voice, but by the fruit He produces in us and the power He provides for spiritual service."  Thus we come to God as children come to their father knowing that He will hear us through Christ.

2) Does God answer your prayers?

  "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." 1 John 5:14 and 1 John 3:22, "And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." This doesn't mean God will answer our prayers in the exact manner that we think He should. But when we pray according to His will, laid out for us in scripture, then we can be sure that God will answer those prayers. If we are Christians, we should see some of God's answers to our prayers and that will give us greater assurance of faith.

 For the last blog post in this series I will look at a few more signs to see if  we are indeed Christians.

Brad

Tracing The Finger Of God

Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to listen to some talks on the lives of godly men of the past. I have heard of men like David Brainerd, Jonathan Edwards, John Newton, John Paton and William Carey. It has been an enriching time for my soul. Looking into God's past dealing with His children has strengthened my faith. I have marveled at the wisdom, faithfulness and sovereignty of God and I hope this post will help you do that as well.

David Brainerd was missionary to the Indians in the American Colonies. His life was short due to sickness. He died in Jonathan Edwards' house and Edwards was so moved by this man's godliness that he published David's journal and diary. God used this book to move many other people to leave all to bring the gospel to other lands. Men like William Carey and Henry Martyn and other well known men were inspired by this weak man. David Brainerd's impact on missions is hard to overemphasis.

  John Paton was a missionary to the South Sea Islands. For four years he lived and worked on the island of Tanna. He had little success and much danger and heart ache. He lost his wife and son on this island and he was sick often. Eventually he was driven off the island. A few years later a book was written about his trials and adventures in the mission field. It was used greatly by God to stir up his own denomination and the worldwide church to bring the gospel to the lost peoples of this world. Later John Paton went to another island where most of the island was eventually converted. He also traveled around the world to awaken the church to missions. Yet this could not have happen without his losses and trials on the island of Tanna.

 John Newton was known for being a wise counselor and a hymn writer. His letters are filled with wisdom and grace. He gave counsel to William Carey who became a missionary to India and the father of Modern Missions. John Newton mentored William Wilberforce, who led the movement to abolish the slave trade in Britain. Newton also befriended William Cowper who was a very depressed man. This friendship was a great blessing to Cowper. Together they wrote hymns together which have been sung all over the world by generations of Christians. Newton's Amazing Grace is one of the most well known hymns ever sung. God did all this and more through a man who once was a slave trader and a blasphemer.

 Over the last few weeks I have been looking back on our trips to Cuba for the purpose of writing a short book. It has been wonderful to look back on how God has taught us and provided for us. How patiently did God teach us so that His work would be done more effectively. I see the times He answered our prayers and the prayers of the Cubans. God brought the right people into our lives so that His goals would be accomplished. How often did He protect us from harm! Opportunities to go to Cuba were provided in way that only can be traced to the providence of God. Writing this account has led me to worship such a great and good God.

  Isn't this remembering the past deeds of God what the Psalmist often did. Just consider Psalm 105 verse 5, "Remember the wonderful works He has done, His wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced."  In a time of  crisis, Asaph said in Psalm 77, "I will remember the LORD's works; yes I will remember your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all you have done and meditate on your actions." verses 11-12  When he did this, his faith grew strong. Instead of doubt and despair, there was hope and worship.

The past can teach us how God uses the blacks and grays on his painting of our lives. We may not see all the picture, but looking back on what is done will help us appreciate the wisdom of the Divine painter in choosing the colors that He did. One day when we look back from heaven, God's work of art will be seen to be a masterpiece.

 Remembering the past to see the providence of God is medicine for the soul. Do you do this? Do you see how God has led you, taught you, cared for you or protected you? When you see in the past your unfaithfulness and unworthiness, how gracious is our God! Do you study history, especially the history of the church? You should. What lessons would you learn! Consider the past, not to glory in you, but to glory in a glorious Lord.

Brad

The Everlasting Arms

It has been some time since I wrote on this blog. I certainly have not been idle during that time. Much has happened these past weeks. Many big things have come up. Important and even life-changing issues are being considered. Troubles and sorrows are thrown in the mix as well. I have been crushed but held up. I have been perplexed and in despair. Fear and courage compete in my heart. There have been frustrations, disappointments, and joys. But in all this the Lord has been my strength.  He has heard my cry and answered me. 

I came across this line from a tombstone recently that summarizes my experiences and hopefully

yours.   

  "A wretched, poor and helpless worm

    On Thy kind arms I fall" 

 These two lines originally come from an Isaac Watt's hymn. Later William Carey asked that they be inscribed on his tombstone. These simple words give us the whole of what the Christian life is. In the beginning we recognize that we are weak and vile sinners. We can do nothing to save ourselves. God's word tells us to trust in the work of Christ for salvation and forgiveness. So with a divinely given faith, we helplessly fall on God's arms for mercy. But this trust does not end here. The Christian continues to see that he is weak and helpless. There is more sin in his soul than was first thought. Trials and troubles come to show us how weak we are. In all these times of pain, trouble, sorrow and distress, we fall on the strong arms of our God. No Christian who has even trusted their Heavenly Father to catch them was ever let down. Those arms can hold the whole universe, how much more His child who was bought with the blood of Christ. This picture of the arms of God is not just found in this hymn. It is found in God's word as well. Deut 33:27 says, "The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms."  God is our home when we are pilgrims in this strange world. God's arms will hold us up though out our pilgrimage. He is always the same and His help is everlasting. Saints of today can be encouraged by the faithfulness of God to the saints of yesterday.

If you learn anything from this post, then learn this. God is reliable and faithful. I have found it so. It is when we see our weakness and fall on the kind arms of the Lord, that we will find that He will catch us and hold us close to His heart. 

"But He said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may reside in me." 

2 Cor 12:9

Brad