THE TRANSFIGURATION

THE TRANSFIGURATION
J. Alec Motyer

Readings: Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36

IN a certain sense we enjoy a privilege which the Lord Jesus never had. We have our own copy of the Bible -- often a prized one -- whereas the Word of God was not printed in pocket form in His day, but was much too bulky and too expensive for most people. On the other hand, in the mystery of God becoming Man, He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52) and knew the Word of God with such accuracy and aptitude that as a child of twelve He surprised learned professors by His understanding and His answers. How magnificent was His knowledge of the Bible! He had a reply for every temptation drawn out of the Word of God. He took care to honour the Word of God when men came to Him with their questions. "What is written in the law? How readest thou?" He asked a lawyer, so displaying His confidence that it was all there in the Scriptures. When He spoke of always doing the things that pleased the Father, He was not mainly speaking of any intuition as to the will of God but of the will of God as stated in the written Scriptures of which the Lord Jesus was Master. Oh, if we would be like Jesus, let us covet to be like Him in our knowledge of the Word of God!!

The knowledge which the Lord Jesus had of the Word of God not only allowed Him to quote the Scriptures but enabled Him to use them in a special way. There were times when He reached back into the past, into Scriptural events which had happened earlier, and then reproduced those events in His own experience so that the Old Testament acted as a commentary upon Himself. It was this that He was doing when He took His three disciples up into the mountain for what we call His transfiguration. It would seem that He deliberately reached back into the past and plucked events out of the earlier Scriptures so that we might learn more of Himself.

IN the first of our two passages we read that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai "he did not know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him" (Exodus 34:29). Bible translators try to help us by sorting that one out and some say that Moses' shining face was by reason of the Lord speaking with him and others that it was by reason of his speaking with the Lord. The Hebrew simply says, as we have read, "by reason of his speaking with him". Who was speaking with whom? I don't know; you don't know; nobody knows! Usually when a Scripture has two possible meanings, I like to suggest that we take them both. What we do know is that as the result of that mountain-top fellowship, something of the divine glory was imparted to Moses so that the skin of his face shone.

Jesus went up to enjoy mountain-top fellowship with the Father and while He was praying, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment became white and dazzling. The glory that Moses had was on the skin of his face; it was imposed from the outside. It was a glory that rubbed off from God and rubbed on to Moses. The glory of Moses was partial; it touched his face only. The glory of Moses could be hidden; he wore a veil upon his face because the people were understandably scared by this sight of glory. The glory of Jesus, however, was the glory of His whole person; the glory of Jesus could not be hidden so that even His clothes became white and glistening. Out from His whole person there shone a radiance which penetrated even the opaque veil of His clothing. The lesson is plain and thrilling. It is that the glory of Jesus transcends any glory that preceded it. Here on earth those three disciples had an inkling of the surpassing glory of Jesus which fills the heavens.

The passage in the Gospel tells us that "Jesus took with him Peter and John and James" (Luke 9:28), while in the Old Testament we read: "Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel" (Exodus 24:9). Jesus went up with three named individuals; Moses went up with three named individuals; and they saw the God of Israel. As they went up that mountain did Christ's three disciples remember the incident in history and did their knowledge of the Bible prompt them to realise that Jesus was taking them up into the place of revelation? They knew that both Moses and [31/32] Elijah in their day had gone to the mountain top and held communion with God, so did their glimpse of the two heavenly visitors heighten their expectancy that they too were to have this supreme privilege?

THE GREATNESS AND GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

T. AUSTIN SPARKS

THE GREATNESS AND GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

14. A TRAGIC AND INSTRUCTIVE EPISODE

Reading: 2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13, 16.

IN tracing the history of the Ark of the Testimony we have been deeply impressed with its foreshadowing of the Testimony of Jesus in the New Testament. What a varied and instructive history that has been! In its journey from its formation to its ultimate and final rest in the House of God and glory, what deep and important lessons it has taught! As it sets forth the greatness and glory of the Lord Jesus the way of that Testimony has been seen to touch the life and history of God's people at every point in their pilgrimage. Both as positively for them when their life was in keeping with it, and as against them when it was otherwise. That is a first lesson of which we must take notice in our relationship with the "Lord of Glory". The Testimony of God in Jesus Christ is not just a doctrine, a system of truth, the fundamentals of the Christian faith; but a vital relationship with a living Person; a relationship jealously watched and checked by God the Holy Spirit Himself. The greatness and glory of Jesus Christ is something given to the custodianship of the Spirit of God, who has "the seven eyes" of perfect spiritual intelligence and discernment, and who never eventually overlooks any details which affect that Testimony, for good or evil. This is what we have been seeing in these messages thus far.

In this present message we come to an episode which contains some of the most vital, solemn, and instructive lessons for God's people personally, and His Church universally and locally. Upon the lessons of this incident hang -- for our own time -- issues as serious as was the case when it actually happened. This is indeed a very real example of the words: "The things which were written aforetime were written for our learning" (Romans 15:4).

Let us, then, come to the elements of this episode.

David, after his chequered history, discipline, troubles, in preparation for his anointed kingship, has at length been made king after the tragic death of Saul -- man's choice (note) -- and Saul's sons, including that fine man, Jonathan, who was caught between the two regimes, a victim of divided loyalties. Upon this confirmed anointing of David it is not long before his thoughts turn to the ark of God, which still lingered on its way to fulness and finality. He had the right idea as to what was due to that sacred figure. His motive was sincere and true. The question was how to realize the Divine intention. Let us pause there and look forward to what eventuated from the point of that question. We will return there presently.

There has been a tragedy. Disaster has overtaken the enterprise and venture. The ark is turned aside. One man closely associated with the proceedings is dead, smitten by the hand of God. The people are in consternation and confusion. David is dismayed and "angry". The whole process has been cut short, and for a long time the atmosphere of frustration hangs over everything. Arrest, death, abortion, frustration, suspense, disappointment, confusion -- these are the features which hang over the life of the people of God. They had, with one accord, "made David king", first in Hebron, and then in Jerusalem. That was a right and excellent thing, and the portents and potentialities of that were very great. It was as God meant it, and that was accompanied by much Divine favour. Hebron was "Fellowship". Jerusalem was "His Foundation of Peace". But now "the radiant morn has passed away, and spent too soon her golden store". Shadows have descended. Disintegration of hearts, and bewilderment of purpose have overtaken.

David is somewhere, first nursing his grievance and fretting his spirit; murmuring against the [13/14] Lord's non-co-operation with his good-intentioned purpose. The spirit of unity and responsibility, as symbolized by David, is disconcerted and paralysed. "And the time was long."

I wonder whether, thus far, we are able to discern corresponding features in the Church and the Testimony in our own times. Let us pause, think, and ask the question!

Now we return to David where we left him before the tragedy. He is thinking out a scheme, a plan, a programme, a method, a means, for advancing the Testimony. It ought to "get a move on". Something must be done to remove "stalemate". 'It has been in the house of that man Abinadab too long.' So, to action to release the Testimony! 'Let's have a committee. Let's confer with some men of substance.' 'I have an idea,' said David. 'Do you remember how the Philistines returned the ark after they had captured it, and God had so honoured it with judgments? Why, God was in that . They were quite respectful and made a perfectly new cart for the ark. They had common sense and used their own good judgment. That's an idea for our work for God !' So David instructed the carpenters and wheelwrights to make a new cart such as the Philistines made. Best wood, well put together, wheels well oiled, ornate coverings; some well-chosen beasts to be the power and volition; and when we get going, let Ahio go in front, and -- in case of difficulty -- let Uzza be nearby to steady things. Yes, man's idea, man's creation, organization, technique; man's leadership, man's custodianship, man's enthusiasm! Very well. Off we go! The shouting and the singing and the dancing begin. The makebelieve and artificiality. There is something hollow in it all. But, isn't it all for God? Isn't the object and the end that we have what God wants? Surely that is the guarantee of prosperity and success! Well, was it? And is it?

All seems to go well for a time and everyone is enjoying the "New thing".

But, oh, why are there such things as "threshing floors" in the Bible? They have always been such testing places. They search for reality as against makebelieve, grain and chaff. They stand for the ultimate issue, what is of God and what is of man. At such a place David's oxen stumbled, the new cart rocked, the ark was imperilled, and -- you know the rest, for we have told it.

Here we return to David -- the spirit of responsibility.

Such a man as David could not remain indefinitely with a controversy with God. God is waiting for him to come out of his cul-de-sac. So David begins to run through the Bible which he had (which had been there all the time) and his eye is directed to:

"And thou shalt put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark withal" (Exodus 25:14).

"And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting"(Numbers 4:5).

"But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonged unto them; they bare it upon their shoulders" (Numbers 7:9).

As he looked he was startled, shocked, amazed, ashamed. Here was God's own prescription and ordination for the transit of the Ark of Testimony! As David read these Scriptures he must have called up his knowledge of the history lying behind God's unchanging order. The new cart faded from view, and in its place were some men who, through a most testing and searching history with God, had qualified for this so sacred ministry.

Although David did not have the prophecies of Malachi, God's speaking there (Malachi 2:4 ...) was retrospective to Exodus 32:26-29, and Numbers 25:12, 13. God's covenant with Levi and his sons, which governed their service, and gave them responsibility in relation to His Testimony, was because they were proved and approvedmen. In New Testament terms they were 'spiritual' men, "approved of God, workmen needing not to be ashamed". Yes, approved of God, and of His people. Not chosen, voted for, appointed and given office by men! Men of spiritual measure, "pillars of the church". In Christianity one of the most sacred expressions of the Lord's Testimony is His Table. "The Table of the Lord" is characterized as most holy: dangerous -- like the ark -- to what is not wholly suitable to it, and most blessed to those rightly related. Surely it is here that Levitical service is to find its true expression. Those who serve at the Lord's Table ought to be true "Levites" in the sense that they have -- under extended or intensive trial and proving -- shown to the Lord and His people that they are men of spiritual measure and quality! With reference to "overseers" Paul said: "Not a novice." "Novice" means "one newly planted". Surely this ought to apply to so sacred a function as serving at the Lord's Table! To put an untried and unproved 'novice' into such ministry is to put him into a false position, and even a dangerous one, and also making the church and its elders [14/15] very responsible. Levites may not now be an ecclesiastical class or a ritualistic "Order", but the law of spiritual approvedness and quality born of experience surely holds good for every ministry in the Church!

No, not a "new cart"! Not a man-conceived technique! Not -- with the best of intentions and motives -- man's arrangement! It is possible for man to get too close to the Lord's Testimony with his own hand , like Uzza, and consequently find himself out of the living fulness of the Divine goings and purpose. He may even be responsible for arrested, retarded, and confused conditions in the work of God. To put a hand on something that is of God as to purpose is surely -- sooner or later -- to meet God in stern disapproval, and to forfeit His "Well done".

Of the various instructive things which arise so evidently from this episode, not by any means the least is the solemn government of the Word of God. David's disastrous course was due to his overlooking, ignoring, and consequently violating the clear Word of the Lord. His act -- if unintentionally -- implied superiority to the Scriptures. This is always dangerous! It is particularly incumbent upon any who are in a position of responsibility to familiarize themselves with God's Word in relation to any course of action in which they may be involved.

We have written the above out of very long and wide experience in the Lord's work, and we are sure that to give serious consideration to the Bible's teaching in this episode would be to have the explanation of much tragedy, would be a strong warning and corrective, and see the Lord's Testimony freed to proceed.

Thank God, David recovered himself and had a happier end. This we shall see in our next message.

(To be continued)
----------------

A Peculiar Vessel

By T. Austin-Sparks

      "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS"

      1 Samuel 1.

      The state of things today is very similar to that which existed at the beginning of the first book of Samuel. Three things in particular seem to stand out there as features of those days.

      The first was a formality in the things of God through being pursued in the energy of the flesh; resulting in mixture and spiritual adultery, and spiritual weakness and ineffectiveness.

      Another feature was the absence of spiritual revelation and perception - "There was no open vision". The "Spirit of wisdom and revelation" was inoperative amongst priests and people. Spiritual intelligence and apprehension was a minus quantity.

      The third thing was the constant menace of the Philistines, which eventually issued in the departure of the glory from Israel and the absence of the testimony of the Sovereignty from the midst of the people of God. When we remember that the Philistines always represent the intrusion of the natural man ('uncircumcised', Col. 2:11,12) into the things of the Spirit, it is a very significant feature.

      We leave it with those who have eyes to see to judge whether there is any similarity between then and now. What we have on our hearts is to note the method by which the Lord reacts to this situation.

      The two things, then, which immediately come out are, firstly, that the Lord is not satisfied to have it so, yet He does not abandon the situation. Rather does He begin in a secret way to secure the instrument for recovery. The second thing is that there has to be a very deep and peculiar travail in the bringing forth of that instrument. Samuel represents such an instrument, and Hannah represents the travail which produces it.

      What is clear in this first chapter is that this will not come about in the natural course of things. The USUAL way will not produce it. Indeed, it is declared that there was a deliberate act of God against that course (verse 6). Hannah's state was the Lord's doing. In other realms and for less important purposes - or shall we say, for more general purposes - the usual method may be followed. Samuel was not an after-thought. He was foreknown and foreordained and yet humanly he was an impossibility. Why had the Lord so acted in this matter? How do you relate and reconcile the two things, that Samuel was determined and yet made humanly impossible by the act of God? The first part of the answer is that the bringing of this instrument into being was to be by a fellowship in the Divine travail in relation to the testimony.

      Hannah went through unusual and uncommon soul-agony in the matter. She is here represented as "in bitterness of soul" and she "wept sore" (verse 10). It was not just simply a personal interest or a selfish end in view. When at length Samuel was given she placed him at the disposal of the Lord as soon as she possibly could. 

Concerning Isaac it says that "when the child was weaned", but in the case of Samuel it says of Hannah that "she weaned him", as though she was not letting things go on, but bringing about a separation unto the Lord as soon as possible. She was concerned for the Lord's interests in a specially eager way. This is impressive when we take into consideration the cost of this child, and therefore the peculiar endearment to herself.

      Let us get the full force of the truth here. A thing which is to serve the Lord in a specially vital way is not born easily, and is not brought into being without some unusual suffering and travail. There is much bitterness of soul to be gone through, and many tears.

      For a time, a drawn-out time, it appears that there will be nothing. The heartache and sorrow seem to remain long in the place of barrenness. And yet there can be no philosophical acceptance or fatalistic capitulation. The Lord is a factor and there is a "hoping against hope", a wistful looking toward "the God who raiseth the dead, and calleth the things that are not as though they were."

Not one of the least painful aspects of the suffering is the taunting of Peninnah (verse 6). Now Peninnah was of the same household and a co-wife with Hannah. She was not a stranger or a foreigner. It was as such that she "provoked sorely to make her fret". Peninnah had plenty of children, there was none of this (divinely appointed) human impossibility. Things were more or less simple and easy with her.

      So it is, when the Lord determines to secure for Himself that vessel of peculiar purpose, and cuts off all the many activities, works, and occupations which, while being in the same household of faith and in some relation to Himself, are largely by the energies of nature and the facility of man. When and where there are not those usual accompaniments and outworkings, those issues and results, the evidences and proofs; then there is criticism, taunting, the pointing of the finger, and grievous imputations. The very acts of Divine sovereignty are given a twist to mean just the opposite of God's thought. So one system of things taunts the other. Well, so be it! It ever was. It ever will be. But wait! Samuel did come, and one Samuel meant more to God than all the children of Peninnah put together. And yet it is not a matter of comparative values. Samuel was for an hour of peculiar need. The suffering in connection with his coming into life was so deep as to solemnize beyond the suspicion of pride or comparison. All questions of self-realisation, vindication, or satisfaction had been tested in the fire, and the refined issue was the glory of God.

      Samuel came, and, in the purpose that he served, the suffering and sorrow were made well worthwhile, and the wisdom of God's mysteriousness was established. God was justified and the channel used was satisfied. We can leave it there.

      When the Lord wants something for an hour of peculiar need, the methods have to be out of the ordinary. To those concerned He has to say, 'Others can, you cannot'.

      More and more deeply, we are entering into such an hour at this time. The general thing is not meeting the situation. The Lord must bring through something which will "come to the kingdom for such a time as THIS".

      Who will pay the price?

      First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Jul-Aug 1952, Vol 30-4

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 Overshadowing Personal Deliverance

By Oswald Chambers

      'I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.'
      Jeremiah 1:8

      God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally - "Thy life will I give unto thee for a prey." That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are a matter of indifference, we have to sit loosely to all those things; if we do not, there will be panic and heartbreak and distress. That is the inwardness of the overshadowing of personal deliverance.

      The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on Jesus Christ's errands, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, Do not be bothered with whether you are being justly dealt with or not. To look for justice is a sign of deflection from devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will begin to grouse and to indulge in the discontent of self-pity - Why should I be treated like this? If we are devoted to Jesus Christ we have nothing to do with what we meet, whether it is just or unjust. Jesus says - Go steadily on with what I have told you to do and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance. The most devout among us become atheistic in this connection; we do not believe God, we enthrone common sense and tack the name of God on to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts.

Practicing Your Position

By Theodore Epp

      Colossians 3:5-11

      It is wonderful to realize that, as believers, we live by the power of Christ's resurrection life. As we do this, we are letting Christ live again in the sense that He is living out His life through us. This is what Paul desired for the Ephesian believers, for he prayed that they might know "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:19,20). This ties in beautifully with Paul's statement in Colossians 1:27: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

      It must be remembered that we are not robots, operated by push buttons. We are beings with the power of choice, and we must decide to apply these truths to ourselves. God wants us to surrender to Him as an act of faith. When we do this, God works on our behalf. This is not necessarily only a New Testament truth. The psalmist wrote: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass" (Ps. 37:5). Philippians 2:12 and Galatians 5:16 also indicate that we are to work out the salvation that has been worked within us and that we are to live by means of the Spirit.

      Paul stressed to the believers in Colossae--and to us--that, as a result of their standing in Christ, they had a great responsibility to "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1).

      "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7).

"Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. v. 18)

  
Days of Heaven Upon Earth

      "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. v. 18)JULY.
     
      Some of the effects of being filled with the Spirit are:
     
      1 Holiness of heart and life. This is not the perfection of the human nature, but the holiness of the divine nature dwelling within.
     
      2 Fulness of joy so that the heart is constantly radiant. This does not depend on circumstances, but fills the spirit with holy laughter in the midst of the most trying surroundings.
     
      3 Fulness of wisdom, light and knowledge, causing us to see things as He sees them.
     
      4 An elevation, improvement and quickening of the mind by an ability to receive the fulfilment of the promise, "We have the mind of Christ."
     
      5 An equal quickening of the physical life. The body was made for the Holy Ghost, as well as the mind and soul.
     
      6 An ability to pray the prayer of the Holy Ghost. If He is in us there will be a strange accordance with God's working in the world around us. There is a divine harmony between the Spirit and Providence.

Because thou servedest not the Lord with joyfulness and with gladness. Deu 28:47-48

  
Our Daily Homily

      Because thou servedest not the Lord with joyfulness and with gladness. Deu 28:47-48
     
      We must serve. It is our nature. Our Lord never suggested a third course as an alternative to the service of God or mammon, as though it were possible to escape all service whatsoever. We either yield ourselves servants of righteousness unto holiness, or of iniquity unto iniquity; and to whom we yield ourselves servants to obey, his we are.
     
      It is a solemn thought: if we are not serving God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, we are serving things which are our worst enemies. A man has no worse foe than himself when he lives to serve his own whims and desires. These habits, and appetites, and fashions, are luxurious and pleasant just now; but their silken cords will become iron bands.
     
      On the other hand, if we would be secure from the service which hurts us, let us give ourselves to the Lord to serve Him with joyfulness and gladness. Do you ask the source of these? Remember, He will put gladness into thy heart; joy is the fruit of His Spirit. When thou art in a healthy state, joyfulness and gladness rise spontaneously in the soul, as music from song-birds. When the sacrifice begins, then will the song of the Lord begin.
     
      The heart finds the well-spring of perennial blessedness when it has yielded itself absolutely and unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ. If He is Alpha and Omega; if our faith, however feebly, looks up to Him; if we press on to know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship Of His sufferings; if we count all things but loss for the excellency of His knowledge - we may possess ourselves in peace amid the mysteries of life, and we shall have learned the blessed secret of serving the Lord "with joyfulness and with gladness of heart."

The Two Petitions of the Prodigal

  
George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons

      The Two Petitions of the Prodigal
     
      A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that calleth to me. And he divided unto them his living--Luk 15:11-12

     
      Father, Give Me
     
      I wonder if my readers ever noticed that the prodigal made two petitions to his father. The first was: "Father, give me." "Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me." The son was growing weary of the home. He felt acutely that he was missing things. The world was big, and the days were going by, and he was young, and he was missing things. It is always bitter, when the heart is young, and the world is rich in visions and in voices, to dwell remote, and feel that one is missing things. The fatal mistake the prodigal made was this--he thought that all that he wanted was far off. He thought that the appeasing of his restlessness lay somewhere over the hills and far away. He was destined to learn better by and by; meantime he must have every penny for his journey, and he came to his father and said, "Father, give me." Mark you, there is no asking of advice. There is no consulting of the father's wishes. There is no effort to learn the father's will in regard to the disposition of the patrimony. It is the selfish cry of thoughtless youth, claiming its own to use just as it will: "Father, give me what is mine."
     
      Father, Make Me
     
      So he got his portion and departed, and we all know the tragic consequences, not less tragic because the lamps are bright, and the wine sparkling, and the faces beautiful. The prodigal tried to feed his soul on sense; and the Lord, in that grim way of His, changes the cups, the music, and the laughter into the beastly routing of the swine. Then the prodigal came to himself. Memories of home began to waken. He lay in his shed thinking of his father. Prayers unbidden rose within his heart. And now his petition was not "Father, give me." He had got all he asked, and he was miserable. His one impassioned cry was, "Father, make me." "Father, make me anything you please. Make me a hired servant if you want to. I have no will but yours now. I am an ignorant child and you are wise." Taught by life, disciplined by sorrow, scourged by the biting lash of his own folly, insistence passed into submission. Once he knew no will but his own will. He must have it, or he would hate his father. Once the only proof of love at home was the getting of the thing that he demanded. But now, "Father, I leave it all to thee. Thou art wise; I have been very foolish. Make me--anything thou pleasest."

     
      Insisting on Nothing, He Got Everything
     
      And surely it is very noteworthy that it was then he got the best. He never knew the riches in the home till he learned to leave things to his father. When he offered his first petition, "Father, give me," the story tells us that he got the money. He got it, and he spent it; in a year he was in rags and beggary. But when the second petition, "Father, make me," welled up like a tide out of the deeps, he got more than he had ever dreamed. "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." He got the garment of the honored guest. "Bring shoes and put them on his feet, and a ring and put it on his finger." All that was best and choicest in the house, the laid-up riches of his father's treasuries were lavished now on the dusty, ragged child. Insisting on nothing, he got everything. Demanding nothing, he got the choicest gifts. Willing to be whatever his father wanted, there was nothing in the house too good for him. The ring, the robe, the music and the dancing, the vision of what a father's love could be, came when the passionate crying of his heart was, "Father, make me"--anything thou pleasest.
     
      I think that is the way the soul advances when it is following on to know the Lord. Deepening prayers tell of deepening life. Not for one moment do I suggest that asking is not a part of prayer. "Ask, and it shall be given you." "Give us this day our daily bread." I only mean that as experience deepens we grow less eager about our own will, and far more eager to have no will but His. Disciplined by failure and success, we come to feel how ignorant we are. We have cried "Give," and He has given, but sent leanness to our soul (Psa 106:15). And all the time we were being trained and taught, for God teaches by husks as well as prophets, to offer the deep petition, "Father, make me." He gives, and we bless the Giver. He withholds, and we do not doubt His love. We leave all that to Him who knows us, and who sees the end from the beginning. Like the prodigal, we learn a wiser prayer than the fierce insistence of our youth. It is, "Father, make me"--whatso'er Thou pleasest.
     
      Christ's Prayer
      
      Might I not suggest that this was peculiarly the prayer of the Savior? The deepest passion of the Savior's heart rings out in the petition, "Father, make Me." Not "Father give Me bread, for I am hungry; give Me angels, for I stand in peril." Had He prayed for angels in that hour of peril, He tells us they would have instantly appeared. But, "Father, though there be scorn and shame in it, and agony, and the bitterness of Calvary, Thy will be done; make Me what Thou wilt." How gloriously that prayer was answered, even though the answer was a cross! God made Him (as Dr. Moffatt puts it) our wisdom, that is our righteousness and consecration and redemption. Leave, then, the giving in His hands. He will give that which is good. With the prodigal, and the Savior of the prodigal, let the soul's cry be, "Father, make me."

God's Gracious Response

By Robert S. Candlish       "Then said 1, Here am I; send me" (Isa. 6:8).       It is a signal instance of grace on the part of the Lord that I am allowed to be a volunteer. The Lord has a right, a dearly purchased fight, to deal with me very differently He might issue a peremptory command. He might utter his stern voice of authority, and at once order me. But he knows what is in man better than to treat thus the broken and relenting heart of one whom he has smitten by the brightness of his glorious holiness to the ground, and healed by the touch of his everliving sacrifice of blood. He is considerate. He is generous. His servant is not coerced or constrained, as with bit and bridle. He has the unspeakable privilege and happiness of giving himself voluntarily and, as it were, ultroneously, to the Lord, who willingly gave himself for him. He simply hears, or overhears, a conversation in heaven; a question asked and waiting to be answered.

Chasing of the shadow

(John MacDuff, "The Shepherd and His Flock")

"My soul finds rest in God alone." Psalm 62:1

The life of man is a constant striving after . . .
  rest,
  repose, and
  satisfaction.

Many, indeed, are seeking it in base counterfeits;
yet even in the counterfeit search we detect the
aspiration after a nobler reality. In the very
chasing of the shadow we discern the longing
after the substance.
The miser seeks it in his gold.
The ambitious man seeks it as he climbs his giddy eminences.
The pleasure hunter seeks it in artificial excitements.
The student seeks it in the loftier aspirations
and achievements of his intellectual nature.
But true rest can be found in God alone.

"My soul finds rest in God alone." Psalm 62:1 

This my Friend!

(Havergal, "Daily Thoughts for the King's Children")

"The King shall be his friend."  Proverbs 22:11

"You are My friends." John 15:14

Who has not longed for an ideal and yet a real friend . . .
  one who would exactly understand us,
  one whom we could tell everything,
  one in whom we could altogether confide,
  one who would be very wise and very true,
  one of whose love and unfailing interest we could be certain,
  one who would be very near and dear,
  one who would be always with us,
  one who would be always thinking of us,
  one who would be always doing kind and wonderful things for us;
  one who would undertake and manage everything for us;
  one who would forget nothing,
  one who would fail in nothing;
  one who would never change and never die.

Such is our Royal Friend, and more!

We, even we, may look up to our glorious
King, and say, "He is altogether lovely. This
is my Beloved, this my Friend!" Song 5:16

Such a Father is ours!

(edited from Octavius Winslow's "Hoping in the Lord")

How sweet and assuring is the trust of a
child in a parent's love, care, and protection.
Such a Father is ours!
We may trust in His forgiveness,
to cancel our greatest sins.
We may trust in His wisdom,
to guide our most intricate perplexity.
We may trust in His power,
to raise up from the lowest depth.
We may trust in His love,
to soothe our profoundest grief.
We may trust in His resources,
to supply our every need.
Let your condition be ever so extreme;
human friendship disappointing you, earthly
supplies failing you, human sympathy refused
you, and dark despair enthroned grimly and
coldly upon your heart; there yet is hope in God!

The Lord has....
  withered this fleshly arm,
  dried up that creature spring, and
  blown upon this worldly hope,
that you might be shut up to Him alone.
Never was He so near as at this moment,
when human help is far; never so loving,
and compassionate, as now, when human
love has failed!
Such a Father is ours! 
 

The Overmastering Majesty Of Personal Power

By Oswald Chambers       'For the love of Christ constraineth us.'       2 Corinthians 5:14       Paul says he is overruled, overmastered, held as in a vice, by the love of Christ. Very few of us know what it means to be held in a grip by the love of God; we are held by the constraint of our experience only. The one thing that held Paul, until there was nothing else on his horizon, was the love of God. "The love of Christ constraineth us" - when you hear that note in a man or woman, you can never mistake it. You know that the Spirit of God is getting unhindered way in that life. When we are born again of the Spirit of God, the note of testimony is on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But the baptism of the Holy Ghost obliterates that for ever, and we begin to realize what Jesus meant when He said - "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me." Not witnesses to what Jesus can do - that is an elementary witness - but "witnesses unto Me." We will take everything that happens as happening to Him, whether it be praise or blame, persecution or commendation. No one can stand like that for Jesus Christ who is not constrained by the majesty of His personal power. It is the only thing that matters, and the strange thing is that it is the last thing realized by the Christian worker. Paul says he is gripped by the love of God, that is why he acts as he does. Men may call him mad or sober, but he does not care; there is only one thing he is living for, and that is to persuade men of the judgment seat of God, and of the love of Christ. This abandon to the love of Christ is the one thing that bears fruit in the life, and it will always leave the impression of the holiness and of the power of God, never of our personal holiness.

A CHILD OVER THE NATIONS

A CHILD OVER THE NATIONS

T. Austin-Sparks

Reading: Jeremiah 1

THIS title has nothing to do with a youth's conceited idea of his own importance, but the very reverse of any such idea, for it indicates how God selected a weak and insignificant instrument through whom He could bring His own throne to bear upon the nations. The rule committed to Jeremiah was a spiritual one, and God still seeks to influence and govern world events by spiritual means through a praying Church.

Jeremiah has a very real message for us in this connection. We can be helped by all the men of God described in the Scriptures, for they represent spiritual principles which are not limited to any particular time, but are eternal in their significance and abiding in their value. Jeremiah, however, seems to me to have a special application to the time in which we live; and as we study his story we can find how he illustrates a divine instrument which is nothing in itself but has tremendous throne influence on current affairs.

JOSIAH'S PASSOVER

One of the most significant and important events in his time was the re-discovery of the book of the law by Hilkiah. The first effect of this discovery was that king Josiah intensified his reforms and summoned a great national gathering for the celebration of the Passover. He himself stood to the Word of God, and all the people declared themselves ready to do the same. Jeremiah, however, [65/66] a man who could never be content with the merely external, had his reservations; he did not believe in the downright genuineness of it all, so far as the people as a whole were concerned. And he was right.

Josiah himself was doubtless genuine, and meant all he said, but it seems perfectly clear that the people themselves were not wholehearted in their committal. The ground of Jeremiah's reservation was the "notwithstanding" of 2 Kings 23:26, which shows that the long drift away from God's requirements could not be reversed by a mere emotional outburst called revival, but needed something much more radical. So Jeremiah was not carried away by the good and apparently sincere movement. He had spiritual perception which pierced through the outward appearance.

Such perception can be painful. Jeremiah found that his discernment got him into trouble all along the line. His reserve was not due to temperamental or constitutional cynicism, as though he were one of those negative people with a critical and destructive attitude, even towards the best that is. No, Jeremiah was far too sensitive spiritually for this, and would have been only too glad to have found something which did truly represent heart adjustment to God. He was a heart-stricken man, ready to weep day and night for the people's misfortunes (9:1). There is a great deal of difference between the passing of critical judgments, censorious attitudes, a discontented spirit, constant fault-finding, and the sorrowing heart of a man who truly suffers with God. It is easy to see faults and flaws; it costs nothing to criticise; but it is very painful to see with the eyes of God and to sorrow with Him over the difference between mere professions and what is genuinely according to His mind. Let me say that critical people are no use to God; He will give no anointing to them, for they bring in death and not life. Jeremiah represents an entirely different spirit. His suffering ministry seemed to pull down and root up, but it also had a positive building result. All this is made clear in the account which we are given here of his call.

JEREMIAH'S I CANNOT

Jeremiah's immediate and spontaneous reaction to his calling and commission was to say, "Ah Lord God, I cannot ...". This may not sound very spiritual but actually Jeremiah's sense of personal inadequacy was an indispensable factor in his whole calling. The Lord knows whom He is apprehending and sending, and we can take it as settled that if Jeremiah had been a man full of confidence in himself, God would never have called him. This sense of personal weakness and emptiness is essential to God; this is where everything begins in a life marked out for divine purpose. If the Lord were doing some small things, partial things, He might have used a less empty vessel. There are people who enter God's service full of confidence in themselves, and in some measure they are used by God. Their usefulness, however, is very limited until they realise that God's full purpose requires that the work should be wholly of Him, with no room for man's sufficiency. Most of us begin before we have learned this lesson, but as we come more clearly into the light of God we realise that the height of the value of God's purpose in and through us, will correspond with the depth of our conscious dependence on Him. It is basic that God's servant should be aware of his own weakness.

Kept for the Master's Use By Frances Ridley Havergal

Kept for the Master's Use

By Frances Ridley Havergal

Table of Contents

› Prefatory Note - KEPT FOR The Master's Use. By Frances Ridley Havergal Philadelphia Henry Altemus Company Copyrighted 1895, by Henry Altemus. ...read

› 1: Our Lives Kept for Jesus - 'Keep my life, that it may be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.' Many a heart has echoed the little song: 'Take my life, and let it be ...read

› 2: Our Moments kept for Jesus - 'Keep my moments and my days; Let them flow in ceaseless praise.' It may be a little help to writer and reader if we consider some of the ...read

› 3: Our Hands Kept for Jesus - 'Keep my hands, that they may move At the impulse of Thy love.' When the Lord has said to us, 'Is thine heart right, as My heart is with t ...read

› 4: Our Feet kept for Jesus - 'Keep my feet, that they may be Swift and beautiful for Thee.' The figurative keeping of the feet of His saints, with the promise that whe ...read

› 5: Our Voices kept for Jesus - 'Keep my voice, and let me sing Always, only, for my King.' I have wondered a little at being told by an experienced worker, that in many ...read

› 6: Our Lips kept for Jesus - 'Keep my lips, that they may be Filled with messages from Thee.' The days are past for ever when we said, 'Our lips are our own.' Now we k ...read

› 7: Our Silver and Gold Kept for Jesus - 'Keep my silver and my gold; Not a mite would I withhold.' 'The silver and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts.' Yes, every coin we ...read

› 8: Our Intellects kept for Jesus - 'Keep my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shalt choose.' There are two distinct sets of temptations which assail those who have, or ...read

› 9: Our Wills kept for Jesus - 'Keep my will, oh, keep it Thine, For it is no longer mine.' Perhaps there is no point in which expectation has been so limited by experie ...read

› 10: Our hearts kept for Jesus - 'Keep my heart; it is Thine own; It is now Thy royal throne.' 'It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace,' and yet some ...read

› 11: Our love kept for Jesus - 'Keep my love; my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure-store.' Not as a mere echo from the morning-gilded shore of Tiberias, but as an ev ...read

› 12: Our Selves kept for Jesus - 'Keep my self, that I may be Ever, only, all for Thee.' 'For Thee!' That is the beginning and the end of the whole matter of consecration. ...read

› 13: Christ for Us - 'So will I also be for Thee.'--Hos. iii. 3. The typical promise, 'Thou shalt abide for Me many days,' is indeed a marvel of love. For it is given t ...read

› 14: Selections From Miss Havergal's Latest Poems - An Interlude. That part is finished! I lay down my pen, And wonder if the thoughts will flow as fast Through ...read

Paul's subject!

(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860)

Paul was . . .
  an extraordinary man,
  called to an extraordinary office, and
  being sent to perform an extraordinary work
  —he chose an extraordinary subject.

He knew history,
he was acquainted with philosophy, and
he was well versed in tradition.

There were . . .
  few subjects that he could not handle,
  few themes that he could not discuss,
  few congregations that he could not interest.

But he made the conversion of sinners the object of his life—and he chose Christ crucified to be the subject of his ministry!
No matter where he went—he took his subject with him.
No matter whom he addressed—he directed their attention to this point.

He knew what man required—and what man preferred; but it made no matter to him. As he wrote to the Corinthians, so he always acted, "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified—a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God!" 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

Paul's subject then, was Christ Crucified! 

Paul CHOSE this subject—and he had good reasons for doing so!

First, it is a most comprehensive subject,
for it is the center where . . .
  time and eternity,
  God and man,
  sin and holiness,
  life and death—meet!

It is the theater where God . . .

  displays His perfections,
  unfolds His purposes,
  maintains His rights,
  confounds His foes, and
  secures His glory! 

It is the instrument by which . . .

  death is destroyed,
  sin is conquered,
  rebels are reconciled,
  saints are sanctified, and
  heaven is opened!

It is an object which . . .

  confounds reason,
  astonishes angels,
  attracts sinners,
  imparts holiness, and
  furnishes matter for endless praise!

Second, it is the most honored subject.

It tunes the harps of heaven.
It fills the sweetest songs on earth.
It is that by which the Holy Spirit works . . .
  in the conversion of sinners,
  in the consolation of saints,
  in the sanctification of believers, and
  in the establishment of the church of God.

By the preaching of Christ crucified . . .

  the oracles of the heathen were silenced,
  the altars of the heathen were cast down, and
  the temples of the heathen were transformed into houses of prayer.

By the preaching of the cross . . .

  society is elevated,
  nations are honored, and
  millions are snatched from Hell!

Third, it is a subject that is intensely hated!

Devils hate it, and try to prevent its publication.
Erroneous men hate it, and try to substitute something of their own for it.
And just in proportion as men are influenced by the prince of darkness, or yield to the pride of their own fallen natures—will they hate the doctrine of the cross!
But all Christians love it,
all the ministers of Christ glory in it,
all poor perishing sinners need it!
The more we know of God's nature and government—the more we see of man's natural state and condition.
And the more we feel of our own weakness and depravity—the more shall we prize and value the doctrine of the cross!

Christ, and Him crucified shall be . . .
  the subject of my ministry,
 the theme of my songs,
  the joy of my heart, and
  the foundation of my everlasting hope!
O my soul, look to Jesus—as crucified for your sins!

Think of Jesus—as dying in your stead!

Speak of Jesus—as full of grace and love!

Christians! WHAT do we preach?

We are ALL preachers—and we preach daily!
But do we preach Christ?
Do we speak of Him with our tongues?
Do we write of Him with our pens?
Do we honor Him with our lives?
Is Christ and His glory—the grand end and aim of our life?

WHY do we preach Christ?
Is it out of love to Him?
Is it that we may do good to souls?
Is it that we may please God?

Christ crucified should be preached by every Christian. 
Christ crucified should be preached in all companies. 
Christ crucified should be preached every day. 

Beloved,
  if we would save souls from death,
  if we would rescue sinners from eternal misery,
  if we would make believers happy,
  if we would cover Satan with shame,
  if we would deprive death of its sting, and
  if we would make the road to glory plain—
we must preach Christ crucified;
we must exercise faith in Christ crucified;
and we must daily meditate on Christ crucified!

May Christ and His cross be all my theme!
May Christ and His cross be all my hope! 
May Christ and His cross be all my joy!

Cross of Jesus! Jesus crucified! 
To you would I look in life—and all its troubles!
To you would I look in death—and all its pangs!
To you would I look in glory—when filled with all its joys!

"God forbid, that I should glory, except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ!"