June PM
* 06/01/PM
"He will make her wilderness like Eden."
--Isaiah 51:3
Methinks, I see in vision a howling wilderness, a great and
terrible desert, like to the Sahara. I perceive nothing in it to
relieve the eye, all around I am wearied with a vision of hot
and arid sand, strewn with ten thousand bleaching skeletons of
wretched men who have expired in anguish, having lost their way
in the pitiless waste. What an appalling sight! How horrible! a
sea of sand without a bound, and without an oasis, a cheerless
graveyard for a race forlorn! But behold and wonder! Upon a
sudden, upspringing from the scorching sand I see a plant of
renown; and as it grows it buds, the bud expands--it is a rose,
and at its side a lily bows its modest head; and, miracle of
miracles! as the fragrance of those flowers is diffused the
wilderness is transformed into a fruitful field, and all around
it blossoms exceedingly, the glory of Lebanon is given unto it,
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. Call it not Sahara, call it
Paradise. Speak not of it any longer as the valley of
deathshade, for where the skeletons lay bleaching in the sun,
behold a resurrection is proclaimed, and up spring the dead, a
mighty army, full of life immortal. Jesus is that plant of
renown, and His presence makes all things new. Nor is the wonder
less in each individual's salvation. Yonder I behold you, dear
reader, cast out, an infant, unswathed, unwashed, defiled with
your own blood, left to be food for beasts of prey. But lo, a
jewel has been thrown into your bosom by a divine hand, and for
its sake you have been pitied and tended by divine providence,
you are washed and cleansed from your defilement, you are
adopted into heaven's family, the fair seal of love is upon your
forehead, and the ring of faithfulness is on your hand--you are
now a prince unto God, though once an orphan, cast away. O prize
exceedingly the matchless power and grace which changes deserts
into gardens, and makes the barren heart to sing for joy.
* 06/02/PM
"Good Master."
--Matthew 19:16
If the young man in the gospel used this title in speaking to
our Lord, how much more fitly may I thus address Him! He is
indeed my Master in both senses, a ruling Master and a teaching
Master. I delight to run upon His errands, and to sit at His
feet. I am both His servant and His disciple, and count it my
highest honour to own the double character. If He should ask me
why I call Him "_good_," I should have a ready answer. It is
true that "there is none good but one, that is, God," but then
He is God, and all the goodness of Deity shines forth in Him. In
my experience, I have found Him good, so good, indeed, that all
the good I have has come to me through Him. He was good to me
when I was dead in sin, for He raised me by His Spirit's power;
He has been good to me in all my needs, trials, struggles, and
sorrows. Never could there be a better Master, for His service
is freedom, His rule is love: I wish I were one thousandth part
as good a servant. When He teaches me as my Rabbi, He is
unspeakably good, His doctrine is divine, His manner is
condescending, His spirit is gentleness itself. No error mingles
with His instruction--pure is the golden truth which He brings
forth, and all His teachings lead to goodness, sanctifying as
well as edifying the disciple. Angels find Him a good Master and
delight to pay their homage at His footstool. The ancient saints
proved Him to be a good Master, and each of them rejoiced to
sing, "I am Thy servant, O Lord!" My own humble testimony must
certainly be to the same effect. I will bear this witness before
my friends and neighbours, for possibly they may be led by my
testimony to seek my Lord Jesus as their Master. O that they
would do so! They would never repent so wise a deed. If they
would but take His easy yoke, they would find themselves in so
royal a service that they would enlist in it for ever.
* 06/03/PM
"He humbled Himself."
--Philippians 2:8
Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. We need
daily to learn of Him. See the Master taking a towel and washing
His disciples' feet! Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble
thyself? See Him as the Servant of servants, and surely thou
canst not be proud! Is not this sentence the compendium of His
biography, "He humbled Himself"? Was He not on earth always
stripping off first one robe of honour and then another, till,
naked, He was fastened to the cross, and there did He not empty
out His inmost self, pouring out His life-blood, giving up for
all of us, till they laid Him penniless in a borrowed grave? How
low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud?
Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by
which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark His
scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see
hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and His whole self to
mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the
throes of inward grief, showing themselves in His outward frame;
hear the thrilling shriek, "My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me?" And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground
before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not
humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know Him. You were
so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God's
only begotten. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow
yourself in lowliness at His feet. A sense of Christ's amazing
love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a
consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in
contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be
that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble
place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him.
Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn
our lesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.
* 06/04/PM
"Received up into glory."
--1 Timothy 3:16
We have seen our well-beloved Lord in the days of His flesh,
humiliated and sore vexed; for He was "despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." He whose
brightness is as the morning, wore the sackcloth of sorrow as
His daily dress: shame was His mantle, and reproach was His
vesture. Yet now, inasmuch as He has triumphed over all the
powers of darkness upon the bloody tree, our faith beholds our
King returning with dyed garments from Edom, robed in the
splendour of victory. How glorious must He have been in the eyes
of seraphs, when a cloud received Him out of mortal sight, and
He ascended up to heaven! Now He wears the glory which He had
with God or ever the earth was, and yet another glory above
all--that which He has well earned in the fight against sin,
death, and hell. As victor He wears the illustrious crown. Hark
how the song swells high! It is a new and sweeter song: "Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain, for He hath redeemed us unto God by
His blood!" He wears the glory of an Intercessor who can never
fail, of a Prince who can never be defeated, of a Conqueror who
has vanquished every foe, of a Lord who has the heart's
allegiance of every subject. Jesus wears all the glory which the
pomp of heaven can bestow upon Him, which ten thousand times ten
thousand angels can minister to Him. You cannot with your
utmost stretch of imagination conceive His exceeding greatness;
yet there will be a further revelation of it when He shall
descend from heaven in great power, with all the holy
angels--"Then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." Oh,
the splendour of that glory! It will ravish His people's
hearts. Nor is this the close, for eternity shall sound His
praise, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever!" Reader, if
you would joy in Christ's glory hereafter, He must be glorious
in your sight now. _Is He so_?
* 06/05/PM
"He that loveth not knoweth not God."
--1 John 4:8
The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in
the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ
in return. First, faith sets her seal upon the man by enabling
the soul to say with the apostle, "Christ loved me and gave
Himself for me." Then love gives the countersign, and stamps
upon the heart gratitude and love to Jesus in return. "We love
Him because He first loved us." In those grand old ages, which
are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double
mark was clearly to be seen in all believers in Jesus; they were
men who knew the love of Christ, and rested upon it as a man
leaneth upon a staff whose trustiness he has tried. The love
which they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion which
they hid within themselves in the secret chamber of their souls,
and which they only spake of in their private assemblies when
they met on the first day of the week, and sang hymns in honour
of Christ Jesus the crucified, but it was a passion with them of
such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in
all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of
their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a
flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and,
therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man,
and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal
and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence
upon Christ's love they _dared_ much, and because of their love
to Christ they _did_ much, and it is the same now. The children
of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love--the love of
Christ constraineth them; they rejoice that divine love is set
upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto them, and then by force of gratitude
they love the Saviour with a pure heart, fervently. My reader,
do _you_ love Him? Ere you sleep give an honest answer to a
weighty question!
* 06/06/PM
"Are they Israelites? so am I."
--2 Corinthians 11:22
We have here A PERSONAL CLAIM, and one that _needs proof_.
The apostle knew that _His_ claim was indisputable, but there
are many persons who have no right to the title who yet claim to
belong to the Israel of God. If we are with confidence
declaring, "So am I also an Israelite," let us only say it after
having searched our heart as in the presence of God. But if we
can give proof that we are following Jesus, if we can from the
heart say, "I trust Him wholly, trust Him only, trust Him
simply, trust Him now, and trust Him ever," then the position
which the saints of God hold belongs to us--all their enjoyments
are our possessions; we may be the very least in Israel, "less
than the least of all saints," yet since the mercies of God
belong to the saints AS SAINTS, and not as advanced saints, or
well-taught saints, we may put in our plea, and say, "Are they
Israelites? so am I; therefore the promises are mine, grace is
mine, glory will be mine." The claim, rightfully made, is one
which will yield untold comfort. When God's people are rejoicing
that they are His, what a happiness if they can say, "So AM I!"
When they speak of being pardoned, and justified, and accepted
in the Beloved, how joyful to respond, "Through the grace of
God, SO AM I." But this claim not only has its enjoyments and
privileges, but also its conditions and duties. We must share
with God's people in cloud as well as in sunshine. When we hear
them spoken of with contempt and ridicule for being Christians,
we must come boldly forward and say, "So am I." When we see them
working for Christ, giving their time, their talent, their whole
heart to Jesus, we must be able to say, "So do I." O let us
prove our gratitude by our devotion, and live as those who,
having claimed a privilege, are willing to take the
responsibility connected with it.
* 06/07/PM
"Be zealous."
--Revelation 3:19
If you would see souls converted, if you would hear the cry
that "the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our
Lord"; if you would place crowns upon the head of the Saviour,
and His throne lifted high, then be filled with zeal. For, under
God, the way of the world's conversion must be by the zeal of
the church. Every grace shall do exploits, but this shall be
first; prudence, knowledge, patience, and courage will follow in
their places, but zeal must lead the van. It is not the extent
of your knowledge, though that is useful; it is not the extent
of your talent, though that is not to be despised; it is your
zeal that shall do great exploits. This zeal is the fruit of the
Holy Spirit: it draws its vital force from _the continued
operations_ of the Holy Ghost in the soul. If our inner life
dwindles, if our heart beats slowly before God, we shall not
know zeal; but if all be strong and vigorous within, then we
cannot but feel a loving anxiety to see the kingdom of Christ
come, and His will done on earth, even as it is in heaven. A
deep _sense of gratitude_ will nourish Christian zeal. Looking
to the hole of the pit whence we were digged, we find abundant
reason why we should spend and be spent for God. And zeal is
also stimulated by _the thought of the eternal future_. It
looks with tearful eyes down to the flames of hell, and it
cannot slumber: it looks up with anxious gaze to the glories of
heaven, and it cannot but bestir itself. It feels that time is
short compared with the work to be done, and therefore it
devotes all that it has to the cause of its Lord. And it is ever
strengthened by _the remembrance of Christ's example_. He was
clothed with zeal as with a cloak. How swift the chariot-wheels
of duty went with Him! He knew no loitering by the way. Let us
prove that we are His disciples by manifesting the same spirit
of zeal.
* 06/08/PM
"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 fulfillment
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."
* 06/09/PM
"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.
* 06/10/PM
"They are they which testify of Me."
--John 5:39
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. He is the
constant theme of its sacred pages; from first to last they
testify of Him. At the creation we at once discern Him as one
of the sacred Trinity; we catch a glimpse of Him in the promise
of the woman's seed; we see Him typified in the ark of Noah; we
walk with Abraham, as He sees Messiah's day; we dwell in the
tents of Isaac and Jacob, feeding upon the gracious promise; we
hear the venerable Israel talking of Shiloh; and in the numerous
types of the law, we find the Redeemer abundantly foreshadowed.
Prophets and kings, priests and preachers, all look one
way--they all stand as the cherubs did over the ark, desiring to
look within, and to read the mystery of God's great
propitiation. Still more manifestly in the New Testament we find
our Lord the one pervading subject. It is not an ingot here and
there, or dust of gold thinly scattered, but here you stand upon
a solid floor of gold; for the whole substance of the New
Testament is Jesus crucified, and even its closing sentence is
bejewelled with the Redeemer's name. We should always read
Scripture in this light; we should consider the word to be as a
mirror into which Christ looks down from heaven; and then we,
looking into it, see His face reflected as in a glass--darkly,
it is true, but still in such a way as to be a blessed
preparation for seeing Him as we shall see Him face to face.
This volume contains Jesus Christ's letters to us, perfumed by
His love. These pages are the garments of our King, and they all
smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. Scripture is the royal
chariot in which Jesus rides, and it is paved with love for the
daughters of Jerusalem. The Scriptures are the swaddling bands
of the holy child Jesus; unroll them and you find your Saviour.
The quintessence of the word of God is Christ.
* 06/11/PM
"There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the
sword, and the battle."
--Psalm 76:3
Our Redeemer's glorious cry of "It is finished," was the
death-knell of all the adversaries of His people, the breaking
of "the and the battle." Behold the hero of Golgotha using His
cross as an anvil, and His woes as a hammer, dashing to shivers
bundle after bundle of our sins, those poisoned "arrows of the
bow"; trampling on every indictment, and destroying every
accusation. What glorious blows the mighty Breaker gives with a
hammer far more ponderous than the fabled weapon of Thor! How
the diabolical darts fly to fragments, and the infernal bucklers
are broken like potters' vessels! Behold, He draws from its
sheath of hellish workmanship the dread sword of Satanic power!
He snaps it across His knee, as a man breaks the dry wood of a
fagot, and casts it into the fire. Beloved, no sin of a believer
can now be an arrow mortally to wound him, no condemnation can
now be a sword to kill him, for the punishment of our sin was
borne by Christ, a full atonement was made for all our
iniquities by our blessed Substitute and Surety. Who now
accuseth? Who now condemneth? Christ hath died, yea rather, hath
risen again. Jesus has emptied the quivers of hell, has
quenched every fiery dart, and broken off the head of every arrow
of wrath; the ground is strewn with the splinters and relics of
the weapons of hell's warfare, which are only visible to us to
remind us of our former danger, and of our great deliverance.
Sin hath no more dominion over us. Jesus has made an end of it,
and put it away for ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to
a perpetual end. Talk ye of all the wondrous works of the Lord,
ye who make mention of His name, keep not silence, neither by
day, nor when the sun goeth to his rest. Bless the Lord, O my
soul.
* 06/12/PM
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling."
--2 Timothy 1:9
The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, "Who _hath
saved_ us." Believers in Christ Jesus _are_ saved. They are not
looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful state, and may
ultimately be saved, but they _are_ already saved. Salvation is
not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung
of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained,
received, promised, and enjoyed now. The Christian is perfectly
saved _in God's purpose_; God has ordained him unto salvation,
and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as to the _price
which has been paid for him_: "It is finished" was the cry of
the Saviour ere He died. The believer is also perfectly saved
_in His covenant head_, for as he fell in Adam, so he lives in
Christ. This complete salvation is accompanied by _a holy
calling_. Those whom the Saviour saved upon the cross are in due
time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto
holiness: they leave their sins; they endeavour to be like
Christ; they choose holiness, not out of any compulsion, but
from the stress of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice in
holiness just as naturally as aforetime they delighted in sin.
God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy,
but He called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the
beauty produced by His workmanship in them. The excellencies
which we see in a believer are as much the work of God as the
atonement itself. Thus is brought out very sweetly the fulness
of the grace of God. Salvation must be of grace, because the
Lord is the author of it: and what motive but grace could move
Him to save the guilty? Salvation must be of grace, because the
Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is for ever
excluded. Such is the believer's privilege--_a present
salvation_; such is the evidence that he is called to it--_a
holy life_.
* 06/13/PM
"Remove far from me vanity and lies."
--Proverbs 30:8
"O my God, be not far from me." Psalm 38:21. Here we have two
great lessons--what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The
happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is
the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness
nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes
are fixed on vanity--he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is
quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness
elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing
to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That
is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her
husband was always very kind to him, for she said, "I fear that
this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore
I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it."
Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the
insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain
pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a
philosopher who, while he looked _up_ to the stars, fell into a
pit; but how deeply do they fall who look _down_. Their fall is
fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his
God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the
great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as
regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in
this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living
near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God,
becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities,
that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes
stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his
Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who
slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time
he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for
grace to walk humbly with our God!
* 06/14/PM
"O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face . . . because we have
sinned against Thee."
--Daniel 9:8
A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the
punishment which it deserves, should make us lie low before the
throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas! that it should be
so. Favoured as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful:
privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in
proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged
in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back
upon the past? As for our days before we were regenerated, may
they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have
not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against light and
against love--light which has really penetrated our minds, and
love in which we have rejoiced. Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a
pardoned soul! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with
the sin of one of God's own elect ones, who has had communion
with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus' bosom. Look at
David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his
repentance, and hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans
out its dolorous confession! Mark his tears, as they fall upon
the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the
softened music of his harp! We have erred: let us, therefore,
seek the spirit of penitence. Look, again, at Peter! We speak
much of Peter's denying his Master. Remember, it is written, "He
wept bitterly." Have _we_ no denials of our Lord to be lamented
with tears? Alas! these sins of ours, before and after
conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable
fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to
differ, snatching us like brands from the burning. My soul, bow
down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy
God. Admire the grace which saves thee--the mercy which spares
thee--the love which pardons thee!
* 06/15/PM
"He openeth, and no man shutteth."
--Revelation 3:7
Jesus is the keeper of the gates of paradise and before every
believing soul He setteth an open door, which no man or devil
shall be able to close against it. What joy it will be to find
that faith in Him is the golden key to the everlasting doors. My
soul, dost thou carry this key in thy bosom, or art thou
trusting to some deceitful pick-lock, which will fail thee at
last? Hear this parable of the preacher, and remember it. The
great King has made a banquet, and He has proclaimed to all the
world that none shall enter but those who bring with them the
fairest flower that blooms. The spirits of men advance to the
gate by thousands, and they bring each one the flower which he
esteems the queen of the garden; but in crowds they are driven
from the royal presence, and enter not into the festive halls.
Some bear in their hand the deadly nightshade of superstition,
or the flaunting poppies of Rome, or the hemlock of self-
righteousness, but these are not dear to the King, the bearers
are shut out of the pearly gates. My soul, hast thou gathered
the rose of Sharon? Dost thou wear the lily of the valley in thy
bosom constantly? If so, when thou comest up to the gates of
heaven thou wilt know its value, for thou hast only to show this
choicest of flowers, and the Porter will open: not for a moment
will He deny thee admission, for to that rose the Porter openeth
ever. Thou shalt find thy way with the rose of Sharon in thy
hand up to the throne of God Himself, for heaven itself
possesses nothing that excels its radiant beauty, and of all the
flowers that bloom in paradise there is none that can rival the
lily of the valley. My soul, get Calvary's blood-red rose into
thy hand by faith, by love wear it, by communion preserve it, by
daily watchfulness make it thine all in all, and thou shalt be
blessed beyond all bliss, happy beyond a dream. Jesus, be mine
for ever, my God, my heaven, my all.
* 06/16/PM
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the
Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
--Psalm 27:1
"_The Lord is my light and my salvation_." Here is personal
interest, "_my light_," "_my salvation_"; the soul is assured of
it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new
birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation;
where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and
to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of
salvation. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide,
teacher, and in every sense our light: He is light within, light
around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us.
Note, it is not said merely that the Lord gives light, but that
He is light; nor that He gives salvation, but that He is
salvation; he, then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has
all covenant blessings in his possession. This being made sure
as a fact, the argument drawn from it is put in the form of a
question, "_Whom shall I fear_?" A question which is its own
answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the
Lord, our light, destroys them; and the damnation of hell is not
to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our salvation. This is a
very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for it
rests, not upon the conceited vigour of an arm of flesh, but
upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM. "_The Lord is the
strength of my life_." Here is a third glowing epithet, to show
that the writer's hope was fastened with a threefold cord which
could not be broken. We may well accumulate terms of praise
where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace. Our life derives all its
strength from God; and if He deigns to make us strong, we cannot
be weakened by all the machinations of the adversary. "_Of whom
shall I be afraid_?" The bold question looks into the future as
well as the present. "If God be for us," who can be against us,
either now or in time to come?
* 06/17/PM
"Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto
it."
--Numbers 21:17
Famous was the well of Beer in the wilderness, because it was
_the subject of a promise_: "That is the well whereof the Lord
spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give
them water." The people needed water, and it was promised by
their gracious God. We need fresh supplies of heavenly grace,
and in the covenant the Lord has pledged Himself to give all we
require. The well next became _the cause of a song_. Before the
water gushed forth, cheerful faith prompted the people to sing;
and as they saw the crystal fount bubbling up, the music grew
yet more joyous. In like manner, we who believe the promise of
God should rejoice in the prospect of divine revivals in our
souls, and as we experience them our holy joy should overflow.
Are we thirsting? Let us not murmur, but sing. Spiritual thirst
is bitter to bear, but we need not bear it--the promise
indicates a well; let us be of good heart, and look for it.
Moreover, the well was _the centre of prayer_. "Spring up, O
well." What God has engaged to give, we must enquire after, or
we manifest that we have neither desire nor faith. This evening
let us ask that the Scripture we have read, and our devotional
exercises, may not be an empty formality, but a channel of grace
to our souls. O that God the Holy Spirit would work in us with
all His mighty power, filling us with all the fulness of God.
Lastly, the well was _the object of effort_. "The nobles of the
people digged it with their staves." The Lord would have us
active in obtaining grace. Our staves are ill adapted for
digging in the sand, but we must use them to the utmost of our
ability. Prayer must not be neglected; the assembling of
ourselves together must not be forsaken; ordinances must not be
slighted. The Lord will give us His peace most plenteously, but
not in a way of idleness. Let us, then, bestir ourselves to seek
Him in whom are all our fresh springs.
* 06/18/PM
"I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse."
--Song of Solomon 5:1
The heart of the believer is Christ's garden. He bought it
with His precious blood, and He enters it and claims it as His
own. A garden _implies separation_. It is not the open common;
it is not a wilderness; it is walled around, or hedged in. Would
that we could see the wall of separation between the church and
the world made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear
Christians saying, "Well, there is no harm in this; there is no
harm in that," thus getting as near to the world as possible.
Grace is at a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the
question of how far it may go in worldly conformity. A garden is
_a place of beauty_, it far surpasses the wild uncultivated
lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in
his life than the best moralist, because Christ's garden ought
to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is
poor compared with Christ's deservings; let us not put Him off
with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest
lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls
His own. The garden is _a place of growth_. The saints are not
to remain undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the
Husbandman, and the Holy Spirit the dew from above. A garden is
_a place of retirement_. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us
reserve our souls as a place in which He can manifest Himself,
as He doth not unto the world. O that Christians were more
retired, that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for
Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with
much serving, so that we have not the room for Christ that Mary
had, and do not sit at His feet as we should. The Lord grant the
sweet showers of His grace to water His garden this day.
* 06/19/PM
"My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feedeth among the lilies.
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my
Beloved, and be Thou like a roe or a young hart upon the
mountains of Bether."
--Song of Solomon 2:16, 17
Surely if there be a happy verse in the Bible it is this--"My
Beloved is mine, and I am His." So peaceful, so full of
assurance, so overrunning with happiness and contentment is it,
that it might well have been written by the same hand which
penned the twenty-third Psalm. Yet though the prospect is
exceeding fair and lovely--earth cannot show its superior--it is
not entirely a sunlit landscape. There is a cloud in the sky
which casts a shadow over the scene. Listen, "Until the day
break, and the shadows flee away."
There is a word, too, about the "mountains of Bether," or,
"the mountains of division," and to our love, anything like
division is bitterness. Beloved, this may be your present state
of mind; you do not doubt your salvation; you know that Christ
is yours, but you are not feasting with Him. You understand
your vital interest in Him, so that you have no shadow of a
doubt of your being His, and of His being yours, but still His
left hand is not under your head, nor doth His right hand
embrace you. A shade of sadness is cast over your heart, perhaps
by affliction, certainly by the temporary absence of your Lord,
so even while exclaiming, "I am His," you are forced to take to
your knees, and to pray, "Until the day break, and the shadows
flee away, turn, my Beloved."
"Where is He?" asks the soul. And the answer comes, "He
feedeth among the lilies." If we would find Christ, we must get
into communion with His people, we must come to the ordinances
with His saints. Oh, for an evening glimpse of Him! Oh, to sup
with Him to-night!
* 06/20/PM
"Straightway they forsook their nets, and followed Him."
--Mark 1:18
When they heard the call of Jesus, Simon and Andrew obeyed at
once without demur. If we would always, punctually and with
resolute zeal, put in practice what we hear upon the spot, or at
the first fit occasion, our attendance at the means of grace,
and our reading of good books, could not fail to enrich us
spiritually. He will not lose his loaf who has taken care at
once to eat it, neither can he be deprived of the benefit of the
doctrine who has already acted upon it. Most readers and hearers
become moved so far as to purpose to amend; but, alas! the
proposal is a blossom which has not been knit, and therefore no
fruit comes of it; they wait, they waver, and then they forget,
till, like the ponds in nights of frost, when the sun shines by
day, they are only thawed in time to be frozen again. That fatal
_to-morrow_ is blood-red with the murder of fair resolutions; it
is the slaughter-house of the innocents. We are very concerned
that our little book of "Evening Readings" should not be
fruitless, and therefore we pray that readers may not be readers
only, but doers, of the word. _The practice of truth is the most
profitable reading of it_. Should the reader be impressed with
any duty while perusing these pages, let him hasten to fulfil it
before the holy glow has departed from his soul, and let him
leave his nets, and all that he has, sooner than be found
rebellious to the Master's call. Do not give place to the devil
by delay! Haste while opportunity and quickening are in happy
conjunction. Do not be caught in your own nets, but break the
meshes of worldliness, and away where glory calls you. Happy is
the writer who shall meet with readers resolved to carry out his
teachings: his harvest shall be a hundredfold, and his Master
shall have great honour. Would to God that such might be our
reward upon these brief meditations and hurried hints. Grant it,
O Lord, unto thy servant!
* 06/21/PM
"The foundation of God standeth sure."
--2 Timothy 2:19
The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that "God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them." The great fact on which genuine
faith relies is, that "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us," and that "Christ also hath suffered for sin, the just for
the unjust, that He might bring us to God"; "Who Himself bare
our sins in His own body on the tree"; "For the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." In
one word, the great pillar of the Christian's hope is
_substitution_. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the
guilty, Christ being made sin for us that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him, Christ offering up a true and
proper expiatory and substitutionary sacrifice in the room,
place, and stead of as many as the Father gave Him, who are
known to God by name, and are recognized in their own hearts by
their trusting in Jesus--this is the cardinal fact of the
gospel. If this foundation were removed, what could we do? But
it standeth firm as the throne of God. We know it; we rest on
it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate
upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be actuated and
moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and
conversation. In these days a direct attack is made upon the
doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They
gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the
sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of
this truth, will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and
unceasingly. We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor
fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It shall still be
Christ, a _positive substitute_, bearing human guilt and
suffering in the stead of men. We cannot, dare not, give it up,
for it is our life, and despite every controversy we feel that
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure."
* 06/22/PM
"That those things which cannot be shaken may remain."
--Hebrews 12:27
We have many things in our possession at the present moment
which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set
much store by them, for there is nothing stable beneath these
rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet, we have
certain "things which _cannot_ be shaken," and I invite you this
evening to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken
should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the
things that cannot be shaken, which will remain. Whatever your
losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation. You
are standing at the foot of His cross, trusting alone in the
merit of Jesus' precious blood, and no rise or fall of the
markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of
banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are
_a child of God_ this evening. God is your Father. No change of
circumstances can ever rob you of that. Although by losses
brought to poverty, and stripped bare, you can say, "He is my
Father still. In my Father's house are many mansions; therefore
will I not be troubled." You have another permanent blessing,
namely, _the love of Jesus Christ_. He who is God and Man loves
you with all the strength of His affectionate nature--nothing
can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks
may cease from the field, it matters not to the man who can
sing, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." Our best portion and
richest heritage we cannot lose. Whatever troubles come, let us
play the man; let us show that we are not such little children
as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting
state of time. Our country is Immanuel's land, our hope is above
the sky, and therefore, calm as the summer's ocean; we will see
the wreck of everything earthborn, and yet rejoice in the God of
our salvation.
* 06/23/PM
"Waiting for the adoption."
--Romans 8:23
Even in this world saints are God's children, but men cannot
discover them to be so, except by certain moral characteristics.
The adoption is not manifested, the children are not yet openly
declared. Among the Romans a man might adopt a child, and keep
it private for a long time: but there was a second adoption in
public; when the child was brought before the constituted
authorities its former garments were taken off, and the father
who took it to be his child gave it raiment suitable to its new
condition of life. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be." We are not yet arrayed in
the apparel which befits the royal family of heaven; we are
wearing in this flesh and blood just what we wore as the sons of
Adam; but we know that "when _He_ shall appear" who is the
"first-born among many brethren," we shall be like Him, we shall
see Him as He is. Cannot you imagine that a child taken from the
lowest ranks of society, and adopted by a Roman senator, would
say to himself, "I long for the day when I shall be publicly
adopted. Then I shall leave off these plebeian garments, and be
robed as becomes my senatorial rank"? Happy in what he has
received, for that very reason he groans to get the fulness of
what is promised him. So it is with us today. We are waiting
till we shall put on our proper garments, and shall be
manifested as the children of God. We are young nobles, and have
not yet worn our coronets. We are young brides, and the marriage
day is not yet come, and by the love our Spouse bears us, we are
led to long and sigh for the bridal morning. Our very happiness
makes us groan after more; our joy, like a swollen spring, longs
to well up like an Iceland geyser, leaping to the skies, and it
heaves and groans within our spirit for want of space and room
by which to manifest itself to men.
* 06/24/PM
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said . . . Be it
known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods."
--Daniel 3:16, 18
The narrative of the manly courage and marvellous deliverance
of the three holy children, or rather champions, is well
calculated to excite in the minds of believers firmness and
steadfastness in upholding the truth in the teeth of tyranny and
in the very jaws of death. Let young Christians especially
learn from their example, both in matters of faith in religion,
and matters of uprightness in business, never to sacrifice their
consciences. Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when
all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the
rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal. Be not
guided by the will-o'-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star
of divine authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you
see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God
the honour to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the
sake of principle. See whether He will be your debtor! See if He
doth not even in this life prove His word that "Godliness, with
contentment, is great gain," and that they who "seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, shall have all these
things added unto them." Should it happen that, in the
providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find
that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly
prosperity, He will discharge His promise in the gold of
spiritual joy. Remember that a man's life consisteth not in the
abundance of that which he possesseth. To wear a guileless
spirit, to have a heart void of offence, to have the favour and
smile of God, is greater riches than the mines of Ophir could
yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win. "Better is a dinner of
herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and inward contention
therewith." An ounce of heart's-ease is worth a ton of gold.
* 06/25/PM
"The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot."
--Genesis 8:9
Reader, can you find rest apart from the ark, Christ Jesus?
Then be assured that your religion is vain. Are you satisfied
with anything short of a conscious knowledge of your union and
interest in Christ? Then woe unto you. If you profess to be a
Christian, yet find full satisfaction in worldly pleasures and
pursuits, your profession is false. If your soul can stretch
herself at rest, and find the bed long enough, and the coverlet
broad enough to cover her in the chambers of sin, then you are a
hypocrite, and far enough from any right thoughts of Christ or
perception of His preciousness. But if, on the other hand, you
feel that if you could indulge in sin without punishment, yet it
would be a punishment of itself; and that if you could have the
whole world, and abide in it for ever, it would be quite enough
misery not to be parted from it; for your God--your God--is what
your soul craves after; then be of good courage, thou art a
child of God. With all thy sins and imperfections, take this to
thy comfort: if thy soul has no rest in sin, thou are not as the
sinner is! If thou art still crying after and craving after
something better, Christ has not forgotten thee, for thou hast
not quite forgotten Him. The believer cannot do without his
Lord; words are inadequate to express his thoughts of Him. We
cannot live on the sands of the wilderness, we want the manna
which drops from on high; our skin bottles of creature
confidence cannot yield us a drop of moisture, but we drink of
the rock which follows us, and that rock is Christ. When you
feed on Him your soul can sing, "He hath satisfied my mouth with
good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's," but
if you have Him not, your bursting wine vat and well-filled barn
can give you no sort of satisfaction: rather lament over them in
the words of wisdom, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!"
* 06/26/PM
"Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust."
--2 Peter 1:4
Vanish for ever all thought of indulging the flesh if you
would live in the power of your risen Lord. It were ill that a
man who is alive in Christ should dwell in the corruption of
sin. "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" said the angel to
Magdalene. Should the living dwell in the sepulchre? Should
divine life be immured in the charnel house of fleshly lust? How
can we partake of the cup of the Lord and yet drink the cup of
Belial? Surely, believer, from open lusts and sins you are
delivered: have you also escaped from the more secret and
delusive lime-twigs of the Satanic fowler? Have you come forth
from the lust of pride? Have you escaped from slothfulness? Have
you clean escaped from carnal security? Are you seeking day by
day to live above worldliness, the pride of life, and the
ensnaring vice of avarice? Remember, it is for this that you
have been enriched with the treasures of God. If you be indeed
the chosen of God, and beloved by Him, do not suffer all the
lavish treasure of grace to be wasted upon you. Follow after
holiness; it is the Christian's crown and glory. An unholy
church! it is useless to the world, and of no esteem among men.
It is an abomination, hell's laughter, heaven's abhorrence. The
worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been
brought upon her by an unholy church. O Christian, the vows of
God are upon you. You are God's priest: act as such. You are
God's king: reign over your lusts. You are God's chosen: do not
associate with Belial. Heaven is your portion: live like a
heavenly spirit, so shall you prove that you have true faith in
Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there be
holiness in the life.
"Lord, I desire to live as one
Who bears a blood-bought name,
As one who fears but grieving Thee,
And knows no other shame."
* 06/27/PM
"Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called."
--1 Corinthians 7:20
Some persons have the foolish notion that the only way in
which they can live for God is by becoming ministers,
missionaries, or Bible women. Alas! how many would be shut out
from any opportunity of magnifying the Most High if this were
the case. Beloved, it is not office, it is earnestness; it is
not position, it is grace which will enable us to glorify God.
God is most surely glorified in that cobbler's stall, where the
godly worker, as he plies the awl, sings of the Saviour's love,
ay, glorified far more than in many a prebendal stall where
official religiousness performs its scanty duties. The name of
Jesus is glorified by the poor unlearned carter as he drives his
horse, and blesses his God, or speaks to his fellow labourer by
the roadside, as much as by the popular divine who, throughout
the country, like Boanerges, is thundering out the gospel. God
is glorified by our serving Him in our proper vocations. Take
care, dear reader, that you do not forsake the path of duty by
leaving your occupation, and take care you do not dishonour your
profession while in it. Think little of yourselves, but do not
think too little of your callings. Every lawful trade may be
sanctified by the gospel to noblest ends. Turn to the Bible, and
you will find the most menial forms of labour connected either
with most daring deeds of faith, or with persons whose lives
have been illustrious for holiness. Therefore be not
discontented with your calling. Whatever God has made your
position, or your work, abide in that, unless you are quite sure
that he calls you to something else. Let your first care be to
glorify God to the utmost of your power where you are. Fill your
present sphere to His praise, and if He needs you in another He
will show it you. This evening lay aside vexatious ambition, and
embrace peaceful content.
* 06/28/PM
"But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods."
--Exodus 7:12
This incident is an instructive emblem of the sure victory of
the divine handiwork over all opposition. Whenever a divine
principle is cast into the heart, though the devil may fashion a
counterfeit, and produce swarms of opponents, as sure as ever
God is in the work, it will swallow up all its foes. If God's
grace takes possession of a man, the world's magicians may throw
down all their rods; and every rod may be as cunning and
poisonous as a serpent, but Aaron's rod will swallow up their
rods. The sweet attractions of the cross will woo and win the
man's heart, and he who lived only for this deceitful earth will
now have an eye for the upper spheres, and a wing to mount into
celestial heights. When grace has won the day the worldling
seeks the world to come. The same fact is to be observed in the
life of the believer. What multitudes of foes has our faith had
to meet! Our old sins--the devil threw them down before us, and
they turned to serpents. What hosts of them! Ah, but the cross
of Jesus destroys them all. Faith in Christ makes short work of
all our sins. Then the devil has launched forth another host of
serpents in the form of worldly trials, temptations, unbelief;
but faith in Jesus is more than a match for them, and overcomes
them all. The same absorbing principle shines in the faithful
service of God! With an enthusiastic love for Jesus difficulties
are surmounted, sacrifices become pleasures, sufferings are
honours. But if religion is thus a consuming passion in the
heart, then it follows that there are many persons who profess
religion but have it not; for what they have will not bear this
test. Examine yourself, my reader, on this point. Aaron's rod
_proved_ its heaven-given power. Is your religion doing so? If
Christ be anything He must be everything. O rest not till love
and faith in Jesus be the master passions of your soul!
* 06/29/PM
"Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of
Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was
done in the land, God left him, to try him, that He might know
all that was in his heart."
--2 Chronicles 32:31
Hezekiah was growing so inwardly great, and priding himself
so much upon the favour of God, that self-righteousness crept
in, and through his carnal security, the grace of God was for a
time, in its more active operations, withdrawn. Here is quite
enough to account with the Babylonians; for if the grace of God
should leave the best Christian, there is enough of sin in his
heart to make him the worst of transgressors. If left to
yourselves, you who are warmest for Christ would cool down like
Laodicea into sickening lukewarmness: you who are sound in the
faith would be white with the leprosy of false doctrine; you who
now walk before the Lord in excellency and integrity would reel
to and fro, and stagger with a drunkenness of evil passion. Like
the moon, we borrow our light; bright as we are when grace
shines on us, we are darkness itself when the Sun of
Righteousness withdraws Himself. _Therefore let us cry to God
never to leave us_. "Lord, take not thy Holy Spirit from us!
Withdraw not from us Thine indwelling grace! Hast Thou not said,
'I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any
hurt it, I will keep it night and day'? Lord, keep us
everywhere. Keep us when in the valley, that we murmur not
against Thy humbling hand; keep us when on the mountain, that we
wax not giddy through being lifted up; keep us in youth, when
our passions are strong; keep us in old age, when becoming
conceited of our wisdom, we may therefore prove greater fools
than the young and giddy; keep us when we come to die, lest, at
the very last, we should deny Thee! Keep us living, keep us
dying, keep us labouring, keep us suffering, keep us fighting,
keep us resting, keep us everywhere, for everywhere we need
Thee, O our God!"
* 06/30/PM
"Ah Lord God, behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by
thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too
hard for Thee."
--Jeremiah 32:17
At the very time when the Chaldeans surrounded Jerusalem, and
when the sword, famine and pestilence had desolated the land,
Jeremiah was commanded by God to purchase a field, and have the
deed of transfer legally sealed and witnessed. This was a
strange purchase for a rational man to make. Prudence could not
justify it, for it was buying with scarcely a probability that
the person purchasing could ever enjoy the possession. But it
was enough for Jeremiah that his God had bidden him, for well he
knew that God will be justified of all His children. He reasoned
thus: "Ah, Lord God! Thou canst make this plot of ground of use
to me; Thou canst rid this land of these oppressors; Thou canst
make me yet sit under my vine and my fig-tree in the heritage
which I have bought; for Thou didst make the heavens and the
earth, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." This gave a
majesty to the early saints, that they dared to do at God's
command things which carnal reason would condemn. Whether it be
a Noah who is to build a ship on dry land, an Abraham who is to
offer up his only son, or a Moses who is to despise the
treasures of Egypt, or a Joshua who is to besiege Jericho seven
days, using no weapons but the blasts of rams' horns, they all
act upon God's command, contrary to the dictates of carnal
reason; and the Lord gives them a rich reward as the result of
their obedient faith. Would to God we had in the religion of
these modern times a more potent infusion of this heroic faith
in God. If we would venture more upon the naked promise of God,
we should enter a world of wonders to which as yet we are
strangers. Let Jeremiah's place of confidence be ours--nothing
is too hard for the God that created the heavens and the earth.