Gems from December 2023
December 1
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Ye were running well! Paul loves the picture of the race. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, he exhorts the Corinthian believers from the same picture: ”So run, that ye may obtain!” In Galatians 2:2 and Philippians 2:16, Paul speaks of himself in his own race, that he had not run in vain, or to no purpose. In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul sees himself still as the runner, but drawing nearer the end of the race.
The goal is in sight, and that is not the time to relax; on the contrary, now is the time to put forth all his strength, so “down to the goal I press!” As he parted from his dear Ephesian brethren he thinks of the time when, the race finished, the goal passed, the prize won, only the joy remains: “…neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy.” (Acts 20:24).
It is the Greek word for the race course that Paul uses here once again. And in 2 Timothy 4:7, using the same word, he sees the race is over: “I have finished my course (again, the word means “race course”)…henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” This was not the kingly crown of royalty, but it was the victor’s wreath that the winner of the race received at the Olympic Games. That wreath was made of leaves, a corruptible crown. ” But the crown that we receive is “an incorruptible” one (1 Corinthians 9:25). Meditations on Galatians - G. C. Willis
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I sat down under his shadow with great delight. Song of Solomon 2:3
Communion with God is the retiring place of the heart.
If living in communion with God we are not thinking of ourselves. Moses did not know his face shone when when every one else did. He had been looking up out of himself and turned towards the earth, bearing upon him the light of heaven.
None can be so intimately near us as God, for He is in us. Yet what an intimacy it is!
The cross and the crown go together; and, more than this, the cross and communion go together. The cross touches my natural will, and therefore it breaks down and takes away that which hinders communion.
If I am not in communion it is for the Holy Spirit to speak to my conscience, instead of using me.
May our work be a work of faith, drawing its strength, its existence even from our communion with God our Father.
In speaking of God’s truth, whenever we cannot “speak as the oracles of God” through communion, it is our business to be silent.
I may study the word again and again, but unless I get into communion with Him by it, it will profit me nothing—at least at that time.
What is the joy of a Redeemer but the joy and communion, the happiness of His redeemed? Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - J. N. Darby
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Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked.
Psalm 55:2,3
I have been driven many times to my knees by the over-whelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day. Abraham Lincoln
What e’er the care that breaks your rest,
What e’er the wish that swells your breast;
Spread before God that wish, that care,
And change anxiety to prayer.
N.J. Hiebert 9415
It came to pass . . . that the brook dried up.
1 Kings 17:7
The education of our faith is incomplete if we have not learned that there is a providence of loss, a ministry of failing and of fading things, a gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of life make for its spiritual establishment. The dwindling stream by which Elijah sat and mused is a true picture of the life of each of us. “It came to pass…that the brook dried up”—that is the history of our yesterday, and a prophecy of our morrows.
In some way or other we will have to learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may be good for a while, but the Giver is the Eternal Love.
Cherith was a difficult problem to Elijah until he got to Zarephath, and then it was all as clear as daylight. God’s hard words are never His last words. The woe and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not the finale.
Had Elijah been led straight to Zarephath he would have missed something that helped to make him a wiser prophet and a better man. He lived by faith at Cherith. And whensoever in your life and mine some spring of earthly and outward resource has dried up, it has been that we might learn that our hope and health are in God who made heaven and earth. F. B.Meyer
Perchance thou, too, hast camped by such sweet waters,
And quenched with joy thy weary, parched soul’s thirst;
To find, as time goes on, thy streamlet alters from what it was at first.
Hearts that have cheered, or soothed, or blest, or strengthened;
Loves that have lavished so unstintedly;
Joys, treasured joys—have passed, as time hath lengthened, into obscurity.
If thus, ah soul, the brook thy heart hath cherished
Doth fail thee now—no more thy thirst assuage—
If its once glad refreshing streams have perished, Let HIM thy heart engage.
He will not foil, nor mock, nor disappoint thee;
His consolations change not with the years;
With oil of joy He surely will anoint thee, and wipe away thy tears. J. Danson Smith
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When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee…let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you…” (Deuteronomy 20:1-9)
These verses make it clear that there are some who are not ready for battle. They will only weaken others. The one who is thinking of something else, and wanting to do it—he cannot fight. He is not heart whole. The man who is afraid of being asked to do hard things—”let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.” (v.8.)
These words have a power to search us all. I write that which I have proved. Are any of us today sorely tempted to wish we were doing something else? Are we afraid of something that may be asked of us? Does it seem impossible to do that joyfully? Do our hearts faint as we think of it? There is nothing for it but sheer honesty—the honesty of the Scriptures: “My flesh and my heart faileth.”
And yet we want to fight the battles of our Lord; we want to be able to pray, vitally, affectively; we want to be so clear of self, and the desire of self, so ready for anything, that our God will not fear lest our influence weaken others; then let us finish the sentence: “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
Oh, how can we ever thank Him enough for that “but God”? We need not go and return to our house, we will trust and not be afraid: “for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2).
Thou givest…They Gather Amy Carmichael
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And, behold two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus…and they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. Luke 24:13-15
Jesus drew near and went with them, and many handfuls did he spread out before them on that memorable journey. And if there is any soul exercised about the things which belong to God’s glory, they cannot help but talk to one another about it, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
And as we speak or think of Him, we may feel assured that by His Spirit that Blessed One will be near us, to teach us of Himself, as we see how He suffered and bled and died for us, how He was raised up by the power of God, how He has entered into glory; His path of sorrow and suffering over, and we redeemed and brought nigh by His blood, and accepted in the Beloved, and we shall see Him and be like Him in that day when all the saved ones, all gathered by His Spirit and caught up to be with the Lord for ever.
If the contemplation of the coming rapture gives joy to our hearts, what will the blessed reality be but joy unspeakable and full of glory? Oh, then till that moment comes may our hearts be taken up with Thee…like the two privileged disciples on the way to Emmaus constrain Thee to abide with us. “The Father Himself loveth you because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.” (John 16:27). C. McKendrick
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My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring? Psalm 22:1
The gospels display the One in whom was no selfishness. They tell out the heart that was ready for everybody. No matter how deep His own sorrow, He always cared for others. He could warn Peter in Gethsemane, and comfort the dying thief on the cross. His heart was above circumstances, never acting under them, but ever according to God in them.
We see that He was always sensible to them, and we often get in the Psalms expressions of what His heart felt in them: “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax.“ (Psalm 22:14).
What we find all through the life of Christ as shown out in the Gospels, is the total absence of selfishness, never acting for self in any way whatever. He could rejoice with those who had joy, and grieve with those in sorrow. He could cheer, warn, or rebuke, as need arose. Whatever love dictated, that He did.
In Psalm 22 we see Christ alone, suffering under God, enduring the wrath due to sin, but continuing the righteous Man, crying unto God, and justifying Him, even when forsaken by Him. J. N. Darby
On the cross alone—forsaken—where no pitying eye was found;
Now to God’s right exalted, with Thy praise the heavens resound.Miss C. Thompson
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My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up. Psalm 5:3
George David Stewart counselled that “time spent on the knees in prayer will do more to remedy heart strain and nerve worry than anything else.” We would do well, in these tense and trying days, to let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.”
There is an hour of calm relief
From every throbbing care;
‘Tis when before the throne of grace
I kneel in secret prayer. Fanny Crosby
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The Lord Himself… 1 Thessalonians 4:16
Now that we have become true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, truly trusting in His Life, His Work, His Word, we can trace everything to His love; past, present and future. The ultimate blessing will be when the promise unfolds before our eyes:
“For the Lord HIMSELF shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Prophecies - There are many other reassuring verses that demonstrate how closely involved the Lord Jesus always has been, is today, and always will be, involved with His people here on earth.
The prophet Isaiah 7:14: declared: “Therefore the Lord HIMSELF shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us). And in Isaiah 61:10: “My soul shall be joyful in my God; for, He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh HIMSELF with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth HERSELF with her jewels”. reflecting the glory of the Groom, thus sharing in His joy at the time of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Lorne Perry
(To be continued)
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(CONTINUED FROM 9421)
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. Philippians 2:7
At the present time - As to our new life in Christ, begun the day we were Saved, there are many stirring mentions of the close relationship we enjoy with our Saviour; always initiated by Him, but evoking a warm response from our hearts. Philippians 2:7 starts recounting the downward path of the Lord Jesus: “But made HIMSELF of no reputation.
Hebrews 9:14 describes the low point of His journey and its results. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered HIMSELF without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The familiar verse, “Galatians 2:20: The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave HIMSELF for me; brings before us our individual personal intimacy with our Lord.
And this brings forth praise for the fact that He has become the chief corner stone of our personal faith, and of His Church: Ephesians 2:19-20: Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of faith, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ HIMSELF being the chief corner stone.” Lorne Perry
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Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. Deuteronomy 12:18
Be ye thankful Colossians 3:15
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise.
G. Herbert
If any one would tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you.
For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing. Could you, therefore, work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit; for it heals with a word speaking, and turns all that it touches into happiness.
William Law
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And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we…and Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river. (Exodus1:7-22)
This was Satan’s power. The river was the place of death; and, by death, the enemy sought to frustrate the purpose of God. It has ever been thus. The serpent has at all times watched with malignant eye those instruments which God was about to use for His own gracious ends. The enemy seeking, by death, to interrupt the current of divine action.
But, blessed be God, there is something beyond death. When Satan has exhausted his power, then God begins to show Himself. The grave is the limit of Satan‘s activity; but there it is that divine activity begins. This is a glorious truth. Satan has the power of death; but God is the God of the living, and He gives life beyond the reach and power of death—a life which Satan cannot touch.
Faith knows that God is stronger than Satan, and it can therefore quietly wait for the full manifestation of that superior strength, and, in thus waiting, find its victory and its settled peace. Notes on Exodus - C. H. Mackintosh
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Behold, I come quickly Revelation 3:11,22:12, 22:20.
A careful study of the attitude of the believer toward his absent Lord, as spoken of in various parts of the Word of God, will show that it may well be divided into three distinct parts. He WAITS, he WALKS, and he WORKS. His heart waits for Christ, His feet walk, and His hands work; thus His heart, feet, and hands are all occupied for the Lord in view of His coming.
These distinctions are by no means arbitrary; on the contrary, it will be found that wherever the coming of the Lord is spoken of, it is in connection with some one of these aspects. In Matthew 25, we get the waiting and the working; In Luke 12, principally the waiting; in Thessalonians and in Revelation, all three; in 1 Corinthians 15, the work; and in 1 John 3, rather the walk.
In (1 Thessalonians 1:10) we get the Thessalonians waiting for God’s Son from heaven. In chapter (2:20) we find the apostle speaking of the Lord’s coming in reference to his work among them, and the reward which he will get in then in the glory; while in chapter 3 we find the return of the Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints is placed in connection with a holy and God-pleasing walk. (4:1).
Plain Papers for Young Believers - A. T. Schofield
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Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
1 Peter 1:18-20
The death and resurrection of Christ form the new basis on which God establishes every relationship with fallen man, and the Holy Scriptures are replete with types, prophesies, and shadows all pointing to the coming One. Already, before the foundation of the world was laid, God had His Lamb in reserve. When the first man, Adam, sinned and thus failed in his responsibility towards God, it only served as an occasion for God to introduce into this world the Second Man, the Man of His counsels, the Lord from heaven.
“Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!” This was the exclamation of John the baptist, (John 1:29). God Himself must provide a Lamb, for we had none to bring. What the holiness of God required, the love of God provided in the sending of His Son. Wonderful provision for ruined sinners who now have been brought to God! “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:6-7)
The same One who was on the cross, bearing our sins, is now seated at the right had of the throne of God. This is the blessed proof of God‘s satisfaction with the work of putting sin away. God’s righteousness requires that all who have been redeemed will also be glorified with Christ where He is. We will be with Him and like Him, the fruit of His grace and the objects of God’s eternal pleasure. “To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 25). Jacob Redekop
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For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
GOD’S CONDITIONS OF SALVATION
Every one is a bankrupt sinner, owing to God a great debt, having nothing of His own with which to pay Him. There is no such thing with God as “liquidation by arrangement,” there are no assets to divide.
It is just as if a merchant owed five million dollars to his creditors, and had not two cents left to hand over to them.
In the midst of man’s extremity and need, Christ comes in and goes to the cross, God is satisfied with His own well-beloved Son and with His finished work, Christ is raised, a discharge is given, the debtor goes free. This is salvation! This is redemption! Very simple and plain: it is God’s free gift to man.
“That if though shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9) The Sower
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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men…the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger…His name was called JESUS. Luke 2:13-21.
It is very evident that God Himself prepared everything in this world, so that all should be ready to receive His Son, and send forth the good news of the grace of God to every part of the world. But, alas, when the Son of God came to this earth, “there was no room for Him;” they sent His mother out to the stable, and there the holy Child was born. There in a stable, the only begotten Son of God came to this earth, an outcast (Jeremiah 30:17) from the beginning of His sojourn here.
“No room for Thee, Thou blessed One, the Father’s holy Child,
His well beloved, only Son, the Saviour undefiled!
No room for Thee in crowded inn that evening long ago!
‘Behold the Lamb’ who bore our sin, shut out by hearts below!”
A multitude of the heavenly host (Luke 2:13) came to announce the arrival of this divine Stranger, praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” But the only ones to hear their message were a few shepherds out on the hillside keeping watch over their sheep. Jerusalem, the city of the great King, was troubled by the news that He was born (Matthew 2:3). And the chief priests and scribes, who should have been the first to welcome Him, did not make the smallest effort to seek Him.
True, there were those who brought kingly gifts and falling down before Him did Him homage, but these were Gentile strangers. (Matthew 2:11). And old Simeon, or Anna, had a heart prepared to give a welcome to the newborn King; and Anna knew all those at Jerusalem that looked for redemption and she spoke of Him to them. I fear the number was not great. (Luke 2:25, 36-38). Such was man’s condition when God’s time arrived, when the fullness of time came.
In Romans 5:6, the Holy Spirit calls it “due time”In Mark 1:15, He sent to men the message, “The time is fulfilled.”It was God’s time, the time for the most important event that ever has happened in the history of the universe: “GOD SENT FORTH FROM HIMSELF HIS SON.” Meditations on Galatians - G. C Willis
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I sat down under His shadow with great delight. Song of Solomon 2:3
Moses “sees Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27) This makes him decided. When we realize the presence of God Pharaoh is nothing. Where there is lack of communion there is weakness and indecision.
There is no strength but in Christ. I have none at any time except as my soul is in secret communion with Him. Now the direct power of Satan is towards this point, to keep our souls from living on Christ.
One great thing we have to seek is that communion with Christ be as strong as all the doctrines we hold or teach. Without that the doctrine itself will have no force: besides, we ourselves shall not be with God in it.
There should be a going of the soul to God in a far more intimate way than to anyone else. Communion wth saints is precious, but I must have intimacy of communion with God above all; and communion of saints will flow from communion with God.
Joy in God is communion. If living in communion with God we are not thinking of ourselves. Moses did not know his face shone when everyone else did. He had been looking up out of himself and turned towards the earth bearing upon him the light of heaven. None can be so intimately near us as God, for He is in us. Yet what an intimacy it is! Pilgrim Portions - J. N. Darby
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The King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Psalm 24:8-10
The King of glory did not come from heaven manifesting forth His mighty power and glory, but He came of a woman, born of a woman. He took on Himself our human nature. He came under law (not under the law), that He might redeem (or, buy out) those that were under law. We may see plainly that instead of bringing Christians under law, God is really leading those who had been under law out from it. But He had to buy them out, and the cost was His well beloved Son.
No doubt this applies first of all to the Jews, and many Jewish believers then alive, who had been brought up under the law of Moses, learned what it meant to be bought out from under that law. But when the Holy Spirit says, “He came under law, that He might buy out those that were under law“ (not under the law), it tells us that Christ’s work went much further than to the Jews alone. His redemption went to the ends of the earth, for man by nature loves to put himself under law, nor was it the law of Moses alone but law of every kind from which Christ redeemed us
And so the Gentile Christians in Galatia shared in this redemption from under law. Redemption places all, that is all who believe in Christ and His work on the cross, under the benefit of that work whether they be Jews or Gentiles. In God’s sight these are bought out from under law, in order that those who were under law might be delivered from it. Before God could give to us the place and the spirit of sons He must buy us out from under law. Galatians - G. C. Willis
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Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:23
We may well cry, with the prophet, “Truth has fallen in our streets.” (Isaiah 59:14) But he who desires the approval of God above the praise of men will value it nevertheless, and be ready to purchase it at the cost of friends, reputation, possessions, yea, life itself.
Nor will he part with it whatever the suffering that may result from “earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3). Rationalists may sneer, and the superstitious persecute; but he who posseses the truth will find with it wisdom, instruction and understanding such as all the wise men after the flesh are strangers to. Who exemplified what is here inculcated more than the one time rabbi of Tarsus, the apostle Paul?
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:…that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection…” (Philippians 3:7-11) Notes on Proverbs - H. A. Ironside
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In the beginning God. Genesis 1:1
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Luke 24:26-27
The Bible begins by telling whence we and all things have come; it ends, by telling whither we and all things tend. It tells of the entering in of sin and woe; it gives the promise of redemption and of triumph over sin; It shows us how the way was prepared for the Deliverer; He comes; we see His salvation; we are gathered about Him; and then, just as the veil is lifted from the past in Genesis to let us see the beginning, so the veil is lifted from the future in Revelation to let us see the end.
Can we say whence the Bible has this strange completeness? Say that God is the author of the Book, that His plan thus spanned the ages, and I quite understand the matter. But apart from that there is no explanation.
When we reach “the final harmony” described in Revelation 22:3-5 “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads”, we feel instinctively that we have come to a condition of intense joy beyond which it is impossible to go. Then the vision of the poet shall have become an accomplished fact:
Every tiger madness muzzled, every serpent passion killed,
Every grim ravine a garden, every blazing desert tilled,
Robed in universal harvest, up to either pole she smiles,
Universal ocean softly washing all her warless isles.
And when all things shall be subdued unto Him…that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28
The Wonderful World - George Henderson
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Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. Matthew 27:45
Midday was turned to midnight.No human eye could see Him on the cross during those three hours. His suffering during that holy time was veiled in darkness. No mind can fully comprehend what took place. No tongue can fully describe that awful scene. By faith, we believe. We are so thankful that He endured it! Such was His love for you and me. John M. Clegg
On Calvary we’ve adoring stood,
And gazed on that wondrous cross
Where the holy, spotless Lamb of God
Was slain in His love for us;
How our hearts have stirred at that solemn cry,
While the sun was enwrapped in night,
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”
Most blessed, most awful sight.
Our sins were laid on His sacred head,
The curse by our Lord was born;
For us a victim our Saviour bled,
And endured that death of scorn;
Himself He gave our poor hearts to win—
(Was ever love, Lord, like thine!)
From the paths of folly, and shame, and sin,
And fill them with joys divine. J. G.Deck
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"All these things are against me." (Gen. 42:36.)"
“All things work together for good to them that love God."
(Rom. 8:28.)
In a factory building there are wheels and gearings,
There are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or slack—
Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning slowly,
Some are thrusting forward, some are pulling back;
Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and noisy,
Pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk;
In a wild confusion in a seeming chaos,
Lifting, pushing, driving — but they do their work.
From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion,
All things move together for the purpose planned;
And behind the working is a mind controlling,
And a force directing, and a guiding hand.
So all things are working for the Lord's beloved:
Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood;
Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us backward;
But they work together, and they work for good,
All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials,
All the contradictions, hard to understand.
And the force that holds them, speeds them and retards them,
Stops and starts and guides them—is our Father's hand.
-Annie Johnson Flint.
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And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he spied and an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.” Exodus 2:11-12
This was zeal for his brethren; but it was ”not according to knowledge,” God’s time was not yet come for judging Egypt and delivering Israel; and the intelligent servant will ever wait for God’s time. “Moses was grown,” and: ”he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and moreover, he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by His hand would deliver them.”
All this was true; yet he evidently ran before the time, when one does this, failure must be the issue. And not only is there failure in the end, but also manifest uncertainty, and lack of calm elevation and holy independence in the progress in a work begun before God’s time. Moses “looked this way and that way.”There is no need of this when a man is acting with and for God, in the full intelligence of His mind, as to the detail of his work.
If God’s time had really come, and if Moses was conscious of being divinely commissioned to execute judgment upon the Egyptians, and if he felt assured of the divine presence with him, he would not have “looked this way and that way.” This action teaches a deep practical lesson to all the servants of God. There are two things by which it is superinduced, namely, the fear of man’s wrath, and the hope of man’s favour. The servant of the living God should neither regard the one nor the other.
“Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) Notes On Exodus - C.H. Macintosh
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Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2.
On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still gleamed like a circle of light. Then he slowly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky. He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings. The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle’s domain.
A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength. In those far away heights he had played with the lightenings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once he forgot and flew too low.
The soul is that eagle. This is not its home. It must not loose the skyward look. We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ. Keep the skyward look!
All the marvellous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance.
Keep looking up—
Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;
The Light of Light shall fill thy soul
When looking up. Selected
N.J.Hiebert - 9436
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Genesis 18:25
And Abraham . . . looked toward Sodom . . . and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. Genesis 19:27,28
Abraham had earnestly interceded for the wicked city of Sodom but it seemed his prayers had been of no avail. The righteous Judge had acted righteously — in judgment.
Later, Abraham would learn that God had also acted mercifully in saving Lot. Only then would he have realized that God had answered his prayer and given him his heart’s desire by sparing his nephew.
May we learn to trust Him even when we cannot see the answer to our prayers.
R. Sheldrake
We bless Thee for Thy peace O God,
Deep as the unfathomed sea,
The peace which suffers and is strong,
Trusts when it cannot see.
N.J.Hiebert - 9437
And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
The garden was the meeting place for fellowship between the Lord God and Adam. Now it had become a hiding place from the presence of God on account of Adam’s sin. The moment sin entered, he instinctively shrank from the presence of the glory of God. Not only does sinful man seek to avoid it, but the glory of God itself repels sin. Paul sums it up this way: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). This verse sets forth a very important principle. For man to return and once more enjoy the presence of God, he must be clothed with a righteousness of God’s own providing. Death must come in, in order to effect this. The coats of skins were the fruit of the death of an innocent animal. How strikingly this sets forth the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross!
“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Lord Jesus bore our sins and offenses against God, for He “Was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25).
God’s righteousness has now been manifested in the cross of Christ, ”Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference (Romans 3:22). He offers you righteousness, a righteousness fit for His presence, for it is “unto all” without exception. But it is only “upon all who believe.” Those who do not know God, nor obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” 2 Thessalonians 1:9). Richard A. Barnett
N.J.Hiebert - 9438
HE hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4)
LOVED BEFORE TIME BEGAN-LOVED TO THE END
Having loved His own, "He loved them unto the end" (Jn. 13:1), is a truth not only known to every believer in Him by faith, but also from their own experience of that love. And oh, how sweet this experience of Christ's love in this cold world is! When the heart is chilled, and yearning for a little warmth, how sweet to turn to the Lord Jesus and feel this warmth of His love! Ah! Looking up to Him, the ear is always warmed.
In Ephesians we have the setting forth of that which would feed the love of the Lord Jesus in regard to His Church. In the first chapter, we have the scene before time was, in verse 4. When the Lord Jesus looks at me, He looks at one who was chosen by the Father before time was, to show forth the glory of that grace which could accept me in the Beloved. He sees the chosen of the Father in me, the Father having bound me up with the Son before the foundation of the world. Not only the prodigal brought into the Father's house, but more - a secret purpose, He and the Father one in that purpose, and the poor sinner chosen and accepted in Him before the foundation of the world.
Can God have anything against you when He has thus sat in council about you? Must not the Son love you, seeing your association with the Father, in Himself, before the world was? He gave Himself for me at the cross bearing our own sins in His own body on the tree: God laying on Him your iniquity and mine: Can we look up there and not feel the exceeding riches of the grace of that God, who, in raising Him up from among the dead, raised us up in Him, and seated us in heavenly places in Him? When the Lord Jesus looks in the face of a believer, He says, "I loved you before the foundation of the world and I must love you to the end for My Father's sake."
G. V. Wigram
N.J.Hiebert - 9439
For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven…but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
FEEDING ON THE LAMB
Let us look a little at the circumstances which accompanied the Passover. The blood on the lintel formed the simple basis of the Israelite's security. But there are other points of deep interest into which the spiritual mind can enter with much profit.
First, the lamb was eaten roasted with fire. No other process could have told out the significant principle with the same emphasis. The action of fire upon the body of the lamb gave expression to the intensity of Christ's sufferings when He exposed His blessed person to the full action of Jehovah's wrath against sin.
It was one thing to rest in the security of the shed blood and another thing to eat of the "lamb roast with fire." Hence the apostle stays, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings" Philippians 3:10. Here was the desire of one who had already rested in the blood. The fellowship of Christ's sufferings is but little known even by those who are resting in Christ's blood; were it more entered into, there would be far more depth of experience and power of Christian action than there is. We are too ready to rest content with knowing the value of the blood, without feeding on the Lamb, and thus we lose much of our privilege of personal fellowship with Jesus.
It is not merely the work which has been done, but the One who has done it. The former is properly the object for the sinner, the latter for the saint; and the more the saint is enabled to enter into what Christ is, the more perfect will be his repose in His work. C. H. Mackintosh
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And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Peace on Earth
Each recurring Christmastime gives occasion to emphasize anew the wonderful story of the love of God—a love that led Him to send His one-and-only Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Christianity rests on three great pillars: the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Incarnation alone could not redeem sinful men. But apart from the incarnation there could be no propitiatory sacrifice that would avail to put away sin. God the Son became man in order to die. We cannot make too much of the mystery of the union of the of the human and the divine in Jesus, who was both Son of God and the Son of Mary.
In Him we have the Mediator for whom the patriarch Job longed, one who can lay His hand upon both God and man (Job 9:33), because He combines the natures of both, in one glorious Person. Bethlehem, Calvary, and the empty tomb, all alike should stir our souls and draw our hearts out to God in wonder, love, and praise.
H. A. Ironside
Here Peace alighted once, but could not find a home.
To Him who brought it, earth could give no room.
Him and His peace man would not have and in this Child of peace
Man saw no heavenly excellence, no grace, no comeliness.
Peace in that cradle lay, the Prince of Peace was there;
The fulness of His Peace He brought with man to share. H.Bonar
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God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
(Genesis 1:31)
So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. (Genesis 50:26)
The first verse of Genesis teaches us in simple terms what many scientists have not yet learned: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). The Bible gives the history of two men: the first man, Adam, and the Second Man, the last Adam — the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47) In Genesis we find the story of the first man. After God had garnished the heavens and made the earth a suitable habitat for man, He set Adam as head over this fair creation. This was God's crowning act, and He declares that "indeed it was very good."
As the account continues, we find that soon this creation was marred. Man's disobedience to God's one command proved fatal. God had said that the day man would eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12).
Time marched on from generation to generation. In Genesis we read that they had sons and daughters and they reached a high age, but, with only one exception, they all died. Until the present time, given all the skills and technology man can muster, these words are still true: "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews. 9:27). The last verse in Genesis records that Joseph died and was put in a coffin in Egypt. What a picture of this sad world where death now reigns as king!
Thank God, this is not the end! The first man failed miserably, but this served as an occasion for God to introduce the Second Man, His beloved Son. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John. 3:16). God's wonderful plan of salvation! Jacob Redekop
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Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you
1st Peter 5:7
A Teacher's Privilege
To-day, dear friends, you’re much in my mind,
Who start your work to do.
What a privilege you have of training the minds
Of the children who go to school.
There will be days that are hard,
And days that are blue,
And days that you hardly know, just what to do,
But keep on praying, His Grace is sufficient for you.
If for Christ your work is done,
Though oft you feel tired and worn,
He does know you did not shirk.
With care He will watch your work,
For He knows the seed of love
Planted here doth bloom above.
Thus, in trust and faith, work on;
You will see the fruit at dawn.
Ruby McKenzie
N.J.Hiebert - 9443
Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.
Matthew 6:8
We must not look on that only as prayer to which our lips give utterance. The wish of the believing heart is counted prayer by God. It is the smoke of the incense which ascends in silence before Him. Every wish that the Holy Spirit breathes into the soul of a believer is a voice which enters the ear of God. Choice Supplication
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast;
Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye when none but God is near. James Montgomery
N.J.Hiebert - 9444
Verily God hath heard me, He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psalm 66:19
A nineteenth-century magazine rebukes the expression, "REMARKABLE answers to prayers," saying we should think it unacceptable if applied to the case of a boy who took sick away from home and sent to his father for help. We would not say, "Remarkably enough, his father assisted him at once." It would certainly be good if we could expect heavenly succour just as surely as the boy would expect an answer from his father — yet there ought to be a thankful awe for every reply.
What will He not bestow?
Who freely gave this mighty gift, unbought,
Unmerited, unheeded, and unsought,
What will He not bestow? (Selected)
N.J.Hiebert - 9445
posted by soundwords at
December 01, 2023
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