October
October
SELF SUBDUED
He is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Philippians 3:21
We talk sometimes as if, whatever else could be subdued unto Him, self could never be.
Did Paul forget to mention this important exception to the "all things" in Philippians 3:21?
David said, "Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is tvithin me, bless His Holy Name."
Did he, too, unaccountably forget to mention that he only meant all that was within him, except self?
If not, then self must be among the "all things" which the Lord Jesus Christ is able to subdue unto Himself, and which are to "bless His Holy Name."
It is self which, once His most treacherous foe, is now, by full and glad surrender.
His own soldier—coming over from the rebel camp into the royal army.
It is not someone else, some temporarily possessing spirit, which says within us, "Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee," but our true and very self, only changed and renewed by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And when we do that we would not, we know that "it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
Our true self is the new self, taken and won by the love of God, and kept by the power of God.
Thanks, more than thanks, to Him ascend.
Who died to win Our life, and every trophy rend From Death and Sin; Till, when the thanks of Earth shall end.
The thanks of Heaven be£;in.
October 2
"MOST BLESSED FOR EVER"
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Revelation 14:i:i Thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
Psalm 21:6
Probably every one who reads this has at least one of those golden links to Heaven which God's own hand has forged from our earthly treasures.
It may be that the very nearest and dearest that had been given are now taken away.
And how often "no relation, only a dear friend" is an "only" of heartcrushing emphasis! Human comfort goes for very little in this; but let us lay our hearts open to the comfort wherewith we are
comforted of God Himself about it.
There is not much directly to ourselves; He knew that the truest and sweetest comfort would come by looking not at our loss, but at their gain. Whatever this gain is, it is all His own actual and immediate doing.
"Thou hast made him"
(read here the name of the very one for whom we are mourning) "most blessed."
"Most!"
How shall we reach that thought? Make a shining stairway of every bright beatitude in the Bible, blessed upon blessed, within and also far beyond our own experience. And when we have built them up till they reach unto Heaven, still this "most blessed" is beyond, out of our sight, in the unapproachable glory of God
Himself.
It will always be "most," for it is "for ever" — everlasting light without a shadow, everlasting songs without a minor.
The prayer of many a day is all fulfilled, Only by full fruition stayed and stilled; You asked for blessing as your Father willed, Now He hath answered:
"Most blessed forever."
From the great anthems of the Crystal Sea, Through the far vistas of eternity, Grand echoes of the word peal on for thee, Sweetest and fullest:
"Most blessed forever."
October 3
"COME" MEANS COME
And he said, Come.
Matthew 14:29
But what is "coming"?
One's very familiarity with the terms used to express spiritual things, seems to have a tendency to make one feel mystified about them. And their very simplicity makes one suspicious, as it were, that there must be some mysterious and mystical meaning behind them, because they sound too easy and plain to have such great import.
"Come" means "come"—just that! and not some occult process of mental effort.
What would you understand by it, if you heard it today for the first time, never having had any doubts or suppositions or previous notions whatever about it?
What does a little child understand by it?
It is positively too simple to be made plainer by any amount of explanation.
Here, it is "calling apart," and the place may be desert indeed, Leaving and losing the blessings linked with our busy need; There! —why should I say it? hath not the heart leapt up.
Swift and glad, to the contrast, filling the full, full cup?
Still shall the key-word, ringing, echo the same sweet "Come!"
"Come" with the blessed myriads safe in the Father's home; "Come"—for the work is over; "come"—for the feast is spread; "Come"—for the crown of glory waits for the weaiy head.
October 4
SPECIALLY TENDER — SPECIALLY PRECIOUS
He himself hath suffered being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
Sometimes the Lord leads His people into rough places of suffering, whether from temptation, pain, or any adversity.
Not one step here but Jesus has gone before us; and He still goeth before us, often so very close before us, that even by the still waters we never seemed so near Him.
"The things which He suffered" include and cover, and stretch wide on every side beyond, all possible "sufferings of this present time."
It is in patient suffering, rather than in doing, that we are specially called "to follow His steps."
"The footsteps of Thine anointed have lain through reproach," and "the reproach of Thy servants" is no light part of "the fellowship of His sufferings."
How specially tender the Master's hand is when it is laid upon us to put us forth into any path of suffering! How specially precious, then, to know that it is indeed His own doing!
E'en in our hearts is evil bound, And, lurking stealthily around.
Still for our souls doth wait.
Thou tempted One, whose suffering heart In all our sorrows bore a part, WTiose life-blood only could atone.
Too weak are we to stand alone; And nothing but Thy shield of light Can guard us in the dreaded fight.
October 3
KEPT CONTINUALLY
I am with thee, and will keep thee.
Genesis 28:15
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.
Revelation 3:10
Kept for Him ! Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, when it is only the fulfilling of His own eternal purpose in creating us?
"This people have I formed for Myself."
Not ultimately only, but presently and continually; for He says, "Thou shalt abide for Me"; and, "He that remaineth, even he shall be for our God."
Are you one of His people by faith in Jesus Christ?
Then see what you are to Him.
You, personally and individually, are part of the Lord's portion (Deuteronomy 32:9) and of His inheritance
(1 Kings 8:53 and Ephesians 1:18).
His portion and inheritance would not be complete without you; you are His peculiar treasure (Exodus
19:5) ; "a special people" (how warm, and loving, and natural that expression is !) "unto Himself" (Deuteronomy 7:6). Would you call it "keeping," if you had a "special" treasure, a darling little child, for instance, and let it run wild into all sorts of dangers all day long, sometimes at your side, and sometimes out in the street, with only the intention of fetching it safe home at night?
If ye then, being evil, would know better, and do better than that, how much more shall our Lord's keeping be true, and tender, and continual, and effectual, when He declares us to be His peculiar treasure, purchased (see
Peter 2:9, margin) for Himself at such unknown cost!
Everlasting life Thou givest, Everlasting love to see; They shall live because Thou livest, And their life is hid with Thee.
Safe Thy members shall be found, When their glorious Head is crowned!
October 6
PROMISED — THEREFORE SURE
Whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also Justified: and whom he Justified, them he also glorified.
Romans 8:30
If some of US were asked, "How do you know you have everlasting life?" we might say, "Because God has promised it."
But how do you know He has promised it to you? And then if we answered, not conventionally, nor what we think we ought to say, but honestly what we think, we might say, "Because
I have believed and have come to Jesus." And this looks like resting our hope of salvation upon something that we have done, upon the fact of our having consciously believed and consciously come.
And then, of course, any whirlwind of doubt will raise the dust enough to obscure that fact and all the comfort of it.
Yet there is grand comfort not in it, but in the glorious chain of which even this little human link is first forged and then held by Jehovah's own hand.
Apart from this, it is worth nothing at all.
In those heavenly constellations.
Lol what differing glories meet; Stars of radiance soft and tender.
Stars of full and dazzling splendor, All in God's own light complete; Brightest they whose holy feet.
Faithful to His service sweet.
Nearest to their Master trod, Winning wandering souls to God.
October 7
A VOICE CONTINUALLY CALLING
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
Revelation 22:17
Every "come" in the Bible is the call of the Spirit.
For "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God," and the "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." And every time that a still small voice in your heart says "Come," it is the call of the Spirit.
Every time the remembrance of the Saviour's sweetest spoken word floats across your mind, it is the Holy Spirit's fulfillment of our Lord's promise that "He shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you."
The last time those words, "Come unto Me," came into your mind, whether in some wakeful night hour, or suddenly and unaccountably amid the stir of the day, did you think that it was the very voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in your heart?
Or did you let other voices drown it, not knowing that the goodness of God was leading you by it?
The seed of a single word Fell among the furrows deep, In their silent, wintry sleep.
And the sower never an echo heard.
But the "Come!" was not in vain.
For that germ of Life and Love, And the blessed Spirit's quickening rain.
Made a golden sheaf of precious grain For the Harvest Home above.
October 8
LET HIM USE WHAT YOU HAVE
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for ail his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Deuteronomy 32:4
He that is perfect In knowledge is with thee.
Job 36:4
He who made every power can use every power — memory, judgment, imagination, quickness of apprehension or insight; specialties of musical, poetical, oratorical, or artistic faculty; special tastes for reasoning, philosophy, history, natural science, or natural history—all these may be dedicated to Him, sanctified by Him, and used by Him.
Whatever He has given. He will use if we will let Him. Often, in the most unexpected ways, and at the most unexpected turns, something read or acquired long ago suddenly comes into use. We cannot foresee what will thus "come in useful"; but He knew, when He guided us to
learn it, what it would be wanted for in His service.
So may we not ask Him to bring His perfect foreknowledge to bear on all our mental training and storing; to guide us to read or study exactly what He knows there will be use for in the work to which He has called or will call us?
He traineth thus That we may teach the lessons we are taught; That younger learners may be further brought, Led on by us:
Well may we wait, or toil, or suffer long.
For His dear service so to be made fit and strong.
He traineth so That we may shine for Him in this dark world, And bear His standard dauntlessly unfurled:
That we may show His praise, by lives that mirror back His love His witnesses on earth, as He is ours above.
October 9
GOD TRUSTED HIM! CAN YOU DO LESS?
Trust in him at all times.
Psalm 62:8
"All times" includes the time when we almost fancy the salvation of a dear one depends on our little bits of prayers and efforts.
Not that this trust will lead to an easy-going idleness.
It never does this when it is real.
The deepest trust leads to the most powerful action.
It is the silencing oil that makes the machine obey the motive power with greatest readiness and result.
It may seem a great trial of trust very often, but who is it that we have to trust thus unquestioningly and quietly?
Jesus Christ!
Cannot we trust Him whom the Father trusted with the tremendous work of redemption?
Shall He not do right?
Cannot we trust the Good Shepherd about His own sheep? Why should it actually seem harder to trust Him about His own affairs than about our own?
Oh make us fervent in the quest, that we may bring them in.
The weary and the wounded, and the sufferers from sin; The stricken and the dying, let us seek them out for Thee, And lay them at Thy glorious feet, that healed they may be.
Oh pour upon our waiting hearts the Spirit of Thy grace, That we may plead with Thee to show the brightness of Thy face.
Beseeching Thee to grant the will and strength and faith to such As lie in helpless misery, Thy garment's hem to touch.
And then. Lord Jesus, make them whole, that they may rise and bring New praise and glory unto Thee, our Healer and our King; Yea, let Thy saving health be known through all the earth abroad.
So shall the people praise Thy Name, our Saviour and our God.
October 10
TENDERLY DELIVERED
Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it.
Isaiah 38:17
Therefore we will sing my songs.
Isaiah 38:20
When the dove found no rest for the soul of her foot, and returned to Noah because the waters were on the face of the whole earth, "then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in"
(margin, "caused her to come") "unto him in the Ark." What a beautiful picture is this little helpless, tired dove of our helplessness and weariness, and the kind hand, strong and tender, which does not leave us to flutter and beat against a closed window, but takes us, and pulls us "unto Him, into the Ark !"
So we have the willingness of the Father in one part of the type, and the willingness of the Son in another part — willingness to receive you into safety and rest.
O ye who seek the Saviour, look up in faith and love, Come up into the sunshine, so bright and warm above I No longer tread the valley, but, clinging to His hand.
Ascend the shining summits and view the glorious land.
Our harp-notes should be sweeter, our trumpet-tones more clear, Our anthems ring so grandly, that all the world must hear!
Oh, royal be our music, for who hath cause to sing Like the chorus of redeemed ones, the children of the King.
October 11
THE SAVIOUR-KING HOLDS THE SCEPTRE
The king held out .
. the golden sceptre.
Esther 5:2
Jesus is He "that holdeth the sceptre" — the symbol first of kingly right and authority, and next of righteousness and justice. "A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom"—"a right sceptre." And yet the golden sceptre was held out as the sign of sovereign mercy to one who, by "one law of his to put him to death," must otherwise have perished, "that he may live."
Thus, by the combination of direct statement and type, we are shown in this figure the beautiful, perfect meeting of the "mercy and truth" of our King, the "righteousness and peace" of His kingdom.
To "the King's enemies" the sceptre is a "rod of iron"
(for the word is the same in Hebrew). They cannot rejoice in the justice which they defy.
To the King's willing subjects it is indeed golden, a beautiful thing. We admire and glory in His absolute justice and righteousness; it satisfies the depths of our moral being—it is so strong, so per-
feet. And oh, how "sweet is thy mercy"
! and just because of the justice, how "sure"!
Esther said, "If I perish, I perish."
So need not we, "for His mercy endureth for ever." And so, every time we come into the audience chamber of our King, we know that the golden sceptre will be held out to us: first, "that we may live," and then for favor after favor.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Not stand afar off and think about it, and keep our King waiting but, like Esther, "let us draw near," and "touch the top of the sceptre."
I£ Thou hast said it, I must believe, It is only "ask" and I shall receive; If Thou hast said it, it must be true, And there's nothing else for me to do!
For Christ's sake, give it to me.
So I come and ask, because my need Is very great and real indeed.
On the strength of Thy word I come and say.
Oh, let Thy word come true today!
For Christ's sake, give it to me.
October 12
HIS HEART SET ON US
What is man .
. that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? and that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?
Job 7:17-18 Terribly solemn and awful would be the thought that He has been trying us every moment, were it not for the yearning gentleness and love of the Father revealed in that wonderful expression of wonder, "What is man, that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?"
Think of that ceaseless setting of His heart upon us, careless and forgetful children as we have been! And then think of those other words, nonetheless literally true because given under a figure:
"I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment."
Look on to this Through all perplexities of grief and strife To this, thy true maturity of life.
Thy coming bliss; That such high gifts thy future dower may be, And for such service high thy God prepareth thee.
What though today Thou canst not trace at all the hidden reason For His strange dealings through the trial-season Trust and obey.
October 13
FROM EVERYWHERE FOR EVERYTHING
They came to him from every quarter.
Mark 1:45
Begin with the eighth chapter of Matthew, and trace out all through the Gospels how others came to Jesus with all sorts of different needs, and trace in these your own spiritual needs of cleansing, healing, salvation, guidance, sight, teaching. They knew what they wanted, and they knew Whom they wanted.
And consequently they just came.
Ask the Lord to show you what you want and Whom you want, and you will talk no more about what it means, you will just come! And then you will say, "Now, we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world"
; and you will say, "M// Lord and my God."
Will you not come to Him for peace?
Peace through His cross alone.
He shed His precious blood for you; The gift is free, the word is true:
He is our peace—oh, is He your own?
Will you not come to Him for rest?
All that are weary, come!
The rest He gives is deep and true, 'Tis offered now, 'tis offered you!
Rest in His love, and rest in His home.
October 14
A PLANNED AND PURPOSED SALVATION
Which were born, not ... of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:13
Have not some of us had a scarcely detected notion, as if to some extent the salvation of others depended upon our efforts?
Of course, we never put it in so many words; but has there not been something of a feeling that if we tried very hard to win a soul we should succeed and if we did not try quite enough it would get lost? And this has made our service anxious and burdensome.
But what says Christ?
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me."
They shall come, for the Father will draw them, and Jesus will attract them, and the Holy Spirit will lead them.
And the purpose precedes the promise, even as the promise precedes the call, and the call precedes the coming.
Thus God first planned and proposed the ark for the
salvation of Noah from the flood.
Then He said, "Thou shalt come into the ark."
Long after that, when all things were ready, He said, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark."
And then Noah went in ; and then "the Lord shut him in."
Now let us, in our work, practically trust our Lord as to His purposes, promises, and calls; quite satisfied that He "will work, and who shall let it?" that He will not accidentally miss anybody, or lose anything of all that the Father hath given Him, for this is the Father's will.
He shall confess His own from every clime and coast, Before His Father's glorious throne, before the angel host.
By new creation Thine, by purpose and by grace.
By right of full redemption Mine, faultless before Thy face.
October D
DOUBLY SEALED
The writing which Is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.
Esther 8:8
Such is the writing which by God's great goodness is the glory of our land and the treasure of our hearts, full of exceeding great and precious promises, of commands not less great and not less precious, and of words of prophecy (which are only words of promise a little farther off) "more sure" than the testimony of an apostle's senses to the excellent glory and the heavenly voice.
It is written in the King's name.
The living Word of God, who came to declare, to manifest, and to glorify the Father, has imprinted His own name upon the same testimony as written by the Spirit, and has given it to us as the "Word of God."
It is sealed with the King's ring.
Sealing is a special work of the Holy Spirit, exercised in different ways and how clearly has He sealed this great writing with the King's ring, engraved with His own image and superscription, the convincing token of its being indeed from Himself, and sent forth in unchangeable authority and power
It is a double sealing, without and within—first, the external and distinctly visible declaration that the writing is "by the Holy Ghost"; and then the all-convincing evidence that it is so by its effectual working in our own hearts with a power which, we know for ourselves, cannot be less than almighty and therefore divine.
Oh. this is more than poem, and more than the highest song; A witness with our spirit, though hidden, full and strong.
'Tis no new revelation vouchsafed to saint or sage.
But light from God oast bright and broad upon the sacred page.
October 16
REAL REST FOUND IN CHRIST
This is not your rest.
Micah 2:10
God says so, and therefore it is no use seeking or hoping or trying for it. You may as well give up first as last.
The dove found no rest for the soul of her foot until she came to the ark; and neither will you. And the end of the dreary vista of unrest all through the years of a life without Christ, is, "They have no rest day nor night."
"The people shall weary themselves for very vanity."
Do you know anything about that?
"They weary themselves to commit iniquity."
"Thou art wearied with the greatness of thy way." Do these words come home to you?
Or, "But now he hath made me weary; Thou hast made desolate all my company" ? Whether it is the weariness of sin or of sorrow, of vanity or of desolation (and sooner or later the one must lead into the other), the gentle call floats over the troubled waters, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
And then, oh, then the wail is stilled, the wandering is o'er.
The rest is gained, the certainty that never wavers more; And then the full, unquivering praise arises glad and strong.
And life beoomes the prelude of the everlasting song!
October 17
WORDS ARE LIMITLESS
They talked together of ail these things which had happened.
Luke 24:14
They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power.
Psalm 145:11
Not one sentence that passes these lips of ours but must be an invisibly prolonged influence, not dying away into silence, but living away into the words and deeds of others.
The thought would not be quite so oppressive if we could know what we have done and shall be continuing to do by what we have said.
But we never can, as a matter of fact. We may trace it a little way, and get a glimpse of some results for good or evil ; but we never can see any more of it than we can see of a shooting star flashing through the night with a momentary revelation of one step of its strange path.
Even if the next instant plunges it into apparent annihilation as it strikes the atmosphere of the earth, we know that it is not really so, but
that its mysterious material and force must be added to the complicated materials and forces with which it has come in contact, with a modifying power nonetheless real because it is beyond our ken. And this is not comparing a great thing with a small, but a small thing with a great.
For what is material force compared with moral force? What are gases, and vapors, and elements, compared with souls and the eternity for which they are preparing? We have no choice in the matter; we cannot evade or avoid it; and there is no more possibility of our limiting it, or even tracing its limits, than there is of setting a bound to the far-vibrating sound-waves, or watching their flow through the invisible air.
A look of great affliction, as you tell what one told you, With a feeble contradiction, or a "hope it is not true!"
Only a low, "I wonder!"
Nothing unfair at all; But the whisper grows to thunder, and a scathing bolt may fall; And a good ship is dismasted, and hearts are like to break.
And a Christian life is blasted, for a scarcely-guessed mistake!
October 18
THE ALARMING ALTERNATIVE
With me thou shall be in safeguard.
1 Samuel 22:23
Come thou and all thy house into the ark.
Genesis 7:1
No need to repeat the story! We knew it all at six years old.
Today the words are sent to you, "Come thou!" We are either inside or outside the Ark.
There is no half-way in this.
Outside is death, inside is life.
Outside is certain, inevitable, utter destruction.
Inside is certain and complete safety. Where are you at this moment? Perhaps you dare not say confidently and happily, "I am inside"; and yet you do not like to look the alarming alternative in the face, and say, "I am outside !" And you prefer trying to persuade yourself that you do not exactly know, and can't be expected to answer such a question. And you say, perhaps with a shade of annoyance, "How am I to know?"
God's infallible Word tells you very plainly, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new."
Ye who hear the blessed call of the Spirit and the Bride, Hear the Master's word to all, your commission and your guide "And let him that heareth say. Come," to all yet far away.
"Come!" to those who, while they hear, linger, hardly knowing why; Tell them that the Lord is near, tell them Jesus passes by.
Call them now; oh. do not wait, lest tomorrow be too late!
October 19
GOD ENGAGES THE HEART
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.
John 6:37
Do not fear to take the sfmll to yourself. Remember the great "whosoever will," and look up at this star of promise in the dark.
And the Father says, "I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me; for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me?"
Whose heart?
Is it not yours? And if it is so engaged, who engaged it? Who but the God from whom alone all holy desires do proceed?
Behold the handmaid of the Lord!
Thou callest, and I come to Thee:
According to Thy faithful word, Master, be it unto me!
Thy love I cannot comprehend,
only know Thy word is true, And that Thou lovest to the end Each whom to Thee the Father drew.
Oh! take the heart I could not give Without Thy strength-bestowing call; In Thee, and for Thee, let me live, For I am nothing, Thou art all.
October 20
KEPT FROM TO BE KEPT FOR
I the Lord do keep It .
. every moment: lest any hurt it.
Isaiah 27:3
For .
. suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
Jeremiah 4:20
The sanctified and Christ-loving heart cannot be satisfied with only negative keeping. We do not want only to be kept from displeasing Him, but to be kept always pleasing Him.
Every "kept from" should have its corresponding and still more blessed "kept for." We do not want our moments to be simply kept from Satan's use, but kept for His use; we want them to be not only kept from sin, but kept for His praise. Do you ask,
"But what use can He make of mere moments?"
I will not stay to prove or illustrate the obvious truth that, as are the moments so will be the hours and the days which they build.
You understand that well enough.
I will answer your question as it stands.
Look back through the history of the Church in all ages,
and mark how often a great work and mighty influence grew out of a mere moment in the life of one of God's servants; a mere moment, but overshadowed and filled with the fruitful power of the Spirit of God. The moment may have been spent in uttering five words, but they have fed five thousand, or even five hundred thousand. Or it may have been lit by the flash of a thought that has shone into hearts and homes throughout the land, and kindled torches that have been borne into earth's darkest corners.
The rapid speaker or the lonely thinker little guessed what use his Lord was making of that single moment.
There was no room in it for even a thought of that.
If that moment had not been, though perhaps unconsciously, "kept for Jesus." but had been otherwise occupied, what a harvest to His praise would have been missed! precious blood!
Lord, let it rest on me!
ask not only pardon from my King, But cleansing from my Priest.
I come to Thee Just as I came at first — • a sinful, helpless thing.
O Saviour, bid me "go and sin no more,"
And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow Of Thy perpetual fountain; I implore That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fully know.
October 21
UNBELIEF OPENS THE W^AY TO DARKNESS
They tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?
Exodus 17:7
Unbelief and forgetfulness are the only shadows which can come between us and the Lord's presence, though, when they have once made the separation, there is room for all others.
Otherwise, though all the shadows of earth fell around, none could fall between ; and their very darkness could only intensify the brightness of the pavilion in which we dwell, the secret of His presence.
They could not touch what one has called "the unutterable joy of shadowless communion." What shall we say to our Lord tonight? He says, "I am with you alway."
Shall we not put away all the captious contradictoriness of quotations of our imperfect and double-fettered experience, and say to Him, lovingly, confidingly, gratefully, "Thou art with me!"
He is with thee!
With thee always.
All the nights and all the days; Never failing, never frowning.
With His loving-kindness crowning.
Tuning all thy life to praise.
October 22
THE BURDEN ONLY CHRIST CAN LIFT
Mine iniquities are pone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heaVy for me.
Psalm 38:4
So much too heavy for you, that if you do not accept Christ's offer of rest from that burden, you will never be able to find or follow the path of life.
But why bear it one minute longer when Jesus says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"?
But stay; you may, or rather you must, put in a double claim to the promise. You may not be consciously, particularly weary or labouring; but whether conscious of it or not, you are heavy laden, unless the one great burden of sin is taken away from you.
It is a fact, whether the Holy Spirit has convinced you of it or not as yet, that unless your iniquity is taken away by personal washing in the only Fountain, you are in the position described by the Psalmist.
Bring every weary burden, Thy sin, thy fear, thy grief; He calls the heavy laden.
And gives them kind relief.
October 23
OUR FEET FOR HIM
How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter!
Song of Solomon
The figurative keeping of the feet of His saints, with the promise that when they run they shall not stumble, is a most beautiful and helpful subject.
But it is quite distinct from the literal keeping for Jesus of our literal feet.
There is a certain homeliness about the idea which helps to make it very real.
These very feet of ours are purchased for Christ's service by the precious drops which fell from His own torn and pierced feet upon the cross. They are to be His errandrunners.
How can we let the world, the flesh, and the devil have the use of what has been purchased with such payment?
Shall the world have the use of them?
Shall they carry us where the world is paramount, and the Master cannot be even named, because the mention of His Name would be so obviously out of place?
I know the apparent diflliculties of a subject which will at once occur in connection with this, but they all vanish
when our bright banner is loyally unfurled, with its motto, "All for Jesus!"
Do you honestly want your very feet to be "kept for Jesus"?
Let these simple words, "Kept for Jesus," ring out next time the dancing difficulty or any other difficulty of the same kind comes up, and I know what the result will be Shall "the flesh" have the use of them?
Shall they carry us hither and thither merely because we like to go, merely because it pleases ourselves to take this walk or pay this visit?
And after all, what a failure it is!
And Thou hast left a solemn word behind Thee, Solemn, yet fraught with blessing — would we learn How we may gain Thy dwelling, and there find Thee?
Thou sayest, "Follow Me."
Be this our great concern And oh! how blessed thus to mark each hour The footsteps of our Saviour, and to know That in them we are treading — then each flower
Of hope seems fairer, and each joy doth yet more brightly glow.
Oh that I always followed Him alone!
I know that I am His, for I have bowed In peaceful faith before my Saviour's throne.
And gladly there to Him my life, my all, have vowed, And He hath pardoned me, and washed away
Each stain of guilt, and bade me quickly rise And follow Him each moment of each day; And He hath set a crown of life and joy before mine eyes.
October 24 HASTE
IS NOT WASTE
The king's business required haste.
Samuel 21:8
And see that ye hasten the matter.
Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.
Chronicles 24:5
And yet there is no other business about which the average Christians take it so easy.
They "must" go their usual round, they "must" write their letters, they "must" pay off their visits and other social claims, they "must" do all that is expected of them ; and then, after this and that and the other thing is cleared off, they will do what they can of the King's business.
They do not say "must" about that, unless it is some part of His business which is undertaken at second-hand, and with more sense of responsibility to one's "clergyman" than to one's
King.
Is this being faithful and loyal and single hearted?
If it has been so, oh, let it be so no more ! How can "Jesus Only" be our motto, when we have not even said, "Jesus First"?
But if ye dare not hold it fast, yours only is the loss, For it shall be victorious, this Standard of the Cross!
It shall not suffer, though ye rest beneath your sheltering trees.
And cast away the Victor's crown for love of timid ease.
October 23
HEART-ASSENT MEANS LIFE
Do ye now believe?
John 16:31
Settle that ; and then what follows ? Hear another word of the Faithful Witness. Remember, it is no less true than His other words.
The holy lips that said on the cross, "It is finished," spoke nothing that could deceive or mislead.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life." What does this mean? Just what it says, and nothing less !
It means that even if you never believed before — even if you never had a spark of faith or glimmer of hope before—yet if you have now given your heart-assent to Jesus and His finished work, you have now everlasting life!
That heart-assent is believing; and "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." And this "believing" is "coming"
; and thus coming, you shall find for yourself that all things are indeed ready.
Reality!
Reality!
Such let our adoration be!
Father, we bless Thee with heart and voice, For the wondrous grace of Thy sovereign choice,
That patiently, gently, sought us out.
In the far-off land of death and doubt, That drew us to Christ by the Spirit's might, That opened our eyes to see the light That arose in strange reality.
From the darkness falling on Calvary.
October 26
INFINITE COD
. AND YET MINE
But I trusted in thee, O Lord:
I said, Thou art my God.
Psalm 31:14
Some of us may have an unexpressed notion that, after all, God being our God does not come so near to us as the thought of "Jesus, my Saviour." We almost feel dazzled at the vastness of the idea of "God." And we take refuge, mentally, in what seems more within reach.
This is almost always the case in the earlier stages of our Christian life.
Having been drawn by the Father to the Lord Jesus Christ, we almost lose sight of the Father in the Son, instead of beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as He intends us to do.
Practically, some of us know consciously only one Person in the Blessed Trinity, and do not honor the Father as we honor the Son.
We shall not love Jesus less, but more, as we learn to love God, who was in Christ reconciling us to Himself. We shall not be less tenderly grateful for His coming to die for us, but more as we rise to adore the mystery of love which alone illumines the inconceivable eternity of the past when the Word was with God and the Word was God. We shall find, too, that, while there is more than scope enough in the thought and revelation of God as God for the strongest hour, the very zenith of our intellect, there is rest in it for the weariest hour of the weakest frame.
For when my heart and my flesh faileth, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
By change untouched, by thought untraced, And by created eye unseen, In Thy great Present is embraced All that shall be, all that hath been.
O Father of our spirits, now We seek Thee in our Saviour's face; In truth and spirit we would bow.
And worship where we cannot trace.
October 21
UNQUENCHABLE LOVE
Love is strong as death.
Song of Solomon 8:6
Many waters cannot quench love.
Sons of Solomon 8:7
He proved His love to you and me to be strong as death, and when all God's waves and billows went over Him, the many waters could not quench it.
In His love and in His pity He redeemed us ; in the same love He bears us and carries us all the day long.
He "loveth at all times," and that includes this present moment; now, while your eye is on this page. His eye of love is looking on you, and the folds of His banner of love are overshadowing you.
Is there even a feeble pulse of love to Him?
He meets it with, "I love them that love Me."
"I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him."
And so surely as the bride says, "Thy love is better than wine," so surely does the heavenly Bridegroom respond with incomprehensible condescension: "How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine!"
May this love of Christ constrain us to live unto Him "who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Sit down beneath His shadow, and rest with great delight; The faith that now beholds Him is pledge of future sight.
Our Master's love remember, exceeding great and free; Lift up thy heart in gladness, for He remembers thee.
October 28
REDEEM THE TIME
O that thou hadst hearkened .
. then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the v aves of the sea.
Isaiah 48:18
Oh, how much we have missed by not placing all at His disposal !
What might He not have done with the moments freighted with self or loaded with emptiness, which we have carelessly let drift by!
Oh, what might have been if they had all been kept for Jesus! How He might have filled them with His light and life, enriching our own lives that have been impoverished by the waste, and using them in far-spreading blessing and power!
Take us, Lord, oh. take us truly, mind and soul and heart and will; Empty us and cleanse us throughly, then with all Thy fullness fill.
Make us in Thy royal palace, vessels worthy for the King; From Thy fullness fill our chalice, from Thy never-failing spring.
Father, by this blessed filling, dwell Thyself in us, we pray; We are waiting. Thou art willing, fill us with Thyself today!
October 29
"ONLY" AND "EVER" HIS
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
Song of Solomon 4:12
This people have I formed for myself.
Isaiah 43:21
You have not given "all" to Jesus while you are not quite ready to be "only" for Him.
And it is no use to talk about "ever" while we have not settled the "only" and the "all."
You cannot be "for Him" in the full and blessed sense, while you are partly "for" anything or anyone else.
For "the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself."
You see, the "for Himself" hinges upon the "set apart."
There is no consecration without separation.
If you are mourning over want of realized consecration, will you look humbly and sincerely into this point? "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse," saith the Heavenly Bridegroom.
Set apart for Jesus!
Is not this enough.
Though the desert prospect open wild and rough?
Set apart for His delight, ('hosen for His holy pleasure.
Sealed to be His special treasure!
Could we choose a nobler joy?— And would we if we might?
October 30
GOD'S WILL FOR YOU
The Lord is .
. not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Peter 3:9
Then whj' do any perish?
Simply because they ivon't come; because they will not yield to the winning love and the drawing power which is now being put forth to save you, if, as you read this, you ivant to be saved.
There is no sadder word in the Bible than "Ye 2ciU not come to Me, that ye might have life."
But if you are saying, ever so feebly and faintly, "I will," God meets it with His strong and gracious "Thou shalt."
^Miat will you do without Him, When He hath shut the door.
And you are left outside, because You would not come before?
When it is no use knocking, Xo use to stand and wait.
For the word of doom tolls thro' your heart.
That terrible "Too late!"
October 31
"COME" AND "BELIEVE"
For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. Hebrews 11:6
The coming so hinges on that, as to be really the same thing.
The moment you really believed, you would really come ; and the moment you really come, you really believe.
Now the Lord Jesus is as truly and actually "nigh thee" as if you could see Him.
And He as truly and actually says "Come" to you as if you heard Him.
Fear not, believe only, and let yourself come to Him straight away I "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously."
And know that His answer is, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
Reality in greatest need.
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art indeed!
Is the pilot real, who alone can guide The drifting ship through the midnight tide?
Is the lifeboat real, as it nears the wreck.
And the saved ones leap from the parting deck?
Is the haven real, where the barque may flee From the autumn gales of the wild North Sea?
Reality indeed art Thou.
My Pilot, Lifeboat, Haven now.