Because of the Blood of the Lamb

By T. Austin-Sparks


      (A Message as Spoken)

      Reading: Zechariah 3:1-10; Revelation 12:1-12.

      "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death." (R.V.)

One clause of that verse sums up everything else and is sufficient - "because of the blood of the Lamb."

The Travail for the Man-Child

Now first of all, beloved, I want to gather together several things which I believe represent the significance of that statement, that to which the statement belongs. I am one of those who believe (I do not ask you to believe it because I do, but that you will go to the Lord with open hearts about it) that the man-child of this chapter represents a company of the Lord's people at the end-time who, in a peculiar way, stand in the fullness of the virtue and power of the Blood of the Lord Jesus; and, as we have often said, we believe that it is that people, that company, the man-child, that God in a special way is seeking to secure for Himself at this time; the thing which, in the midst of other things, He is peculiarly, particularly concerned to bring into being. It is a company called into a peculiar relationship to the Lord Himself for the fulfilment of a priestly ministry in relation to the universal kingdom of our God and His Christ - and I use the word "universal" there with care; not just an earthly aspect of that kingdom, but also the heavenly aspect. We must understand that there are two sides to the kingdom; there is the earthly side and there is the heavenly side. There will be those who are in the earthly side who will not be in the heavenly side, but there will not be any in the heavenly side who are not in the earthly side. Get the heavenly side and you get both. This particular company, the man-child company, is, in the purpose of God, to be brought into relation to Him for the fulfilment of a priestly ministry in relation to the universal kingdom of our God and His Christ; a priestly ministry, in relation to the kingdom and the throne, the universal sovereignty of the Lord Jesus; an administrative instrument in heaven, to rule with Him, from the heavens, the whole range of His dominion.

Let us call to mind an Old Testament illustration of this in the person of Samuel. You will remember that the birth of Samuel was impossible of realisation along the ordinary line of nature, but his mother Hannah entered into a spiritual travail concerning him. While in that spiritual travail, while before the Lord in strong crying and tears for this man-child, the other wife of her husband laughed at her, sneered at her, looked down upon her. She had children, Hannah had none, and was despised; and then by a special intervention and act of God that spiritual travail was answered and Samuel was born. Born, on the one hand, out of travail in her soul, on the other hand, born out of a direct act of God in His Divine intervention when man was helpless, and nature was impotent. When Samuel was weaned he was presented in the Temple and we read that "Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod," - the priest's garment. You see the stages; he - you might say from birth, from infancy, without a lapse of years - immediately came into a priestly office. He was designed for that, brought into being for that, the travail was unto that. We have noticed that it says of Hannah, that she weaned the child. Speaking of Sarah and Isaac it says "when the child was weaned" - taking its course. Hannah did it as quickly as she could, it did not take its course, she did it to get him into this priestly ministry as soon as could be. So that his very life from its beginning was marked by this priestly ministry, and it was in relation to the throne and the kingdom - Samuel was the king-anointer, Samuel brought in the great king. His priestly ministry was in relation to the kingdom. He was the embodiment of that great phrase "kingdom and priests unto God."

Jesus and Zacchaeus

Come O South Wind

Evening And Morning: 4 

By George H. Warnock


      "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits." The same old wind going through its various circuits! Yes, but not really so. It blows in one direction as the north wind. Then it completes the cycle, becomes the south wind, and blows back from whence it started. God's order is first darkness, then light. First chaos, then order. First barrenness, then fruitfulness. First weakness, then power. First death, then life. Never have we heard so much about positive living as we have in the past decade or two, and never has there been so much frustration amongst God's people. We have come to believe, somehow. that anything that speaks of coldness, or barrenness, or fruitlessness is from the Devil and must be strenuously resisted. We are encouraged to reach forth and grasp the glory, and the power, and the victory. and the fruit of the Spirit. The fact is we are negative by nature, and victory is not ours by blindly refusing to acknowledge our own futility, and vainly attempting to arouse some secret potential of our character within. This might have its place in the realm of this world system, but not in the realm of God. God is consistently seeking to bring us to the place where we recognize the utter nothingness and futility of our whole being and way of life by nature, For it is in the full recognition of all that we are in the realm of weakness and failure that we may reach out and grasp hold of the Divine promises. It is only when Jacob is smitten in the place of strength, "in the hollow of his thigh" that he finally submits to defeat, and clings to the angel of God, And it is only in his defeat, and in clinging to the angel after his defeat, that his name is changed from one of weakness to one of POWER WITH GOD.

The North Wind

The north wind will certainly strip us--leaving a veritable picture of frustration and defeat in its wake. What a sorry sight it is to behold the barren fruit trees in the orchard, like so much firewood, with the turning of the seasons and the blowing of the north wind. But we are not too alarmed about it in the realm of Nature--even though we do not like it. Nor should we be too alarmed about it in the realm of the New Creation. We accept the seasons, as periods of Divine provision, and we embrace each winter season as a PROMISE. Each winter is a promise of springtime and life. I mean it is a promise from God's Word. For He hath said, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22).

Therefore the songwriter says, "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out" (Song 4:16). Notice the order once again: first the north wind, and then the south. First the cold, then the heat. First the snow, then the warm rains of spring. "He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?" (Psa. 147:16, 17). It is the blowing of the north wind, But it is still the Word of God. The north wind bringing the snow and ice was because of "his commandment upon the earth." But it was not intended to destroy, but to prepare... to prepare for the day of spring when the south wind would blow and melt the snow and the ice and the frost, and cause the waters to flow in the River of God.

Truth And History

When will the Church of Christ realize that the restoration of Truth is not merely the repetition of history? Truth is certainly related to history, because it is related to mankind. But Truth is eternal in nature. It springs from eternity, proceeds to do a work in time, and culminates back in eternity. As creatures destined for eternity, and possessors of eternal life, we must feed upon the eternal principles of Truth, and not merely upon certain historical facts which are recorded in the Scriptures. It is not enough to see how truth was manifest in the days of Moses, or of Aaron, or of David, or even in the early Church. We certainly receive the Truth as it related to them, but we must follow the Spirit of Truth as He would continue to unfold the glory of Christ in His relation to us today, and our relation to Him in eternity. Therefore, as we look into the inspired records of history, and feed upon the Truth that we discover there, we have no thought in mind of attempting to restore some historical structure of the Kingdom of God as we have known it in the past. Rather we desire that the Lord should bring into being in our own lives, and in the Body of Christ, that structure of the Kingdom which pertains to us here and now, according to our place in the circle of His eternal purpose. Therefore, bearing in mind that we are living in the ends of the ages, we are persuaded that any realm of Christian experience that falls short of the Divine ultimate in our lives or in the Body of Christ, though perhaps having had its place as a temporary expedient, must eventually and very shortly give way to the Divine ultimate. This divine ultimate we must state here and now to be nothing less than full conformity to the image of His Son, where He abides in us in all His fulness, and His Love is PERFECTED in us.

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 1-12

Donald Gee


Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 1
      Donald Gee was an English theologian who helped the A/G's author much of their fundamentals. When the abuses of the "Healing Revivals" came to his attention he wrote a booklet with his thoughts about divine healing. It wasn't too popular in 1952 but i ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 10
      The doctrine that deliverance from sickness, by Divine healing, is provided for in the Atonement is securely based upon a scriptural foundation, but it needs interpreting in the light of the whole of the Word of God. To apply it indiscriminately and blind ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 11
      The Church owes a debt she never can repay to those brave pioneers who have loved not their lives even to the death that it might become established once again as part of the Gospel. And an equal debt is owing to those denominations that have made bold to ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 12
      To relieve the conscience of a quite uncalled-for-sense of failure and inconsistency would be a profound service to many sincere Christians who hold mental and spiritual integrity as of highest importance. If a radical doctrinal position is found to be un ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 2
      Neither can we doubt Paul’s personal desire that such a faithful fellow-labourer should be healed, rather than left behind sick. The apostle’s concern for Epaphroditus in a similar case, and his deep relief when “God had mercy on him” revealed Paul’s love ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 3
      Closer attention to these suggestive facts might throw light on some of our problems of Divine healing when we see those greatly used in healing others unable to get healing for themselves. There need be nothing inconsistent in that when we see deeply eno ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 4
      Let there be confession of all known faults; let there be humble prayer for light on any hindrance to healing that obedience can remove; let faith be strengthened by the promises of the word of God and the testimonies of those Divinely healed; but let all ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 5
      It is perfectly natural in all of us to shun disease and death, and our fears and distaste make us eagerly grasp at a doctrine that offers us immunity. For similar reasons there are many Christians who love the doctrine of what is usually called the “Rapt ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 6
      Did Trophimus call for the Elders of the Church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the Name of the Lord, that he might be raised up from his sickness (James 5:14-15)? If Paul could call for the Elders of the Church at Ephesus to come to him at Mi ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 7
      A gracious promise crowns the instruction in James—“The Lord shall raise him up.” It is unthinkable that such a word could find a place in the New Testament without a blessed fulfillment being a commonplace among Christians. They fell sick like other men— ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 8
      A doctrinal basis for the conception of Divine healing as being unquestionably in the will of God for all has been provided by most Pentecostal denominations in their official statements of faith. It takes the form of the doctrine that Divine healing has ... read more

Trophimus I Left Sick - Part 9
      In the case of Paul’s famous “thorn in the flesh” there was no removal, bout only a satisfying explanation (II Cor. 12:7-9). It was not chastisement, but rather a stern preventative against spiritual failure that would have ruined his further ministry. It ... read more

Manna

  Henry Law

"It is Manna." Exodus 16:15

Food was provided for the chosen tribes, unseen before by human eye, untouched before by human hand. 'They knew not what it was.' Reader! when here the Manna is presented to your view, I hope it comes as a familiar thought. It is faith's way to lay it up in memory's ark, as the rich emblem of Salvation's feast.

Manna has many tongues. But its first sound proclaims, that God is gracious. Mark the occasion of these showers of bread. Hunger pressed sore upon the journeying host, and pressed vile murmurs from their fretful hearts. The deep-toned mutters reached the courts on high. Will the swift lightning check rebellious madness? Oh, no! The Lord is full of pity, and delights in love. He opens heaven to pour down supplies. The supply is a miracle. The miracle is a wreath of combined wonders. Each wonder is a rich display of Jesus, and teaches now, as clearly as it fed of old. Thus God puts on a diadem of grace, and crowns the thankless with most tender mercies.

But goodness in bestowing food is mere candle-grace beside the bright shinings of redemption's gift. They who would see grace in its zenith must trace it in the Gospel-scheme. When the whole family of man, in Adam's loins, stood before God, lost, ruined, and undone—one leprous mass of misery and sin—shameless, tearless, prayerless—mercy took up the song, and promised that a Savior should descend, even an incarnate God! Reader! your heart is rock indeed, if you hear this, and give no praises to Jehovah's grace.

It was all dark around, when this soft shower reached our earth. We read, 'When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the Manna fell upon it.' In like manner, spiritual blindness was the world's thick shroud when Jesus came, distilling blessing from His wings. So when His gentle droppings first touch the sinner's heart, He finds it a black mass of midnight gloom.

When morning came, the dew dissolved and left the Manna obvious to the sight. Thus for a while Jesus lies hidden in the Word, and ordinances, and Gospel-rites, which fall in thick and sparkling abundance around our homes. It is not until the Sun of Righteousness arises, that the real treasure is discerned. Then unsubstantial privileges fade off, and Christ remains the whole of soul-support. Reader! the dew was a fit mantle for this heaven-sent food. But it has neither taste nor vital juice. Just so the means of grace are lovely caskets of the heavenly treasure. But he who would have life must pass beyond them to the Lord Himself.

The Manna was small, and round, and white, and sweet. Each property tells much of Jesus's worth into the ear of faith.

Waiting on the Lord, Hoping in the Lord

 Bob Hoekstra


I will wait on the LORD . . . and I will hope in Him . . . Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! . . . Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD. (Isaiah 8:17; Psalm 27:14; and 31:24)

Living by waiting on the Lord offers another helpful perspective on living by grace. Waiting on the Lord is the same spiritual reality as hoping in the Lord. "I will wait on the LORD . . . and I will hope in Him." Waiting on the Lord is not merely about waiting (that is, allowing time to pass). Rather, it concerns humbly placing our hope and expectations in the Lord God as time is passing. This is what living by grace comprises (looking to the Lord to work on our behalf and within our hearts).

Waiting on the Lord (hoping in the Lord) is a privilege that is appropriate for every area of our lives. Furthermore, wondrous consequences result from hoping in our God. "Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! . . . Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD." When we place our hope in the Lord (waiting for Him to work in our lives and circumstances), He brings us spiritual courage and spiritual empowering within our inner man.

Those who wait on the Lord have a distinctively different destiny than the wicked, than the evildoers. "For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth . . . Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it" (Psalm 37:9, 34). Evildoers (the wicked, who have no interest in the way of salvation) end up cut off. They lose everything that they attempted to accomplish in the developing of their personal earthly kingdoms. They thought they could take over a portion of this world, which belongs to our Creator God. Instead, they lose it all. They are cut off forever from their achievements, as well from the God who made them. On the other hand, those who hope in the Lord inherit all of creation, as well as an eternal relationship with their Creator Redeemer.

Truly, "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him" (Lamentations 3:25). Therefore, let us "hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption" (Psalm 130:7). Yes, let us "hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever" (Psalm 131:3).

My Creator Redeemer, I want to live all my days waiting on You, hoping in You. What growing expectations You give me as I hope in You. I anticipate courage, inner strength, Your abundant goodness, an eternal inheritance, and (above all) an everlasting relationship with You. Praise Your name!

Can You Hear What The Spirit Is Saying?

 Chip Brogden


"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left (Isaiah 30:21)."

God desires to confound us that we may learn to listen to Him. Before we are confounded by the Lord we are dogmatic and sure of what we believe, but now we are not so sure. Before we could hear the Lord and follow His direction, but now we hear little or nothing at all. Before we were sure of our direction and calling, but now we wonder if perhaps we were mistaken. What is happening? The Lord is confounding us. He is teaching us what it means to walk by the Spirit.

What has happened up until now is we have been led by our feelings. Indeed, God uses our feelings to lead us when we are children. But now He desires our faith to grow, and to accomplish this end He will lead us into unfamiliar territory and teach us to listen to Him. Whatever plans or formulas or programs we used to ascertain God's will in days past will be fruitless during this time. We expect the Lord to do such and such, but He does not do so. We expect to feel a certain way, but we no longer have those feelings. We expect to have a certain encounter with God as in days gone by, but God seems to hide His face from us.

Is the Lord indeed hiding Himself? Is He abandoning us to our own way and refusing to speak to us anymore? No indeed, but He wishes us to rely wholly upon Him and not upon our senses and feelings, even if in times past He used our feelings.

With respect to God's Voice and guidance, as a child we learn to listen and God does lead us along as little sheep. He has to tell us every little thing: go here, say this, don't say that, take this course, be still, etc. He will give us such a sense of His Presence as to make us feel as though we are walking on air. His direction is clear and unmistakable. Children cannot be led otherwise.

After awhile, if we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness, we will begin to mature. Now God begins to wean us from the life of feeling and delicious spiritual experiences. Such times occur with less frequency as we grow older. When we ask for guidance it does not come so easily. Now we have to wait, and we are not used to waiting. We begin to wonder where we have gone wrong, and why we don't enjoy the keen sense of His Presence as we did before. Perhaps we will pray more, or become busier in our spiritual disciplines, in an attempt to recapture some of those feelings we used to enjoy, and sometimes we are rewarded with the coveted feeling. Most of the time we are not. No amount of prayer, fasting, or spiritual activity will bring the feelings back. We do not hear the crystal clear Voice of God as we did before.

How easily in days gone by we would declare, "The Lord spoke to me" thus and so; but today we do not so easily make the bold confession. Instead, we wonder why we cannot hear from God. We search our heart to see if there is some unconfessed sin, but our heart does not condemn us. We are at a loss to explain what is happening.

A Christian faced with this situation should realize that children are led by God in a childish way, but as a mature believer the Lord will lead them in a mature way. Over time we are expected to know God's WAYS as well as His WILL. When we know the ways of the Lord we will speak and move in harmony with His Spirit without having to consciously stop and ask for guidance, wait for a warm feeling or tingling sensation, and then proceed.

When we first become aware of spiritual things we are so excited at being able to have a dialogue with God that we tend to expect everything to be audible or unmistakable from that point forward. If we first met God in the fire from heaven, or in the mighty rushing wind, we expect everything to be fire and wind from henceforth. This is simply not the case. When the Lord appears to us in dazzling white, we, like the disciples, attempt to build Him a tabernacle and remain there, but Jesus does not always appear to us with shining face, bathed in light.

Call Upon the Lord

Charles E. Cowman

"And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered" (Joel 2:32).

Why do not I call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down and devise schemes and invent plans? Why not at once roll myself and my burden upon the Lord?

Straightforward is the best runner--why do not I run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for "deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have His royal shall to make it sure.

I need not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word "Whosoever" is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text, and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made so large a promise.

My case is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no business of mine. He who makes the promise will find ways and means of keeping it. It is mine to obey His commands; it is not mine to direct His counsels. I am His servant, not His solicitor. I call upon Him, and He will deliver. --C. H. Spurgeon

BEING AND DOING

Major Ian Thomas


This is divine vocation into which you have been redeemed, as "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that you should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10) can only be fulfilled in the energy and power of the One who indwells you now by His Spirit, as He walked once only in the energy and power of the Father who indwelt Him through the Spirit. Of Himself He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:19), and of you He says, in John 15:5, "Without me you can do nothing."

How much can you do without Him? Nothing!

It is amazing how busy you can be doing nothing! Did you ever find that out? "The flesh everything that you do apart from Him "profiteth nothing" (John 6:63), and there is always the awful possibility, if you do not discover this principle, that you may spend a lifetime in the service of Jesus Christ doing nothing! You would not be the first, and you would not be the last but that, above everything else, we must seek to avoid!

So you discover that the life which you possess as a born-again Christian is of Him, and it is to Him, and every moment that you are here on earth it must be through Him of Him, through Him, to Him all things! "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1).

The Lord Jesus Christ claims the use of your body, your whole being, your complete personality so that as you give yourself to Him through the eternal Spirit, He may give Himself to you through the eternal Spirit, that all your activity as a human being on earth may be His activity in and through you; that every step you take, every word you speak, everything you do, everything you are, may be an expression of the Son of God, in you as man.

If it is of Him and through Him and to Him, where do you come in? You do not! That is just where you go out! That is what Paul meant when he said, "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). The only Person whom God credits with the right to live in you is Jesus Christ; so reckon yourself to be dead to all that you are apart from what He is, and alive unto God only in all that you are because of what He is (Romans 6:1 1).

It is for you to BE it is for Him to DO! Rest fully available to the Saving Life of Christ.

From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.

God's Choice of Instruments (I. Cor. i. 27, 28)

Seth Rees


"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are" Cor. I 27, 28).



Corinth was a city famous for wealth, culture, science, and arts, and infamous for vice. It abounded with philosophers and rhetoriticians. It was a great center of learning; and yet in this first chapter of the epistle which the Holy Ghost had sent to the church at Corinth, He gives expression to these important truths set forth in our text, viz., that God, the great God, has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise. We have in the text a list of persons and things which God chooses for the battles of faith and triumphs of grace.



It may be that you will be surprised tonight to find yourself left out of God's first choice, and yet you have an excellent opportunity to come in if you will. You have your choice -- you can be among the foolish things, or among the despised things, or among the weak things, or among the base things, or among the things that are not at all; for these five things cover all that is expressed here as God's choice of persons and things for the accomplishment of His greatest achievements.



The first in the list is "the foolish things." God has chosen foolish things with which to confound the wise. The Corinthians must have been terribly chagrined and humiliated to find that if they were to serve God and be used of Him they must ignore their culture. Corinth was a sort of modern Boston, and Paul tells them that God holds their culture in derision, and if they serve God they must give it up or at least ignore it and be among the foolish things. This was an awfully hard saying for the Corinthians, but God's Word is settled forever in heaven; when He makes a choice the best thing we can do is to say, "Amen." If God counts us in, it is not wise for us to count ourselves out.



God chooses the foolish things. It must have seemed very foolish to the people of Jericho or the army of God, 600,000 men, to march around Jericho with no weapons but ram's horns! Think of it. What artillery! What cannonading can they do? To the military wiseacres this was worse than nonsense; but still the 600,000 men marched and did nothing but blow ram's horns until the time came to shout, and when they shouted the echo of their shout was answered by the roar and crash of the falling walls of the doomed city. The thing that seemed foolish proved the greatest triumph possible on that occasion. "Foolish things" hath God chosen. It must have seemed very foolish to smart men for Christ to tell twelve disciples to feed five thousand men and possibly fifteen thousand women and children with nothing in sight but five loaves and two fishes. They would have said at Harvard, or Brown, or Yale, or Oxford, that that was all nonsense, but it proved the victory that He intended.



It seemed very foolish for Jesus in choosing disciples to ignore Jerusalem with the Sanhedrin and all its culture. How strange that He ignored Rome; Rome ruled the world, and was in the height of her splendor. The Son of God goes down to the shores of Galilee and gets twelve men, unlearned, hard of heart, with broad, brawny hands accustomed to handling the oar and tugging at nets. Not one of them were educated. What a foolish thing to put them at the head of a movement that was expected to evangelize the world! But, sir, when He had chosen them and fitted them with fire out of the skies, the wisdom of this world was not able to resist the power with which they spake.

Adoption

Robert Murray MCheyne


I desire, my friends, to open up to you shortly the subject of adoption. By nature you are children of Satan; I would here show you how you may be made sons of God: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God"

First, what is the fountain of adoption? In answer to that, I say, it flows from the love of the Father: 'Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will' - Ephesians 1:5. Observe that the only reason why God adopts any one is the good pleasure of His will: 'So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.'—Romans 9:16. I suppose that this congregation may be divided into two parts: the one are the children of Satan; the other, the children of God. Who can tell why you were chosen and not another? It was the good pleasure of His will: 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.'

Ah, my friends, this is a humbling doctrine. There is no difference between us and the children of wrath; some of us were more wicked than they, yet God set His love on us. We were like the prodigal, yet he put on us the best robe. This should humble us in the dust. If there are any here that think they have been chosen because they were better than others; ah! if you think that, you are grossly mistaken.

I would show you a second point, and that is the power by which God brings the children of the wicked one, and makes us children of God. Can we do it ourselves? No; the answer you will find in Matthew 3:9; 'And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.' See also the 4th chapter of Romans, 17th verse: 'God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.' See also Romans 11:23: 'And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.' So you see, dear brethren, that the only power that can bring a child of Satan and make him a child of God, is God himself. God is able to graff them in again. Ah! dear friends, the power is not in creatures. It is not in the power of man - it is not in the power given to ministers; they cannot make you children of God. O my unconverted friends, observe what the power is that can take you out of the family of nature, and put thee among the children: 'How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.' - Jeremiah 3:19. It is God that must put you among the children. You that have been brought up in an ungodly family, God alone can bring you into His family. It is God alone that can do it. There is no power in earth, in heaven, or in hell, that can do it. Adoption is God's bestowment. Look then to him for it.

Towards the LORD my eyes Continually set, And he it is that shall bring forth My feet out of the net. —Psalm 25:15
Set your eyes on God, then wait upon Him.

Nicodemus

By Andrew Bonar

      John 3:1-21 ; 7:50 ; 19:39

      We have three scenes given us in the life of Nicodemus.

      The first is his interview with Christ. How he was awakened we do not know. It is of no consequence when and how it is done, if it is the beginning of the great change. You say, 'I cannot go one step towards Christ till I am born again and feel it.' That is a great mistake, for although the Bible says you must be born again, it nowhere says that you must feel that you are born again.

      But Jesus further said, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.' It is by looking to Christ that new life comes in. 'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

      Did you ever think that these wondrous words, the most magnificent the world has ever heard, were all spoken to one man, in a quiet room? If we were asked to whom was Christ likely to say them, we should conjecture that He would gather together all the angels to teach them another new song. But they were not spoken to angels! Or we conjecture such an assembly as that at Mizpah, the Temple at Jerusalem when it was full, and before the many thousands of Israel He would say -'Hear, O Israel, God so loved the world!'

      But no, brethren, He sat in a quiet room in the village of in the chamber that Martha and Mary had fitted up for His use, and there, alone with Nicodemus, He spoke these never-to-be-forgotten words, which have been more used than any others in the Bible. He did not grudge to say His best things to the poor hungering soul beside Him. He did not grudge to lift His golden vessel filled with living water to the lips of this Pharisee. Is it not good news for you and me? 

Take them all to yourself; empty if you can that vessel into your own soul. You are welcome to all it contains.

      The words sank into the soul of Nicodemus as he went away. I can suppose with what solemn feelings he bade the Master farewell, and walked over the shoulder of the Mount of Olives in the calm still moonlight, thinking deeply on all he had heard.

      In the second scene we can see Nicodemus going about his ordinary business, for a man does not need to leave his work to follow Christ. He must take Christ with him; and religion does not make a man selfish. It rather makes him want to give away all he can.

      I can imagine Nicodemus next day, observing Christ walking with His disciples, going forward and saying to John,

      'I was with your Master last night.'

      'I thought so,' said John. 'We heard some rumour of it at Bethany this morning.'

      'I heard him say strange things. Does He ever say such things to any one else? Did you ever hear Him say that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son?'

      At once John treasured up the words, and when he was writing his Gospel the Holy Ghost said to him, 'Take care, John, that you do not forget these words.' See how joy flows from one heart to another. Nicodemus having received the love of God was the means of communicating it to others.

      It was the great day of the feast. The Sanhedrin or Seventy Elders, seeing the crowds and Jesus speaking to them, ordered officers to go and fetch Him into their presence. Nicodemus was present but did not interfere. He thought it would be another famous opportunity of hearing Him. By and by the door opened--the officers entered with awe-struck faces, but without Christ, exclaiming, 'Never man spake like this Man.'

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE (70 CE)

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE (70 CE)

By Robert Wurtz II


      It is hard to imagine how beautiful and awesome that the Temple actually was in the first century. So many times we think the "upper room" may have been in someones attic, etc. The Temple was quite a site to behold for those who were there. We, some 2000 years later only have the detailed models and 3D animations to go on. Just seeing them is awe inspiring. Although hostility towards the Notzrim (Christians) increased with each passing year, we must remember that the believing Jews and the non-believing Jews were constantly mingling together both in the Temple and in the local synagogues. This is a very important fact! Paul preached in synagogues and Jesus attended synagogue. It was a main part of their identity as Jews and a means with which to express their religion. To loose the Temple would mean the loss of a common meeting place- both for believing Jews and non-believing Jews alike.

What exacerbated the whole problem were the many men who rose up and claimed "Messiah" status in the Zealot leadership (Jewish Freedom Movement). The believing Jews could not follow them and it alienated the believers from their non-believing family members and friends. They were viewed as traitors of Israel. This is the reality of the "sword" that Jesus said he would bring and set family members at enmity with each other (Matthew 10:34).

McClintock and Strong writes... "During the final struggle of the Jews against the Romans, A.D. 70, the Temple was the last scene of the tug of war. The Romans rushed from the Tower of Antonia into the sacred precincts, the halls of which were set on fire by the Jews themselves. It was against the will of Titus that a Roman soldier threw a firebrand into the northern out-buildings of the Temple, which caused the conflagration of the whole structure, although Titus himself endeavored to extinguish the fire (War, 6:4). Josephus remarks," One cannot but wonder at the accuracy of this period thereto relating; for the same month and day were now observed, as I said before, wherein the holy house was burned formerly by the Babylonians. Now the number of years that passed from its first foundation, which was laid by king Solomon, till this its destruction, which happened in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, are collected to be one thousand one hundred and thirty, besides seven months and fifteen days; and from the second building of it, which was done by Haggai in the second year of Cyrus the king, till its destruction under Vespasian there were six hundred and thirty-nine years and forty-five days." The sacred utensils, the golden table of the shew-bread, the book of the law, and the golden candlestick were displayed in the triumph at Rome. Representations of them are still to be seen sculptured in relief on the triumphal arch of Titus." (from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)

Josephus reluctantly describes in detail the atrocities that took place. Everyone ought to read those sobering accounts. People resorted to the most horrific means of survival. Hunger has a way of bringing madness to those who are unrighteousness. The Psalmist once wrote... "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. 28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off."(Psalm 37:25-28)

Famine has often been used as an arrow of God's judgment. And as Matthew Henry once put it... "God is never at a loss for a means with which to punish a wicked people... His quiver is always full."

Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple with it. The city was plowed according to Micah 3. The believing Jews fled to the Mountains of Pella. The Pharisees fled to Yavneh (Yamnia or Jamnia) to begin construction of an academy and forge a whole new "sterilized" Judaism free from all the "min" (minim- heretics) called RABBINIC JUDAISM. The "rebels" fled to Masada where they systematically committed suicide. Rome had built a ramp up the the fortress and when the Jews threw large stones down it... the Romans went into town and got the peoples family members to stand on the front lines. A woman and a few children who had hidden and lived to tell the story. The Sacarii were killed in 73 CE in Egypt. The Saducees were destroyed with the Temple.



In the next lesson, we will look at how the Pharisees took up the cause of the Zealots. The authority of God will soon be placed into the hands of the "Rabbi's" and the Jewish believers as we once knew them would be persecuted almost out of existence.

Some info taken from Funk and Wagnall Encyclopedia 1983. Would recommend the Lumina software for looking at 3D versions of the Temple. Classes can be taken via correspondence from AIHLS on the Temple (2 semesters). Early Christian historians Eusebius and Epiphanius claim that prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 the Jerusalem Christians fled to the Decapolis city of Pella (note also Mark 13:14; Matt 24:15; Lu 21:20-22; cf. 19:43-44 Evidence from Biblical, Historical, Archaeological and Critical Studies J. Julius Scott, Jr. (Web page)).

Unbelief, A Marvel

By J.C. Ryle

      "He marveled at their unbelief." Mark 6:6

      The text which heads this page is a very remarkable one. Of all the expressions in the four Gospels which show that the Lord Jesus Christ was very Man, none perhaps is more startling than this. That He who was born of the Virgin Mary, and had a body like our own, should hunger and thirst, and weep and rejoice, and be weary and suffer pain--all this we can, in some degree, understand. But that He who was truly God as well as truly Man, He "in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," He in whom were, "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," He who "knew what was in man"--that He should "marvel" at anything here below, may well fill us with astonishment! But what says the Scripture? There it is written in plain words, which no ingenuity can explain away, "He marveled at their unbelief."

      In handling this subject, I do not propose for a moment to discuss those deep and mysterious articles of the faith which lie at the foundation of Christianity. If I attempted this, I could add nothing to what masters of theology have already said and should probably leave the subject where I found it, if I did not "darken counsel by words without knowledge." What I wish to do is to say something practical about the general subject of unbelief. It must be an astonishing thing, if even our Lord Jesus Christ marveled at it. It must be an important thing, when we hear and read so much about it in the present day. And I shall try to make a few plain remarks upon it.

      1. Let us consider the nature of unbelief. "What is it?"

      2. Let us inquire why unbelief is so astonishing. "Why did the Lord Jesus marvel at it?"

      1. The nature of unbelief. What is unbelief? The word so translated will be found twelve times in the New Testament and always, so far as I can see, in one signification. In its fullest sense, of course, it only exists in lands where men enjoy the light of revelation. In heathen lands, where there is little known, there can be comparatively little unbelief. It consists in not believing something which God has said--some warning that He gave--some promise that He held out--some advice that He offers--some judgment that He threatens--some message that He sends. In short, to refuse to admit the truth of God's revealed Word, and to live as if we did not think that Word was to be depended on--is the essence of unbelief.

      Unbelief is the oldest of the many spiritual diseases by which fallen human nature is afflicted. It began in the day when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and brought sin into the world. They did not believe what God had told them, would be the consequence of disobedience; and they did believe the Tempter, saying, "You shall not surely die."

      Unbelief ruined millions in the day of Noah's flood: they would not believe the great "preacher of righteousness," when he warned them for a hundred and twenty years to flee from the wrath to come.

      Unbelief slew myriads in the day when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire from heaven. When righteous Lot called on his sons-in-law to escape for their lives, "he seemed as one who mocked." (Gen. 19.14.)

      Unbelief kept Israel wandering forty years in the wilderness, until a whole generation was dead. We are expressly told, "They could not enter in--because of unbelief" (Heb. 3.19.)

      Unbelief brought, finally, destruction on the Church and State of the Jews some fifty years after Christ left the world. They would not believe nor receive Him as the Messiah, but crucified and killed Him. The primary cause why Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple burned, and God's ancient people cast off and scattered over the face of the world--was unbelief.

Oswald Chambers-QUOTE

The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him.  Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L

Wisdom from Oswald Chambers

Spiritual Leprosy

By G. Campbell Morgan


      And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. Leviticus 14:1, 2

Leprosy remains until this hour more or less a mystery to medical science. In the New Year's Honors List a name included was that of Dr. George Turner, now Sir George Turner, whose story is one of splendid heroism and of pathetic interest. In Pretoria he did arduous work among the lepers, and on reaching the age limit gave himself to bacteriological research in the laboratories of this country, inspired by the ambition to find some remedy for the disease. Suddenly he discovered that he had contracted the disease himself, and now for over two years has been working in seclusion toward the same end.

Dr. Gerhard H. A. Hansen, of Bergen, Norway, who died last year, discovered the bacillus of leprosy, which was previously unknown. The exact value of the discovery cannot yet be known, but it is recognized as an important contribution.

These preliminary references are made in order to emphasize the mystery of the disease. It is, to say the least, an interesting fact, to which attention was drawn in The Times in an article on Sir George Turner, that the problem of the remedy for leprosy is an exceedingly difficult one because of the fact that none of the lower animals has yet been found to be capable of contracting the disease.

The Hebrew word for leprosy is derived from a root which means to strike down. It was looked upon as a stroke of God. There was, however, nothing in the law itself to give any ground for the view that it was always such. In the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Leviticus, which contain the law of the leper, leprosy is dealt with on the ground of health, simply as a disease; yet it is quite evident that its mysterious character--its unknown origin and its insidious and resistless progress--made it the fit type or symbol of sin.

Lange graphically describes it as "a speaking picture of sin, and of evil the punishment of sin--the plastic manifestation, the medical phantom, or representation of all the misery of sin."

Jewish expositors of these Scriptures were quite explicit as to their spiritual suggestiveness. In dealing with these particular laws, one of them said, "If a man considers this, he will be humbled and ashamed on account of his sin; since every sin is a leprosy; a spot upon his soul."

The study of the law of the leper has for us a twofold value. Its first teaching has to do with the actual fact of the Divine interest in the physical well-being of men. The general good of humanity was sought by the segregation of the leper. The individual interest was safeguarded in the extreme caution observed in order that no person should thus be cut off from communion with the people unless he were actually leprous. I am not now dealing with that aspect of the teaching of these two chapters. I should, however, like to say so much as this in passing, that in each of these matters we have very much yet to learn. We are a long way behind the Hebrew economy in the recognition of God's interest in the affairs of man's physical well-being, and in the application of the principles to which I have referred--the necessity for the separation of all those in the grip of a disease which constitutes a danger to the community. We are slowly moving toward it, but very slowly. There are some who describe legislation along these lines as grandmotherly. If it be grandmotherly, then may God increase it! We need to learn a good deal also before we arrive at the full realization of the importance of the second of these principles, that there must be strict justice: no person must be cut off from fellowship unless he actually is a peril to society.

"HE OBEYED"

Abraham 3 

By F.B. Meyer


      "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." -- Hebrews 11:8.

Ah, how much there is in those two words! Blessedness in heart, and home, and life; fulfilled promises; mighty opportunities of good -- lie along the narrow, thorn-set path of obedience to the word and will of God. If Abraham had permanently refused obedience to the voice that summoned him to sally forth on his long and lonely pilgrimage, he would have sunk back into the obscurity of an unknown grave in the land of Ur, like many an Eastern sheikh before and since. So does the phosphorescent wave flash for a moment in the wake of the vessel ploughing her way by night through the southern seas; and then it is lost to sight for ever. But, thank God, Abraham obeyed, and in that act laid the foundation-stone of the noble structure of his life.

It may be that some will read these words whose lives have been a disappointment, and a sad surprise; like some young fruit tree, laden in spring with blossom, but which, in the golden autumn stands barren and alone amid the abundant fruitage of the orchard. You have not done what you expected to do. You have not fulfilled the prognostications of your friends. You have failed to realize the early promise of your life. And may not the reason lie in this, that away back in your life, there rang out a command which summoned you to an act of self-sacrifice from which you shrank? And THAT has been your one fatal mistake. The worm at the root of the gourd. The little rot within the timber. The false step, which deflected the life-course from the King's highway into a blind alley.

Would it not be well to ascertain if this be not so, and to hasten back to fulfil even now the long-delayed obedience, supposing it to be possible? Oh, do not think that it is now too late to repair the error of the past; or that the Almighty God will now refuse, on account of your delay, that to which He once summoned you in the young, glad years, which have taken their flight for ever. "He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in goodness and truth." Do not use your long delay as an argument for longer delay, but as a reason for immediate action. "Why tarriest thou?"

Abraham, as the story shows, at first met the call of God with a mingled and partial obedience; and then for long years neglected it entirely. But the door stood still open for him to enter, and that gracious Hand still beckoned him; until he struck his tents, and started to cross the mighty desert with all that owned his sway. It was a partial failure, which is pregnant with invaluable lessons for ourselves.

(1) AT FIRST, THEN, ABRAHAM'S OBEDIENCE WAS ONLY PARTIAL. --HE TOOK TERAH WITH HIM; indeed, it is said that "Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees" (Genesis 11:31). How Terah was induced to leave the land of his choice, and the graves of his dead, where his son Haran slept, we cannot tell. Was Abraham his favorite son, from whom he could not part? Was he dissatisfied with his camping grounds? Or, had he been brought to desire an opportunity of renouncing his idols, and beginning a better life amid healthier surroundings? We do not know. This, at least, is clear, that he was not whole-hearted; nor were his motives unmixed; and his presence in the march had the disastrous effect of slackening Abraham's pace, and of interposing a parenthesis of years in an obedience which, at first, promised so well. Days which break in sunlight are not always bright throughout; mists, born of earth, ascend and veil the sky: but eventually the sun breaks out again, and, for the remaining hours of daylight, shines in a sky unflecked with cloud. It was so with Abraham.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

The Suffering Savior 40: 

By F.W. Krummacher


      At length, to alleviate in some measure the oppression of our hearts, a trait of humanity appears in the exhibition of utter obduracy and cruelty which presents itself to our view, on the road to Mount Calvary. It becomes evident that even beyond the little circle of his disciples, sympathy for the Holy One of Israel still exists! for even tears of sorrow flow on behalf of the severely tried sufferer. But observe that these manifestations of compassionate feeling afford him no consolation, on the contrary, he is induced to refuse, and even reprove them. This surprises and astonishes us; for we here see to what a severe sifting the feelings even of those who wish well to the Savior, are subjected, and how much we may be in danger of imagining that we love him with that love which forms the soul of the new man, while we are still wholly destitute of it.

The road which leads from Jerusalem to Mount Calvary is crowded with people. O that it were so now in a spiritual and ecclesiastical sense, for no other leads to life and salvation! Certainly, those whom we meet with there, are not such as sympathize with Jesus in his sufferings; on the contrary, the number of such is probably very small. But let us rather meet with decided opponents on the way to the cross, than that the road to it should remain solitary and waste. Alas! in the present day, it lies very desolate. Crowds are seen on the way to the idol temples of the world, and the pavilions of the lust of the eye and the flesh. But how few there are whose hearts are accustomed to beat louder when it is said to them, "The passion-week has returned, and we are again preparing for our pilgrimage to Calvary, where the foundations of our eternal redemption are laid." Numbers, I fear, continue to fall a prey to spiritual death. Few of them succumb under acute diseases; the majority die of the wasting disease of complete indifference. With them it has gradually come to such a pass that even that which is the most sublime under heaven fatigues them, and the words, "Church, divine service, and sermon," make them yawn. Unhappy mortals! They know not that in these characteristic features they already bear the brandmarks of impending judgment, and the signs, if not of rejection, yet of the capability of it. Satan even does not seem to think these people worthy of an energetic attack. Like dead trees, they fall to him of themselves, and he finds them in his net before he spreads it.

You, my readers, do not belong to this pitiable race. We still meet you in spirit on the way to Calvary. It is true this is the way to heaven, but beware! it has also its fissures and pits which terminate in endless deserts. We read in Luke 23:27, that a great multitude of people followed Jesus. These were by no means all of them adversaries and bad characters. Many of them only wished to see what would become of him, and therefore took at least a historical interest in his person and his cause. Know, however, that this does not suffice to save us. Take it to heart that your situation is the same as that of these people.

We meet also, in the present day, with not a few, and their number is increasing, who have directed their attention to religion, the Church, and the affairs of the kingdom of God, as others do to politics, the arts, or any other subject. What progress Christianity is making in the world--how the churches are attended in such and such a place--what this or that society is accomplishing--what may be done to promote public worship--how respect for the Articles of Faith is to be increased--what this or that sect believes and teaches--no, even in what sense this or that doctrine is to be apprehended, and the best mode of expressing it--these are the objects for which they interest themselves, after which they inquire, and of which they love to speak. All this is beautiful and praiseworthy; but it may be the case that in the midst of the Holy Land, in which their attention is engaged, they may be ripening for perdition equally with those lamentable beings who have found their element in the steppes of extreme indifference, or the morasses of frivolity.

The Harbinger

Sermon 2: 

By John Newton


      Isaiah 40:3-5 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

The general style of the prophecies is poetical. The inimitable simplicity which characterizes every part of divine revelation, is diversified according to the nature of the subject: and the magnificence and variety of imagery which constitute the life and spirit of poetry, evidently distinguish the style of the Psalms, of Isaiah, and the other poetical books, from that of the historical, even in the common versions. The various rules and properties of Hebrew poetry are not, at this distance of time, certainly known. But the present Bishop of London, in his elegant and instructive lectures on the subject, and in the discourse prefixed to his translation of Isaiah, has fully demonstrated one property. It usually consists either of parallel, or contrasted sentences. The parallel expressions (excepting in the book of Proverbs) are most prevalent. In these the same thought, for substance, expressed in the first member, is repeated, with some difference of phrase, in the following; which, if it enlarges or confirms the import of what went before, seldom varies the idea. Almost any passage I first cast my eye upon, will sufficiently explain my meaning. For instance, in the 59 th chapter of Isaiah,

1: Behold, the LORD 's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; Neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

9: Therefore is judgment far from us, Neither doth justice overtake us; We wait for light, but behold obscurity; For brightness, but we walk in darkness.

So in chapter 55.

2: Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness. So likewise in Psalm 2.

4: He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The LORD shall have them in derision. 5: Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, And vex them in His sore displeasure.

These specimens may suffice for my present purposes. The knowledge of this peculiarity of the poetical idiom, may often save us the trouble of enquiring minutely into the meaning of every single word, when one plain and comprehensive sense arises from a view of the whole passage taken together. This observation applies to the first of the verses in my text. Though it be true that John the Baptist lived for a season retired and unnoticed in a wilderness, and began to preach in the wilderness of Judea, the expression, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, does not merely foretell that circumstance. The verse consists of two parallels. The Prophet, rapt into future times, hears a voice proclaiming the approach of MESSIAH, and this is the majestic language--

In the wilderness prepare ye the way of the LORD ;

Make straight in the desert a high-way for our God.

The wilderness and the desert are the same here, as likewise in chapter 35 where the happy, the sudden, the unexpected effects of His appearance are described -- The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad.

And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom like a rose.

Now to see, by the eye of faith, the glory of the Redeemer in His appearance; to see divine power preparing the way for Him; to enter into the gracious and wonderful design of His Salvation; to acknowledge, admire and adore Him as our God, must afford a pleasure, very different from that which the most excellent music, however well adapted to the words, can possibly give. The latter may be relished by a worldly mind; the former is appropriate, and can only be enjoyed by those who are taught of God.