My dear readers,

1. Who rules your spirit?

We are all endowed with natural "temper" from the hand of the Creator. We must not either ignore it or destroy it, but it is both possible and, indeed, necessary to govern it. The question is: How?

Selfish Tantrums: We are living in a society where children control the parents. Corporal punishment is legislated to oblivion, and children rule the roost at home and school. When a child throws a tantrum to have his own way, it is an ultimatum: his way or no way! Everyone must give in to his wishes. Or must they? A child that grows up unchecked will be a menace to everyone; he will not be controlled. Either he gets what he wants or he takes it, but yet he is defenceless, for he has given himself to the devil (Eph 4:27)!

Sinful Tempers: In wartime we vividly recall seeing many of our cities reduced to rubble by enemy bombs. Recalling what they had been, we were shocked at the devastation. Our text gives us a picture of a once fortified city now lying in ruins, without walls, desolate, and defenceless. This is what happens to a man who lacks self-control, who allows his bad temper free reign. He is like a city sacked and plundered! This picture is all too often repeated today. Sinful temper continues to wreck multitudes of lives and homes. Truly, broken-down souls are even more appalling than plundered cities. Man can rebuild a city; only God can remake a broken man.

Salted Tongues: Psychologists may talk of self-control as if this power was in man’s own hands. Unregenerate man impatiently dismisses the call for restraint as an unwarranted restriction of his rights. "But he who has been ‘born of the Spirit,’ and taught ‘to know the plague of his own heart,’ is made to feel that effective self-control is by divine grace, not his own native power" (Bridges). Jesus said, "… Have salt in yourselves…" (Mark 9:50). Salt purges out corrupt dispositions. It leads to seasoned speech and holiness of heart and life. Thus are we able to walk "…in wisdom toward them that are without…" (Col 4:5), and to rule our spirits by the grace of God for the good of all.

2. Watch your image!

How very cryptic is the Hebrew of this proverb! It says:"As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."(Prov 27:19)The rendering of AV gives a good and pregnant meaning (Perowne). It is about self-knowledge.

Reflections: Water was used in the past as a mirror. Looking into that clear, still water, you can see the reflection of your own face, not exact, but near enough to be recognized. As a mirror reflects what you look like physically before the world, so your heart is a reflection of your true character, your thoughts, and your habits, before your fellow men. The heart of one man corresponds with that of another man. It is thus that we are able to judge other men’s hearts by our own. David Thomas calls this the uniformity of soul. It reflects the weighty agreement between the heart of one man and that of another, regardless of race or time. It is like the reflection in the water where face answers to face. We find broad similarities in all human hearts, and this has given the Gospel its universal appeal. Because the heart of man answers to man, the soul of humanity answers to the cry:"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:24).

Revelations: There may be another truth in this proverb. "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."The heart, like water, becomes the medium through which we see one another. What we reveal of ourselves is what our hearts have made us, or rather, what we have made our hearts, that and nothing more. An evil heart can only reveal images that are broken and distorted, where there is nothing generous or genuine. A pure heart must give a true response to both God and man. Our proverb can mean simply: to see yourself truly, look within, not in the mirror. "He that looks into his friend’s heart sees there his own" (Bishop Hall). How deceitful is the heart of man! When the martyr Bradford heard of anyone doing a horrible act, he used to strike his hand upon his breast, and say, "Here is the seed of all that wickedness." Let us ask ourselves who our intimate friends and associates are in this life, for they will most likely be our associates in the next!

3. Jesus never fails!

The chief delight of the devil and his agents in the world is to cause the righteous to go astray. How happy he is when one of Christ’s standard bearers stumbles or falls! This not only proves sin’s hatred of truth, but also sustains the evil plotter in his sin. Yet, they will not succeed (Ps 37:15)!

What Foulness! To do evil is bad enough, but to set out deliberately to lead others into sin is the most villainous thing of all. Sin, especially when it challenges biblical morality, is openly condoned, if not advocated, today. These seducers hate the high standards of believers (Amos 2:12), and take pride in their own liberated opinions (Col 2:18). Not satisfied with sinning themselves, they must incite others, and even use them as the means to their own ends (2 Pet 2:15-19). Thus they have hijacked the education system from kindergarten up (2 Tim 3:1-7). Jesus uttered some of His strongest censures against those who "shall offend one of these little ones" (Matt 5:19; 18:6).

What Foolishness! We call this an infernal attempt, for it comes from the pit of hell and ends in that pit. Their very success proves to be their folly! The trap they set for others recoils on their own heads! They dig that pit, sin by sin, link by link, yard by yard, and all the while they are sinking deeper and deeper into it. We have met with the retributive justice of God before (Prov 26:27). The snare which Balaam and Haman set for others, God turned against them. Wherever the malice of Satan rears its head, there the faithfulness of our Almighty Keeper is at work (Ps 23:5) on the behalf of His own.

What Faithfulness! Yes, these evil doers may succeed for a time, for are not God’s redeemed morally responsible? Does not the battle with sin and temptation continue as long as we are in this body of sin? Otherwise there would be no virtue in obedience and no guilt for transgression. God is faithful and His upright ones shall have their good things in possession. God will bring the fallen one back to the joy of the Father’s house, and to the assurance of heaven yet to be possessed (1 Cor 2:9; 1 Pet 1:4).

You cannot repent too soon, for soon it may be too late.

God bless all readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,

Dr SH Tow, Sr Pastor