Thou shall not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Deu 25:4

 
Our Daily Homily

      Thou shall not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Deu 25:4
     
      "God taketh care of oxen," is Paul's comment on this text; and so God did. These pages are filled with tokens of His thought - for the ass that might not be overtaxed by being set to plough with an ox; for the ass or ox which were to be helped up if they had sunk on the road overpowered with their burdens; or for the bird sitting on her nest. Here the ox, as it went around the monotonous tread of the mill, was to be allowed to take a chance mouthful of corn.
     
      The care for dumb creatures is part of our religious duty. It is one of the elements of religion to think for the dumb creatures, who are not able to speak for themselves, but suffer so patiently the accumulated wrongs heaped on them by man. "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Oh, when will the travail of creation cease! Man's sin has indeed worked woe for the lower orders of creation.
     
      The Apostle used this injunction to remind his converts of the necessity of caring for their spiritual teachers. Some are called to plough, others to thresh; but "he that plougheth should plough in hope; and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope" (1Co 9:10). They that serve the altar should live by the altar; and those who proclaim the Gospel should live of the Gospel.
     
      But there is sweet encouragement here for those who are anxious about their daily bread. God takes care for oxen; will He not for you? Shall the oxen browse on the wolds and pasture-lands, and be nourished to fatness, and will He leave to starve the soul that really trusts and serves Him?
     
      Thou shall rejoice in all the good the Lord thy God hath given unto thee. Deu 26:11(R. V.).
     
      Do not be afraid of joy! There are some who only sip of the sweet draughts which God puts to their lips, afraid of drinking long and deeply. When good things come into their lives, they are always thinking of some bitter make-weight, possibly some impending trouble. This is a mistake. We must be prepared to learn the lessons of dark hours when God sends them; but we need not hesitate to learn those of bright and happy ones, when they, too, are meted out to us. As we give ourselves up to sorrow, we should give ourselves up to joy! As the soul descends into the grave, it should have great joy in its resurrection and ascension! If the soul-planet must travel to a wintry distance, let us hail those halcyon hours when it returns to stand in the summer spheres of joy! In the life of consecration our joy is considerably enhanced by sharing it with our Lord. Just as our burden of care is lightened by rolling it upon Him, in the same proportion our joy will be increased when He is permitted to partake of it.
     
      We cannot always be on the strain. It is not possible to live on one side of our nature without impairing the health of all. David must bring his harp, and play in the presence of the soul, when its fits of depression return. There is necessity that we should cultivate tracks of our soul that lie toward a southern aspect, filling them with flowers, and fruits, and beehives, and things that children love.
     
      Open your heart to joy, when it comes in the morning with jocund voice; by the back-door weeping will steal away. She only came to sojourn for a night.

GOD'S OFFER TO THE NATIONS

GOD'S OFFER TO THE NATIONS

"The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith,
preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all the nations be blessed." Galatians 3:8

Michael Wilcock

GOD has an international view of this world. It is a universal gospel which He places before all the nations alike. It is not one choice for us and another choice for some else; it is not one choice for the Jews and a different one for the Gentiles; it was not one choice before the time of Christ and a different choice afterwards. It is always and in all places the same choice with which God confronts the nations.

Genesis 10 tells us how the single root of humanity began to be divided up into the great nationalities which have existed in our world ever since Babel. The first figure who arises after that event is that of Abraham (Chapter 12). He was the truly international man who began from the great civilisation of the ancient world in the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris and who then travelled across such frontiers as there were in those days and for a time settled in Egypt, at the other end of the civilised world. He thus came to a different nation, people of a different language. He then moved up from Egypt and lived in the land of Canaan, remaining there for many, many years.

All the time, as we are told in Hebrews 11, he was seeking a homeland. Neither Ur, from which he came, nor Egypt, to which he went, nor Canaan, where he ultimately settled, was his homeland: "People who speak as Abraham spoke make it clear that they are seeking a homeland" (Hebrews 11:14). The writer goes on to say that if that was what they meant by a homeland, the opportunity would have come sooner or later for them to go there, to settle down and make it their home. In fact they were desiring a better country than Ur of the Chaldees or Egypt or Canaan. They were looking for their heavenly homeland.

So we suggest that Abraham is the international man. He belongs to all those nations since really, deeper than all of them, his allegiance was to his heavenly home. This is all summed up for us in the verse upon which we now base our study: "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8).

The Blessing that God sets before the Nations

There is one blessing which God holds out to men of every race and colour, creed and culture; it is the blessing of justification. This matter of justifying the nations represents the heart of God for His world. This fact makes us think of evangelism and the world wide spread of the Good News. But of course with Christian missions many other things have accompanied the gospel. All sorts of things have gone on under the umbrella of overseas evangelism, and very rightly so.

Think of the situation of the missionary a hundred and fifty years ago. He went to benighted corners of the globe where he found people who had none of his advantages. He often found folk who had all sorts of needs. They lived in grass huts, they had no medicines, they had no schools. So the missionaries took with them, along with the gospel, all those other benefits which they understood to be part and parcel of Christian civilisation -- and they still do. So we continue to support Christian hospitals, Christian schools and other accompaniments of the gospel, but as we do so we raise problems.

I understand that those past conditions are changing and passing away. Whereas a profound [63/64] spiritual need remains, we can no longer say that we must provide medicine or education or plumbing that at one time seemed to be part and parcel of missionary work, so we have to ask ourselves what it is that those in other lands need. Even when our western benefits are no longer wanted and people will no longer thank us for Christian civilisation's good things, what is there that is still lacking? The answer, of course, is that the great blessing still to be offered is that of justification. People need to be right with God.

The world of the Eighties is so different from the world of a Century ago, but there is still a Third World, there are still needy people, there are millions who go hungry. There are millions who have no earthly hopes or prospects, so that although the situation has changed in some respects Christians rightly are concerned for those who so badly need help. They need food. And we have so much. It is good therefore that modern Christian agencies should respond to their need with handouts.

Looking a bit deeper, however, we realise that it is not just enough to feed the hungry. We must give them the possibility and ability to learn to feed themselves, so the lorry loads of food are followed by lorry loads of agricultural implements which will enable people to fend for themselves. There are Christians who see this as their calling from God and we support them. Nevertheless we must never forget that if those needs did not exist there is still the need for the one great blessing of justification. Men need to be right with God.

Here again, there are Christian people in many parts of the world who point out that the real problem is not just lack of food, but the governments under which they have to live. It is not only the economics that are wrong, they say, but the politics. We therefore in many parts of the Third World find Christians who are greatly exercised about right-wing dictatorships and who see no other way forward than to become left-wing revolutionaries. All over the globe we have this idea of what is called Liberation Theology with Christians exercised as to whether it is right to take up arms against repressive governments who hold down the poor. I do not propose to consider this, but I do know that even if it were right for Christians to get involved in that kind of activity, the fact remains that Galatians 3:8 tells me that God wants to bring people everywhere to something beyond a full belly and political freedom, and that is the blessing of justification. Men need to be made right with God.

If it is right to be concerned for the oppressed, what about the oppressors? Don't they also have spiritual needs? The Christians' business is to utter the prophetic word which speaks to the one on top as well as to the underdog; that which speaks to the right-wing as well as to the left-wing, to the "haves" as well as to the "have nots", challenging them in the name of Christ. That is certainly an area in which perhaps Christians ought to be getting more involved with the world than they have done. The heart of the Christian gospel is still this matter of justification, of whether a man in his spirit is or is not right with God. We must never be deflected from the central message of the gospel that God wants to justify men. We cannot avoid the other issues of our fellow men's needs, but we must always keep in view that the greatest need in God's sight is that the barrier between men and Himself shall be bridged.

Some years ago I ministered at a church in Maidstone in Kent, not far from the North Downs. It never ceased to amaze me that wherever I travelled around in that town, every bend in the road and every crest of a hill brought me within sight of that line of hills. The hills were all around that town down in the valley of the Medway. I could not fail to see them. In the same manner, wherever we move or wherever we look, the main feature of the landscape wherever we go is the need for a man to be right with God. You cannot miss it. When all other needs have been met, this need remains universal.

The Spiritual Sluggard

By Oswald Chambers

      'Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.'
      Hebrews 10:24-25

      We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking one another and of keeping together - both of which require initiative, the initiative of Christ-realization, not of self-realization. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.

      The test of our spirituality comes when we come up against injustice and meanness and ingratitude and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritual sluggards. We want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of retirement. We utilize God for the sake of getting peace and joy, that is, we do not want to realize Jesus Christ, but only our enjoyment of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things are effects and we try to make them causes.

      "I think it meet," said Peter, ". . . to stir you up by putting you in remembrance." It is a most disturbing thing to be smitten in the ribs by some provoker of God, by someone who is full of spiritual activity. Active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work may be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The danger of spiritual sluggishness is that we do not wish to be stirred up, all we want to hear about is spiritual retirement. Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement - "Go tell My brethren . ."

"IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION"

"IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION"

T. Austin-Sparks

IT is important that we should recognise what a great scope and tremendous emphasis the subject of resurrection has in the Word of God. As a principle it is patent or latent, according to the measure of our discernment, from the beginning to the end of the divine revelation of Scripture. Since the fall, all things which are of God have their new beginning and vital value in and by the representative and inclusive resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. [115/116]

Note how much is wrapped up with the divine attestation of Sonship at the resurrection. Not at His birth nor at His death, not at Bethlehem nor at Calvary, was such a specific attestation made, but it was reserved for resurrection. "Declared to be (marked out as) the Son of God with (in) power ... by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). Psalm 2 prefigures the counsel of malignity against the Lord's Anointed. This counsel is put into action to its utmost limit; He is slain. The ultimate issue is the heritage of the nations; the immediate issue in resurrection is a decree (v.7) "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." He is the representative "first born from the dead" of a specific and peculiar kind of sonship.

To this very passage the company of believers in the presence of a further counsel of malignity made their appeal (Acts 4:25) and received at once a further divine acknowledgment; the place was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and there were other triumphant issues. Similarly an effectual testimony was borne at Antioch of Pisidia with this very passage at the centre of the message (Acts 13:33), clearly relating the divine pronouncement to the resurrection. Then again, this particular transcendence of Christ's Sonship above angels and all else has this very passage quoted as its basis in Hebrews 1:5. This is related to the inclusive dominion in the universe of the race in Christ, and also to the dethronement of "the lord of death" (Hebrews 2:5-15).

This signifies where the finger of God makes its emphatic seal, and how God is jealous for a testimony to the resurrection of Christ. So we are able to draw attention to a very vital principle in Christian experience as coming out of the divine truth. Have you ever noticed that even that which has its origin in God, which comes forth from God, which is brought about by a supernatural act of God, has to pass into death in order that by resurrection it may have its supreme divine seal and attestation?

THE Old Testament is full of types of this truth. Reflect upon Isaac alone. He was brought into this world by a miracle. There was no natural ground upon which to account for him (see Romans 4:19). Yet he must die and (as it is said of Abraham's body) he was "as good as dead" when the knife was lifted; but for all time, resurrection is the point of divine emphasis in this story, especially in the vindication of Abraham's faith. Isaac was a type of Christ and, as we have said, although Christ was a miracle in His birth and truly the Son of God incarnate, yet the death prepares the way for a superlative testimony from heaven.

Without tracing this principle, so far as the Word is concerned let us note its application in experience as to ourselves. We are born of God, and are sons in the Son by right of our birth from above; but how true it is that the course of our spiritual life seems to consist of deeper and ever deeper baptisms in death -- His death -- in order that more and more of the power of His resurrection may be known by us and manifested in us. There seem to be cycles or tides of death and life, and while each cycle or tide appears to compass our end more completely or to leave us at a lower ebb than ever, there comes with ever-increasing fullness an uprising of spiritual life and knowledge and power. Thus while death destroys "the old man", we live increasingly by that life, "the new man", which is not human but divine, and upon which -- and upon which alone -- the seal of God rests. This is a deliberate course which God takes with us.

SEE it further in service and work. Is it not true that most, if not all, of the pieces of work raised up by God to fulfil some ministry in His eternal purpose have firstly had every evidence of being God-born, but later have gone down into a time of deep and awful death, seeming disintegration, break-up, loss, until it seemed that nothing would remain? Sometimes this has been by persecution or massacre; sometimes by a series of what we humanly call catastrophies, tragedies, misfortunes. Sometimes the causes are not apparent; they are inside, like some evil thing sapping the very vitals. Sometimes, again, it is an inexplicable arrest and pressure, a paralysis and a deadlock, and it is difficult to know whether it is from within or from without. All we know is that death reigns, or appears so to do. Place this rule alongside of some of the great missions for work abroad or at home, and see how it applies. What is true in the greater is also true in the smaller -- a local fellowship, a Sunday-school class, or some other piece of work. Provided always that the initiation of the work was of Him, that we were put into it by Him and that it has been kept on such lines as are consistent with His mind and purpose, such an experience of death is not an argument that the Lord is not in it, but may be regarded [116/117] as evidence of His concern to put the work ever more fully where His highest attestation can be given.

The Fight of the Faith by T. Austin-Sparks

The Fight of the Faith by T. Austin-Sparks First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazines, 1942-43 Vols. 20-5 through 21-3. Chapter 1 - The Faith  Chapter 2 - The Nature of Sonship  Chapter 3 - The Liberty of Sons  Chapter 4 - Revelation in Relation to Sonship  Chapter 5 - The Mystery of the Gospel

Loving As He

By Rees Howells

      When the Holy Spirit asked me to love every tramp on the road it was not I who really became responsible for them but God. He said, "You do to them what the father did to his prodigal son in the parable." I knew well what that father did; I had preached on it many times! The Lord said, "I died for each one of these, and when you love as I love, you will be willing even to die for them." Only the Holy Spirit could do that. Certainly I could give money to them but he wanted to make intercessions for them. The night after he spoke to me about them, there was a tramp in the meeting in the mission for the first time. Not one had come before this, but now they came, one after another, until at one time there were sixteen, including a family of four. My friend and I helped them, found lodgings and work for them, but then they started coming to my home and the Lord told me I was not to take a place at home that my family would not give them. 

I realised then that the position was going to be tested. It came when my brothers complained that the tramps showed no respect and usually seated themselves in his chair. They also feared that some harm might come to my mother through them. My father knew that if he turned the tramps out, I would walk out that instant and he stood on my side. He said, "You all bring your friends to the house and if Rees has sunk so low that he only has tramps for his friends, they must be free to come too." The test had lasted for months but after this not one tramp came to my home. The test was not between the tramps and my parents but between natural love and spiritual love.

The Time Of Relapse By Oswald Chambers

The Time Of Relapse

By Oswald Chambers

      'Will ye also go away?'
      John 6:67

      A penetrating question. Our Lord's words come home most when He talks in the most simple way. We know Who Jesus is, but in spite of that He says - "Will ye also go away?" We have to maintain a venturing attitude toward Him all the time.

      "From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." They went back from walking with Jesus, not into sin, but they relapsed. Many to-day are spending and being spent in work for Jesus Christ, but they do not walk with Him. The one thing God keeps us to steadily is that we may be one with Jesus Christ. After sanctification the discipline of our spiritual life is along this line. If God gives a clear and emphatic realization to your soul of what He wants, do not try to keep yourself in that relationship by any particular method, but live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live the life with God on any other line than God's line, and that line is absolute devotion to Him. The certainty that I do not know - that is the secret of going with Jesus.

      Peter only saw in Jesus Someone to minister salvation to him and to the world. Our Lord wants us to be yoke-fellows with Him.

      v. 70. Jesus answers the great lack in Peter. We cannot answer for others.

The Christian's choice

(Thomas Sherman, "Divine Breathings; Or, a Pious Soul Thirsting after Christ")

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" Ecclesiastes 1:2

I am frail—and the world is fleeting; but
my soul is immortal—and God is eternal. 

If I choose earthly pleasures—I shall reap nothing but vanity and dissatisfaction. 

If I aim at mammon, the god of this world—then shall I resemble the rich fool, who, for earthly gain, sacrificed his immortal soul; and, in consequence, went to eternal perdition!

But if I choose God for my portion, then mercy and goodness shall follow me while I live—and glory and eternal pleasure shall crown me when I die!

I will therefore now forsake that which I shall soon lose, 
so that I may embrace that which I shall always enjoy!

"You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are eternal pleasures!" Psalm 16:11

Until His image burns itself upon the soul

(J.R. Miller)

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image!" 2 Corinthians 3:18

It is not merely a brief glance now and then, which is here implied; not the turning of the eye toward Him for a few hurried moments in the early morning or in the late evening — but a constant, loving, and reverent beholding of Him through days and years, until His image burns itself upon the soul.

If we thus train the eyes of our heart to look at Christ, we shall be transformed into His image. And even though but little seems to come from our yearnings and struggles after Christ-likeness, God honors the yearning and striving, and while we sit in the shadows of weariness, disheartened with our failures — He carries on the work within us, and with His own hands produces the Divine beauty in our souls!

"We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2

Our own health, wealth, and gratification

(James Smith, "Gleams of Grace" 1860)

By nature, every man is nothing but a mass of selfishness, seeking self-gratification in a variety of ways!

The less we indulge SELF, the better. Selfishness is . . .
  the bane of our happiness,
  a bar to our usefulness, and
  renders us unlovely to both God and others.

One of the most beautiful traits in the character of our Lord and Savior, was His unselfishness. He never seemed to please Himself, or consult His own ease. He was everyone's servant, and everyone's friend. Through His whole life, His own testimony was illustrated, "The Son of Man did not come to be served — but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

We are naturally selfish, and seek our own health, wealth, and gratification, as our grand end. Selfishness clings to us, and appears more or less in our whole conduct.

But the gospel calls for self-denial, and bids us take up our cross, and follow our self-denying Master. The gospel requires dedication to God, that we may live to Him and for Him; and it directs us to seek the good of others — of all that are around us.What the gospel requires — true grace produces; and it will struggle and fight with all our selfish principles until it prevails.

We have lived long enough for ourselves! Would not we be more happy, and profitable to others — if we were less selfish, and more thoroughly imbued with the self-denying spirit of Christ?

Do we not live too much to ourselves? Do we not think too much of our own comfort, and pleasure, and ease?

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:3-5

Pull Yourself Together

By Oswald Chambers

      'Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.'
      Romans 6:13-22

      I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I can not make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Have I faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made a perfect Atonement, am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The great need is not to do things, but to believe things. The Redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith upon it. If I construct my faith on my experience, I produce that most unscriptural type, an isolated life, my eyes fixed on my own whiteness. Beware of the piety that has no pre-supposition in the Atonement of the Lord. It is of no use for anything but a sequestered life; it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every type of experience by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the pre-supposition of the Atonement.

      The Atonement of Jesus has to work out in practical, unobtrusive ways in my life. Every time I obey, absolute Deity is on my side, so that the grace of God and natural obedience coincide. Obedience means that I have banked everything on the Atonement, and my obedience is met immediately by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.

AUTHORITY IN PREACHING

By A.W. Tozer

       Because we are Christians who believe the inspired Word of God and because we believe that the Holy Spirit is the abiding third person of the Trinity, there should be more divine authority in our preaching ministries. A preacher of this gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ should have the authority of God upon him, so that he makes the people responsible to listen to him. When they will not listen to him, they are accountable to God for turning away from the divine Word. 

A preacher under God's unction should reign from his pulpit as a king from his throne. He should not reign by law or by regulation or by man's authority. He ought to reign by moral ascendancy! The divine authority is missing from many pulpits. We have "tabby cats" with their claws carefully trimmed in the seminary, so they can paw over the congregations and never scratch them at all! The Holy Spirit will sharpen the arrows of the man of God who preaches the whole counsel of God!

And I will put my spirit within you

By A.B. Simpson

      This state spoken of by Ezekiel is much more than a new heart. It is a heart filled with the Holy Spirit, the Divine Spirit, the power that causes us to walk in God's commandments. This is the greatest crisis that comes to a Christian: when into the spirit that was renewed in conversion, God Himself comes to dwell, to make it His abiding place, and to hold it by His mighty power in holiness and righteousness. 

After this occurs, one would suppose that we would be lifted up into a much more hopeful and exuberant spirit, but the prophet gives a very different picture. He says when this comes to pass we shall loathe ourselves in our own eyes. The revelation of God conveys a profound sense of our own nothingness and worthlessness and lays us on our face in the dust in self-denial. The incoming of the Holy Spirit displaces self and disgraces self forever. The highest holiness is to walk in self-renunciation.

Our chief standard of holy living

(J. C. Ryle, "Looking Unto Jesus!")

"Looking unto Jesus." Hebrews 12:2

If we would look rightly to Jesus—we must look daily
at His example, as our chief standard of holy living.
We must all feel, I suspect, and often feel—how hard it
is to live a Christian life, by mere rules and regulations.
Scores of circumstances will continually cross our path,
in which we find it difficult to see the line of duty, and
we become perplexed. Prayer for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, and attention to the practical part of the
Epistles, are, undoubtedly, primary resources. But
surely it would cut many a knot, and solve many a
problem—if we would cultivate the habit of studying
the daily behavior of our Lord Jesus, as recorded in
the four Gospels, and strive to shape our own
behavior by His pattern!

This must have been what our Lord meant when He
said, "I have given you an example—that you should
do as I have done to you." (John 13:15). And this is
what Peter meant, when he wrote, "Leaving you an
example, so that you should follow in His steps."
(1 Peter 2:21). And this is what John meant when
he said, "The one who says he abides in Him, should
walk just as He walked." (1 John 2:6).

Our "look" to Jesus is very imperfect—if we do not
look at His example, and strive to follow it. Let us
cultivate the daily habit of "looking to Christ as our 
pattern," as well as our salvation. We can never look
too steadily at Christ's death and intercession. But
we may easily look too little at the blessed steps of
His most holy life. Let all men see that we love to
follow Him whom we profess to love. "How would
my Master have behaved in my position?" should
be our constant concern.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
 

LIFE'S REPETITIONS

LIFE'S REPETITIONS

Poul Madsen

"Again, on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples;
and he looked upon Jesus as he walked, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." John 1:35-37

THIS passage of Scripture starts with the little word "again". The word speaks of repetition, and life consists of repetitions. We can make them dull and dead, a mere routine, or we can make them wonderful new character builders, because living repetition is what produces perseverance and steadfastness. The manna was repeated day by day throughout almost forty years. The Israelites gathered it again and again, getting up in the morning, going out into the fields, stooping down to the ground and picking it up. Was it just a dull monotony, or was it a daily miracle?

It is true that the Israelites often found it irksome, but that was their own fault. They said, "Is there nothing else than this manna? Must we have it again and again?" Quite often I hear people talking like that. Are we going to a meeting again? Are we going to pray again? Are we going to have another convention? They complain about what is to be "again". It is up to us, however, to make the repetitions of life a means of building up a character of perseverance and strength. Nowadays repetitions are not appreciated, for superficial people cry out for novelty. They do not like the word "again", but always want something different. So it is that believers run here and there, living a shallow life instead of having their characters built up by the daily repetition of the essential things of life. Novelties quite often provide escape from the path of duty. It takes real determination to do the same thing in a new way day after day.

Here was John the Baptist again. He did not seem to be interested in variety, as such. He was centred in God, and therefore he had no need for novelties. He concentrated on the will of God day by day, remaining in the spot where God wanted him to be, content to be in the place which God had appointed for him. John was ready to do things again and again, and yet again. You could always find him in the place of duty, and that is just the place where you can always find God. If you want to meet with God, then remain at the place of your duty. Learn to persevere; learn to do the same thing again and again in a living way. Do not seek after novelties, but live day by day with God and for God in the place of duty.

So it was that John stood "again", presenting us with a picture of a man as God wants man to be; a man of strength, of steady character and [64/65] reliability. In our hearts we know that a person should be like that. Those who are always running after the latest thing can seldom be relied upon. They will often be where they ought not to be; they cannot be found where they are needed in the will of God. They themselves imagine that they are seeking God, but if they seek Him in the wrong place, they should not be surprised if they do not find Him. So often God is to be found in the place of the everyday duties of life.

We may ask what John was doing on that most important day. We know that two days before he had had a wonderful experience, and that was a great day for him when he baptised his Lord and saw the Spirit of God come upon Him. "On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (v.29). That for him was a great day of testimony. Now what would happen on this next day? Would it not be an anticlimax? The days before had been full of the wonderful glory of the Lord, and now, what could he expect today? He could not count on the same experience and yet, in spite of that, he came to the same place again. Why had he done this? Because in true life every day is unique in its own right. Every day links us to the past, and yet every new day offers us something hitherto unknown. Every day we can rightly say, "This is the day of the Lord", and if we face it in that spirit we shall be grateful for the repetitions. This is the day of the Lord, therefore I read my Bible. I have done it a thousand times before, but this day it will be unique. This is the day of the Lord and therefore we meet together. We have done it hundreds of times before and may imagine that we know all about fellowship; nevertheless this time will be unique. This is life for today. So John was on the same spot, not to repeat his yesterday but to live the new day fully for the Lord. John shows us how to redeem time. If we do this, then time gives us something, but if we allow time to pass by in dull repetition, then we not only lose the day but lose something in our own character.

WE do not know what John had done that day until the tenth hour but one thing is certain, he did not just speak of his experiences of yesterday. He had faith enough to keep quiet and to concentrate on the Lord, waiting for what was new and then for what he should speak. John is a wonderful example of little activity but tremendous power; he was never found on the periphery of things but always in their very centre; living hour by hour with God and only speaking and acting out of a new living experience of Christ. So we are told that he looked upon Jesus and then spoke.

Jesus had not repeated His approach of the previous day. Then he had actually come to him, which was wonderful, whereas this day it says that John looked on Him "as he walked". This was a new way, yet John was not disappointed with the Lord for passing by, but only took a fresh look at Him as He did so and then drew attention to Him. He made no demands on the Lord; he did not try to tell Him how to walk; he just took a fresh look at Him and then was able to speak of Him with effective power. What is preaching but this, looking afresh on the Lord and then speaking fresh, warm words about Him? We may even say the same words about Him. It may appear to be only a repetition. We may have spoken about the Lord so often but, if before speaking we have been allowed to see Him in a new way, then there will be power in our words. This is the secret of preaching, to live every day so that the repetitions are ever new, to look afresh on the Lord Jesus, and then to speak. We need no more than that; but we cannot do with less.

Humbling, cheering, sanctifying, restraining

(J. C. Ryle, "The Lord's Supper")

(1) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a "humbling"
effect on the soul. The sight of the bread and wine as
emblems of Christ's body and blood, reminds us how
sinful sin must be—if nothing less than the death of God's
own Son could make satisfaction for it, or redeem us from
its guilt! Never should we be so "clothed with humility,"
as when we receive the Lord's Supper.

(2) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a "cheering"
effect on the soul. The sight of the bread broken, and the
wine poured out—reminds us how full, perfect, and
complete is our salvation! Those vivid emblems remind us
what an enormous price has been paid for our redemption.
They press on us the mighty truth—that believing on Christ,
we have nothing to fear, because a sufficient payment has
been made for our sin debt. The "precious blood of Christ"
answers every charge that can be brought against us. God
can be "just and the one who justifies, those who have
faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).

(3) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a "sanctifying"
effect on the soul. The bread and wine remind us how great
is our debt of gratitude to our Lord, and how thoroughly we
are bound to live for Him who died for our sins. They seem
to say to us, "Remember what Christ has done for you—and
ask yourself whether there is anything too great to do for Him!"

(4) Right reception of the Lord's Supper into hearts, has
a "restraining" effect on the soul. Every time a believer
receives the bread and the wine, he is reminded what a
serious thing it is to be a Christian, and what an obligation
is laid on him to lead a consistent life. Bought with such a
great price, as that which the bread and wine call to his
recollection, ought he not to glorify Christ in body and spirit,
which are His? The man who goes regularly and intelligently
to the Lord's Table finds it increasingly hard to yield to sin
and conform to the world.

Such is a brief account of the benefits which a right-hearted
Christian may expect to receive from the Lord's Supper. In
eating that bread and drinking that cup, such a man will have . . .
  his repentance deepened,
  his faith increased,
  his knowledge enlarged,
  his habit of holy living strengthened.
He will see more clearly what Christ is to him—and what
he is to Christ. He will feel the roots of his soul's spiritual
life watered, and the work of grace in his heart established,
built up, and carried forward. No wonder that a true
Christian finds the Lord's Supper a source of blessing!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Kings in disguise!

(Thomas Watson, "The Great Gain of Godliness")

"They will be Mine!" says the Lord Almighty, "in
the day when I make up My jewels!" Malachi 3:17

What a comfort is this—in respect of our present
poverty! Believers are married to the King of heaven
—and all that is in God is theirs! Though we have no
earthly riches—yet if God is ours and we are His—this
creates joy in the most impoverished condition!

And that which may raise the comfort of the godly
higher, and cause a jubilation of spirit, is that shortly
God will own His people before all the world, and say,
"These are mine!" At present the elect are not known:
"It does not yet appear what we shall be" 1 John 3:2.
The saints are like kings in disguise; but how will
their hearts leap for joy—when God shall pronounce
these words, "These are Mine! The lot of free grace
has fallen upon them! These shall lie forever in the
bosom of My love!"

 

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

THE DIVINE SUMMONS

Abraham 2 - THE DIVINE SUMMONS


By F.B. Meyer


"Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." Genesis 12:1-2.

Whilst Abraham was living quietly in Ur, protesting against the idolatry of his times, with all its attendant evils, and according to tradition, suffering bitter persecution for conscience sake, "The God of glory appeared unto him, and said, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee" (Acts 7:2-3).

This was the first of those marvelous appearances which anticipated the Incarnation; and marked the successive stages of God's manifestation of Himself to men.

When this Divine appearance came we do not know; it may have been in the still and solemn night, or in the evening hour of meditation; or amid the duties of his position: but suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about him, and a visible form appeared in the heart of the glory, and a voice spoke the message of heaven in his ear. Not thus does God now appear to us; and yet it is certain that He still speaks in the silence of the waiting spirit, impressing His will, and saying, "Get thee out." Listen for that voice in the inner shrine of thine heart.

This same voice has often spoken since. It called Elijah from Thisbe, and Amos from Tekoa; Peter from his fishing nets, and Matthew from his tollbooth; Cromwell from his farm in Huntington, and Luther from his cloister at Erfurt. It ever sounds the perpetual summons of God, "Come out from her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues"; "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." Has it not come to you? Strange, if it has not. Yet, if it has, let nothing hinder your obedience; strike your tents, and follow where the God of glory beckons; and in that word COME, understand that He is moving on in front, and that if you would have His companionship, you must follow.


(1) THIS CALL INVOLVED HARDSHIP. -- He was a childless man. He had sufficient for the supply of his needs. He was deeply attached to those who were united to him by the close ties of a common nature. It was no small matter for him to break up his camp, to tear himself from his nearest and dearest, and to start for a land which, as yet, he did not know.

And so must it always be. The summons of God will ever involve a wrench from much that nature holds dear. We must be prepared to take up our cross daily if we would follow where He points the way. Each step of real advance in the Divine life will involve an altar on which some dear fragment of the self life has been offered; or a cairn beneath which some cherished idol has been buried.

It is true that the blessedness which awaits us will more than compensate us for the sacrifices which we may have to make. And the prospect of the future may well allure us forward; but still, when it comes to the point, there is certain anguish as the last link is broken, the last farewell said, and the last look taken of the receding home of past happy years. And this is God's winnowing fan, which clearly separates chaff and wheat. Many cannot endure a test so severe and searching in its demands. Like Pliable, they get out of the slough by the side nearest to their home. Like the young man, they go away sorrowful from the One to whom they had come with haste. Shall this be the case with you? Will you hear the call of God and shrink back from its cost? Count the cost clearly indeed; but, having done so, go forward in the name and by the strength of Him in whom all things are possible and easy and safe. And in doing so you will approve yourself worthy to stand with Christ in the regeneration.

Nothing is more clear than that, in these critical days, God is summoning the whole Church to a great advance, not only in knowledge, and in spiritual experience, but also in the evangelization of the world. Blessed are they who are privileged to have a share in this sublime campaign!


(2) BUT THIS CALL WAS EMINENTLY WISE. -- It was wise for ABRAHAM HIMSELF. Nothing strengthens us so much as isolation and transplantation. Let a young man emigrate, or be put into a responsible position; let him be thrown on his own resources -- and he will develop powers of which there would have been no trace, if he had always lived at home, dependent on others, and surrounded by luxury. Under the wholesome demand his soul will put forth all her native vigor.

But what is true of the natural qualities of the soul is preeminently true of faith. So long as we are quietly at rest amid favorable and undisturbed surroundings, faith sleeps as an undeveloped sinew within us; a thread, a germ, an idea. But when we are pushed out from all these surroundings, with nothing but God to look to, then faith grows suddenly into a cable, a monarch oak, a master principle of the life.

As long as the bird lingers by the nest, it will not know the luxury of flight. As long as the trembling boy holds to the bank, or toes the bottom, he will not learn the ecstasy of battling with the ocean wave. As long as men cling to the material, they cannot appreciate the reality of the promises of God. Abram could never have become Abraham, the father of the faithful, the mighty exemplar of faith, if he had always lived in Ur. No; he must quit his happy home, and journey forth into the untried and unknown, that faith may rise up to all its glorious proportions in his soul.

We shall see Him as He is!

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

"We shall see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2

Then we shall behold Him who died for us, that we might live forevermore; whose matchless love made Him swim through the Red Sea of God's wrath, to make a path in the midst of it for us, by which we might pass safely to our heavenly Canaan. Then we shall see what a glorious one He is, who suffered all this for us! Then shall we be more able to understand, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is.

When we shall fully realize that the waters of wrath which He was plunged into, are the wells of salvation from whence we draw all our joy; that we have received the cup of salvation, in exchange for the cup of wrath which He drank — how will our hearts leap within us, burn with seraphic love, as Heaven resounds with our songs of salvation! 

We shall eternally, without interruption, feast our eyes upon Him — and be ever viewing His glorious perfections! In Him shall we see everything desirable — and nothing but what is desirable. We shall look into the heart of God, and there see the love He bore to us from all eternity, and the love and goodness He will bear to us forevermore.

We who are heirs of God, the great heritage — shall then enter into a full possession of our inheritance; and the Lord will open His treasures of goodness unto us, that our enjoyment may be full. We shall not be stinted to any measure — but the enjoyment shall go as far as our enlarged capacities can reach. We shall be fully satisfied, and perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of divine goodness.

Our love to the Lord, being purified from the dross of self-love, shall be most pure. We will be all love, when we come to the full enjoyment of God in Heaven, by intuitive and experimental knowledge of Him, by full participation in the divine goodness.

The enjoyment of God and the Lamb will be ever fresh and new to us, through the ages of eternity; for we shall drink of living fountains of waters, where new waters are continually springing up in abundance. Our joy shall be pure and unmixed, without any dregs of sorrow; solid and everlasting, without interruption. We shall swim forever in an ocean of joy — where we shall see nothing but joy wherever we turn our eyes. The presence and enjoyment of God and the Lamb will satisfy us with pleasures for evermore; and will afford us everlasting delight!

"You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand!" Psalm 16:11

Thomas Watson choice quotes on HEAVEN

(Thomas Watson)

One hour in Heaven will make us forget all our sorrows! As the sun dries up the water, so one beam of God's glorious face will dry up all our tears!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Heaven is the highest link of the saint's happiness. As there is no intermission in the joys of Heaven — so there shall be no expiration of them. When God has once planted His saints in paradise, He will never transplant them, "they shall be forever with the Lord!"

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

The sea is not so full of water — as the soul of a glorified saint is full of joy. There can be no sorrow in Heaven — as there can be no joy in Hell.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

See how happy are God's saints at their death! They go to a kingdom! They see God's face, which shines ten thousand times brighter than the sun in its meridian glory! They enter eternal glory, which is the quintessence of all delights! 

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

In that Heavenly kingdom, the saints are crowned with perfection! 

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

The desires of the glorified saints are infinitely satisfied! 
There is nothing absent — which they could wish might be enjoyed. 
There is nothing present — which they could wish might be removed. 

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

In Heaven, there is . . .
  knowledge without ignorance,
  holiness without sin,
  beauty without blemish,
  strength without weakness,
  light without darkness,
  riches without poverty,
  ease without pain,
  liberty without restraint,
  rest without labor,
  joy without sorrow,
  love without hatred,
  plenty without excess,
  honor without disgrace,
  health without sickness,
  peace without end,
  contentment without cessation!
Oh, the happiness of those who die to the Lord!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Heaven will make amends for all! 

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

"He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them! He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away! He who sits on the throne said: Behold, I am making all things new!" Revelation 21:3-5