guardianangel

hi all. Im back & married

just dropping by. my was was almost hit by a motorcycle 2day tryin 2 get on the bus. it’s very heart breaking 2 see that. im still very shaky & in tears. well, we have started goin 2 church & things r gettin lots better here. hope u all have a great day.What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may
abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead
is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead
no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he
died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your
mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield
ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield
yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have
dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace”
(Romans 6, 1-14).

It is very clear from the New Testament, as well as from the Old, that
the believer is not saved by his works. No man can be saved from sin by
his own virtue, by his own religious devotion, by his own goodness or by
his good works. Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, it
is made extremely clear that we are always and only saved by grace.
Grace means two things. It means first of all the unmerited favour and
mercy of God - something that cannot be purchased by our good works,
something that cannot be bought by our own efforts at self-reformation.
Grace is the unmerited mercy and favour of God. Grace is also
supernatural spiritual energy - energy to lift the believer above his
former style of life and to give him a new style of life. It is very
clear from the Old Testament and the New that we are saved by grace.
That is the argument here in the Epistle to the Romans; indeed, the very
last verse in the previous chapter (chapter 5) goes like this: “That as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (5, 21). The
reason for that is because “where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound” (5, 20).

The argument that the apostle Paul is looking at is this: if we are
saved by grace, why should we not as Christians go on in sin? That is
the objection you will notice that he anticipates in our text: “What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”
(v.1). You can see the force of that argument and many who have been
professing Christians have been tempted to think in that way, that if we
are saved not by good works but by God’s grace, and if God’s grace
super-abounds over man’s sin, then why as believers do we not continue
to live in sin so that grace may super-abound? The apostle Paul looks at
that objection and argument, and you see here the nature of his answer
to it: “God forbid” (v.2), he says. The doctrine then is this: that the
Christian must not allow himself to indulge in sin, even though he is
saved by abounding grace. The Christian who has been saved by the grace
of God must not allow himself to go living any more in sin. The whole
work of the Gospel is to deliver us from sin and we must never allow
ourselves to go on in sin. It is true that where sin abounds, grace doth
much more abound (5, 20), but we must never use that as an argument as
believers for continuing in sin. That is what the apostle Paul is here
telling us.

Romans 6 is an amazing and remarkable chapter. Some writers who write on
the exposition of the Bible regard Romans 6 as in some ways the most
difficult chapter in Romans. You know that the apostle Paul was a great
genius and he was inspired of God. You will understand that his writings
are always profound, always. However, there are many commentators and
those who try to explain the meaning of the apostle Paul and they would
say to us that Romans 6 is in some ways the most difficult chapter that
he ever wrote. Let me give you one or two reasons why they should think
like that. It is because in chapter 6 we have what we call a transition.
We have a movement in thought from the subject of justification to the
subject of sanctification. There is a movement from chapter 5 to chapter
6 in which the apostle Paul passes from justification, which he has been
handling for some time, and moves now into sanctification. It is very
mysterious that there is a connection between these two things. That is
one reason why people have regarded this as a difficult chapter.

Another reason is because, in a mysterious way, what Christ did 2000
years ago for His people is something which affects the Christian’s life
now, 2000 years later. What Jesus did objectively, 2000 years ago when
He died for us upon the cross, has its subjective implications and
effects upon a Christian’s life now, here in this present world. That
very thought is a mystery. The connection between what Jesus has done
objectively on the cross and its connection with our own lives now, in
this world, is bound to be very mysterious. That indeed is what the
apostle Paul here teaches.

Another reason why people have found this chapter rather confusing is
because here we are passing from what we might call the doctrine of
Christ and the doctrine of justification into the experience of God’s
grace in our own hearts and in our own lives. We are passing then from
what is justification - something in a sense outside ourselves - to
experience the work of God within us. That movement of thought is a very
astonishing and profound one. The apostle Paul then tells us that we
cannot continue in sin that grace may abound and then he begins to
explain why this should be.

Let me then bring some lessons to you from this chapter.

First of all, he makes it clear that to be justified by grace does not
give the Christian any excuse whatever to tolerate sin in his own life.
It does seem strange that a Christian should want to argue that he might
go on in sin that grace might abound but it is a fact of life. There is
within the Christian still the remaining sin which is not yet completely
abolished from his nature. As long as the Christian is in this life he
must reckon on the fact that he has indwelling sin. He is no longer
condemned by that sin and, as we shall see, he is no longer under the
dominion and power of that sin, but sin still remains in the Christian
and there is something therefore which temptation can appeal to in us
all as Christians. Because that is so, it is possible for a Christian,
when he is forgetting himself, to argue that if he is saved by the grace
of God and if grace is greater than sin, why then does he not continue
allowing himself to go on in sin, to give an occasion and an opportunity
for grace to display itself all the more. That is not only a wicked
thought; it is an extremely wicked thought. You see how vehement the
apostle’s response to it is: “God forbid” (v.2), he says. God forbid
that we, as Christians, saved as we are by grace, should allow ourselves
to go on in sin like the world and as we once did ourselves before our
conversion. It is not only wrong thinking, but it is shockingly wrong
thinking for the Christian to argue in those terms. That is what he is
saying and I shall show you now some of the arguments to show that this
is wrong.

The first argument is that in a converted person justification and
sanctification begin together at the same time; it is impossible to have
justification without also having sanctification. You will know that
justification is the imputation to the believer of the whole
righteousness and obedience of Christ, and that the instant we believe
in Christ all His righteousness becomes ours. The moment we believe in
Christ all His obedience becomes ours. We call that our justification.
It is something which God imputes to us. It doesn’t of itself take
account of any inward change but, and here is the wonder of it, at the
same time as God reckons the righteousness of Christ to a sinner, He
also begins a work in his soul so that it is impossible to be a truly
justified sinner without there also being an internal change within the
soul of that sinner. So then justification and sanctification begin
together. There’s one argument.

Another argument is this. When justification occurs in a person’s life
he ceases to love sin because an internal change occurs within his
nature. If a person flatters himself that he can have faith and still go
on in sin, he is deceiving himself. This is what is dealt with very
clearly by the apostle James. He talks about a faith which makes no
difference to the way people live. He talks about a faith which is dead,
and about such a faith he says it is no better than a corpse: “For as
the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also” (James 2, 26). What he is doing there is simply telling us that
there is a kind of faith - which some people have - which does not truly
save a person. This is what we refer to as ‘notional faith’ and not
saving faith. He says the devils also have that kind of faith; the
devils also believe in God and they tremble. But the faith which brings
us salvation and justification is a faith which always results in good
works. It always results in a change of character. So the Christian, in
other words, is in an altered relationship to sin from the relationship
he had before his conversion. As soon as a person believes in Christ,
not only does God reckon to him the righteousness of Christ to cover his
nakedness, but He also begins a change in the sinner’s heart so that the
will of the sinner is renewed and the desire of the sinner now is no
longer for sinful pleasures but for the glory of God. He desires to live
to the praise and glory of God. It is impossible therefore for a
Christian to love sin with all his heart.

The unbeliever does - the unbeliever loves sin with all his heart. The
unbeliever is at home in sin. The unbeliever is drowning in sin and he
cannot get enough of it. Sadly, you will see this illustrated in a whole
host of ways. People will drink not only a whole bottle of vodka; they
would drink two bottles of it if they could. They would drink a hundred
bottles of it, if only they could. They would not only be content to get
dead-drunk, they would get dead-drunk a thousand times over if they
could - if their bodies and constitutions could tolerate it, which, of
course, in God’s wisdom they can’t. The thing that stops a sinner from
going too far with his indulgence, whatever it is - and I am simply
using one instance of very, very many, whether it be sensuality, or
drunkenness, or violence, or whatever - the only thing that restrains a
sinner from going on and on and on in sin is that he has no more
capacity or strength in his constitution to tolerate it. But the desire
of a sinner is to go on and on and on and on drinking sin like water
because he loves it! That is his native air; as a man breathes in the
open air exhilaratingly, drawing his breath and taking in the fresh air,
so a sinner loves the atmosphere of sin and is at home in sin - but not
the Christian.

Not the Christian. Something has happened to a Christian at his
conversion but that is not to say that there is not some love of sin
left in him: there is a residual love of sin left in the Christian.
However, it is no longer central in his soul. He loves it and hates it
at one and the same time. He hates it with the greatest energy of his
soul but because of indwelling sin he is still somewhat inclined,
tempted and influenced towards it. That is the way the Christian is.
Because that is so, the Christian must be motivated to resist sin and
that is what the apostle Paul is doing. Shall we go on in sin that grace
may abound? God forbid. The Christian has become reconciled to God and
he now wishes to please God. The Christian, if he is a real Christian,
now loves God and he knows that God has forbidden sin; so, the
Christian, loving God as he does, restrains himself under the influence
of temptation. This is what the apostle Paul, I believe, is arguing
here, or part of what he is arguing. I have a little more to say about
what he is arguing in a moment, but that’s part of it. My beloved
friends, this is the way it applies to us if we are believers. We must
never listen to the voice which tells us that because we are forgiven
our sins we may go on in sin. We must never listen to that seducing
voice that tells us that because God is gracious and ready to forgive,
therefore, we can take advantage of Him because it doesn’t matter - That
is an abuse of a true doctrine. God indeed is full of kindness and ready
to forgive but that doesn’t motivate us to go on in sin. All appearance
of sin, says Paul, is to be shunned. Sin is to be cast out, lies,
deception are not the way of god we must be thankful not unthankful we
must love as god loves you.

I come now to three illustrations that the apostle Paul uses. At his
conversion the Christian becomes united to Christ in a spiritual union.
The Bible frequently compares conversion to Christ, to a marriage. In
marriage one man becomes united to one woman and they, having been two,
now become one. The two are one flesh, says the Bible, and that is an
illustration of what happens to a Christian at his conversion. When a
person is converted to Christ, he and Christ become united in a
spiritual sense; not one flesh but one in spirit. They become one,
whereas before they were two; now they are one, united and in union. The
apostle Paul illustrates this union in our text with three
illustrations, and I want to show you now what they are.

First of all: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life” (v.3/4). That’s the first illustration, and we can say that it
is an illustration drawn from Christian baptism. However, emphasis is
not upon the water of baptism but upon what that signifies. Baptism
seals and signifies far more than simply the outward act of placing the
body and the water together. Baptism seals and signifies the union of a
believer with Christ. He is, says Paul, brought into union. We are
buried with him by baptism into death. So, here we have the first of
these illustrations: what happens to persons when they become born again
is that they become baptized into Christ; they become united with Him
spiritually. The reference is not, as I say, simply to the external form
of baptism but to what baptism symbolizes, which is union of the soul of
a believer with the Lord Jesus Christ. The things that Christ has done,
objectively, in history, become personally applicable to his own soul.
What do I mean by that? I mean, what Christ did 2000 years ago when he
died, was buried and rose again, becomes operative in the soul of a
believer as soon as he, through the new birth, becomes united to Him.
That is to say, when we believe in Christ our soul undergoes this
change: we become dead with Him, buried with Him and raised again to
newness of life with and in Him. There cannot be any doubt whatever but
that that is what is being said here.

Professor John Murray has written one of the best commentaries, I think,
there is in any language on Romans 6 and is well worth your studying if
you are able to do so. Professor Murray refers to this experience as
‘definitive sanctification’. That is to say that when a believer dies
with Christ, is buried with Christ and rises with Christ, something
spiritual of immense importance takes place. There begins a
sanctification within that soul which will never cease until the soul
becomes perfect in the glory of heaven. But it begins then and the new
birth is a sanctification of the individual believer with Christ in the
fruits of his death and resurrection. I grant you, that is very
mysterious. How can you and I in the year 2004, supposing we were to be
converted for the first time this very year, how can we participate in
what Jesus did nearly 2000 years ago? The answer is, I can’t explain it
but it is a fact, and it is a doctrine of the Word of God. When I
believe in Him for the first time, then, in a mysterious way, my soul
enters into the fruits and the effects of Christ’s death and
resurrection so that all of that becomes operative in my soul and I
become dead to sin. I become buried with Him - I become raised again to
a new state of spirituality which was not true before I entered into
union with Christ. ‘Definitive sanctification’ is the term which I
commend to you from that eminent writer, Professor John Murray.

The second illustration of the three is as follows: “For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection” (v.5). This is a different illustration.
He is talking here about planting together. The illustration is that of
two trees, let us say, that a man might plant side by side in the same
plot of land. It is very often done. People take two trees and they
plant them side by side and they grow together. Their roots become
intertwined; their shoots, trunks and branches eventually come out and
develop together. Paul uses this as an illustration of the way in which
Christ and His people are united spiritually - they are planted together
in the likeness of His death and they are going to be planted together
in the likeness of His resurrection. If that is the case, it means that
we are united to one who is holy. As Christians we are planted together
with the One who is the embodiment of holiness itself - that holy Man,
Jesus Christ - and, if we are united to Him, how can we any more go on
in sin as the world does? We cannot! It would be a contradiction of our
whole spiritual condition. So the second illustration is implantation
together with Christ.

He comes now to a third illustration: “Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin” (v.6). The third illustration
is the fact that when we become born again, we enter into a state of
being crucified with Christ so far as our own sin is concerned. The
fruits of Christ’s death on the cross immediately become operative in
the believer. When we were in Adam we were an old man; when we believe
in Christ we become a new man. I am not going to take time to show that
you cannot be two men at once. There is a Gaelic poem that says, “I am
an old man and a new man.” That simply means that the Christian at his
best is not perfect; there are still remnants of indwelling sin. It is a
very beautiful and a very touching way of expressing it, but it is not
strictly the way the apostle Paul and the New Testament state the case.
If we are going to go strictly by the way the New Testament puts it, a
non-Christian is an old man - he is a man in Adam. When we become
Christians we become a new man - that is, a man in Christ. We cannot be
both at one and the same time. When you cease to be an old man you begin
to be a new man. When you become a new man you are no longer an old man.
You cannot be both. It is true, of course, that the new man is not in
every possible sense perfect. No, no! Sin remains in this life in the
new man, but he is a new man for all that; and the fact is that you
cannot be both at one and the same time. If you wish to study Murray on
this point in Romans 6, I commend it to you.

This is what the apostle is arguing: those who are in Adam - who have
not yet become Christians - are in Scripture regarded as being an ‘old
man’. The consequence of being in Adam is threefold. First of all,
Adam’s sin is reckoned to them. Second, they come under the condemnation
that all sin comes under when we are guilty of it. And third, they enter
into a state of death because death is the wages of sin. That is the
destiny and the future of every non-Christian. Sin is imputed to him,
condemnation rests upon him and death lies before him. That is the sad
condition of the non-Christian and we have in all love and kindness to
tell this to people. That is why we bid them to ‘flee from the wrath to
come’ and trust in Jesus. When a person believes in Jesus he immediately
becomes a new man and all those three things - that complex of truths
which was so of the old man - is reversed. In Christ, sin, condemnation
and death are now reversed. In Christ we have this righteousness,
justification and eternal life because we are now united to One who is
alive from the dead and the resurrection life of Christ is now working
in the souls of all believers. It is true that we are not yet absolutely
perfect. It is true that sin remains within the believer as long as he
is in this life. But we are, says the apostle, in this privileged
condition - that this life now is in us. We are crucified: “our old
man,” he says, “is crucified with him (Christ), that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (v. 6).

There have been two ways of interpreting those words. Some people say we
are crucified with Christ in the sense that our old man is slowly dying
- he is with Christ on the cross and he is slowly, slowly, slowly coming
to his death. There are some who take it that way but I cannot believe
that that is so for a moment. I will tell you why. What he is rather
saying is that our old man has died. When a person believes in Christ
the old man dies and he becomes a new man. The proof that that is the
correct interpretation is this: he tells us that not only have we died
in Christ, but that we are buried with Him and it would be a monstrous
injustice to bury a man who is on the cross and not yet dead. No, no, we
bury the old man because he has died. He tells us here in this third
illustration that when we believe in Christ we become, as it were,
joined with Christ on the cross and then enter with Him into a state of
death and then burial. If that is the case, how can we who are dead to
sin continue any longer therein? This is his argument. Justification, in
other words, is never alone; it is always accompanied by an inward work
of grace in the soul of those who are justified, whereby they are
renewed in the whole man in the image of God - in knowledge, in
righteousness, in holiness. They begin a life of progressive
sanctification here in this present world and when they enter into a
state of death their souls are immediately made perfect in holiness and
pass into the presence of the Lord and their bodies rest in the grave
until the resurrection. At the resurrection their bodies - being still
united to Christ - are raised in glory and they are in the final state
of their comfort and redemption by the blood and power of Christ. This
is what the apostle refers to in his own case.

Listen to these words: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live:
yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me” (Galatians 2, 20). Now there’s a mysterious verse - “I
am crucified with Christ.” All right Paul, you must be dead then.
“Nevertheless I live.” Oh, wait a minute, you’re still living. “And the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Paul, are you alive or
dead? Well, he says he is both. He is dead as to what he was, and he is
alive as to what he is. As to his being an old man - he is dead; as to
his being a new man - he is alive. Yet, it is not his life but Christ’s
life in his soul. The Holy Spirit is given to him to make him what he
never was before - a new man in Christ.

Listen to Professor John Murray as I quote him very briefly: “It is a
mistake to think of the believer as both an old man and a new man. We
are a new man as soon as we come to believe in Christ but there are the
remains of sin within the new man as long as the new man is in this
present world. However, when the believer comes out of this world into a
state of glory then, all sin which is in the new man will be entirely
abolished and we shall be even as our blessed Master is - away from the
very presence of sin.”

The third thing I say to you is this. The imperatives of our
sanctification are therefore based on the indicatives of the Gospel. I
must explain what those words mean. The imperatives are the commands and
the obligations which fall upon us as Christians; all of those commands
and imperatives are based upon the facts of what has happened to the
Christian already. The command is not to ‘die’ but to ‘reckon ourselves
dead’ - you see, that is the way the apostle Paul puts it - we are to
reckon ourselves to be dead: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”
(v.11). The believer dies to sin in this sense at his conversion. I must
explain to you, therefore, what is meant by ‘dying to sin’ as the
apostle Paul uses these words here. It means, first of all, sin can no
longer condemn the Christian. What a mercy! What a blessing! What a
favour! A Christian rests upon this great truth: my sin, which is great,
can never condemn me because the consequences of it have been suffered
by Christ. He has dealt with the penalty of it.

The second thing it means here is this: sin is no longer the Christian’s
native sphere. Sin is no longer the air that we breathe. Sin is no
longer our home. Sin is no longer where we desire to live and to be. It
is true that there is sin in us, but the Christian is not in sin - do
you see the difference? Sin is in the believer but the believer is not
in sin - there’s the difference. Sin is still in me and I hate it, and
so do you. “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but
with the flesh [I still serve] the law of sin” (7, 25). We are not in
sin as Christians. Sin is in us but we are not in it. Sin is what we
desire to be clean from and clear from and free from. We groan in this
body, longing to be delivered from this body of death in which we live,
because sin is what we wish to be clear of and to be quit of forever.

A third thing which is meant here is that sin, thank God, is no longer
the Christian’s master. Sin is not my master. Sin is the master of those
who are not believers. Sin is the master and he will keep the unbeliever
under his slavery - the lust, passion and love of this world. That is
why poor sinners are slaves to sin - because the devil keeps them there.
Sin keeps them there. Sin is a tyrant - it drives men continually. Many
a poor sinner has said to himself after recovering from drunkenness or
something, “That terrible bottle - I’ll never go back to it!” But he
does, and he cannot help it because sin is too strong for him. How can a
man break the love of sin? The answer is he can’t of himself. But the
love of sin is broken by the power of God as soon as we believe in
Christ. That is how, when people come to Christ, they can break these
evil habits. As I speak, I think of a dear Christian friend of mine who
has now passed into glory who was a fearful drunkard in his younger
days, and this is true in his experience. Let me tell you before I
close. He was so addicted to drink that with any money he got he went
straight to the public house and bought drink. On one occasion he was
given, I think, ten shillings to buy a new pair of glasses or something.
He went off from the house to get the glasses but he couldn’t resist the
temptation to spend it in the public house. He never got the glasses
with that money, he got something else - he got a drink with it. That is
how he was. He was probably selling his furniture to make money to drink
and drink and drink, and the family became poorer and poorer. They had
almost nothing left. It is a common story. Then he was converted to
faith in Christ and everything came back. The drink went out and the
house began to be built up again and things went wonderfully well and he
resisted this temptation, his besetting sin. However, one day at work,
his friends - at least his colleagues - played a trick on him; a very
mean and wicked thing to do. They had a raffle and they put his name
into the raffle for a large bottle of whisky. He didn’t know about this
- they did it behind his back. They drew out his ticket and he didn’t
know anything about it until it was all over and done. At the tea break
this day, they sat him down and they all sat round him and they said,
“Mr. So-and-so, we’ve had a raffle. We didn’t tell you but you’ve won
it.” “Oh?” said he, “what have I won?” “You’ve won this large bottle of
whisky,” they said, bringing it in front of his face. “Oh! Thank you!”
he said, and he took it in his hand and put it on his knee. They
wondered what he would do with it because they knew very well he had
been a terrible drunkard, but they also knew he had given up this
terrible habit. What would he do? Well, he began to speak to the bottle
of whisky like this: “Oh my darling,” he said. “the day was when you
were my idol. The day was when I would have done anything for one of
you. But,” he said, “that day is passed.” And he took it by the spout
and he smashed it on the floor, and they watched in amazement as the
whisky flowed away.

You see, can we go on in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! Whatever
the sin in our life, God forbid! Break with all sin - we must break with
it, whatever the sin. We can do that when we believe in Christ because
where sin abounds grace much more abounds. However strong the temptation
may be, there is more grace given to us. No matter how terrible the lust
in our nature may be for sin of the past, for the Christian, God gives
more strength to overcome. That is how it is that believers are more
than conquerors of all their lusts through Him that loved us. Blessed be
Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us that we might have this power over
sin in our own lives. Amen.

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it,
and is safe” (Proverbs 18,10).

1. The believer’s never failing refuge

2. The believer’s instinct of faith

3. The safety which God promises to those who run to Him

Well now, my friends, you hardly need a preacher to tell you that this
is a dangerous world, and it seems to be becoming more dangerous by the
day. I was just the other day hearing in a news bulletin on the radio
that local councils are beginning to close down play areas and parks
which when we were children we enjoyed so much. These parks and
playgrounds are being closed down. Why? The children apparently are not
safe anymore in them. There are strange people who find their way to
these places. In our schools today children are given lessons in what is
being called ’stranger danger’ - don’t trust somebody you don’t know.
One of the most chilling things you can hear about in our modern world
is what we call ‘missing persons’. When you pass the police station you
see the photograph of someone who has simply vanished, and they tell you
that so-and-so was last seen somewhere on such a date - no one has seen
him or her since. Not to speak of drugs and of the increase of HIV.

There is danger at every stage in the modern world. The unborn child is
not safe in his mother’s womb - they have discovered something which
they call abortion. And the old person is not safe in their own home -
they’re inventing something which is on the increase called
‘euthanasia’. It really means, We don’t want to keep on looking after
you because you’re so old and frail , you no longer matter. And when
we’re at school, we’re all familiar with bullying. And then you might
have read just a day or two ago that a member of Parliament, no less,
conducting a meeting with his constituents was attacked by a man with a
sword. Truly, this is a very dangerous world. And this is a very
dangerous age. And it does raise the question, Is there anywhere at all
where we may go and find safety?

Well now, that is what my text is all about - safety. Where do you go to
get safety? Listen to the words of my text in Proverbs 18,10: “The name
of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is
safe.” The Bible tells us that there is safety nowhere at all but only
in God. God is the safety of those who trust in Him.

Now there are three things in this text I want to look at. First of all,
I want to look at the believer’s never failing refuge: God is a strong
tower. Second, I want to look at the believer’s instinct of faith, which
is: to run to God in time of trouble. And third, I want to consider with
you the safety which God promises to those who run to Him: he will find
safety.

1. THE BELIEVER’S NEVER FAILING REFUGE
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it,
and is safe” (text). It is a text that you and I need. We need it today,
perhaps, as the world never needed it and we’re going to need it every
day of our lives. We need it for our wives, our children, and above
everything else, as I hope to mention later, we need it for our own
souls. We need it because God alone is the one place of safety for His
people.

Take the subject in the way which I have indicated and we look first of
all then at the believer’s never failing refuge: “the name of the Lord
is a strong tower”. This expression ‘the name of the Lord’ - what does
it mean? Well, ‘the name of the Lord’ is the Lord Himself as He has
revealed Himself to us in His holy Word. ‘The name of the Lord’ means:
everything that God is in and of Himself. So ‘the name of the Lord’
begins by meaning His glorious Being, His divine essence, His eternal
unchanging substance. Now you know that God, according to the Lord Jesus
Christ, is a Spirit. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4,24). And so God, we
are told in the Word of Scripture, is a Spirit who is infinite, eternal,
unchanging in His being and in everything to do with His persons. ‘The
name of God’ includes God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit - so that when we are blessing the people of God we bless them in
the name of God like this: the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you (2
Corinthians 13,14). So ‘the name of God’ involves His essence, and His
three glorious Persons: the Father ever begetting His Son, and the Son
ever begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit ever proceeding from
the Father and from the Son - One in essence, three in Persons. This is
the God of whom we say that His name is a strong tower.

Now ‘the name of God’ includes also all the things that are true about
Him: His eternal power, His eternal wisdom, His eternal knowledge, His
eternal purpose, His eternal love toward those who love Him, His eternal
kindness to those who trust in Him, His readiness to forgive all sin and
blasphemy when men put their trust in Him. All of this is included in
the expression ‘the name of the Lord’. All of this indicates to us that
God is totally for us and entirely with us, and everything that belongs
to God is engaged to do us good and to give us safety. That is the
meaning of this expression that ‘the name of the Lord is a strong
tower’.

Well, we can understand this illustration. It is, of course, an
illustration. A strong tower is something that men build in order to
defend themselves from their enemies. I don’t know if you know some of
the towers that are to be seen in different parts of the country in the
Highlands, but evidently in the days of our forefathers when life was
simple and primitive they used to build stone structures - solid, thick,
almost impregnable - and when the Vikings, perhaps, or some other
raiding enemy came by land or sea, our forefathers would have to leave
their fields and their flocks, and they would all gather together - men,
women, and children - through the small aperture into this tower and
there they were safe. The enemy could not get in. It was a strong tower.

In the days of the Norman Conquest, in this country and in other
countries, these Normans built for themselves castles. We’ve seen many
pictures of them. They would have a moat, and they would have a
drawbridge, and if the enemy were to attack or approach then the
drawbridge was lifted up and they were secure inside.

These are the illustrations which the Word of God here uses: the name of
God - all that He is and all that He will be - His eternal faithfulness
to His people, His eternal essence, His eternal Persons, His eternal
attributes: everything to do with God is a strong tower. He is a castle!
He is a place of munitions! He is a place of fortifications! And so this
is the promise that God is: He will be a place of safety to all those
who put their trust in Him.

Now there are many passages in the Bible that make it clear that this is
what is meant. Listen to these promises and these exhortations of
Scripture: “Fear thou not: for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am
Thy God” (Isaiah 41,10). And that is the text which is round about the
top of this great promise of God to be a defense for His people. They
run into this tower! and are safe. “Be strong and of a good courage,”
says the Bible, “be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord
thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1,9). “Thou wilt
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he
trusteth in Thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is
everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26,3-4). Or again, take these words, “Be
careful for nothing; but in everything 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” (Philippians 4,6-7). It is the very meaning of
this text: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe”.

Well let me take just a moment, before I go on to my second heading, and
say to you: My friends, the Bible tells us again and again the reasons
why God is a defence to those that trust in Him. First of all, because
we are His flock: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good
pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12,32). No shepherd worthy of
the name ever abandoned one of his flock. When the wolf or the enemy
came to attack, every shepherd worthy of the name defends his flock - at
the risk of his life! So, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Good
Shepherd, will never allow the devil to harm one of those that are His.
“Thy rod,” says David, “and Thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23,4). The
Heavenly Shepherd has the rod and the staff with Him in order to beat
off every avenging foe that comes against His people. And because that
is the case, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.

Or again, you could put it like this: the Lord will be a place of
defense for His people because He loves them! with an everlasting love.
Do you suppose that God who has spent the precious life and blood of His
own dear Son to ransom us from the troubles of life and from the grave
and from sin itself, Do you think this God, having spent so much care in
preparing redemption for us by the life, and death, and blood shedding,
and agonies of His own Son is going to let one of those who belong to
Him perish? He will not! I do not call you servants, says the Lord Jesus
Christ, I call you friends (John 15,15).

And do you think God is going to let the devil trouble His friends
beyond a certain measure? No, He will not. And because these things are
so, God reassures us that He is for us, and “if God be for us, who can
be against us?” (Romans 8,31) The name of the Lord is a strong tower. He
that is righteous runneth into it in every time of danger - and he is
safe.

Now, your duty and mine, beloved Christian friend, is to take God at His
word - and in all the trials of life, be they great or small, personal
or public, we are to rest in the confidence that God’s word is true.
Now, sadly, we don’t always do that, do we? I heard of a lady once who
got on an airplane. She had never travelled on an airplane before, and
as most of us are the first time we travel by air, she was very nervous.
And as she was sitting on her seat it was observed that she was pressing
on the sides of the seat and sitting right on the very edge. And one of
the hostesses on the airplane that came along to see that the passengers
were comfortable said, “Madam, why don’t you relax and sit comfortably
on your seat? Why are you pressing on the sides? Why are you sitting on
the edge?” “Oh,” said the lady, “I don’t want to put all my weight onto
this machine - it may crash down and I might be killed.” You see the
absurdity of it all: “I don’t want to put my full weight on the
airplane,” she said. So she was sitting, as it were, right on the edge,
and trying to keep her weight from being too much. You see the absurdity
of it.

Is it not much more absurd not to rely on God? Is it not much more
ridiculous for us to take the burden of the universe upon our shoulders?
My friends, the Lord has looked after this world long before you and I
came into it, and He’ll be looking after it when you and I are but dust
in the grave. All the hairs of your head are numbered. Don’t be
over-troubled, and don’t worry too much even for the state of the
church. It is not our church, but it belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We bear the burden of it in a measure, but don’t let these things crush
you or overwhelm you. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower.”

2. THE BELIEVER’S INSTINCT OF FAITH
Now the second point we have in our text is this: a God-given instinct
which all those that have faith will realize and will use. And this
instinct is put like this: “the righteous runneth into it.” In other
words, when we come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we develop a
certain ‘instinct’ and this is the instinct: that when we sense that
danger is near, we always run to God. Well, this is the instinct of a
little child. When there’s any danger a little child will run to the
mother, or run to the grandmother, or run to some adult person. It is a
child’s instinct. They run from danger to mother. And that is the
believer’s instinct - he runs from danger to God. The righteous runneth
into it - he hides himself in God. Listen to this proverb: “The prudent
man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself: the simple pass on, and are
punished” (Proverbs 22,3; 27,12). This is the instinct of the unbeliever
- he doesn’t realize the danger that’s to come, and so he is secure
until it is too late. But the instinct of a believer is that when he
senses danger approaching, he runs into the bosom of God.

Let me give you some examples which you’ll remember from the Word of
God. Take the case of Jacob at Peniel (Genesis 32). His brother Esau was
coming with four hundred armed men. They had not met for some twenty
years. The last time they’d met Esau had sworn to kill Jacob, and who
knew what Esau was planning to do now, twenty years later. So what was
Jacob going to do? The danger was facing him square in his mind - what
could he do? Well I’ll tell you what he did: he ran into this strong
tower. He spent all the night wrestling with God: and he prevailed, and
he was delivered.

Take David at Ziklag. You know the story in I Samuel 30. King David - he
was still being persecuted by Saul; Saul was still living, but it was
right at the end of Saul’s reign - and David has been conducting an
excursion against the enemy. When he got back to Ziklag, which was his
base at that time, the Amalekites had come, and they had taken away all
the wives, and all the children, and all their goods. There was nothing
left: their children - gone, their wives - gone. The people were so
furious with David, as the leader, they thought of stoning him. David
did not know where to turn, but the Word of God tells us he encouraged
himself in God (verse 6). This is what he did: he went to God! He fled
into the tower! he ran to the tower of God’s grace! and poured out his
spirit! And the effect was: he armed his men, and they recovered
everything - all the spoils, (much more to the point) the wives, the
children; all were brought back. You see the instinct of faith: when
things are at their worst you flee to God! and pour out your prayer to
Him.

Take King Hezekiah (2 Kings 19). That was a terrible moment, - the
savage and brutal Assyrians, were overspreading the land of God’s
people. This was the judgment upon them. They destroyed Israel in the
north; they came south to Judah whose king was good king Hezekiah. They
captured all the cities, and they surrounded Jerusalem, the capital city
of all. When they got there they couldn’t destroy it because it was too
well fortified; it was almost impregnable. So king Sennacharib, king of
these brutal Assyrians, he contented himself with blaspheming against
God. It is what we call ‘propaganda’. ‘Oh,’ he shouted, ‘if you people
think you’re safe because of your walls, think again! I’ve destroyed
every nation to which I have come. Your God is no better than the gods
of the other nations! Come down, come out, give in, and you can all live
in my country, and you’ll have vineyards, and fields, and flocks, and
you can worship my god.’ And Hezekiah, when he heard the blasphemy, he
got the letter which was sent to him, and he spread out this letter
before God, and he cried to high heaven against the wickedness of this
man Sennacharib (verse 14,15). And an angel was sent from heaven, and a
hundred and eighty five thousand of these Assyrians were slain in one
night. The righteous ran to God! and God heard him.

Take another case of Paul in the New Testament in Acts 27, in the
shipwreck. Day upon day, neither sun, nor moon, nor stars could be seen,
this little wooden boat was blown all over the Adriatic Sea and down in
the Mediterranean Sea, almost being shattered to pieces. They had to
take all sails down; the masts were broken! They had to throw the
rigging overboard. They were at their wits end - even the sailors didn’t
know what to do! They didn’t take food, day after day. They were
terrified. Everybody expected to die at the very next breath! What was
the Apostle Paul doing all that terrible time? He was waiting on God. He
was running to his tower. God was his tower! And this is what Paul could
say when he came out of his place of prayer. He said this to the
sailors: Don’t be afraid - God has given me all those who sail with me
on this ship; I have prayed for the life of every one in this ship. And
the end of the chapter is like this: they all escaped safe to land. You
see - in trouble we flee to God! Now this shows how we should behave in
time of difficulty. We run into our tower.

Even every animal that God has made has an instinct of
self-preservation. The Bible tells us that the wild goats when they’re
attacked they flee to the high mountains - and they’re safe. But the
rabbits can’t do that; the conies, or rabbits, they haven’t got the
ability to run up to the high top of the mountain. God has given them a
different instinct - they run into the holes in the rocks, and there
they cannot be pursued by their predators. And even the hen has a
wonderful instinct. John Bunyan tells us this. He says, The hen has
three calls, or cries. Two of them are just for ordinary purposes, and
when the little chickens hear the hens crying, they gather round and she
teaches them something they need to know. But the hen has a third cry,
which she only uses in time of terrible danger when there’s fire or
theft. And this special cry all the chickens immediately recognize! and
they run to her! and she opens her wings and she encloses the chickens
within her wings - and defends them even to the death! Now, that is the
way God calls His people to Himself in time of trouble. He is the
defense of His people!

And so, my friends, when trouble comes, and when fear comes, and when
anxiety threatens, the way in which we are to behave is given to us in
this text. We’re not to stand still and worry, and worry, and worry
again. We are to run to God with our trouble! and pour out our complaint
into His ear! His ear is open to our cry!

We are to put God between ourselves and our trouble. We are to look at
our trouble through God. We are not to look at God through our troubles.
Now when we do this we discover, to our amazement, that we are more than
conquerors through Him that loved us. And this is what gives the
Christian man or the Christian woman boldness in time of trouble.

I don’t know whether you know the story of Harper, who was a great
Baptist minister in Glasgow at the beginning of the century. There’s a
church still named after him - the Harper Memorial Baptist Church
somewhere in the south side of Glasgow. Well, this man Harper drowned
and died on his way to America on the Titanic, in 1912. The story is
very interesting. The ship, as you know, hit the iceberg and began to
sink at a terrific rate. It was the biggest and most luxurious ship ever
built, up to that date. And some of the people who were serving on it,
they said, God Almighty cannot sink this ship. They were boasting of it,
and its watertight bulkheads. But they were so careless they didn’t even
worry about icebergs, and they skimmed across the iceberg and it just
was like a penknife cutting right through the metal at the level just
under the water - and it went down at a terrific rate, as everybody
knows. There was terrible loss of life. It was human pride that caused
it. Well, this man Harper was offered a seat in one of the lifeboats.
And as he turned round he saw a poor drunkard beside him, and this
Reverend Harper said, “No,” he said, “give my seat to this man. I’m
ready to meet God. This man isn’t,” he said. And the next thing is this
beloved Baptist minister found himself in the water - cold, icy water.
And there were lots of them swimming around. And as Harper came in the
water to a man beside him, he cried out: “My friend,” he said, “are you
saved? Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!” Harper went down and was
drowned, as I said. But this other man was picked up, mercifully! not
many were but he was. And he was taken to America and he testified: Mr.
Harper this faithful and beloved man died courageously, and as he was
dying he was preaching still to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!

How does a man get that courage? How can a man offer another person his
seat when it’s certain death to do so? How can a man be preaching
confidently of Christ when the waters are coming over his body and mind,
almost over his soul? The answer is - he has a strong tower! He knows
that God is with him! He knows that all the trials of life cannot
destroy him! And his instinct is: he flees to God. The Lord is a strong
tower and the righteous runneth into it.

3. THE SAFETY WHICH GOD PROMISES TO THOSE WHO RUN TO HIM
Now, third and finally, I have to say that there is a promise attaching
to this text. The believer is sure of safety when he puts his trust in
God. Look at what is said here, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower:
the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (text). I don’t know if you
notice the next verse. I think the two verses go together. Let me tell
you how. This is verse eleven: “The rich man’s wealth is his strong
city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.” I think these two verses,
in a sense, are connected together. You see, it tells us how different
the unbeliever is. When trouble comes to the unbeliever, what does he
trust in? What is his strong city? What is his tower? What is his high
defense? Well, it’s not the Lord! - it is his money, or something. You
see the contrast there. The unbeliever trusts in his wealth, or his bank
balance, or something of the kind, and he doesn’t trust in the Lord.
Some unbelievers trust in their friends. Others trust in some other
outer thing; a mere show of religion without being converted to Christ.
That’s the kind of man Jesus refers to when He gives His parable of the
two builders: one built upon the rock, and the other built upon the sand
(Matthew 7,24-27). And these two houses both looked very good, didn’t
they? It’s much easier building on the sand - you don’t have to dig deep
and make a foundation. And the house looked fine! just as good as the
man who builds on the rock - until. The storm comes, and the rain
descends, and the winds blow, and the floods arise. These are the
troubles of life: and these troubles test what we’re all made of, and
they prove what we’re all founded on, and what we’re all built on. The
man that built upon the rock was safe and secure - he was truly
converted! he had the grace of God in his life! the Lord was his strong
tower. But this other man who was building on the sand, he did not have
the Lord. He merely had some profession of faith; he had some smattering
of religion, probably went to church once in awhile, called himself ‘a
Christian,’ but he didn’t have the grace of God in his soul. And when
the floods and the rain and the wind all combined - his house collapsed.

Now, my friends, this is why God sends trouble upon us all. Why does God
send trouble upon a nation? and in our families? Why does He send
trouble even on the churches? What’s the purpose of all these troubles
that happen in God’s providence? Why doesn’t God spare us these
experiences? Well, the answer is: it is to prove what you and I are made
of! When the trouble comes it separates out men - into ‘these’ and
‘those’. They all seem to be identical before, but when the trouble
comes it sifts everybody out, and that’s why God sends these things.
There must needs be divisions among you, says the New Testament, that
those who are approved may be made manifest (I Corinthians 11,19).
There’s a sifting, sifting process - and so John the Baptist puts it
like this, he says that when Jesus Christ will come His “fan is in His
hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor” (Matthew 3,12). What does
it mean?

He means that the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes will come in such a
manner that His preaching will discriminate between those who are
converted and those who are not! They all appeared to be good before,
but the discriminating preaching of Christ will determine who are God’s
and who are not God’s people! “Then shall ye return,” says Malachi, “and
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth Him not” (Malachi 3,18). And so these trials
and tribulations, they show the instinct of our souls, and if we’re not
Christians the instinct of our soul is not to flee to God in our
troubles: it is to flee to our money, or to something else that we may
think we have to defend us. But the instinct of a man or woman of faith
is to flee to God as his one and only defense when trouble comes.

Listen to the way David puts it when he comes to his famous last words.
Here’s good king David dying, and his famous last words: “Although my
house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (2 Samuel 23,5). “The
righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (text).

Psalm 91, which David probably wrote, “He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”
(Psalm 91,1).

Listen to the apostle Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him”
(2 Timothy 1,12). What’s that? It’s his soul. It’s his salvation. It’s
his eternal wellbeing. My friends, it’s the soul that matters. Jesus
Christ makes it very clear in the reading I gave you from Matthew 10:
“Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell”
(Matthew 10,28). You can imagine some little modern preacher in some
churches you know and writing in a magazine they would say, ‘Oh that’s
far too strong. That’s not very kind. Why did this Son of God talk about
hell? We mustn’t talk about that. It’s a forbidden subject. We’re not to
talk about anything so serious and terrible as that. You’ll upset the
people! You won’t send them home ‘with a spring in their step’. If you
talk about hell like that they’ll never come back!’

But Jesus Christ loved the souls of men too well to conceal the truth:
“Fear Him who hath power both to destroy body and soul in hell.” They’re
not my words - they’re the words of the Eternal Son of God. Now why did
He put it like that? Well, to remind us that all the troubles that
affect our bodies are nothing. It’s our soul that matters! It’s to get
our soul to heaven through Christ that matters!

My friend, we’re being shown here something by Christ, and in this text,
which is of extreme importance in the Christian. Let me put it like
this: always do what is right, and leave all the consequences to God.
Now that’s not the wisdom which everybody has. Some people start to talk
like this: they say, Well, if I do this, then that’s sure to happen, and
if I do that I’m going to lose friends, I’m going to lose relations, I’m
going to make myself unpopular, I’m going to put myself at disadvantage,
I’ll probably not get on so well in my business, I will lose so many
things in this world. That’s the devil’s logic. Never listen to the
argument from consequences. Consequences belong to God! Do what is
right, always! Aim at the glory of God, always! and leave everything
else to God to work out. That is our duty. And Christ gives us the
perfect example of how to do this duty.

Jesus could have spared Himself all the troubles of the Cross. He had no
need to die. He deliberately died and gave Himself to God to die on the
Cross - because He knew in so doing He was glorifying God and doing His
duty. Do you remember when they came to arrest Him in the Garden of
Gethsemane? Our Lord was there, with His disciples, and along came Judas
with the lanterns, and the sticks, and staves, and so on, and all these
officers came to arrest Christ. And do you remember what our Lord did?
He turned and looked at them - and they all fell backwards! the whole
lot of them. Why did they fall backwards? Well, because He put forth
just a tiny little of His power as the Son of God. Had He put forth any
more power they would have turned to dust, the whole lot of them! And
our Lord could have destroyed His enemies, in an instant! But He didn’t.
Why not? Well, because it was His own wish to glorify God by suffering
the pains of death and of the Cross, for our sakes! And so when He prays
to God He says, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do”
(John 17,4), even though it meant putting Himself in the grave.

So must every Christian put God first. Never mind about the consequences
- leave them to God. Do what is right! and God will see to the rest.
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it,
and he is safe” (text). You will be safe, my friend, if you do what is
right. God will never forsake you if you do what is right. Oh, you may
suffer the loss of this, or the loss of that, or even the loss of your
life! But what’s that? Fear not those who can kill the body! Fear God
who can destroy body and soul in hell. God will take us to glory
forever! But we must do what He requires of us, and we must choose Him,
rather than our own comfort.

So now, as I close, very briefly a word or two of application. In this
day and age in which we’re living, my dear friends, Satan is raging on
every hand - he is raging in the state, he is raging in the church -
because he knows his time is short. He knows his chain is getting
shorter with every passing day. He sees the lake of fire coming towards
him. He sees Christ’s glorious victory over him. He does the more
mischief the closes he gets, therefore, to the Judgment Day. Resist him.
And when you’re troubled by him don’t despair - pour out your soul to
God. Flee to your high tower. It’s rather like this: you know some days
are windy days; maybe yesterday was one of those windy, stormy days -
everything seems to be so difficult. But we know very well it’s not
always going to be like that. Bright, clear days will come again! There
will be fair weather and calm sailing yet again. In times when there is
a storm - hold fast. Enter into your tower till the wrath be overpast.
God will bring comfort and joy to His people again in due season.

But what of those of you here who have no strong tower? If you’re not
converted, if you have not got Christ, you have no strong tower! Where
can you run to when trouble comes? That’s the problem of being a
non-Christian. It might sound very smart to be an atheist, or to be an
unbeliever. It might sound very smart, and very clever, and very modern,
and very up-to-date, but the trouble with being an unbeliever is this:
when trouble comes you have nowhere to flee to! You’ve got no defense!
no strong tower! Oh, my beloved friend, if you’re not a Christian I bid
you this day, Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ! and say to Him: My Lord and
my God! oh, save me in this world! and when trouble comes at any time,
be Thou my dwelling rock to which I ever may resort. Amen.

just dropping by. im going through a break-up & missing my niece. 9-11 makes a year we lost her. its rough right now. i havent forgotten u guys, i promise. i just have 2 be here 4 my family right now. hope all is well. take care & GOD BLESS u all

PLEASE TELL ME SOME HEALTHY FOODS I CAN GET. I WANT MY FAMILY 2 START EATING GOOD AGAIN. U CAN LEAVE THEM ON HERE OR E-MAIL ME @ murphynancy@bellsouth.net. thanks guys. im having a great day exercising. lets keep it goin buddies.

TURN ON UR RADIOS & CRANK THEM UP & LETS GET THIS WEIGHT OFF FOR GOOD!!!!!! LET’S GO BUDDIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey all. just droppin in 2 check on everyone. hope you all are doing great!! i’ve been very busy since school started back. well, on the 11th of sep marks one yr since my niece passed away. so, im not in the greatest moods lately. im tryin 2 get myself motivated again. i hope you guys will help me get back on track. take care & GOD BLESS YOU ALL & YOUR FAMILIES

hi all. how is everyone? ok here. school started back last week, so im hoping 2 have the time 2 get back on here, and get back in shape. hopefully, u guys will help me out, again. i miss all of u so much. things have been crazy around here lately. but, im hoping 2 get back 2 my weight i had before i left here. hope everyone takes care & is safe & sticking 2 ur diets. keep ur heads up & stay strong. “WE CAN AND WILL DO THIS, ALL TOGETHER”. i have so much faith in everyone on this sight & i wish u all the best of luck in everything u do. GOD BLESS U GUYS & YOUR FAMILIES.

thank u all, so much 4 the comments & e-mails. i’ve been really busy, the past few wks. i met a great guy & we’ve been spending all of our time with him. he’s in a metal band & they so ROCK!!!! i love him 2 death. my babies r very happy with him. as 4 my diet, i’ve fallen off. but, im tryin 2 get back on it. i havent gained much weight, though. i hope all is well & doing great. which i know u guys are. keep up the good work!!!!!!!

how is everyone? ok here. i just wanted 2 see how everyone was doing and how this new stuff works.

how’s it going? good here. had a rough night with my son. but, things are lookin up. how has everyone been? great i hope. my friend has joined the site. her name is michelle. anyways gotta go. love ya’ll. oh yeah shake it like a salt shaker guys. come on. get to it. i am. whooo hooo!