He that is hanged is accursed of God. Deu 21:23

 
Our Daily Homily





He that is hanged is accursed of God. Deu 21:23 (R. V.)
This law on the Jewish statute-book hastened the awful tragedy of Calvary. No body must be left to rot on the cross on which it had been impaled. The corpse of the malefactor must be taken down at nightfall. But how little did the Pharisees and Scribes realize that the remainder of this verse had so pertinent a reference, and was having so remarkable a fulfillment. The Apostle quotes this verse as giving the inner rationale or meaning of the death of the blessed Lord (Gal 3:13). "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." On Jesus fell the reduplicated curses, that were deserved by the race, and by each.
The curse of the broken law. - " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the Book of the Law." None had kept, all had broken that law. None was righteous, no, not one. Man's lot was cast under Mount Ebal. The race was guilty and silent before the bar of infinite justice. But Jesus, by virtue of His relationship with the entire human family, was able to stand before God charged with that sin, bearing that curse, and put them away forever. There is no barrier, therefore, now to the outflow of God's free grace.

The curse due to individual transgression. - The whole race had broken away from God, and was under the curse; so that each of us shared in the solemn accountability to God, for the whole and for our part. But He became sin for us; cursed, that we might be blessed; cast out, that we might be forever welcomed; naked, that we might be clothed; hungry, that we might feed on His flesh; poor, that we might be enriched; dying, that we might live beyond the range of the curse forevermore.

"In me . . . peace" (John 16:33).

 
Streams in the Desert


     In Me



"In me . . . peace" (John 16:33).


There is a vast difference between happiness and blessedness. Paul had imprisonments and pains, sacrifice and suffering up to the very limit; but in the midst of it all, he was blessed. All the beatitudes came into his heart and life in the midst of those very conditions.

Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one.

He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that some one had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place. He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul.

It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul.

If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty,
The midnight flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart.
--Charles Francis Richardson

"Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matt. vi. 24).

  

Days of Heaven Upon Earth





"Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matt. vi. 24).

He does not say ye cannot very well serve God and mammon, but ye cannot serve two masters at all.

Ye shall be sure to end by serving one. The man who thinks he is serving God a little is deceived; he is not serving God. God will not have his service.

The devil will monopolize him before he gets through. A divided heart loses both worlds. Saul tried it. Balaam tried it. Judas tried it, and they all made a desperate failure. Mary had but one choice.

Paul said: "This one thing I do." "For me to live is Christ." Of such a life God says: "Because he hath set his love upon Me therefore will I deliver him.

I will set him on high because he hath known My name." God takes a peculiar pride in showing His love to the heart that wholly chooses Him. Heaven and earth will fade away before its trust can be disappointed. Have we chosen Him only and given Him all our heart?

Say is it all for Jesus,
As you so often sing?
Is He your Royal Master?
Is He your heart's dear King?

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12

J. C. Philpot - Daily Portions

     





"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12


None but God's people under the teachings of the Spirit know what it is to "work out their own salvation." And all who work out their own salvation will work it out "with fear and trembling.

" For when a man is taught by God to know what he is; when he feels what a deceitful heart he carries in his bosom; when the various snares, temptations, and corruptions by which he is daily encompassed are opened up to him; when he knows and feels what a ruined wretch he is in self, then he begins to fear and tremble lest he should be damned at the last. 

He cannot go recklessly and carelessly on without "making straight paths for his feet," without "examining himself whether he be in the faith." 

And whenever a man's dreadfully deceitful heart is opened up to him; whenever the hollowness of an empty profession is unmasked; whenever he feels how strait is the path, how narrow the way, and how few there are that find it; whenever he is brought to see how easily a man is deceived, and how certainly he must be deceived unless God teach him in a special manner;--whenever a man is brought to this point, to see what a rare thing, what a sacred thing, and what a spiritual thing religion is, that God himself is the author and finisher of it in the conscience, and that a man has no more religion than God is pleased to give him, and cannot work a single grain of it in his own soul; when he stands on this solemn ground, and begins to work out that which God works in, it will always be "with fear and trembling;" with some "fear" lest he be deceived, until God assures him by his own blessed lips that he is not deluded; and "with trembling," as knowing that he stands in the immediate presence of God, and under his heart-searching eye.

A Greater Than Solomon

Sermon 1600 - A Greater Than Solomon

By C.H. Spurgeon


EXCERPT


I have not time to enlarge, and therefore I would have you notice, next, that our Lord Jesus Christ is greater than Solomon in wealth. This was one of the things for which Solomon was noted. He had great treasures: he "made gold to be as stones, and as for silver it was little accounted of," so rich did he become. He had multitudes of servants. I think he had 60,000 hewers in the mountains hewing out stones and wood, so numerous were the workmen he employed. 

His court was magnificent to the last degree. When you read of the victuals that were prepared to feed the court, and of the stately way in which everything was arranged from the stables of the horses upwards to the ivory throne, you feel, like the queen of Sheba, utterly astonished, and say, "The half was not told me." But, oh, when you consider all the wealth of Solomon, what poor stuff it is compared with the riches that are treasured up in Christ Jesus. 

Beloved, He who died upon the cross, and was indebted to a friend for a grave; He who was stripped even to the last rag ere He died; He who possessed no wealth but that of sorrow and sympathy, yet had about Him the power to make many rich, and He has made multitudes rich--rich to all the intents of everlasting bliss; and therefore He must be rich Himself. Is He not rich who enriches millions? Why, our Lord Jesus Christ, even by a word, comforted those that were bowed down. When He stretched out His hand He healed the sick with a touch. There was a wealth about His every movement. He was a full man, full of all that man could desire to be full of; and now, seeing that He has died and risen again, there is in Him a wealth of pardoning love, a wealth of saving power, a wealth of intercessory might before the Father's throne, a wealth of all things by which He enriches the sons of men, and shall enrich them to all eternity.

I want this truth to come home to you: I want you to recognize the riches of Christ, you that are His people; and, in addition, to remember the truth of our hymn--

Since Christ is rich can I be poor?
What can I want besides?

I wish we could learn to reckon what we are by what Christ is. An old man said, "I am very old; I have lost my only son; I am penniless; and, worst of all, I am blind. But," added he, "this does not matter, for Christ is not infirm; Christ is not aged; Christ has all riches; and Christ is not blind; and Christ is mine; and I have all things in Him." 

Could you not get hold of that somehow, brothers and sisters? Will not the Holy Spirit teach you the art of appropriating the Lord Jesus and all that He is and has. If Christ be your representative, why, then you are rich in Him. Go to Him to be enriched. Suppose I were to meet a woman, and I knew her husband to be a very wealthy man, and that he loved her very much, and she were to say to me, "I am dreadfully poor; I do not know where to get raiment and food." "Oh," I should say, "That woman is out of her mind." If she has such a husband, surely she has only to go to him for all that she needs. And what if nothing is invested in her name, yet it is in his name, and they are one, and he will deny her nothing." I should say, "My good woman, you must not talk in that fashion, or I will tell your husband of you." 

Well, I think that I shall have to say the same of you who are so very poor and cast down, and yet are married to Jesus Christ. I shall have to tell your Husband of you, that you bring such complaints against Him, for all things are yours, for ye are Christ's and Christ is God's; wherefore, "lift up the hands that hang down, and confirm the feeble knees"; use the knees of prayer and the hand of faith, and your estate will well content you. Do not think, that you are married to Rehoboam, who will beat you with scorpions, for you are joined to a greater than Solomon. Do not fancy that your heavenly Bridegroom is a beggar. All the wealth of eternity and infinity is His; how can you say that you are poor while all that He has is yours?

Now, thirdly, and very briefly indeed. There was one point about Solomon in which every Israelite rejoiced, namely that he was the prince of peace. His name signifies peace. His father, David, was a great warrior, but Solomon had not to carry on war. His power was such that no one dared to venture upon a conflict with so great and potent a monarch. Every man throughout Israel sat under his vine and figtree, and no man was afraid. No trumpet of invader was heard in the land. Those were halcyon days for Israel when Solomon reigned. 

Ah, but in that matter a greater than Solomon is here; for Solomon could not give his subjects peace of mind, he could not bestow upon them rest of heart, he could not ease them of their burden of guilt, or draw the arrow of conviction from their breast and heal its smart. But I preach to you tonight that blessed divine Man of Sorrows who has wrought out our redemption, and who is greater than Solomon in His peace-giving power. Oh, come and trust Him. Then shall your "peace be as a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." 

Am I addressing one of God's people who is sorely troubled, tumbled up and down in his thoughts? Brother or sister, do not think that you must wait a week or two before you can recover your peace. You can become restful in a moment, for "He is our peace"--even He Himself, and He alone. And, oh, if you will but take Him at once, laying hold upon Him by the hand of faith as your Saviour, this Man shall be the peace even when the Assyrian shall come into the land. There is no peace like the peace which Jesus gives; it is like a river, deep, profound, renewed, ever flowing, overflowing, increasing and widening into an ocean of bliss. "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your heart and mind, through Jesus Christ." Oh, come to Him. Come to Him at this moment. 

Do not remain an hour away from your Noah, or rest, for with Him in the ark your weary wing shall be tired no longer. You shall be safe and restful the moment you return to Him. The fruit of the Spirit is joy. I want you to get that joy and to enter into this peace. Blessed combination, joy and peace! Peace, peace, there is music in the very word: get it from Him who is the Word, and whose voice can still a storm into a calm. A greater than Solomon is here to give you that peace; beat the sword of your inward warfare, into the plow-share of holy service; no longer sound an alarm, but blow up the trumpet of peace in this day of peace.

A fourth thing for which Solomon was noted was his great works. Solomon built the temple; which was one of the seven wonders of the world in its time. A very marvelous building it must have been, but I will not stay to describe it, for time fails us. In addition to this he erected for himself palaces, constructed fortifications, and made aqueducts and great pools to bring streams from the mountains to the various towns. He also founded Palmyra and Baalbed--those cities of the desert--to facilitate his commerce with India, Arabia, and other remote regions. He was a marvelous man. Earth has not seen his like. And yet a greater than Solomon is here, for Christ has brought the living water from the throne of God right down to thirsty men, being Himself the eternal aqueduct through which the heavenly current streams.

Christ has built fortresses and munitions of defense, behind which His children stand secure against the wrath of hell; and He has founded and is daily finishing a wondrous temple, His church, of which His people are the living stones, fashioned, polished, rendered beautiful--a temple which God Himself shall inhabit, for He "dwelleth not in temples made with hands, that is to say, of this building"; but He dwells in a temple which He Himself doth pile, of which Christ is architect and builder, foundation, and chief corner-stone. But Jesus builds for eternity, an everlasting temple, and, when all visible things pass away, and the very ruins of Solomon's temple and Solomon's aqueduct are scarcely to be discerned, what a sight will be seen in that New Jerusalem! 

The twelve courses of its foundations are of precious stones, its walls bedight with diamonds rare, its streets are paved with gold, and its glory surpasses that of the sun. I am but talking figures, poor figures, too; for the glory of the city of God is spiritual, and where shall I find words with which to depict it? There, where the Lamb Himself is the light, and the Lord God Himself doth dwell--there the whole edifice, the entire New Jerusalem--shall be to the praise and the glory of His grace who gave Jesus Christ to be the builder of the house of His glory, of which I hope we shall form a part for ever and ever.

Now, if Christ does such great works, I want you to come to Him, that He may work in you the work of God. That is the point. Come and trust Him at once. Trust Him to build you up. Come and trust Him to bring the living water to your lips. Come and trust Him to make you a temple of the living God. Come, dear child of God, if you have great works to do, come and ask for the power of Christ with which to perform them. Come, you that would leave some memorial to the honor of the divine name, come to Him to teach and strengthen you. He is the wise master-builder; come and be workers together with Christ. Baptize your weakness into His infinite strength, and you shall be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His mind. God help you to do so.

Once more. I draw the parallel upon the fifth point, and I have done with it. Solomon was great as to dominion. The kingdom of the Jews was never anything like the size before or after that Solomon made it. It appears to have extended from the river of Egypt right across the wilderness far up to the Persian Gulf. We can scarcely tell how far Solomon's dominions reached; they are said to have been "from sea to sea, and from the river even unto the ends of the earth." By one mode or another he managed to bring various kings into subjection to him, and he was the greatest monarch that ever swayed the sceptre of Judah. It has all gone now. Poor, feeble Rehoboam dropped from his foolish hands the reins his father held. The kingdom was rent in pieces, the tributary princes found their liberty, and the palmy days of Israel were over. 

On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ at this moment has dominion over all things. God has set Him over all the works of His hands. Ay, tell it out among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. The feet that were nailed to the tree are set upon the necks of His enemies. The hands that bore the nails sway at this moment the sceptre of all words: Jesus is King of kings, and Lord of lords! Hallelujah! Let universal sovereignty be ascribed to the Son of man: to Him who was "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Tell it out, ye saints, for your own comfort. The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof Everything that happens in providence is under His sway still, and the time is coming when a moral and spiritual kingdom will be set up by Him which shall encompass the whole world. It does not look like it, does it? 

"And floods upon the dry ground." Isaiah 44:3

J. C. Philpot - Daily Portions

      

"And floods upon the dry ground." Isaiah 44:3
How often does the soul, born and taught of God, feel that it is this "dry ground!" It would fain be fruitful in every good word and work; it would be adorned with every grace of the Spirit within, and with every good and godly fruit without. 

Let no one think that the child of God is careless or indifferent either as to inward or outward fruit. There is nothing too holy, too heavenly, too spiritual, or too gracious which the child of grace would not desire inwardly to experience and outwardly produce. But he feels that he cannot by any exertion of his own produce this fruitfulness after which he sighs. As well might a barren field convert itself into a fruitful garden without being tilled by human hand or without rain from the sky, as a soul that feels and knows its own barrenness produce by its own exertions a crop of the fruits of righteousness. 

But the Lord that knows the desire of the heart, and its inward mourning over its own barrenness, has given in the text a sweet and gracious promise, "I will pour floods upon the dry ground." A partial shower would not be enough. The dry ground would soon absorb a few drops of summer rain. Floods must come, either from the skies or from the streams of that river which makes glad the city of God, to produce this mighty change. 

These "floods" are the promises poured into the soul, the love of God shed abroad in the heart, the manifestations of Christ and of his atoning blood, the inflowings of grace as superabounding over all the aboundings of sin, and the flowing of peace as a river into the contrite spirit.

"Why the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall: 2 Peter 1:10, 11

EVENING THOUGHTS, or
DAILY WALKING WITH GOD

Octavius Winslow, 1858

"Let my prayer be set forth before you as
 incense; and the lifting up of my hands
 as the evening sacrifice."  Psalm 141:2


"Why the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:10, 11

The doctrine of an assured belief of the pardon of sin, of acceptance in Christ, and of adoption into the family of God, has been, and yet is, regarded by many as an attainment never to be expected in the present life; and when it is expressed, it is viewed with a suspicion unfavorable to the character of the work. But this is contrary to the Divine word, and to the concurrent experience of millions who have lived and died in the full assurance of hope. The doctrine of assurance is a doctrine of undoubted revelation, implied and expressed. That it is enforced as a state of mind essential to the salvation of the believer, we cannot admit; but that it is insisted upon as essential to his comfortable and holy walk, and as greatly involving the glory of God, we must strenuously maintain. Else why these marked references to the doctrine? In Col. 2:1, 2, Paul expresses "great conflict" for the saints, that their "hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding." 

In the Epistle to the Hebrews, 7:11, he says, " We desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end." In chap. 10:22, he exhorts them, "Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." And to crown all, the apostle Peter thus earnestly exhorts, "Why the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." We trust no further proof from the sacred word is required to authenticate the doctrine. It is written as with a sunbeam, "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

It is the duty and the privilege of every believer diligently and prayerfully to seek the sealing of the Spirit. He rests short of his great privilege, if he slights or undervalues this blessing. Do not be satisfied with the faint impression, which you received in conversion. In other words, rest not content with a past experience. 

Many are satisfied with a mere hope that they once passed from death unto life, and with this feeble and, in many cases, doubtful evidence, they are content to pass all their days, and to go down to the grave. Ah, reader, if you are really converted, and your soul is in a healthy, growing, spiritual state, you will want more than this. And especially, too, if you are led into deeper self-knowledge—a more intimate acquaintance with the roughness of the rough way, the straitness of the strait path, you will want a present Christ to lean upon, and to live upon. Past experience will not do for you, save only as it confirms your soul in the faithfulness of God. 

"Forgetting those things that are behind," you will seek a present pardon, a present sense of acceptance; and the daily question, as you near your eternal home, will be, "how do I now stand with God?—is Jesus precious to my soul now?—is He my daily food?—what do I experience of daily visits from and to Him?—do I more and more see my own vileness, emptiness, and poverty, and His righteousness, grace, and fullness?—and should the summons now come, am I ready to depart and to be with Christ?" 

As you value a happy and a holy walk—as you would be jealous for the honor and glory of the Lord—as you wish to be the "salt of the earth," the "light of the world"—to be a savor of Christ in every place—oh, seek the sealing of the Spirit. Rest not short of it—reach after it—press towards it: it is your duty—oh that the duty may be your privilege; then shall you exclaim with an unfaltering tongue, "Abba; Father," "my Lord my God!"

Unexpected Comforters

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons

      

Unexpected Comforters
     
      But a certain Samaritan .... had compassion on him--Luk 10:33
     
      No Help Came from Those He Expected It From
     
      If ever a comforter was unexpected it was in the case of this poor wounded wayfarer. Half-dead though he was, he still had life enough to be surprised. Had the priest hurried to his help that would have been entirely natural. Had the Levite come to his assistance that was what anybody might have looked for. But a Samaritan was the last man in the world to succor a disabled Jew, yet here it was a Samaritan who did it. The Jews and Samaritans despised and distrusted one another. Between them, for long ages, had been religious and racial antipathy. And yet this man who showed such ready kindness was actually a Samaritan. It is a striking and suggestive instance of the unexpected comforters of life.
     
      Paul Received Help from Barbarians on Malta
     
      It is notable how often one discovers this in the biographies of Scripture. One thinks, for instance, of the earliest Christians. If there was one man they were afraid of it was Paul; his very name struck terror to their hearts. They never heard of his approach without dismay, for everywhere he made havoc of the church. And yet this man, whose coming made them tremble, and who lived to persecute and ravage, was to become their mightiest of champions. 

Similarly in Paul's own life, when he was shipwrecked on the coast of Malta, one recalls that very charming touch that "the barbarous people shewed us not a little kindness." Roman citizens were bound to help each other to the very extremities of empire: but here the comforters were the barbarians. Paul was finding what we all find, that comforters are often unexpected, that the folk who are kind to us in hours of shipwreck are the last folk in the world we should have thought of. He was like that traveler going down to Jericho who, to his own intense astonishment, was comforted and helped by a Samaritan.
     
      Receiving Help from Unexpected Sources in Our Own Experience
     
      Now what is true of the biographies of Scripture is also largely true of our own lives. There are few of my readers who have been without experience of the unexpected comforters of life. There are those to whom we look for comfort, and thank God, we generally get it. There is the mother of our childhood, or the father, or the wife or husband, or the friend. But, like the well of Hagar, or the burning bush, or the ladder of the sleeping patriarch, how often are our comforters and helpers the last folk in the world we should expect. 

Sometimes innocent and prattling children, sometimes people whom we hardly know, sometimes those we were jealous of in secret, of whom we never spoke except in bitterness--how they have helped us, poured oil into our wounds, perhaps put their hand into their pockets for us, as the Samaritan did for this sorely battered wayfarer. 

I recall a woman who came to church one evening hoping to get comfort from the pulpit. Well, she did not get it, for that night I was preaching upon sin. But a lady next to her in the pew spoke to her and was wonderfully tender, and that poor wanderer told me afterwards that peace and comfort flowed into her heart. There are unexpected wells in Hagar's desert; there are unexpected comforters in life. They come to us when we never look for them, as the Lord did on the Emmaus road. All of us are like that Jewish traveler, for we all sometimes get oil and wine from the folk we never should have dreamed of.
     
      Help from a Carpenter--One of long Ago So Different from Us
     
      I venture to say that this unexpected ministry finds its crown in our blessed Lord and Savior. It is a strange thing that men should turn for comfort to One who was a Carpenter of Nazareth. A Carpenter! How can He comfort us, when the heart is heavy and the road is long? He was a child of a different race from ours: He lived some nineteen centuries ago. And the strange thing is that countless multitudes still turn to Him for comfort, and find Him the best Comforter of all. Priests disappoint us; Levites disappoint us. This good Samaritan never disappoints us. He comes just where we are (Luk 10:33), and pours oil and wine into our wounds. And He, too, was despised and rejected, and men were very contemptuous of Nazareth, for they said, Can any good come out of Nazareth ?
     
      Help from Unexpected Sources Ought to Dispel Despair
     
      This fact of life on which I have been dwelling ought always to help to keep us from despairing. How readily we say, when people disappoint us, "there is no eye to pity and no arm to save." I think this wounded traveler said that when priest and Levite passed him by. He despaired; there was no help for him; there was no eye to pity and no arm to save. And just then the Samaritan appeared--the unlikeliest person in the world--and comfort was far nearer than he knew. 

Do I speak to any whose hearts are very sore in the bitterness of disappointment? To any who have hoped for help from certain people and, like this wounded traveler, never got it? My dear reader, courage! The oil and wine are nearer than you think, for, and very probably, they are going to come to you from someone of whom you would never dream.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13

J. C. Philpot - Daily Portions

  






For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13


When God has worked in a man "to will," and not only worked in him "to will," but also worked in him "to do;" when he has made him willing to flee from the wrath to come; willing to be saved by the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of Jesus; willing to be saved by sovereign grace as a sinner undone without hope, and glad to be saved in whatever way God is pleased to save him; willing to pass through the fire, to undergo affliction, and to walk in the strait and narrow path, willing to take up the cross and follow Jesus, willing to bear all the troubles which may come upon him, and all the slanders which may be heaped upon his name; when God has made him willing to be nothing, and to have nothing but as God makes him the one, and gives him the other: and besides working in him "to will," has worked in him "to do," worked in him faith to believe, hope whereby he anchors in the finished work of Christ, and love whereby he cleaves to him with purpose of heart; when all this has been "with fear and trembling," not rushing heedlessly on in daring presumption, not buoyed up by the good opinion of others, not taking up his religion from ministers and books; but by a real genuine work of the Holy Ghost in the conscience; when he has thus worked out with fear and trembling what God has worked in, he has got at salvation; at salvation from wrath to come, from the power of sin, from an empty profession; at salvation from the flesh, from the delusions of Satan, from the blindness and ignorance of his own heart; he has got at a salvation which is God's salvation, because God has worked in him to will and to do of his good pleasure.

An Old Lesson In A New Dress, An Allegory

  An Old Lesson In A New Dress, An Allegory  

"Here is a lantern, my little boy,"     Said a father to his child, "And yonder's a wood, a lonely wood,     Tangled, and rough, and wild; And now, this night,--this very hour,     Though gloomy and dark it be, By the single light of this lamp alone,     You must cross the wild to me! "I'll be on the farther side, my son,     So follow the path you see, And at the end of this narrow way,     Awaiting you, I will be!" Thus bidden, the child set out, but soon,     With the gloomy waste ahead, Oppressed with terror and doubt he stopped,     Shaking with fear and dread. "Father!--father!--I cannot see!--     The forest is thick and black, I'm sure there is danger ahead of me,     Please, father, call me back!" But the father's voice through the gloomy wild,     In answering accents said,-- "Just keep in the light of your lamp, my child,     And don't look too far ahead!" Thus cheered, the child pressed trustingly on,     Though trembling much with fear, For around, beyond, and overhead,     The forest was dark and drear, And ever, to keep his courage up,     To himself he softly said,-- "He told me to keep in the light of my lamp,     And not look too far ahead!" At length the other side was gained,     And lo, the father was there! To welcome his child from the dreary wild,     Where darkness and danger were; And, "why did you fear, my son?" he said,     "You had plenty of light, you see, Though it lit but a step at a time, enough     To guide you safely to me! "And besides, I was just ahead in the dark--     Though you did not see me at all-- To be sure that no evil or accident     Should my darling child befall; Then remember, my son, in life's darkest ways     The simple words that I said,-- 'Just keep in the light of your lamp, my child,     And not look too far ahead?'"       - Mrs. J. C. Yule

Thy bondman forever. Deu 15:17

 
Our Daily Homily

      Thy bondman forever. Deu 15:17 (R. V.)
     
      This is what we desire to be to Christ. We have forfeited our own natural inheritance, and have taken refuge in His house. For six years we have enjoyed all that Jesus could do to make us happy; has not the time come when we should say to Him, "We do not want to go out from Thee again, but to remain with Thee forever"? Paul delighted to call himself "a bond-servant of Jesus Christ" (Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Phi 1:1, R. V.; etc.).
     
      There are two stages, so to speak, in our dealings with Him. First, we come driven by fear; the produce of our own efforts has failed; we have no other resort. Like the bird fleeing from the hawk, we have made for His breast; like the sailor driven by the tempest, we have taken the first harbor that offered. But when we have tested the blessed Master, and found Him so sweet and strong, we elect to remain with Him, not for His gifts or even His salvation, but for Himself. We do not wish to go out free; we love Him so dearly that we would rather go anywhere with Him than remain without Him.
     
      This resolve of ours is ratified by Him. He nails our ear to His cross. Through the blood of self-sacrifice, and self-surrender; through our deeper appreciation of the meaning of His cross, as separating us from the old selfish life; through our identification with Him in death and resurrection; through our sacrifice of all that would hinder us - we come into deeper and closer oneness with Himself. As the Father bored through His ear, in accepting His glad delight to do His will, so does Jesus make real and permanent the consecration we lay at His feet (See Psa 40:6-7).

I Will Follow Thee, Lord; But...

By T. Austin-Sparks


"Another said, I will follow thee, Lord; but first..." (Luke 9:61).

There was a lot of "following" going on just at that time. A glance at the concordance will show how often the word "follow" occurs. In the movement, this man made his spontaneous announcement to the Lord. His proviso or reservation was the point which drew forth the famous statement of which such wide use has been made. "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 

What the Lord meant by unfitness was having a But. How many of us have been caught, or nearly caught, in the trammels of a But! It is sometimes an "If" or an "If only." It would be easy to follow or serve the Lord if only... 'Lord, if only you would remove this difficulty, this painful factor; if only you would change my place or put me somewhere else; if only you would do this for me, or give me that; then - well, I would do so much more for you.'

This lack of enthusiasm on the part of Christ over people making gestures has more in it than the single instance indicates. In the light of all that we now know, we can see several things.

Firstly, we cannot follow the Lord on our own initiative, anyway. Unless there is the dynamic imparted by His personal call, we shall never get very far with it. There were several instances - notably Peter's - of unsolicited declarations as to following Him, and He was most discouraging in every case, and on one occasion at least would not allow it. But, if the Lord calls us, it is refusing Divine power if we do not obey. Let us not think that we can do as we like about this, and when we like. It is His like, or it is nothing.

Then, for us to bargain with the Lord on the matter by having a But, an If, or any kind of a proviso, is to prove ourselves unfit because we have failed to see that this matter is so utter, so desperate, so eternally immense and vital as to allow of no second considerations. It is all a matter of love, not doing the Lord a favour, or ourselves a good turn.

First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Jan-Feb 1949, Vol 27-1

In keeping with T. Austin-Sparks' wishes that what was freely received should be freely given, his writings are not copyrighted. Therefore, we ask if you choose to share them with others, please respect his wishes and offer them freely - free of changes, free of charge and free of copyright.

A TRIED STONE

By Bible Names of God

Isai 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.


This "Stone" has been tried and tested and has stood unchanged and unchangeable. He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16) The church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner Stone." We, too, are tried and tested as to our faith, but if our faith is fixed upon the "Tried Stone" as revealed in His Word, we shall never fail.

Oh, Thou "Tested and Tried Stone", our Lord, we trust in Thee and joyfully commit our all to Thee. Amen.

Not of the Extraordinary

Streams in the Desert

      

Not of the Extraordinary


"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside, of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Exod. 3:1,2).

The vision came in the midst of common toil, and that is where the Lord delights to give His revelations. He seeks a man who is on the ordinary road, and the Divine fire leaps out at his feet. The mystic ladder can rise from the market place to Heaven. It can connect the realm of drudgery with the realms of grace.

My Father God, help me to expect Thee on the ordinary road. I do not ask for sensational happenings. Commune with me through ordinary work and duty. Be my Companion when I take the common journey. Let the humble life be transfigured by Thy presence.

Some Christians think they must be always up to mounts of extraordinary joy and revelation; this is not after God's method. Those spiritual visits to high places, and that wonderful intercourse with the unseen world, are not in the promises; the daily life of communion is. And it is enough. We shall have the exceptional revelation if it be right for us.

There were but three disciples allowed to see the transfiguration, and those three entered the gloom of Gethsemane. No one can stay on the mount of privilege. There are duties in the valley. Christ found His life-work, not in the glory, but in the valley and was there truly and fully the Messiah. The value of the vision and glory is but their gift of fitness for work and endurance. --Selected

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14

Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14

Angels are the unseen attendants of the people of God; they bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone. Loyalty to their Lord leads them to take a deep interest in the children of His love; they rejoice over the return of the prodigal to his father's house below, and they welcome the advent of the believer to the King's palace above. In olden times the sons of God were favored with their visible appearance; and at this day, although unseen by us—they minister to the heirs of salvation. Seraphim still fly with live coals from off the altar, to touch the lips of men greatly loved by God.

If our eyes could be opened, we would see horses of fire and chariots of fire around the servants of the Lord; for we have come to an innumerable company of angels, who are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal.

To whom do we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus Christ be forever endeared to us, for through Him we are made to sit in heavenly places far above principalities and powers. He it is whose camp is round about those who fear Him; He is the true Michael whose foot is upon the dragon. All hail, Jesus! Angel of Jehovah's presence, to You this family offers its morning vows.

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and.. Zechariah 3:7

Miller's Year Book—a Year's Daily Readings

J. R. Miller, 1895

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here." Zechariah 3:7

The way to rise to higher places—is to be faithful where we are. Unless we do well, the smaller things which God gives us to do—he will not entrust greater things to us. The man who was faithful and diligent in the use of his two talents, saw the two become four, and found himself put in trust also with new responsibilities. The promise here was, that if this good priest would walk in God's ways, and keep his charge—he would have influence and power in God's house, and should stand among angels.

This latter is a remarkable promise. It seems to mean that even on the earth, those who are faithful in holy things, shall have fellowship with angels. They may not be conscious of the companionship amid which they stand, but really they are working alongside spiritual beings continually while they wait upon God.

Then, those who serve God faithfully and diligently in holy things in this world will be received into the good fellowship of angels in the other world. The lesson, however, is that faithfulness in the common duties of the passing days is the one thing of life with us. If we live thus, God will lead us step by step, even into larger service and greater usefulness, as he may find us ready. 

We need not worry about our promotion; the only real promotion is that which comes through fidelity.

Beat The Press

                              by Chip Brogden

• 
  

“And [Zacchaeus] sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature” (Lk. 19:3).

Jesus is passing through Jericho, surrounded by a massive throng of people.

Here is a little man named Zacchaeus who wants to see Jesus. But he can’t see him.

Why couldn’t he see Jesus? One complication was being “little of stature.” Short. Insignificant. And, because he was a tax collector, not very much liked by anyone. So he had neither the physical nor the social stature to see Jesus.

However, if Jesus were not surrounded by the multitude, his little stature would not have prevented him from seeing Jesus.

What really hindered him?

“He could not for the press.” The “press” is what prevented him from seeing Jesus. The “press” is the crush of people, the multitude of them jostling and jousting for position and advantage.

Jesus is similarly difficult to see today because of the multitude of things that crowd us, distract us, and press us.

We can’t see Jesus because of the religious system.

We can’t see Jesus because of the cares of this world that enter in and choke the Word, so that it becomes unfruitful.

We can’t see Jesus because of the other things we are looking at and paying attention to.

We can’t see Jesus because we let too many things come in to press us.

We can’t see Jesus for the press.

In the parable of the marriage supper, the ones who were invited began to make excuses. This one just got married and cannot come. That one just bought a field and cannot come. They are too pressed.

Martha is vexed with “much serving.” Pressed into doing, pressed into being busy, and too pressed to sit at His feet and hear His Word.

We can’t see Jesus for the press.

“Press” is the root word of “pressure.” When people feel under pressure they use another word to describe it: “stressed.”

Stress and pressure. Too many things going on. Spiritual things, being invisible and intangible, become less and less thought of, as the things, concerns, and cares of the world press in upon us.

We can’t see Jesus for the press.

Zacchaeus did two things to beat the press and see Jesus.

First, “He ran ahead” (Lk. 19:4). We cannot see Jesus if we follow the crowd. If we do what the crowd does then we will always be in the press, blind as a bat to spiritual truth.

You cannot follow the crowd. You cannot be swept away by the multitude.

You have to run ahead of the press. You have to get in front of it. If the press hits you every day at 8:00 a.m., you need to be with God ahead of the press. Otherwise the press will rule your day, and you won’t see Jesus for the press.

Run ahead of the press. Don’t be one of the sheeple. Get out in front and stay there. Leave the press behind so you can see Jesus.

The second thing Zacchaeus did was, “He climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him” (Lk. 19:4). To beat the press you have to rise above it. Get higher. Get above the press.

Zacchaeus used a tree to get higher. We can use prayer to get higher. We can use worship to get higher. We can read Scripture to get higher. We can go for a prayer walk, or sit quietly before the Lord for a few minutes a day to get higher.

Whatever the methodology you choose, the principle is the same: get higher. Don’t be pedestrian. Don’t be so earth-bound.

Lift up your voice. Lift up your eyes. Lift up your heart. Lift up the hands that hang down.

Go up. Rise up. Climb up. Soar.

That’s what Zacchaeus did. And Zacchaeus saw Jesus. You can too, if you run ahead of the press and rise up above it.

So Jesus went home with Zacchaeus, while the press stood around and criticized.

But Zacchaeus paid them no attention.

Call Back

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman


"It shall turn to you for a testimony'' (Luke 21:13).

Life is a steep climb, and it does the heart good to have somebody "call back" and cheerily beckon us on up the high hill. We are all climbers together, and we must help one another. This mountain climbing is serious business, but glorious. It takes strength and steady step to find the summits. The outlook widens with the altitude. If anyone among us has found anything worth while, we ought to "call back."

If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back--
'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And if, perchance, Faith's light is dim, because the oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn;
That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you where the very air was still.

Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your your face,
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin-darkened sky
If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back--
'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track.
--Selected

"It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing--the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." –John 6:63

DAILY PORTIONS
(Selected from the writing of Joseph Philpot by his daughters)

"A word spoken in due season, how good is it!"
  –Proverbs 15:23.

"It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing--the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." –John 6:63

It is through the word that the soul in the first instance is cleansed. It is by the word that the soul is begotten again unto eternal life. It is, also, by the word applied to the heart that the blessed Spirit from time to time keeps alive communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it not so in vital experience? Some passage of Scripture drops into the soul, some promise comes warm into the heart, and as it comes it makes way for itself. It enters the heart, breaks down the feelings, melts the soul, and draws forth living faith to flow unto and center alone in the "altogether lovely One."

There are many times and seasons when the word of God is to us a dead letter; we see and feel no sweetness in it. But there are other times, through mercy, when the word of God is made sweet and precious to us; when we can say, with the prophet of old, "Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" (Jer. 15:16). It was so in the case of David. He says, they are "more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10). When this is felt, the sure effect is to bring the soul into communion with the Lord Jesus, who is the true word of God, and makes use of the written word to draw us near unto himself.

No Fellowship? No Problem!

                by Chip Brogden

• 
  digg
• Email

You will never truly appreciate or benefit from fellowship until you have learned how to live without it.

There already is a fellowship of saints. It is a spiritual fellowship, and it is based on Christ having the preeminence – not the fellowship having preeminence. All this yearning for fellowship and being with others is the result of being hung-over from the religious system. You’re trying to fill a void that religion used to fill.

The purpose of solitude in the spiritual desert is to get you to see that Jesus is Enough. You’re not going to die from lack of fellowship, but if you don’t learn that Jesus is Enough then spiritually speaking you’re dead already. He’s the One you need to be focused on – not starting a fellowship, not finding a home group, not making something happen with other people.

And already I can hear the “yeah buts”. “Yeah, but God made us to be social beings. Yeah, but God knows we need encouragement from other believers. Yeah, but the Bible says forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Yeah, but we’re all supposed to be part of the Body of Christ. Yeah, but there’s just something about gathering together with like-minded believers. Yeah, but you just don’t understand what it’s like.” Yeah, but I do understand – I’ve been through that part of the desert before, and what I’m trying to tell you is God wishes to know if you love Him or if you love fellowship with others. God wishes to know if you are in love with Him or if you are in love with things about Him. God wishes to know if you seek Him or seek a meeting about Him.

There are times and seasons where He calls you to be alone and apart with Him. I’m not saying it will always be like that, but what if it is? What if He calls you to walk alone with Him for the rest of your life? Is Jesus enough for you?

I asked that question of a group of Christians once: is Jesus enough for you? Because most Christians do not believe this. They want Jesus, but they also want fellowship with others. Really, do you know what Christians want? Not fellowship with others. That sounds so spiritual. Really what they want is acceptance from other Christians. You go deep down and that’s what they want. They want to feel accepted by other Christians. Well, all I can tell you is that you’re setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Eventually there will come a time when you will have to decide between the truth that God has revealed to you and the acceptance of other Christians. Now it hurts when you are not accepted by other Christians. It hurts when other Christians misunderstand you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely when you have spoken the truth to them in love.

But the bottom line is your spiritual life and walk with God does not depend upon the acceptance of other Christians. You might think it does, and it sure makes things easier, but it is not a condition of following Christ – making sure other Christians understand and accept you. The deeper you go into God the more unacceptable you will be to other Christians. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is Himself, “Despised and rejected, a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Jesus would not be, and is not, accepted by most Christians, and do you know that does not change Him and His relationship with His Father? He is Lord whether you accept Him or not, my friend. And if you are His disciple then He accepts you whether the rest of the Christian population accepts you or not.

What I have found is that whenever I ignore the season God has me in, and I try to create fellowship, or seek fellowship, outside of the time and place appointed by My Father, it always ends in disaster. It creates problems, it becomes a disappointment, or it turns into a distraction from what He wants for my life.

And that is never more true than the period of time when you are fresh out of the religious system. You’ve been under a religious spirit for so many years, and don’t think you can just wake up one day, stop going to church, and be set free from that religious mindset. You think you need fellowship, you think you need meetings, you think you need other people in your life, you think you need all these things, and you are in error. That’s the religious habit talking. It’s just like a drug.

“Oh brother Chip, I’m so lonely, I’ve been going to church every Sunday for twenty years and now we just sit home on Sunday and we feel so empty inside!” Well praise God, if that’s where God has you right now then thank God for it. Stop looking for other people to fill a void that only Christ can fill. You’ve been covering up that void with a lot of religious junk and He’s stripping all that away. He’s trying to build something in you, so let Him do it according to the times and seasons that He has appointed. Don’t rush through that process. Get comfortable with just you and God. My goodness, you don’t even know what it’s like to walk with God and just be hidden in Him because your whole life you’ve been following Him in a crowd, worshipping Him in a crowd, praying to Him in a crowd, learning about Him in a crowd.

Enoch walked with God, and he didn’t have anyone else to fellowship with.

Noah walked with God and he didn’t anyone but his family.

Abraham walked with God and he didn’t have a house church to go to.

Moses spent forty years in the desert and it didn’t hurt him a bit, he came out better than he went in.

Jesus walked with God and every single one of His friends and disciples denied Him and fled when He needed them the most.

You give people too much credit for your spiritual well-being and don’t give God enough credit. I’d rather be alone with God than have a crowd of people without Him.

Now that doesn’t diminish anything the Bible says about the Body of Christ. But you’ve got to learn how to get connected to the Head before you try to get connected to the Body. Body Life is only as good as the Body’s relationship to the Head. The Body has no life in itself apart from the Head. If you read what the Bible says about the Body of Christ, you notice it doesn’t say that we are supposed to seek out our place in the Body or try to insert ourselves into place. It says He sets us in the Body of Christ according to His will. His will, not ours. You try to set yourself in place and you’ll get it wrong.

The Bible does not say “hold fast to the Body” or “hold fast to the members of the Body”, it says “hold fast to the Head.” The Bible does not say, “Seek ye first the fellowship of others”, but “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things – including fellowship – will be added to you.” You learn to do that and the rest will take care of itself, in the time and manner that God sees fit.

Take your hands off that whole issue of fellowship and cast that concern onto the Lord. Go to Him and say, “Lord, here I am in a desert place, it’s dry, and it’s lonely, and it looks like there’s no fellowship. But You are My Rock, My Fortress, My Hiding Place, You lead me and direct my steps. You be My Fellowship. If you see fit to bring me into relationship and fellowship with others, fine; but if not, then I trust that You are more than Enough to meet my spiritual, emotional, and social needs. I can live without fellowship Lord, but I cannot live without You!”

Now folks, I have been in that place so many times I don’t even have to pray about it anymore. I’ve just learned to trust God in this area, and I know He is sufficient. It’s settled in me. It’s not even a thing I pray about anymore. I want it to become settled in your heart as well. Let the desert do its work.