From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Morning, May 24
"The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." - Psalm 126:3
Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to
dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for
them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe
their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and
the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and
help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy
state, will come forward joyously, and say, "I will speak, not about myself,
but to the honour of my God.
He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set
my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me,
whereof I am glad." Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best
that any child of God can present.
It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered
out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know
this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who
overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion. In looking
back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and
have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to
forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not
remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us
"out into a wealthy place.
" The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through
all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our
praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life's song, "He hath done
great things for us, whereof we are glad. "
Evening, May 24
"Search the Scriptures." - John 5:39
The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent,
curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when
they are in earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a
superficial reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we
must deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture
requires searching-much of it can only be learned by careful study.
There is milk for babes, but also meat for strong men. The rabbis wisely say
that a mountain of matter hangs upon every word, yea, upon every title of
Scripture. Tertullian exclaims, "I adore the fulness of the Scriptures."
No man who merely skims the book of God can profit thereby; we must dig and
mine until we obtain the hid treasure. The door of the word only opens to the
key of diligence. The Scriptures claim searching.
They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp and imprimatur- who
shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises them despises the God who
wrote them. God forbid that
any of us should leave our Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the
great day of account. The word of God will repay searching.
God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of
wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn-we have but to open the granary
door and find it. Scripture grows upon
the student. It is full of surprises.
Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the searching eye it glows with
splendour of revelation, like a vast temple paved with wrought gold, and roofed
with rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems. No merchandise like the
merchandise of Scripture truth.
Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: "They are they which testify of me.
" No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who
finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible,
discovers his Saviour.
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Morning, May 23
"There fell down many slain, because the war was of God." - 1 Chronicles 5:22
Warrior, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, observe this verse with
holy joy, for as it was in the days of old so is it now, if the war be of God
the victory is sure. The sons of
Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh could barely muster
five and forty thousand fighting men, and yet in their war with the Hagarites,
they slew "men, an hundred
thousand," "for they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them,
because they put their trust in him." The Lord saveth not by many nor by few;
it is ours to go forth in
Jehovah's name if we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us
for our Captain.
They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow, neither did they place their
trust in these weapons; we must use all fitting means, but our confidence must
rest in the Lord alone, for he is the sword and the shield of his people. The
great reason of their extraordinary success lay in the fact that "the war was
of God."
Beloved, in fighting with sin without and within, with error doctrinal or
practical, with spiritual wickedness in high places or low places, with devils
and the devil's allies, you are waging
Jehovah's war, and unless he himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat.
Quail not before superior numbers, shrink not from difficulties or
impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, smite with the two-edged sword
of the Spirit, and the slain shall lie in heaps.
The battle is the Lord's and he will deliver his enemies into our hands. With
steadfast foot, strong hand, dauntless heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the
conflict, and the hosts of evil shall
fly like chaff before the gale.
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor's song:
To him that overcometh,
A crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory
Shall reign eternally.
Evening, May 23
"Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not."
- Numbers 11:23
God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he
would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken
by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how
the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator.
But doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? No; he
who makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he
speaks, it is done-done by himself. His promises do not depend for their
fulfilment upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man.
We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we
do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature
to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature
to be weak and feeble,
we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you look to
the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun?
Verily, you would act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to
the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator's work.
Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not
the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but
the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath
said. If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the
creature, we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home
mightily to us: "Has the Lord's hand waxed short?" May it happen, too, in his
mercy, that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed
declaration, "Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee
or not."
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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