There is no law against these...

The Law of Surrender

By A.W. Tozer


      The Bible says that we are to present our bodies "as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God." Of course, if you give your body, you give everything it contains.

That means giving yourself wholly to God, and the idea of giving yourself wholly to God contains three laws.

The first law is the law of surrender. 

If you do not surrender, it will be totally impossible for the Lord to do anything for you. Surgeons have to have the surrender of their patients. If I went to a surgeon and insisted that I was going to tell him how to do the job and not only that but stay awake and resist him, the surgeon could not work. It would be impossible.

Surgeons must put their patients to sleep so they cannot resist, so they are in a state of surrender. That is the law of surrender. A more beautiful and biblical description is the story of the potter and the clay, which illustrates the law of surrender further.

The potter has soft, yielding clay, but if the clay does not surrender, the potter cannot do a thing with it. If there are burnt places, hard places or unsurrendered places in the clay, though the potter be a genius in making vessels, the artist still could not make anything useful and beautiful out of an unyielding blob of clay. It is possible for an object to be useful but not beautiful, like a garbage can. It is also entirely possible to be beautiful and not useful, like the lily.

The lily has no utilitarian place in the world. It is possible to have a vessel that is useful without being beautiful. The old cream crocks in our spring house on the farm were useful all right. You could pour the milk in them, wait for the cream to rise and skim it off. They were not beautiful, but they were quite useful. Everybody has in their home beautiful little knickknacks. They are utterly useless, simply to be enjoyed for their beauty. But God wants His vessels to be both useful and beautiful.

If God is going to make those kinds of vessels out of us, however, we are going to have to yield to the law of surrender. Give yourself to God as a living sacrifice and let Him have you--all of you.

The God of the Amen

By T. Austin-Sparks


      "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14). "So that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth" or as the margin has it, "He who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God Amen; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God Amen" (Is. 65:16). "For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us" (2 Cor. 1:20).

You will see from the passages in Revelation and Isaiah, that 'Amen' is a title, a designation, a description of God. His Name is the 'Amen', the God of the 'Amen'. We know what we mean when we use that word. We mean a note of affirmation, that there is nothing from which we dissent and everything with which we agree. We are saying, 'Let it be like that - Amen!' And that is a description of God; that is His Name. The description can be summed up in one fragment of Scripture: "the Father of Lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning" (Jas. 1:17). He is always the same, absolutely reliable, positive, definite, sure, for He is the God of the 'Amen'.

Isaiah Looks Beyond the Captivity and the Cross

Now the contexts of these two passages are very enlightening as to the use made of the title on each occasion.

In Isaiah 65, you will see that we are near the end of the prophecies; we are on the other side of the judgment of Israel, that is on the other side of the exile and the captivity. We are with the remnant that returned. The new day is presented in such verses as:- "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" (Is. 60:1). "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; that she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Is. 40:1,2).

Again, in this chapter in which our verse is found, the Lord says: "I create new heavens and a new earth" (65:17). A new day is in view, and on that ground, in that setting and context, these words occur. They are prospective as you see: 'he that, then, on that ground, in that day, blesseth himself... he that sweareth... in that day, on this new ground...' These words look on into the future and we may say here at once, that it is to the day which has come, to the day in which we live, that these prophecies point so clearly. The prophecies after chapter 53, the chapter of the Cross and the suffering, point so clearly to this day beyond the Cross, the day of His resurrection, the day of the Spirit; this is the day - our day - in which God is spoken of as the God of the 'Amen' - God, re-affirming, and God reaffirmed.

But to revert to Israel's history: it had looked for seventy long, weary, tragic, desolate years, as though everything was hopeless; all seemed lost. Look at Jerusalem during those seventy years; look at the land in its desolation and ruin, with the glory gone, everything broken down, and tragedy written large everywhere. The visitors to that country wagging their heads, remembering the past, were saying, 'Aha, aha; well, well; Look at this!' And while that cry, like a sob, from the prophet: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow" (Lam. 1:12), may be truly put into the mouth of the Lord Jesus, on the Cross, it literally relates to this very situation. It was the cry of the land.

Of such a situation we should say today, 'Well, that is an end of that! There is not much prospect there.' But it is in that setting, just in a situation like that, that these words occur. He is the God of the 'Amen'! He is re-affirming that, despite of everything, He has not changed, He has not given up, He is not in despair. He is the God whose decisions and determinations are absolute and final, and it does not matter to those decisions what happens. He remains the God of the 'Amen'. Here He is then, in this title, re-affirming, that although all this has happened, a remnant shall return. There shall yet be a 'taking root downward, and a bearing fruit upward' (Is. 37:31). God cannot ultimately be cheated of His purpose; He is the God of the 'Amen'.

Unfolding Revelation

Evening And Morning: 1  

By George H. Warnock


      To men of foresight and understanding it is quite evident that the Church of Jesus Christ is about to enter into a new phase of life and truth in this the most critical hour of her long history. It seems, of course, as far as the vast majority of the people are concerned, that the sun is about to set upon a once glorious, and radiant, and triumphant Church. But to those whose eyes have been enlightened, and whose hearts have been enlarged to perceive what God is doing, it is not really the setting of the sun, but rather the rising of the sun, even the beginning of a new day. God's order, established right back in the book of beginnings, is first "evening" and then "morning." This must of necessity be so, because invariably in God's dealings with men the darker the hour of human frustration and peril, the brighter is the light of hope that radiates from the hearts of those who are the children of the light. It all depends on our viewpoint. By that we mean, it all depends upon the side of the pillar of fire from which we make our observation. If we are dwelling with the Egyptians as God's judgments begin to fall, then certainly there is darkness--a darkness that becomes so intense one can actually feel it, But if at that very moment we stand with the chosen people, with anticipation and hope of a great and complete and speedy deliverance, then our homes are full of light. Or if we stand with the hosts of Egypt as they pursue the covenant people of God, there is gross darkness. Yet on the other side of the blackness there is light--radiant and glorious--enlightening and cheering God's people as they face the future, and the prospect of a glorious inheritance, even though such a prospect might be intermingled with perplexities and questions concerning the ways and means of entering into it.

Why such a great contrast? Simply because the people are dwelling on different sides of the same cloud. The Church has an old chorus about "turning those ugly clouds about" But that really solves nothing. It is not a mere change of circumstances that we need. Turn the clouds about as often as you will and they continue to be clouds of darkness and apprehension and fear--as long as we are dwelling on man's side of the cloud, away from the sun.

The only solution is in getting on the other side of the cloud, where the sun is in full view. What a beautiful sight it is when you climb into a plane on a cloudy day and soar into the atmosphere far above the clouds, and hasten forward to your destination in the clear blue sunny skies of the atmosphere above, with the clouds under your feet. I sometimes say to people by way of encouragement, "Keep looking down." For ours is a heavenly heritage, as it is also a heavenly walk. God "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together (with Him) in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). As we take that position with Him in "the heavenlies" in Christ Jesus, then indeed there is no place in our thinking for defeat. By defeat we mean some kind of a partial victory, or a falling short in some sense of the word from that high and holy calling by which and unto which we have been called. We mean exactly that.

If there is a falling short of that high-calling in any sense of the word, that means defeat. Why does the Church of Christ insist that a 90% or a 99% conquest of the inheritance would be more honoring to God than total victory? Why do we feel that if we retain just a small fraction of the old nature and the old life, with the rest given over to the judgment of the Cross, that God is truly glorified? The spirit of Saul prevails everywhere in the Church of Christ. He insisted he had fulfilled the commandment of the Lord and was quite proud of the fact. But "what then is this bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?" asked the prophet. Well, of course, the prophet did say to destroy everything, but surely he did not mean exactly that. He could not have meant that all those "good" things of the Amalekites, and the king himself, should he slain. These he would bring as a sacrifice unto the Lord! In vain do we honor the Lord by bringing all the good of our old nature unto Him, and seek to keep our WILL on the throne. We feel we just simply must keep the king of Amalek alive in order to honor God, because man is a "free will moral agent." The fact is that man is in no sense "free" either as the seed of Adam or as the seed of Abraham. Jesus makes this abundantly clear.

Only the Son can make one free, and this is the only true freedom that man can have (Jn. 8:32-36). By natural birth we are impelled by the desires or the WILL of the flesh and of the mind, which leads only to bondage; and we are energized by the spirit of disobedience (Eph. 2:2, 3). It is only by the grace of God that this wall of rebellion is broken down, and we are called forth into the light by His creative voice. One only knows true freedom when that last great stronghold of the old life is broken down, even the king of Amalek, the WILL--and the will of God takes its place. Then we may truly say, "I delight to do Thy will, O God"; and again, "My meat (my very food, my very life) is to do the will of Him that sent me, to finish His work" (Jn. 4:34).

Thyatira

By G.V. Wigram


      Revelation 2: 18.

These epistles to the churches are divided into three and four. The first three and the last four go together. The difference is marked by the place of the exhortation: "He that hath ears to hear," etc. This epistle to Thyatira is the first of the last four. In Ephesus we get the failure of the Church in forsaking its first love, Christ as the eternal Lover, and that love known by faith; but they had forgotten it, and He could not be satisfied with anything save their love. When there is love, it cannot be satisfied to find in the. object of its love coldness and indifference. Smyrna brings out how, when there is failure in first love, Christ meets the difficulty. He lets in a terrific persecution to stop the progress of the evil. If a saint, or a company of saints, get into ease and forgetfulness of the love of Christ, He kindles the fires to touch that which is holding them back -- the flesh -- and to throw them back upon the Lord. Pergamos gives us corruption let in through the doctrine of Balaam and that of the Nicolaitanes.

In Thyatira we get an awful picture -- a strong appeal on God's part to His saints. People say, "We do not see any strong appeal on God's part." Then your ear is stopped. All these calls remain in the power of the love of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ for every person down to the end of time -- for everyone who says, "I have heard the voice of my Beloved, who will not be satisfied till my walk is responsive to His heart." The insignia He takes here are very peculiar; "the Son of God," a title above all; bringing out what He is essentially as well as the immutability of His character. Having saved a people, and brought them into a position of responsibility, never could He give up the question of their responsibility.

"Who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire." We get the same thought in Heb. 4. There it is you have got a great High Priest, and when you come to Him He will read to you, and to you only, what is in your heart, It is love, not to the world but to His own people. His is an eye that searches and makes everything manifest. A flame gives us the idea of something rising; but it need not be so always; it may be as a sunbeam coming down like a sword of light, making manifest all that lies hidden in a dark valley. Take any brilliant light and turn it, say, on a garden; it will disclose everything that is in the garden. When the eye of the Lord comes down (He is up there in pure light), it discovers everything; and when He looked at Thyatira in that character, He said, "I will let you know how I read things."

"His feet like unto fine brass." In the tabernacle there were three metals used. Gold, which always figured divine glory; silver, which had to do with the title of the Son of God as born of the Virgin, the Son of the Highest; and brass, which figured Him as the Son of man displayed among men. The silver in the tabernacle was connected with quite different things from the gold, and so also the brass. We get the brazen altar -- a Man is my substitute. "God manifest in the flesh" it is true, but a Man. The Gnostic says that it was a phantom that hung on the cross; but that takes away all peace. It will not do to say that God took an appearance on the throne. The Man who took His place in heaven was the Man who hung upon the cross. He was Man actually, in body, soul, and spirit. "His feet like unto fine brass," etc. Whatever the ways of man in connection with Him on earth, He was thoroughly prepared for it, and went right through it. And now, as Head, He thoroughly understands all about it. He can come and deal with me, and bring out all about me. He can take us up, and say, "You have to go on a thorny path; but I tread down the briers before you. I will go through the furnace before you, and be to you exactly what you want."

The Glory of Zion Her Sure Defence

By J.C. Philpot


      Preached at Providence Chapel, Oakham on Tuesday Evening, September 30th, 1845

      "And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain" Isa.4:5, 6

This chapter is closely connected with the preceding one. Indeed, the second, third, and fourth chapters of this prophecy may be said to form one series. The last verse of the third chapter reads thus: "And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground." In these words the blessed Spirit describes the desolation that was to fall upon Jerusalem. Continuing the same subject, the first verse of the fourth chapter proceeds to relate the consequences of that desolation, "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach." This striking prediction dwells upon a remarkable result and feature of the general desolation that should take place. The men should be so fearfully slaughtered in war that seven women should take hold of one man who had escaped the general carnage, and seize him for a husband, that they might remove from themselves that reproach so dreaded by Jewish women of having neither spouse nor offspring. They would be willing to eat their own bread and wear their own apparel if they were merely allowed to take his name to avoid this reproach. There the chapter should have ended, for though the words which follow are connected with the desolation predicted, yet they open a new feature of the subject by declaring promises of mercy to the remnant which escapes the threatened judgments.

"In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel." A remnant is here spoken of as having escaped in this day of desolation. To this escaped remnant it is promised that "the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely." By "the branch of the LORD," I understand the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ; and by "the fruit of the earth," his human nature, his divine nature is beautiful and glorious to this remnant according to the election of grace, which has escaped the general overthrow. "And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:" that is, whose name is in the book of life, and who has the life of God in his soul; "when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion," (by washing them in the fountain once opened for sin and uncleanness), "and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning." Then he adds the gracious promise contained in the text, "And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain."

The desolation has taken place literally, and I see no reason why we may not expect a restoration to take place literally also. But that interpretation I shall not now insist upon. There is another interpretation, one of a spiritual and experimental nature, applicable to the regenerated family of God, which I shall chiefly dwell upon; and as, viewed in this light, we may take the promise in the text to refer spiritually to the household of faith, so we may take also the desolation as equally spiritually verified in their experience. In other words, that there must be a desolation in them as well as, and prior to, a manifestation. When the Lord creates upon mount Zion a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, it is, or following upon that day when "she being desolate shall sit upon the ground."

Psalm 74

By Henry Law


      Hostile invasion had brought ruin into the city. Grim desolation frowns where once the Temple magnificently stood. The outrage of the enemy is plaintively described. Importunity calls upon God to interfere, and confidence is expected that light would arise in darkness.

1-2. "O God, why have You cast us off forever? why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old; the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed; this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt."

The Psalmist thus writes with mournful eye fixed on the ruined city, and especially on the desolations of the Temple. In bitterness of heart he cries aloud to God. He seems to expostulate, 'Can it be that these miseries signify our final desertion!' The believer thus flies to the mercy-seat when adverse oppression casts him into the depths of grief. Let it be noted in what terms the aid of God is supplicated. His people are depicted as the sheep of His pasture. God is thus reminded of His tender office as the good and great Shepherd, who will never fail to tend His flock, and to protect them from all foes. They are described, also, as the congregation which He had purchased. Can Jesus ever forget the company for whom He shed His precious blood, and whom He bought at such high price out of the hands of their enslaving foes? They are described, moreover, as the portion assigned by the measuring-rod to be His inheritance--the possession which will be His pride and His glory. They are called, moreover, the Mount of His abode. Never will He withdraw His presence. He will always abide in them, and they in Him. Safe indeed must they be who thus can claim an interest in God.

3-4. "Lift up Your feet unto the perpetual desolations, even all that the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary. Your enemies roar in the midst of Your congregations; they set up their banners for signs."

The cry is earnest that God would no longer tarry, but advance to view the Temple's sad state. With noisome tumult the insulting foe had burst upon the assembled worshipers, and hostile banners had been erected in most holy places. This wretchedness is spread before the Lord. The feeling is deep that such iniquity would not be permitted to prevail.

5-8. "A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into Your sanctuary; they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of Your name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together; they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land."

It is high privilege in any way to be permitted to promote the interests of true religion. Fame rested on those who felled the trees of Lebanon to aid the erection of the Temple. Substance and tools are never better expended than in raising the sanctuary in which God will be worshiped and His name proclaimed. No honor will be theirs whose parsimony expends on luxury and self-indulgence the means which might erect or beautify sanctuaries for holy worship. The Psalmist witnessed the destruction of what piety had raised, and the noble works of former zeal a prey for the devouring flames. But neglect may gradually accomplish what violence may rapidly effect. May such neglect be ever absent from us!

9. "We see not our signs; there is no longer any prophet; neither is there among us any who knows how long."

The eyes of the disconsolate in Jerusalem no longer rested on tokens that God was in their midst. The symbols of His presence had disappeared in smoldering heaps. The voices of accredited ministers no longer spoke in the Lord's name. No cheering predictions gave hope that this misery would soon brighten into former joys. Grievous indeed was such trial. No greater misery can oppress any people than to be deprived of godly teachers.

For the People Who Fail

The Hidden Life: Chapter 8

By J.R. Miller


      It is quite time some helpful words should be spoken for the people who fail. There are enough to sing the praises of those who succeed. When a man is valiant, and overcomes in the battle, and stands a victor at the close of strife, there are enough to shout the hurrahs, and to twine the laurel for his brow. When a man prospers in business, rising to wealth and influence, living in splendor, there are enough to do homage to his achievements. When one has won honor in any calling, attaining eminence and distinction, as in art or in a profession, there is no lack of voices to speak commendation. Books are written, telling the stories of heroes who won great victories on land or sea. Poets weave their verses into garlands of honor for those who conquer in the world's battles. We have many volumes filled with the world's records of men who became famous, and women who became famous, rising from obscurity to greatness.

All this is well. But who tells the story of those who fail? Who sings the praises of him who goes down in the fight? Who tells of the heroism of him who is defeated in the battle, and falls wounded and overwhelmed? When the struggle is over, and the victors come out of the smoke and carnage in triumph, there is a jubilant shout to greet them; but who lifts up the cheer for the men who fell and died on the field? Yet were they any less brave than those who came unwounded from the strife? Did the honor of the victory belong any less to them--than to those who lived to hear the shout of conquest?

In all departments of life, there are a few who seem to succeed, while the many seem to fail. Have all those who sink down, weary and broken-hearted, who fall out of the ranks, unable to keep up in the swift march, who do not get on in business, whose hopes are disappointed, and who drop in the dust of defeat--have all those who seem to fail, really failed?

When a great building is to be erected, deep excavations are made, and piles of stones are laid down in the darkness, only to be covered up and hidden out of sight by the imposing superstructure which rises high into the air. This foundation work receives no praise. It is not even seen by any human eye. It appears in a sense, to be wasted work; yet we know that without it there would be no massive buildings towering in majestic proportions in the air. Just so, many men's lives seem to be failures, while in reality they have been built into the foundations of great temples. Their work is covered up and hidden out of sight, and makes no show before the world; but without it those who come after them could not have achieved the success which makes their names bright.

For a whole generation men are experimenting along some line; for example, in electricity. Some of them almost succeed. They seem to be on the very edge of achieving what they are seeking; but success persistently and narrowly eludes them, and they die at last, broken-hearted over their failure. Then a new man arises, and takes the results of their experiments as a starting point. He is successful, and all over the world rings with his praises; yet he never could have brought the invention to this triumphant issue but for the long, patient experimenting of those who went before him, toiling, sacrificing--failing. Nearly every great discovery or invention which has proved a blessing to the world, has had a long history of such effort and failure behind its final success. Who will say that the men who wrought thus so unselfishly in obscurity, and without result or reward, really failed? They did their part in preparing the way. Their work was essential in its place. Should they not share the songs of victory which the world sings for the man who at last brings the invention to triumphant completion?

Recently a man, prospecting in the mining regions of Arizona, found a remarkable natural bridge. It spans a deep canyon, forty-five feet in width. The bridge is made by a great agatized tree that lies across the gorge. Scientific men say that many ages since this tree was prostrated by some terrific storm, and fell across the canyon. By the effects of the water and of time, it has passed through many stages of mineralization, and is now a wonderful tree of solid agate. And there it lies, making an agate bridge over which men may pass from side to side. This tree seemed to be a failure when, that day in its prime, it was broken off by the storm and hurled to the ground. But, instead of being a failure, to what nobler use could it have been put, than thus to become a bridge of agate, to stand for ages, and on which countless human feet may walk across the chasm?

Dying to Ambition

By T. Austin-Sparks


      What do we expect when we go on with God, when we come right out for God? What have we in view?

Well, the answer to that question will decide whether, in relation to God, we have ambitions for something on the earth. Do you get the point? You see, it is so possible to swing over your natural ambitions to spiritual aims. It is the same thing still at work, and the only difference is the direction or sphere. You can be as ambitious in the work of God as you can be in the world, and it is the same natural ambition. It is the ambitiousness of nature.

You desire - what do you desire? To see something, to have something, to be in something? Ambition for success... yes, once it was in the world - now the same ambition transferred to other things.

You see, it is very often to the children - the kindergarten - the elementary stages of faith, where there is not the capacity to take very much strain, that God has to give quick results and manifest signs. The marks of maturity are equally the withdrawing of outward manifestations and signs - the demand to walk with God alone for God's own sake. It is a mark of graduation in the school of God that He can withdraw outward things. It shows that we have passed the test as to whether we are ambitious in this life.

It is a mark of going on when we can come to the place where it is true before God that we have let go all the prosperity and success even of Christian work and Christian ministry (as men would count). It is a sure sign of growth to be able to let go the great opportunities and the great advantages that may be had amongst Christian people... and the prizes that can be grasped... and to say: "It is all right, the Lord knows; it is for Him to give or withhold. I am not going to make a line for those prizes. I am not going to allow those things to influence my walk with God. Ambition is not going to dictate my course."

It may not seem here on earth to mean very big things - wide open doors and all that, but somehow you may take it that there is Life there - spiritual influence there - something that is counting there. In the end it will have counted. But this does sometimes first of all necessitate that conflict with ambition where all those suggestions and influences have to be laid low and we come to the place where we see that the way of Life is to go on with God though it costs us everything. The law of the Spirit of Life works in that way.

The way of Life demands that we shall get before the Lord and say, "Lord, though all my earthly prospects fade, though all my ambitions are disappointed, it is You I want. You are my ambition - my goal. If I have You, these other things will count for much less."

I believe that as we can get there... and not many of us have gotten a long way on that road... but as we can get there, we find the secret of Life, of joy, of release. I am not so sure that we shall not find that God is able to give back the prizes here. He withdraws them that we may turn from them to Himself. And when He has us for Himself, He may give something here; He may give blessing here on this earth.

But let us remember that His desire is to have us for Himself for His own sake; and as we fall into line, Life is found there. It is the way of Life. The law of Life demands that everything should be for the Lord... without any other influence or consideration... the Lord Himself.


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

The life on wings.

 

By Hannah Whitall Smith


      This life hid with Christ in God has many aspects, and can be considered under a great many different figures. One aspect has been a great help and inspiration to me. I think it may also help some other longing and hungry souls. It is what I call the life on wings.

Our Lord has not only told us to consider the "lilies of the field" (Matthew 6:28), but also the "birds of the air" (Matthew 8:20). I have found that these little winged creatures have some wonderful lessons for us. In one of the Psalms, the Psalmist, after specifying the darkness and bitterness of his life in this earthly sphere of trial, cries out, "Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest" (Psalm 55 :68) .

This cry for "wings" is as old as humanity. Our souls were made to "mount up with wings." They can never be satisfied with anything short of flying. The captiveborn eagle feels within it the instinct of flight and is irritated and worried about its imprisonment, hardly knowing what it longs for. Our souls, too, are irritated and worried and cry out for freedom. We can never rest on earth, and we long to "fly away" from all that holds and hampers and imprisons us here.

In seeking an outward escape from our circumstances or from our miseries, restlessness and discontentment grow. At first we do not recognize that our only way of escape is to "mount up with wings" (Isaiah 40:3 1 ), and we try to "flee on horses," as the Israelites did, when oppressed by their trials (see Isaiah 30:16).

A Way Of Escape

Our "horses" are the outward things on which we depend for relief, some change of circumstance, or some help from man. We mount on these and run east or west, north or south anywhere to get away from our trouble. In our ignorance we think that a change of our environment is all that is necessary to experience deliverance of our souls. But all such efforts to escape do not help. The soul is not made to "flee upon horses,'' but must make its flight always upon wings.

Moreover, as with the Israelites, these "horses" generally carry us out of one trouble only to land us in another. It is as the prophet Amos says, "As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him" (Amos 5:19). How often have we also run from some "lion" in our pathway only to be met by a "bear." How often we have hidden ourselves in a place of supposed safety only to be bitten by a "serpent!" It is useless for the soul to hope to escape by running away from its troubles to any earthly refuge. There is not one that can give it deliverance.

Is there no way of escape for us, then, when in trouble or distress? Must we just plod wearily through it all and look for no relief? I rejoice to answer that there is a glorious way of escape for every one of us, if we will but mount up on wings and fly away from it all to God. It is not a way east or west or north or south, but it is a way upwards. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (lsaiah 40:31).

All creatures that have wings can escape from every snare that is set from them, if only they will fly high enough. The soul that uses its wings can always find a sure "way to escape" from all that can hurt or trouble it.

What, then, are these wings? The secret is contained ill the words, "They that wait upon the Lord.'' The soul that waits upon the Lord is the soul that is entirely surrendered to Him and trusts Him perfectly. Therefore, we might name our wings the wings of Surrender and of Trust. If we will only completely surrender ourselves to the Lord and trust Him perfectly, we will find our souls "mounting up with wings as eagles" to the "heavenly places'' in Christ Jesus, where earthly annoyances or sorrows have no power to disturb us .

The Recompense of Trust

Palms of Elim: Chapter 49 

By John MacDuff


      "This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose"--

      "No one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him." Psalms 34:22

"Judaea Capta," are the words engraved on the well-known Roman coin, upon which impersonated captive Judah is sitting under the fronds of a desolate palm-tree.

Beneath the shadow of the Divine Heavenly Palm, the afflicted Christian can mingle his pensive sadness with the joyous strain, "He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust" (Psalms 91:1, 2).

"Trust God." It is easy for us to do so in sunshine. It is easy to follow our Leader, as Israel did the pillar-cloud, when a glorious pathway was opened up for them through the midst of the Red Sea; or when at Elim they pitched under tapering palm and by gushing spring; or when heaven rained down bread on the hungry camp. But it is not so easy to follow when earthly palms wither and fountains fail, and the pillar ceases to guide, and all outward and visible supports are withdrawn. Then, however, is the time for faith to soar! When the world is loud with its atheist sneer--What of religious supports now? THEN is the time to manifest a simple childlike confidence; and, amid baffling dispensations and frowning providences to exclaim, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."

Child of Sickness! bound down for years on a lonely pillow--the night-lamp your companion--disease wasting your cheeks and furrowing your brow, weary days and nights appointed you; tell me, where is the God in whom you trust? He is here, is the reply. His presence takes loneliness from my chamber, and sadness from my countenance. His promises are a pillow for my aching head, they point me onwards to that better land where the inhabitant shall no more say, "I am sick!"

Child of Poverty! where is the God whom you trust? Can He visit this crude dwelling? Can His promises be hung on these broken rafters? Can the light of His Word illumine that cheerless hearth and sustain that bent figure, shivering over the smouldering ashes? Yes! He is here. The lips of truth that uttered the beatitude, "Blessed are the poor," have not spoken in vain. Bound down by chill poverty, forsaken and forgotten in old age, no footstep of mercy heard on my threshold, no lip of man to drop the kindly word, no hand of support to replenish the empty cupboard; that God above has not deserted me. He has led me to seek and lay up my treasure in a home where poverty cannot enter, and where the beggar's hovel is transformed into the kingly mansion!

Bereaved One! where is the God whom you trust? Where is the Arm of Omnipotence you used to lean upon? Has He forgotten to be gracious? Has He mocked your prayers by trampling in the dust your dearest and best, and left you to pine and agonize in the bitterness of your desolate heart and home? No, He is here! He has swept down my fond idols, but it was in order that He Himself might occupy the vacant place. I know Him too well to question the faithfulness of His word and the fidelity of His dealings. I have never known what a God He was, until this hour of bitter trial overtook me! There was a "need be" in every tear, every deathbed, every grave!

Dying One! the closing moments are at hand; the world is receding, the dreaded symptoms of the approaching end are gathering fast round your pillow, the soul is pluming its wings for the immortal flight! Before memory begins to fade and the mind becomes a waste; before the names of friends when mentioned will only be answered by a dull vacant look, and then the hush of awful silence; tell me, before the last lingering ray of consciousness and thought has vanished, where is the God whom you trust? He is here! I feel the everlasting arms underneath and round about me. Heart and flesh are failing. The mists of death are dimming my eyes to the things below, but they are opening on the magnificent vistas of eternity. He who has for long been the object of faith's reliance, will soon be revealed in full vision and fruition. "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid."

Is Your Labor in Vain?

Bruce Hulshizer 

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says that all man's labor is in vain since it will not ultimately profit him anything, for he will die and leave it behind. This truth is emphasized and extended farther in the New Testament, but is also set in contrast with labor which is not in vain. If one is investing in this world with his labors, his labors are in vain not only because he will die and take nothing with him (I Timothy 6:7), but also because all that he builds will one day be burned up with the earth itself (II Peter3:10-11). Solomon saw the earth as forever. The New Testament says it too will pass away. Thus, it is futile and foolish to put our energy into building anything earthly, for the earth and its lusts are passing (I John 2:17).

Then is all labor in vain on the earth? No. The key is whether these labors are our labors according to our own purposes for our own gain on earth, or if they are "in the Lord" according to His purposes looking to fulfill His will on earth. Paul says to the saints that, since there is a future when we will be resurrected to be with the Lord, then what we do here is not futility if it is done in the Lord. "Always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (I Cor. 15:58) The Lord knows our works and labor (Rev 2:2) and will not forget our"labor of love which we show to His name, having ministered to the saints." (Heb 6:10)

So there are two sides. Labor according to our own purposes is in vain. Investment of time and energy into things of this world is foolish. However, labor in the work that the Lord is doing is not in vain, but has eternal value. In what am I laboring? Am I living with eternal values in view?

Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset: eternity to the godless is a night that has no sunrise. Thomas Watson

Jehovah-Jireh

Henry Law

"Abraham called the name of that Place Jehovah-Jireh." Genesis 22:14

Faith is the brightest star in the firmament of grace. High is its origin—for it is born in heaven. Lowly is its abode—for it dwells on earth in the hearts of the redeemed. Mighty are its deeds—for it prevails with God, and over sin and Satan. It treads down seeming impossibilities. It strides to victory over mountains of stupendous hindrance. It speeds to its haven through oceans, in which each billow is an overwhelming difficulty. It braces the Christian warrior for every combat—giving a shield to screen, and a sword to subdue. It has a keen eye to discern things invisible. It reads the mind of God, as written in the tablets of eternity—as emblazoned on the cross of Christ—as wrapped up in the folds of providence. It enthrones Jesus, as king of the inner man. It kindles and fans the flame of love. It opens the lips of prayer and praise. It turns the current of life into a strong stream of spiritual service. It endures, until the gates of light open at its touch. It only expires, when it sees the Lord face to face.

Should we not then earnestly covet this gift of gifts? Should we not prize it, as the treasure of treasures? Should we not boldly use it, as our best defense? Should we not seek it, as our truest wealth? With this desire, come with me, and let us view faith's prowess in one of the noblest passages of Abraham's noble life. And may the Lord the Spirit so accompany us with His gracious teaching, that we may become heirs of the faith and blessedness of this heroic servant of the Captain of Salvation!

God had looked on Abraham, when he was low in Satan's dungeon. He had called him from bowing down to stocks and stones to see the light of life. He had turned the darkest night into the luster of truth. He had ofttimes shone around him in cheering communion. He had opened to his wondering gaze the unsearchable riches of redemption. He had given pledge, that the Savior from on high should put on human nature in his family. Nature called hope of progeny an idle dream. But the Lord spoke, and Isaac lived. After such miracles of mercies, after such wondrous promises, and more wondrous fulfillments; "God tested Abraham." A trial was sent to test the reality and the strength of his grace.

Reader! faith untried, unprobed, unproved, is faith uncertain. The quality of the metal is ascertained, by what it can do and bear. The courage of the soldier is evidenced in the field. The depth of the root is shown by resistance to the hurricane. It is a rock, if no lashing surges can move it. It is a good foundation, when no batterings shake the building. But trials do more than search whether faith is deep-rooted. They also consolidate and invigorate it. The often-strained sinew becomes more firm. The long-strained racer wins the prize. By exercise new powers expand and fit for the wrestle.

Reader! if you are a partaker of this blessed gift, think it not strange, that you are called to breast the thwarting current of many an opposing wave. It is needful—it is right—it is good. The issue will be a richer harvest of assurance and delight. Lift up then the head, and "count it all joy, when you fall into diverse trials." But what furnace was ever hot as that which burnished Abraham's faith? He was rejoicing in his child—the signal token of God's signal favor. Suddenly the voice, which had so often caused his heart to burn, freezes his heart to stone. "Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you." He hears, but can he hear aright? His fondest hopes become a ruin. The promise, dearer than life, withers as a blight-stricken bud. The tree which held salvation's seed, falls low. The channel of redemption's stream is choked.

But God spoke—that is enough. The command is from heaven—positive and clear. It cannot err. Isaac may die, but faith dies not. It can reason, God has all wisdom, and power, and truth; "with Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Clouds and darkness may shroud the event. But through clouds and darkness, the faithful word and the loving purpose will break forth, as a summer's morn. So Abraham rose up early, and hastened to do His will.

Trust and Rest

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

      "Trust also in him" (Ps. 37:3).

      The word trust is the heart word of faith. It is the Old Testament word, the word given to the early and infant stage of faith. The word faith expresses more the act of the will, the word belief the act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart. The other has reference more to a truth believed or a thing expected.

      Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love. So let us "trust also in him," through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still "trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass." The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last.

      "Trust and rest when all around thee
      Puts thy faith to sorest test;
      Let no fear or foe confound thee,
      Wait for God and trust and rest.

      "Trust and rest with heart abiding,
      Like a birdling in its nest,
      Underneath His feathers hiding,
      Fold thy wings and trust and rest."

Jeremiah Contrasting the Two Options on Trust

Bob Hoekstra

Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD." (Jeremiah 17:5-8a)


Jeremiah also offers insight into living by grace as he contrasts the two options on trust. When it comes to where we will place out trust, there are basically only two choices: man or God. This choice is a critical one, because one is a curse, and the other is a blessing. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man . . . Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD."

The natural mind of fallen humanity places its confidence in man (usually, in themselves). The flesh of every born again believer in Jesus Christ is tempted to place trust in the same direction. This brings a very serious spiritual curse. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength." When we exercise dependence upon man, we can only draw upon fleshly resources for strength. This amounts to a departure from the Lord in whom we are to trust: "whose heart departs from the LORD." The Lord is the only source of all true blessings. Consequently, to trust in man results in a curse.

The curse that results from depending upon human resources (ours or others) is barrenness of life, spiritually speaking. "For he shall be like a shrub in the desert." A desert shrub represents the antithesis of abundant spiritual life. It is the picture of a plant that is barely surviving. Desert shrubs are typically sparse in growth and lacking in fruitfulness. A person who trusts in flesh is like this shrub. Also, he will not see good days of bountiful vitality. "For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes." People who trust in the fallen resources of man never do really see days that God's word would call good. Rather, they dwell in spiritual conditions that are like salty soil, wastelands, scorched land, incapable of habitation: "but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited." Such living is a cursed spiritual existence of carnal desolation.

Yet, there is a fully effective option by which such barrenness can be avoided. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD."

Dear Lord, I confess that I have often trusted in myself. I agree with Your word that the flesh always brings the curse of spiritual barrenness. I have found the same is true when I place my hope in others. Lord, teach me to trust in You, that I might know the blessedness of having Your grace as my resource, Amen.

The Afflicted Remnant and Their Confiding Trust

Preached at Zoar Chapel, London, on July 6, 1845, by J. C. Philpot

"I will also leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord." Zephaniah 3:12

Jerusalem was the center of the worship of the only true God from the day that David brought the ark there, until she rejected the Lord of life and glory, and brought upon herself that sentence, "Behold your house is left unto you desolate." For this reason, Jerusalem became a type and figure of two things--first, of the TRUE church of God, his own elect family; and secondly, of the VISIBLE church. In those passages for instance, where we read, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem"; "Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city"; "Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem"--in these, and similar passages, Jerusalem is addressed as representing the SPIRITUAL church of God. But, on the other hand, there are many passages where she is spoken of in language only applicable to the OUTWARD PROFESSING CHURCH; as in the beginning of this chapter, "Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!"

In the text, we find Jerusalem personally addressed. And the Lord declares that he "will leave in the midst of her an afflicted and poor people;" and that this afflicted and poor people "shall trust in the name of the Lord." By Jerusalem, then, in the text, is not meant the true church of God, the inner sanctuary; but the outer court, the VISIBLE CHURCH, as including the invisible. And the Lord says of this professing church, of this outward visible congregation, that he will leave in her midst, a circle within a circle, a peculiar people, whom he describes under two distinct marks.

In endeavoring to unfold this portion of God's word, I shall notice three particulars connected with the text:

I. The solemn declaration of the Almighty, that he will leave in the midst of the professing church a people.


II. The character of the people whom the Lord thus leaves in the midst of Jerusalem, "an afflicted and poor people."


III. That they shall be brought to "trust in the name of the Lord."



I. The SOLEMN DECLARATION of the Almighty, that he will leave in the midst of the professing church a people.

God here speaks in the solemn exercise of his sovereignty, "I will leave." It is no matter of chance, or of uncertainty. It is a solemn declaration, which God, who cannot lie, has given, and which He will therefore surely fulfill.

But we may observe two things connected with this solemn declaration--one is, "in the midst of her." The words clearly intimate that "all are not Israel who are of Israel;" that the visible church encloses in its bounds the invisible. Thus, we are to expect to find the people of God in the midst of the professing church, and yet completely SEPARATE from it; wrapped up in it, as the nut is wrapped up in the nutshell; yet as DISTINCT IN ESSENCE, in peculiarity, and in flavor, as the nut is from the shell which surrounds it. It is also HIDDEN by the professing church in the same way as the nut is hidden by the shell; and yet so hidden that though the eye of man sees it not, yet it lies naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

But the expression, "I will leave," carries with it also a peculiar signification. The Lord does not say, 'I will PUT in the midst of her,' but 'I will leave in the midst of her.' The word is connected with the idea of a remnant, as we read in the next verse, "The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth--for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid". The inner portion, therefore, bears a small proportion to the outer--"two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof."

Now it will be the concern of every one taught of God to know whether he belongs to the outward, or to the inward church--whether he be one of that peculiar people chosen before all worlds, whom God leaves as a remnant in the midst of the outward church, or whether he has the mere form of godliness, while destitute of the power.

The Three Ananiases

By Andrew Bonar

      The Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 23;5;9.

      It is sometimes useful to put in juxtaposition separate facts and characters. The three Crosses--how instructive! the three Marys, the three Centurions. Here we have the three Ananiases. Their name means 'Jehovah is gracious.' Their parents thought it a lucky name, and all professed to rejoice in what it expresses. Many make this a pillow. 


Let us not be deceived by names or profession, for even devoutness is not faith, and profession is not principle.

 I. Ananias, the enemy of the Cross.--He was the son of Nebadaeas and succeeded Joseph, who succeeded Annas and Caiaphas. You find him with the Bible in his hands from his birth, as a Levite and a priest. He had to do with the highest forms of religion, with its rites day by day at the altar.

Once a year he would be in the Holy of Holies, and see the mercy-seat, and gaze on the blood,--yea, sprinkle it. Every holy thing in word and ordinance was familiar to him. And yet he was a 'whited wall,' --only externally comely, all formalism and externalism. He hated vital religion and grew wroth at every manifestation of it. His bosom friends were Roman governors and such as Tertullus (24:1). The world, even the same pleasures that heathenism relished, was still in his heart. Josephus tells that before the last siege of the city, he hid in an aqueduct and was dragged out to die. Even so shall he try to hide under the rocks or cry, 'Mercy, O Lord!' according to his name, but shall not find it.

 In our community there are many such as Ananias, persons brought up with the Bible in their hand, familiar with ordinances, with the routine of the prayer-book, or family worship, or worship in church. Nay, they go to the Lord's Table, lifting up solemn hands, gazing on the blood on the mercy-seat, and saying 'We take it.' Yet their bosom friends are men like Felix or Tertullus, they are at home with them in pleasure and trifling gaieties. They instinctively shrink from true vital godliness and the men who have it, bid them 'hold their peace'--smite them on the mouth. They never knew the new birth. Union to Christ is to them cant or nonsense. And so they die! But on the day of Christ, lo! they are dragged from the covert of the rocks and hills.

 II. Ananias the apparent believer.--He was a hollow-hearted man, yet he seemed sound. It was a revival time when the tide was high. He joined the true believers at a time when faith was strong in them, when they were accustomed to live each day looking into glory and were on the wing above earth. Feeling a secret conviction that they were right, he threw in his lot with them, separated himself from former friends, took the godly as his companions, praised and admired the Apostle, and became quite zealous. But he was not really born again, the Spirit was not in him, as soon appeared. For either from a wish to be less obscure, or from partial conviction that self-denial was right, he sold part and pretended to give all. And so we see he had never quietly rested on Christ and been content with His Nazareth obscurity of obedience. He died an awful death. His name availed not, there was no 'grace' for him. He sank down--what an awful surprise !--from the very midst of the believers.

There are some such among us still. They have a secret conviction that it is safe and right to be believers, so they imitate others, attend meetings, separate themselves from the world. You may detect in yourselves a likeness to Ananias. Perhaps, when you find yourself overlooked you wish to be known or else to go back. Or when a missionary cause is pleaded you give a little, and say to conscience, 'It is all I can afford.' Perhaps you are half--conscious that it is the example of others that carries you along.

Are you willing to detect yourself? Ask yourself, 'Why am I not willing to do as Jesus did at Nazareth, though unnoticed? Why am I complacent at any good thing I say or do? Are not these to a real saint as natural as streams to a spring? Am I independent of money and comforts, of name and praise for my heaven, finding it in Jesus?' The Spirit has found you out, for He never knew a time when He opened the door of your heart. Your conscience may be quiet by your profession. O look on sin as you see it in the Law and in the Cross, not as you feel it. You cannot lie to the Holy Ghost in vain!

  III. Ananias, the true disciple.--One of God's happy servants. You see his life in chap.22:12, 'of good report;' he 'observed the law;' he was ready to obey (chap. 9:10-17). He learned to be a disciple first at the Cross when the voice said 'Ananias, come to Me,' and ever since he has obeyed it. Hear Christ speaking to His sheep by name 'Ananias!' and notice his brotherly love-- 'Brother Saul'.


      Have you private intercourse with Christ, and are you sent on His errands? Happy Ananias! He carried rest to Paul, who thereafter carried Christ to to many thousands; and whether, as tradition says, he died a martyr at Damascus, or on his bed, his end was peace. He answered to his name. He knew God was 'gracious.' 


At the Great Day yonder is Ananias in his robes of Priesthood, with the breastplate on which are the names of every tribe, but no room for the name of Jesus! Nay, his robes kept off the blood of Jesus. Then, there is the other Ananias. He saw that High Priest's heart was empty, but he himself never found what filled his whole soul. He fled from Sodom only to be a Lot's wife! 


But you, O holy Ananias, come! Paul is getting his crown, 'but not to me only'--to him who bade the scales fall from his eyes. Yes, says Jesus, to that quiet saint with whom I spoke, and who spoke with me--to Paul with his ten talents, to you with your five. 'Enter into the joy of thy Lord.'


The first Ananias looked neither into himself to see the hell there, nor on Jesus, to see the door of heaven, or heaven itself, there. The second gave only a glance at both, and saw neither fully.


 But the third looked till he saw himself lost, and wrath his portion; and then upward, till he read, 'I have found a ransom' in the hand of the Father who pointed him to Jesus!

      Transcribed from Reminiscences of Andrew A. Bonar D.D.

The Pins of the Tabernacle.

By Andrew Bonar

      Exodus 27:19; 38:31; 39:40.

      These verses teach us a great deal.

      I. God's notice of little things.--He takes time to speak about them, and bids Moses write about them. He says as much about the 'pins' in these passages as He does about the work of creation.

      II. God's notice of those who carried the pins (Num. 3: 36, 37).--The pins and the cords were under the charge of the sons of Merari, and God looked on those who carried the pins--the very smallest things connected with His work. They marched through the desert--they got the same gleams from the Pillar-Cloud as those who carried the Ark or the Candlestick. It is just like our God to attend to the small things very carefully: the wing of a fly, a blade of grass. It is characteristic of His greatness that He can attend to the small things as well as to the great--while He is listening to the praises of eternity He can be thinking on those who are carrying the pins of the tabernacle.

 Does not this appear in what Christ says, 'Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father'? 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered.' What comfort there is in this! Are you ever afraid to tell God your small things, as if they were not worth while His attending to? But your great things are not any more worth attending to. This should lead us to lay our care upon Him, to trust Him better.

      III. This teaches us to be contented with out lot.--The sons of Merari might say, 'Why do our brethren the Kohathites carry the Ark?' Because God said it; that is all. He that serves most is the greatest in the kingdom. He who carries the pins may get the greatest reward. You may think you are in a very small sphere. 

God says, 'Here is your sphere, here stand.' The poorest Israelite, serving God in his dwelling, might get as much of the divine favour as did Daniel, who was governor over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Do not say, 'I want to get out of the rut into another place.' If you get out of the rut of carrying pins when God put you there, you will not be blessed. 


Are we in the camp with God? That is the great thing. Come to the altar and lay your hand on the sacrifice, and thus claim a sinner's access to a holy God. Then God will give you your place, and, whether it be large or small, He will shine on you with the brightness of His face for ever and ever!

      Transcribed from Reminiscences of Andrew A. Bonar D.D.

You Grow the Way You Were Born

By Theodore Epp


      Colossians 2:1-7

Paul spoke here of the necessity of the Colossians to continue as they had begun. In other words, he was telling them, "Get settled in Christ; see that Christ is everything in your life." Paul wanted the Colossians to recognize that if someone taught differently, then that teaching was in error.

We are to walk in Christ the same way as we originally received Him as our Saviour. We received Him by faith; so we are to walk in Him by faith. The way of salvation is made crystal clear in Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please him."

Notice that Paul used the full title for the Lord: "Christ Jesus the Lord" (Col. 2:6). "Christ" means "anointed one" or "Messiah." That is Jesus' heavenly name. "Jesus" means "one who saves" and refers to the historical Person who became flesh and lived among mankind. "Lord" means "master" and refers to His supreme control of everything.

With this threefold emphasis, Paul was reminding the Colossians whom they had become rightly related to when they received salvation. He is the Anointed One of God; He is the Saviour of mankind; He is the Supreme Lord. Paul urged the Colossians to remember that they had started with Christ by faith and that now they must continue to walk with Him by faith.

"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:15).

1 Samuel 8:10

By Gilbert Beebe


      Sister Blake, of South Carolina, desires our views on the passage referred to, which reads thus:

  "And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house," &c.

It seems to be a hard matter with many to comprehend how God can govern, restrain and direct the evil spirits which are abroad in the earth, without being in some way, or to some extent, associated in his nature with them. How an evil spirit from God could operate on a wicked king, unless that wicked spirit had first existed in the being of God, and had emanated from him.

Whatever difficulty we may have in comprehending the Scriptures of truth, two things are certain.

First, that no portion of the divine record is the less true because of our want of capacity to understand it; and second, that God is a Spirit of infinite and eternal purity, that nothing impure or unholy ever did belong to his nature. Yet, with these two points fully conceded, no one can reasonably doubt that the sovereign government of God extends to all beings, all worlds and all events. We are compelled to believe that God's providential government extends to the controlling of all things, or otherwise that his government is far more contracted than any of us are ready to admit.

We ask, Upon what principle could he declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things which are not yet developed, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, if he did not hold in his hand the controlling power to govern and direct all things? We must confess that, to us, there is great consolation in the contemplation of the universal providential dominion of the Lord God Almighty.

Were we compelled to believe that wicked men, evil spirits or devils, could possibly thwart his purpose, or devise or execute any purpose or plan without his knowledge, permission or decree, we should be unable to defend the doctrine of his omniscience. If it be admitted that God has a perfect knowledge of all that transpires in heaven, earth and hell, it must also be admitted that he always had that knowledge, as well before he created the world as at the present moment, or otherwise we must deny his immutability.

If he is in possession of knowledge now that he did not always possess, that would involve a change; it therefore cannot be. Knowing all things then, by his omniscience, from everlasting, can any doubt that he had power to determine whether they should or should not transpire?

To deny that he had that power, is to deny his omnipotence, it is to deny that he is truly the Almighty God. Can we, without impeaching his eternal wisdom, believe there is a single wheel in all the vast and complicated machinery of this world, or any other world, that he did not supply, or that fails to operate as he designed that it should? If so, may we not fear that all his purposes in Christ Jesus, of grace and salvation, may also fail?

We may look at any piece of machinery that we do not understand, and mark the numerous wheels revolving, to our limited judgment in direct opposition to each other, it may look to the novice as though it must be destroyed as soon as it is set in motion. This only proves that we not understand the machine. Let us see it operate, and to our astonishment the design of the machinist is carried out perfectly, and we are instructed those parts of the whole, which look to us as though they could not work in harmony with the other parts are so essential to the whole, that the machine would be useless without them.

What then? We marvel at the wisdom of the machinist. Even so we wonder, gaze and admire the supreme wisdom of God, who has displayed his handiwork in the creation of the world. But let us for a moment look at the complicated parts of this great and wonderful machinery of nature. Can any man comprehend it? Certainly not.

What an endless variety of living creatures, from soaring angels near his throne, to groveling reptiles, crawling on the ground, and myriads of insects too minute in size for our perception. Which of them all could be withdrawn from the whole, without impairing the machine? The novice can perceive no use for all the little wheels and screws connected with the machine prepared by man, but let him remove any of them, and the whole is out of order. Which, then, permit us to inquire, of all the minute parts of the wonderful creation of God, ahs he supplied in vain?

Two sparrows are sold for a farthing; can half a farthing's worth of God's creation be removed or withdrawn without impairing the whole? A lifetime of any one of us would scarcely afford opportunity to count the hairs upon our head; but can one of them fall to the ground or change from the precise position which infinite wisdom has assigned them?

This question is already settled by him who made the world, and by whom all things were made that was made. When we contemplate the wonderful works of God in the creation of the world, when we consider the heavens, the workmanship of his hands, are we not constrained to exclaim with the enraptured psalmist, "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?"

The Poor In Spirit Are Enriched With A Kingdom

The Beatitudes 5. 

By Thomas Watson


      Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

Here is high preferment for the saints. They shall be advanced to a kingdom. There are some who, aspiring after earthly greatness, talk of a temporal reign here, but then God's church on earth would not be militant but triumphant. But sure it is the saints shall reign in a glorious manner: Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' A kingdom is held the acme and top of all worldly felicity, and this honour have all the saints'; so says our Saviour, Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' All Christ's subjects are kings. By the kingdom of heaven is meant that state of glory which the saints shall enjoy when they shall reign with God and the angels for ever; sin, hell and death being fully subdued. For the illustration of this I shall show first wherein the saints in heaven are like kings.

Kings have their insignia or regalia, their ensigns of royalty and majesty.

1. Kings have their crowns. So the saints after death have their crown-royal. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life' (Revelation 2:10). Believers are not only pardoned but crowned. The crown is an ensign of honour. A crown is not for every one. It will not fit every head. It is only for kings and persons of renown to wear (Psalm 21:3). The crown which the poor in spirit shall wear in heaven is an honourable crown. God himself installs them into their honour and sets the crown-royal upon their head. And this crown that the saints shall wear, which is divinely orient and illustrious, exceeds all other.

(i) It is more pure. Other crowns, though they be made of pure gold, yet they are mixed metal; they have their troubles. A crown of gold cannot be made without thorns. It has so many vexations belonging to it, that it is apt to make the headache. Which made Cyrus say, did men but know what cares he sustained under the imperial crown, he thought they would not stoop to take it up. But the saints' crown is made without crosses. It is not mingled with care of keeping, or fear of losing. What Solomon speaks in another sense I may say of the crown of glory, It adds no sorrow with it' (Proverbs 10:22). This crown, like David's harp, drives away the evil spirit of sorrow and disquiet. There can be no grief in heaven any more than there can be joy in hell.

(ii) This crown of glory does not draw envy to it. David's own son envied him and sought to take his crown from his head. A princely crown is oftentimes the mark for envy and ambition to shoot at, but the crown the saints shall wear is free from envy. One saint shall not envy another, because all are crowned, and though one crown may be larger than another, yet everyone shall have as big a crown as he is able to carry.

(iii) This is a never-fading crown. Tertullian says that this crown is not made out of either roses or gems. Other crowns quickly wear away and tumble into the dust: Doth the crown endure to all generations?' (Proverbs 27:24). Henry VI was honoured with the crowns of two kingdoms, France and England. The first was lost through the faction of his nobles; the other was twice plucked from his head. The crown has many heirs and successors. The crown is a withering thing. Death is a worm that feeds in it; but the crown of glory is immarcescible, it fadeth not away' (1 Peter 5:4). It is not like the rose that loses its gloss and vernancy. This crown cannot be made to wither, but like the flower we call Everlasting, it keeps always fresh and splendent. Eternity is a jewel of the saints' crown.

2. Kings have their Robes. The robe is a garment wherewith Kings are arrayed. The King of Israel and the King of Judah sat clothed in their robes' (2 Chronicles 18:9). The robe was of scarlet or velvet lined with ermine, sometimes of a purple colour, when it was called Purpura,; sometimes of an azure brightness. Thus the saints shall have their robes. I beheld a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds, clothed in white robes' (Revelation 7:9). The saints, robes signify their glory and splendour; white robes denote their sanctity. They have no sin to taint or defile their robes. In these robes they shall shine as the angels.

The Altar at Bethel

By J.G. Bellet


      1 Kings 12: 25 - 1 Kings 13.

The inspired commentary on Idolatry, which we find in Romans 1, teaches us to know that it had its source in the corruption of the human mind. The haughtiness of the intellect became the parent of it. (verses 22-25.) The Apostle tells us also, that the "heart of unbelief" is an "evil" one. (Heb. 3: 12.) And at the opening of this scripture, we find that it was the love of the world that erected the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Jeroboam thought it was the only way by which he could secure the kingdom.

He corrupted the religion of the people. He did not, in infidel scorn, deny it--because he owned that God's people had been brought out of Egypt--but he corrupted it--as guilty a thing; for it was turning it to his own account, or making it serve his own ends.

We learn, at the opening of 1 Kings 13, how the Lord deals with this corruption. It is according to His usual method. He sends His servant, under a fresh communication of His mind, and a fresh anointing of His Spirit, from the land of Judah, to the altar at Bethel, to denounce it, to deliver the judgment of God against all who had connected themselves with it; with a stay of the execution of that judgment until the time of Josiah the future King of the house of David. But

He also gives a present pledge of such execution--for the altar was rent at the moment, and the ashes that were upon it were poured out.*

*The judgment here pronounced was executed to the very letter. (2 Kings 23) Josiah was prophesied of by name, as Cyrus afterwards was. (Isa. 44)

This is His common way. He pronounces judgment, but delays the execution of it, giving present pledges of it. The interval is called "His long-suffering"--and we know it is "salvation," a time for gathering and quickening. (2 Peter 3: 15) Enoch pronounced the judgment of the ungodly, and we know from Jude that that judgment is still to be executed--but the Flood was as a pledge-fulfilment. The Lord pronounced the judgment of Jerusalem in Matthew 24, and we know, from the very terms of that sentence, that it is still to be executed--but the Roman invasion was as a pledge-fulfilment of it.

Jeroboam was indignant at the man of God who had pronounced this sentence against his altar, and he stretched out his arm, as commanding his servants to lay hold on him. But the hand of God laid hold on him, and his outstretched arm became rigid and withered. Then his mind is changed--he repents himself--to be sure he does--he is gracious when pangs come upon him--and he sues the man of God to pray for the restoration of his arm. This is done; and he invites the man of God to come home with him to his palace for refreshment and rewards. But he lets the king know, in the spirit of a Daniel, that he may keep his gifts to himself and give his rewards to another. He leaves the scene of God's curse, and sets himself on the way back to Judah, having done the business committed to him by "the word of the Lord." The altar and its priests are left to meet the judgment of God in its season.

Now, however, and from hence to the end, the scene changes. We have no further sight of the man of God and of the King together, but we are to see the man of God in company with an old prophet who at that time lived at Bethel.

We are exposed to special temptations, if we live on borderlands, or in equivocal circumstances and conditions.

The old prophet, saint of God as he was, lived (something in the way of a Lot in Sodom) near the altar. The devil uses him; and with a lie in his mouth, that he was bidden by an angel to do so, he brings the man of God back from the road that was leading him down to Judah, to eat and drink with him in his house at Bethel.