How can they escape? .... J.C. Philpot

[Debp]

How can they escape?
J.C. Philpot

"He will keep the feet of His saints."
1 Samuel 2:9

The Lord sees His poor scattered pilgrims
traveling through a valley of tears—journeying
through a waste-howling wilderness—a path
beset with baits, traps, and snares in every
direction.

How can they escape?

Why, the Lord 'keeps their feet'. He carries them
through every rough place—as a tender parent
carries a little child. When about to fall—He
graciously lays His everlasting arms underneath
them. And when tottering and stumbling, and
their feet ready to slip—He mercifully upholds
them from falling altogether.

But do you think that He has not different ways
for different feet? The God of creation has not
made two flowers, nor two leaves upon a tree
alike—and will He cause all His people to walk
in precisely the same path? No. We have . . .
each our path,
each our troubles,
each our trials,
each peculiar traps and snares laid for our feet.

And the wisdom of the all-wise God is shown by His
eyes being in every place—marking the footsteps of
every pilgrim—suiting His remedies to meet their
individual case and necessity—appearing for them
when nobody else could do them any good—watching
so tenderly over them, as though the eyes of His
affection were bent on one individual—and carefully
noting the goings of each, as though all the powers
of the Godhead were concentrated on that one
person to keep him from harm!

 

[Karl Peters]

Yes of course!

He guides our steps but that does not mean that we each step in the same step the other person before us took. And this actually becomes a very important thing to realize, because pastors and preachers leaning on their own understanding (and they often do) can cause much trouble by advising people to walk in the path they did instead of the path the Lord asks them personally to take.

I personally know of one marriage that was ruin in such a way, also another that was put under great strain from that same problem. The situation in both cases cause many problems because a pastor said follow them instead of follow the Lord. Though I believe even in those situations the Lord knew even ahead of time, what was going to happen and had a purpose for letting it happen, much like He let Satan cause Job great problems. The Lord did not destroy Job's life, but He did let Satan do what Satan does, and was able to give a double portion to Job later.

Still - are we to tell people to follow us or God? And are we to tell others to go our way as opposed to going the way the Lord tells them?

As for me, I say listen to the Lord our God Jesus Christ, and do what He tells you. The steps He will take you on are many and will not be like you expect. I say that because knowing Him means knowing His ways are not your ways. So we have to listen to Him for the steps we are to take. That is the way to avoid

peculiar traps and snares laid for our feet.

 

[Debp]

Yes of course!

He guides our steps but that does not mean that we each step in the same step the other person before us took. And this actually becomes a very important thing to realize, because pastors and preachers leaning on their own understanding (and they often do) can cause much trouble by advising people to walk in the path they did instead of the path the Lord asks them personally to take.

I personally know of one marriage that was ruin in such a way, also another that was put under great strain from that same problem. The situation in both cases cause many problems because a pastor said follow them instead of follow the Lord. Though I believe even in those situations the Lord knew even ahead of time, what was going to happen and had a purpose for letting it happen, much like He let Satan cause Job great problems. The Lord did not destroy Job's life, but He did let Satan do what Satan does, and was able to give a double portion to Job later.

Still - are we to tell people to follow us or God? And are we to tell others to go our way as opposed to going the way the Lord tells them?

As for me, I say listen to the Lord our God Jesus Christ, and do what He tells you. The steps He will take you on are many and will not be like you expect. I say that because knowing Him means knowing His ways are not your ways. So we have to listen to Him for the steps we are to take. That is the way to avoid

J.C. Philpot wrote exactly what you are talking about.....

"But do you think that He has not different ways
for different feet? The God of creation has not
made two flowers, nor two leaves upon a tree
alike—and will He cause all His people to walk
in precisely the same path? No. We have . . .
each our path,
each our troubles,
each our trials,
each peculiar traps and snares laid for our feet.

And the wisdom of the all-wise God is shown by His
eyes being in every place—marking the footsteps of
every pilgrim—suiting His remedies to meet their
individual case and necessity"

 

[Karl Peters]

Does the Lord guide us with His eyes, or by pushing us here or there? Is it not by His voice that He leads us?

Jn 10: 3,4 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Is 30:21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Now the above verses do not mean that He can't set up circumstances, close off and open doors (so to speak) or that He will not use many other things to also help guide us down the road He wants us on. Putting troubles and trials in our way can certainly be to teach, and open and close doors, but we read that He very specifically uses His voice to lead us. His sheep hear His voice, all of them do!

And Wisdom, and name for the Holy Spirit who brings us His words to get us to listen to Him, is closely connected to speaking and not so much with His eyes.

Prov 1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;

Now J.C. Philpot may indeed have known the Lord, and from some of what you write about him, it seems that He did have a relationship with the Lord. But the thing it, we are not supposed to even be lead by J. C. Philpot, or any other person. Note: I am not saying that the Lord does not use other people to help with what He is doing, but I am saying that Jesus Christ is our Lord. We hear from Him, and follow Him, and that by hearing His voice - personally!

So while I do not necessary disagree with:

J.C. Philpot wrote exactly what you are talking about.....

"But do you think that He has not different ways
for different feet? The God of creation has not
made two flowers, nor two leaves upon a tree
alike—and will He cause all His people to walk
in precisely the same path? No. We have . . .
each our path,
each our troubles,
each our trials,
each peculiar traps and snares laid for our feet.

And the wisdom of the all-wise God is shown by His
eyes being in every place—marking the footsteps of
every pilgrim—suiting His remedies to meet their
individual case and necessity"

I would counsel any person to actually seek the Lord our God for themselves!!

And ironically, I do that because the Lord does indeed have different purposes for each of us.

For example there is a story in the Bible where the Lord tells a prophet to go and perform a specific task and the Lord tells that prophet to come right back and not stop anywhere else. Yet another prophet of the Lord decides to make up something to draw that first prophet to come to him, and that first prophet then disobeys what the Lord told him and went to the prophet of the Lord who decided to lie and deceive the first prophet. And as a result it means the death of the first prophet, because he personally did not do what the Lord specifically asked him to do.

1 Kings 13:28 He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey.

The moral of the story, this true story, is that we are not following after other men but rather we follow after the Lord our God and that by hearing His voice and obeying Him ourselves!!

J.C. Philpot would be correct to point out that the Lord has different purposes for each of us, but if that is right then why are we so intent on following the writings of a single man! Should we not be making it about knowing the Lord! He can speak to us, and He can tell us to go and listen as needed, right.

So the Lord has had me helping at a church, but while I have been that the current church He has me go to for over a decade now; still the Lord has taken me to other churches of His at different times, and read writings from different people, as instructed, and had different angels of His minister to me as He also instructs.

Jesus Christ the Lord our God, is indeed our Lord - the One who gives instructions to us, and He needs be listened to and obeyed

 

[Debp]

Now J.C. Philpot may indeed have known the Lord, and from some of what you write about him, it seems that He did have a relationship with the Lord.

A quote from Rev. J.C. Philpot (1802-1869), just to clear up your understanding of him...

"My desire is to exalt the grace of God; to proclaim salvation alone through Jesus Christ; to declare the sinfulness, helplessness and hopelessness of man in a state of nature; to describe the living experience of the children of God in their trials, temptations, sorrows, consolations and blessings." - J. C. Philpot

https://www.theopedia.com/j-c-philpot

 

[Karl Peters]

A quote from Rev. J.C. Philpot (1802-1869), just to clear up your understanding of him...

"My desire is to exalt the grace of God; to proclaim salvation alone through Jesus Christ; to declare the sinfulness, helplessness and hopelessness of man in a state of nature; to describe the living experience of the children of God in their trials, temptations, sorrows, consolations and blessings." - J. C. Philpot

https://www.theopedia.com/j-c-philpot

I don't doubt his desire to exalt the grace of God, but who about you? Are you out to exalt Jesus Christ or Rev J C Philpot??

Are you out to get to know Jesus Christ personally and listen to Him, or you out to get to know about the person Rev J C Philpot??

Do you know that the trials, temptations, sorrows, consolations, and blessing we find even now are design by God to lead us personally to Jesus Christ?

It is not that God cannot use people, and indeed there are many people with various names in my life that God uses, even when they themselves do not know they are being used by God. They have names like "Mom" and "Dad", like "friend" and "relative", and like "pastor" and "preacher", but still we need to be seeking the Lord our God for ourselves, and even to be better used by Him.

So my question to you is: If you write that God has different paths and purposes for each of us, then only quote a single person over and over, is not the message you bring for you personally?

I mean - do you have the same path and purpose as Rev. J D Philpot that you are trying for follow his path and purpose, or should you not seek the Lord for your own self and ask Him what His specific purpose and path is?

For all I know you might be married to Rev J D Philpot, because I have not heard of him before nor do I feel I need to. So perhaps the Lord does have you helping him with the ministry he has, but even then, if he is promoting Jesus Christ and salvation through Him, then is that not what you would also be promoting? And if promoting that, do you not actually need to be seek Jesus Christ and what He has to say to you personally, so that you personally have a quote of your own?

You know that Jesus Christ was given to all of us, so that whoever (you and I) believes in Him will be saved, right? So talk to Him (Jesus Christ) and share with us the things He personally told you. You can then back them up with the Bible or even the writings of J C Philpot, but I would rather your personal testimony about Jesus than Philpot.

Jesus Christ is an awesome person, even the only begotten Son of God who has been placed on the throne of God as the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, so as the Word of God He was given to the world, than whoever believes in Him will be saved. So that if you believe in Him you can talk to Him personally, via His Holy Spirit who comes with His words, the words of God, and talks to us personally. So we can hear from Him personally, right?

And since we hear from Him (and it is written that His sheep hear His voice) we can testify about Him ourselves and pass on things (quotes) that He spoke to us. And in that way others might also come to know and understand about Jesus Christ. Hopefully, that is what Rev J D Philpot was doing, and hopefully that is what you will be doing also. But it requires actually seeking Him for yourself, right?

I hear from the Lord daily. He talks to me and I hear from Him. Often it is instructions, because His plan for me is not that same as others, so I have to listen to Him personally for His instructions, right? And He teaches me, in the things I personally need to know for today. And He has used many people in my life, and even has taken me to well know people who also know Him or their writings, to help teach me. Whether it was those people like Moses, Isaiah, John, and Paul, or some from today who know Him like C S Lewis, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, whom you may also have heard from or not. Still, it was never about them and it was always about Him!

Which explains why the Holy Spirit came to me saying, "We don't use the Lord to preach the Scriptures, we use the Scriptures to preach the Lord!"

Which also would mean that we don't use the Lord to preach Rev J D Philpot, but perhaps a person might be able to use something that he wrote to preach Jesus Christ? Still, a better person to use to testify about Jesus Christ might be yourself, right? Of course to do that you would have to have listened to Him for yourself first!

The most common words that I personally hear from Jesus Christ are, "Karl, I love you.", and that is a great testimony, because if He will tell even me that He loves me, then certainly you can hear that too.

So honestly, I would much rather hear a quote from the Lord from Debp than Rev J D Philpot!!!

It would be more real, more personal, more of a testimony about the living and active Word of God, Jesus Christ!

 

[Debp]

I don't doubt his desire to exalt the grace of God, but who about you? Are you out to exalt Jesus Christ or Rev J C Philpot??

Are you out to get to know Jesus Christ personally and listen to Him, or you out to get to know about the person Rev J C Philpot??

Do you know that the trials, temptations, sorrows, consolations, and blessing we find even now are design by God to lead us personally to Jesus Christ?

It is not that God cannot use people, and indeed there are many people with various names in my life that God uses, even when they themselves do not know they are being used by God. They have names like "Mom" and "Dad", like "friend" and "relative", and like "pastor" and "preacher", but still we need to be seeking the Lord our God for ourselves, and even to be better used by Him.

So my question to you is: If you write that God has different paths and purposes for each of us, then only quote a single person over and over, is not the message you bring for you personally?

I mean - do you have the same path and purpose as Rev. J D Philpot that you are trying for follow his path and purpose, or should you not seek the Lord for your own self and ask Him what His specific purpose and path is?

For all I know you might be married to Rev J D Philpot, because I have not heard of him before nor do I feel I need to. So perhaps the Lord does have you helping him with the ministry he has, but even then, if he is promoting Jesus Christ and salvation through Him, then is that not what you would also be promoting? And if promoting that, do you not actually need to be seek Jesus Christ and what He has to say to you personally, so that you personally have a quote of your own?

You know that Jesus Christ was given to all of us, so that whoever (you and I) believes in Him will be saved, right? So talk to Him (Jesus Christ) and share with us the things He personally told you. You can then back them up with the Bible or even the writings of J C Philpot, but I would rather your personal testimony about Jesus than Philpot.

Jesus Christ is an awesome person, even the only begotten Son of God who has been placed on the throne of God as the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, so as the Word of God He was given to the world, than whoever believes in Him will be saved. So that if you believe in Him you can talk to Him personally, via His Holy Spirit who comes with His words, the words of God, and talks to us personally. So we can hear from Him personally, right?

And since we hear from Him (and it is written that His sheep hear His voice) we can testify about Him ourselves and pass on things (quotes) that He spoke to us. And in that way others might also come to know and understand about Jesus Christ. Hopefully, that is what Rev J D Philpot was doing, and hopefully that is what you will be doing also. But it requires actually seeking Him for yourself, right?

I hear from the Lord daily. He talks to me and I hear from Him. Often it is instructions, because His plan for me is not that same as others, so I have to listen to Him personally for His instructions, right? And He teaches me, in the things I personally need to know for today. And He has used many people in my life, and even has taken me to well know people who also know Him or their writings, to help teach me. Whether it was those people like Moses, Isaiah, John, and Paul, or some from today who know Him like C S Lewis, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, whom you may also have heard from or not. Still, it was never about them and it was always about Him!

Which explains why the Holy Spirit came to me saying, "We don't use the Lord to preach the Scriptures, we use the Scriptures to preach the Lord!"

Which also would mean that we don't use the Lord to preach Rev J D Philpot, but perhaps a person might be able to use something that he wrote to preach Jesus Christ? Still, a better person to use to testify about Jesus Christ might be yourself, right? Of course to do that you would have to have listened to Him for yourself first!

The most common words that I personally hear from Jesus Christ are, "Karl, I love you.", and that is a great testimony, because if He will tell even me that He loves me, then certainly you can hear that too.

So honestly, I would much rather hear a quote from the Lord from Debp than Rev J D Philpot!!!

It would be more real, more personal, more of a testimony about the living and active Word of God, Jesus Christ!

I follow the Lord only and don't feel the need to justify myself to you. I simply posted a devotional.

Philpot was born in 1802 and died in 1869 so I don't think I'm married to him. :)

I'm surprised you haven't heard of him. I also like Charles Spurgeon's devotionals.

 

[Karl Peters]

I follow the Lord only and don't feel the need to justify myself to you. I simply posted a devotional.

Philpot was born in 1802 and died in 1869 so I don't think I'm married to him. :)

I'm surprised you haven't heard of him. I also like Charles Spurgeon's devotionals.

I like the original posts, and the other afterwards were ok, except that they were just quotes from the same person and not you or the Lord talking to you??

And what makes you think I don't know about Charles Spurgeon? The Lord asked me to open and run a Christian bookstore for Him for a couple of years before having me give it to a pastor to run in his church. The point is; that like you first suggested the Lord has us all doing different things, and that by listening to Him. Which seems to go fine with your original post, but that does not go with quoting the same person (except for our Lord Jesus Christ) over and over and over. That is to say that what you practiced on this thread seemed to be contrary to what you wrote!

Could it be that the Lord is trying to point that out to you?

It is written, that as you teach don't you teach yourself?

So it He trying to get you to focus more on Him and His personal instructions to you and perhaps a bit less on following the writings of other people, like Rev. J.C. Philpot?

I know that while I sold many Charles Spurgeon's devotionals in the past, as part of the work the Lord asked me to do, still my real devotional time is actually spent with the Lord personally. Which is to say that Him and I we talk, and He tells me many interesting things like:

KNOWLEDGE IS ALL THOSE LITTLE FACT, FIGURES, AND THINGS THAT YOU LEARN. SOME PEOPLE CONFUSE KNOWLEDGE FOR WISDOM – FOR EXAMPLE; PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO MANIPULATE PEOPLE AND THINK THAT IS WISDOM. WISDOM IS THE SAYINGS AND SUCH THAT I GIVE YOU. ALL TRUE WISDOM HELPS GIVE YOU UNDERSTANDING, AND UNDERSTANDING IS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT I AM GOD AND I AM RUNNING THE SHOW.

So it is that many people claiming to tell you about God are really trying to tell you how good they are at writing a devotional, but what we really want to do is actually turn people to the Lord to have devotional time with Him personally!! Then you can share with us what He told you personally. After all, we all know in part and I'd like to hear the part that He is given you personally, and if you want to throw in a quote from another person, ok, but you are the person posting so we should hear from you, right?

I mean, like in the OP, he has a purpose for you specifically and you are then important to hear from.

 

[Debp]

Wow, I never thought posting a few good devotionals that I ran across recently would turn into such a tirade. Especially since this is the forum to post such writings.

Have a pleasant day sir. :)

 

[Karl Peters]

Wow, I never thought posting a few good devotionals that I ran across recently would turn into such a tirade. Especially since this is the forum to post such writings.

Have a pleasant day sir. :)

"Tirade"?

The OP about God giving people different purposes is very good. I have noted that already. In fact it is very very important to understand the importance of that realization!! If I didn't make that clear, understand that is a very important thing to be made clear. The Lord, He made all things and so each of us were made with a purpose.

And if we indeed know Him we know that He does not want any to perish! Therefore He wants all to come to Him, and one thing His sheep all have in common is that they hear His voice!!! But not everyone hears His voice, and fewer still hear His voice on that very important day called "Today"!!

Now I hear Him, and He has told me to specifically preach the Word, but not as it is so often preached today. He told me to preach that He is the Word of God. And He explained it to mean that means we are to listen to Him/ hear His voice Today!

So it was that I wrote in my "Tirade" (if you are to think like Debo) :

So it is that many people claiming to tell you about God are really trying to tell you how good they are at writing a devotional, but what we really want to do is actually turn people to the Lord to have devotional time with Him personally!!

So was that not clear enough? Of what?

It means that while I don't mind reading someone write about other people's time with God, I much prefer that they tell us about their time with God - and the reason for that is that I want people hearing from Him personally. Yet I hardly see that the "Christian Forum", and how can that be, since His sheep are supposed to be hearing His voice?

Again, I liked the OP and the quote from J.C. Philpot. Even the other quotes from J.C. Philpot on the thread are nice, but what about the quotes from Debp?

The point I am making is that shouldn't our devotional time with our Lord be personal?????

I got up this morning and was walking towards the chair I sit down and prayer the Lord's prayer plus some other things, and then make it about listening to Him. On the way to the chair a spirit told me, "Why are you against my people?" I thought is was the Lord, but I think I am one of His people, so I tested the spirit. To do that I use a couple of test that are in the Bible, 1 Cor 12:3 and 1 Jn 4:1-3, so I asked that spirit to tell me Jesus Christ is his Lord and that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Honestly, I was expecting to get a positive confirmation, which would have had me asking more questions about what I heard, but that spirit told me, "I can't tell you that". It had been a lying spirit.

So I made my way to that chair, prayed the Lord's prayer plus some other things, and asked "Jesus Christ, what to you have to tell me?"

You know, or at least should know, that Jesus Christ is the manna/bread that comes down out of heaven. And if you ask God for bread you don't get something bad. He responded by simply asking me, "Karl, what do you think"? And then we began to spend some personal time together! He had me pick up a book a friend of mine had written. I seriously doubt that friend who wrote that book will ever be famous. He will be luck to sell his book, but people should get them, because he really does hear from the Lord. He works in the healing ministries around the church. God does miracles around him on a regular bases. Still, what I read in his book was even better than the quotes from J. C Philpot, in my opinion, because he was telling people to seek the Lord for themselves!!

Now I kind of think J C Philpot, was kind of doing the same thing, it is just not as clear. Now I had actually not read my friends book, except a couple of pages. So this morning, when I read it some more because the Lord asked me, I notice just how much my friend was trying to get people to actually listen to the Lord. Over and over again, in his book, he wrote "Speak these words below out loud to God, Expect to sense a response. (Responses from Gad can be sensed in many ways, which could be hearing, feeling, sensing, a song, seeing smelling, a memory etc) - [now like most every book it has a copy right so perhaps I should tell you his name and I will if anyone wants ask me personally on this forum - but I am not promoting him, and neither is he promoting himself. He promotes the same Lord of lords that I do, Jesus Christ] And that is what we do!!!

We turn people to Jesus Christ!! And while he is correct in pointing out that the Lord might respond in many ways; never-the-less His sheep hear His voice!! Therefore our personal devotional time with the Lord needs to include hearing His voice!! You know, that small voice which can ask you things - things like "Karl, what do you think?"

The Lord is a personal God!! He talks to us personally!! Our devotional time with Him needs to be personal!! And if you indeed know Him, then you have "PERSONAL" testimonies!

And yes we have different purposes, but the work of God is that all should come to know Him!! Have we? Have we really?

I think that Rev. J C Philpot, did, but from what I have read on this thread, I only think so. It is not that clear by what was written that he did. I know my friend who wrote explaining to ask God and expect a response hears from the Lord, because people who know Him do expect a response from God when they ask Him a question! Yet it is very unclear if Debp hears from him, and it is equally unclear with most people posting on this site!

The Lord told me that He was sending me to a people who should listen to Him but they would not be willing to listen to me because they were not willing to listen to Him! He told me that and has me posting on this site. Anyway, I have my purpose and my instructions. I hear Him daily, and again it is back to this forum to try and get people to actually hear from Him. He put a testimony in Jacob, and He will put a testimony about Him in you!!

I tell you, that if you hear from the Lord and do what He asked you will see incredible things happen in your life!! He might have you pray for someone who you had never met to be healed of cancer and then use that prayer and the prayer of other to heal that person. And then he might have you randomly run across them later, find out they were the person you prayed for and got miraculously healed shortly after that. Then the Lord might ask you to go into a healing ministry for five years, and then use that same person to get you into that ministry. So the Lord will use that hearing and obeying Him to heal hundreds of others. Then your friend you prayed for and who the Lord used to accomplish His plan in you, gives you a book he wrote. So that one day the Lord shows you who your friend is trying to get people to seek Jesus Christ and listen to the Lord, just like you are trying to do.

But will they seek the Lord and listen? Will they seek Him and listen to Him even if you use a lot of words to explain it? Will they listen even if a book is written to explain it. Or will the seek Him and listen even if the Lord Himself puts together 66 or 73 books into one book in order to get them to listen to Him??

Maybe all that can just be called a ""Tirade"? Then we can just continue on in our own ways :)