He constrained to cry, "Thy wrath lieth hard upon me." This wrath
broken mine heart;" and that reproach which broke His heart could not but mar His visage.
4. God's wrath came down on Him. Often in the days of His flesh was He constrained to cry, "Thy wrath lieth hard upon me." This wrath could not fail to mar His visage. Was there ever wrath like this? And was there ever any of the sons of men so likely to be affected by that wrath? His holiness, His heavenliness, but made Him feel that wrath the more. No wonder that His visage was marred more than any man.
That much-marred visage is our light and healing. We look at it and are enlightened; we look at it and are healed; for every line of sadness on it, every wrinkle of grief, speaks to us of love.
God's Desire to be Known
"Ye shall know that I am the Lord."—EZEK. 7:4.
IT is God's desire that He should be known; nay, more, it is His purpose that He should be known. He will compel even His enemies to know Him. If they will not know Him in His love, they shall know Him in His wrath. If they will not know Him in His pardons, they shall know Him in His judgments.
It is, however, a blessed thought for us that God wishes to be known. There is no hiding of Himself; no retiring out of view. He is not unwilling to shew Himself; nay, His object in all that He says and does is so to reveal Himself that it shall be impossible for any one not to know Him. Considering what God has done to unfold His glorious character, we are led to wonder that He should be to so many still "the unknown God."
It is life to know Him. (John 17:3.) It is peace to be acquainted with Him. (Job 22:21.) And if He is so willing to be known, why should any of us remain ignorant of Him? Shall we not go straight to Him, that He may teach us to know Himself? If He is so desirous that even those who are turning away from Him should know Him, will He hide His love or veil His glory from those that are seeking His face?
The knowledge of Jehovah! What is there of peace and light and joy that is not contained in that!
Be Quite Sure of Getting
"Ask, and it shall be given you."—MATT. 7:7.
WE sometimes feel our need of certain things, but are sad because we think them beyond our reach. Were they within sight, or within touch, like the grass under our feet, or like the river that flows by our dwelling, we should feel certain of getting them; but they seem to us far off, and we despair of having them.
This is unbelief. It is dealing with God as if He were not the God of all grace; it is using prayer as if it were not the means of obtaining what we need; and it is treating His promises as if they were not meant to be kept.
Now, the question with us ought never to be, Is the thing that we desire out of sight, or far off, or difficult, or costly? but simply, Has God bidden us come to Him for it? Whatever we are warranted to ask for, is as truly within our reach as is the flower at our side, which we have only to stoop down and pluck. Thus God has placed every
spiritual blessing within our reach, because He has told us to pray for them. Is it His own Holy Spirit that we desire, or is it more faith, or a truer sense of sin, or warmer love, or a holier life? Let us never feel as if any of these things were far off, or hard to be gotten. They are at hand. They but wait our asking. They are within God's reach, and therefore they are within ours, because they are the things which He has taught us to ask for.
The Servant of Sinners
"I am among you as he that serveth."—LUKE 22:27.
IN the kingdom of Christ, the lowest place is the place of honour. It was this that He himself stooped to when He took upon Him the form of a servant.
It was in lowly love that He thus came to serve us; and what is there that He is not willing to stoop to in order that He may supply our need? He has already stooped to the cradle, and the cross, and the tomb; and what is there, after these, that He will shrink from or refuse, in the way of service for us?
He has taken on Him this special office, and will He not perform it well? What want is there, be it great or small, that He will not supply? In going to Him for this supply, we are not taxing His patience, we are not making undue demands upon Him, we are not making too free with His love or condescension. We are only employing Him in the very way in which He delights to be employed. We are only making that use of His condescension which the Father designed, when He filled Him with the Spirit without measure, and sent Him to us, that He might "supply all our need, according to His riches in glory." We cannot be too needy, or too empty. We cannot
apply to Him too often or too importunately. He is as unwearied in His service as in His love.
Peace in Christ
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace."—JOHN 16:3.
THERE is peace for us; yes, PEACE even in a world of evil and unrest. Whatever shadows may fling themselves across our path or rest above our dwellings, there is peace. We do not need to be troubled or sad.
Nor is it man that speaks it. It is the Son of God. He makes known the gladdening truth. He says "there is peace." Nay, and He tells us where it is to be found,—in Himself. "He is our peace," and the "peace which passeth all understanding" is in Him alone. "In me ye shall have peace." "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you."
Yet again, He tells us that it is through what He has spoken to us that we are to get this peace which is in Him. His words are the words of peace. They lead us to Himself. They make known the grace that is in Him. They tell us what He is as well as what He has done. To listen to the words which Christ has spoken, is to drink in the peace of which He is the fountain. In hearing Him, peace flows in upon us like a river. It is only by closing the ear against Him, and against His words, that we can shut out the blessed peace.
How little do men know how much they lose in not listening to His voice! and how much they would gain in listening!
The Sinner's Substitute
"Christ died for our sins."—1 COR. 15:3.
IF Christ, then, has died, why should we die? It was once needful that every sinner should die for his sins; but now it is no longer needful. If the sinner now dies, it is because he is resolved to do so; because he will have nothing to do with the Substitute. That Substitute is the Son of God, who suffered for sin—the just for the unjust. He is not afar off, but at hand. He is a sufficient, a willing, a loving Substitute.
It is not our money nor our merits that He asks; it is simply our consent. He was willing to become the Sin-bearer; are we willing that He should become our Sin-bearer? The Father consents; the Son consents; the Holy Spirit consents; do we consent? Then the great transaction is done; the great exchange is made. He gets our sins, we get His righteousness. He gets our death, we get His life. For what is faith but our consenting to have Him for our Surety and Substitute?
Here we rest. We hand over to Him all our sins and burdens. He takes them from us, and buries them out of sight in His own grave. No other, save the Divine Substitute can relieve us of our guilt. No other can remove our fears or give rest to our troubled conscience. He can and will do it all. For this He died and rose again. For this He ascended on high, and ever liveth to intercede.
Christ our Peace
"He is our peace."—EPH. 2:14.
IT was peace that we needed; for sin had thrown us out of peace, by troubling the conscience, and coming in between us and God. It was peace that we needed; for without peace what is life?
It is peace that Christ has made. He has not left it for us to make. He has made it on the cross, leaving nothing that is needful for our peace undone. Faith simply apprehends what Christ has made. Unbelief tries to make peace; but faith takes it as already made, and rejoices in it. All that hindered our having peace has been taken away; and all that could cause trouble of conscience has been fully met by the work of the Great Substitute upon the cross.
The cross is the display of righteous love,—love coming to us from God in a righteous way. We lift up our eyes to the cross, and see the Son of God there bearing sin. Then does the love flow in to us. The more that we allow the thoughts of this free love to find their way into us, the deeper and more abiding will be our peace. We are like men placed in an atmosphere filled with fragrance and health. We have only to inhale it. The gospel has surrounded us with this atmosphere of free love. Let us open our mouths, and breathe this blessed air. It will at once revive and refresh us. We shall find what health and vigour it can impart!
The Threefold Blessing
"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."—EPH. 6:23
PEACE, love, faith; these are the three things which the apostle desired for the brethren; remembering, no doubt, what had come to himself,—"the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 1:14.) This threefold
blessing comes directly from the Father and the Son, through the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.
"I need peace." Yes; and it is this that the Father gives. It is this that Jesus gives. Both Father and Son desire that you should have it. Allow them to give it.
"I need love." Yes; and it is this which the Father and the Son bestow. They hold it out to you. They will not only teach you their own vast love, but also to love in return.
"I need faith." Yes, surely you do; and the whole Godhead presents it to you. "It is the gift of God." Lord, increase our faith! Lord, help our unbelief!
Go, then, trustingly to God; to the Father and the Son; that you may get at once the peace, the love, the faith which you need so much. Confide in the free love of Godhead. You will find in this simple confidence the cure of all spiritual diseases, the channel of all health and blessing. Distrust will do nothing for you. It will only make you worse. Unreserved confidence will do everything for you. God asks this. Give Him his request.
Give God your Cares to Keep
"Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."— PHIL. 4:6
WE do not need to bear our own sins, for Christ has borne them on the cross. Nor do we need to bear our own cares, for He is the bearer
of our cares as well as of our sins. "He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." (Isa. 53:4.)
"If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" so that we have only to take our sins to Him, that they may be forgiven. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." In like manner, let us go to Him with our cares. He is as willing to take them from us as our sins. Let us not keep them to ourselves, nor try to bear them with our own strength.
Why should we insist on bearing our own cares, when He is so ready to bear them for us? Why do we magnify them, and multiply them, and brood over them, as if in so doing we could relieve ourselves, or make them seem fewer and lighter? Let us go with them at once to Him; knowing that it is as self-righteous to keep our cares as our sins from Him. Let us go to Him "with thanksgiving," as well as "prayer." Oh, how thanksgiving lightens all burdens and scatters all shadows! How quickly care leaves us when we rebuke it with, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"
Divine Fulness
"It pleased the Father, that in Him should all fulness dwell."— COL. 1:19.
THERE is no fulness like this. It is fulness provided by the Father himself. It is the infinite fulness of the eternal Son, the God-man. It is all fulness. It is fulness of the very kind that sinners need. It is fulness for us. There is fulness of pardon, fulness of life, fulness of grace, fulness of righteousness, fulness of strength, fulness of wisdom. For "He of God is made unto us righteousness, and wisdom, and sanctification, and redemption."
Is there, then, any reason for our remaining empty? That fulness is at our side, and ready to flow into us. How unreasonable, then, are our desponding complaints of emptiness and leanness! What can despondency mean, when God has provided such a fulness of every blessing? and in what light does God view such despondency, but as our refusal to be blest?
It is of this fulness that the Holy Spirit takes and pours it into us. It is His part first to make us willing to receive it, and then to pour it in. How willing is the whole Godhead, Father, Son; and Spirit, that we should be made partakers of this fulness! "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it."
We need not, then, be poor, so long as Christ is rich; nor need we be weak, so long as He is strong. God's desire is, that we should partake of this fulness; and His delight is in seeing us filled.
Everlasting Consolation
"Who hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace."—2 THESS. 2:16
IT is both of the Father and of the Son that the apostle speaks. The love of Godhead is what he presents to us. "He loved us;" and hence the name which we get is, "Beloved of God." (Rom. 1:7.) He loved us, and gave His Son for us. He loved us, and gave us eternal life in Him. He loved us, and gave us "everlasting consolation and good hope."
God's free love is the great fountainhead of our consolation. The very thought of it is comfort; but the rich supplies of comfort which it administers are far beyond that which comes from merely remembering the love. God pours in the consolation. In spite of
sorrow, He comforts. No earthly grief is able to resist the power of consolation so almighty, so divine. It forces back the tide of sorrow, and in its place brings not merely submission, but gladness.
Everlasting consolation! This is our portion. "Good hope,"—hope of His coming and of the long-promised glory;—"hope through grace,"—through that free love which first took us up when lying in our sins,—this is the hope which bears up! What sorrow here can withstand the comfort which comes from a hope so full of blessedness and glory? With this consolation, and this hope, let us go upon our way in peace. What or who can dishearten or dismay us?
The Lord's Tender Love
"The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."—JAMES 5:11.
THIS suits us well. It takes in all that we need. We need "pity," for we are often sad and weary—and here is the pity that we need. Our God is pitiful, yes, "very pitiful." His pity, like Himself, is truly infinite. It knows no bounds. It is not narrow, nor feeble, nor changeable. It is wide as the bosom out of which came the Eternal Son, the "unspeakable gift." Nothing in us can alter it, or lessen it, or make it flow less freely. It is a father's pity, which no unworthiness nor unthankfulness can change or check. A child's unhappiness, from whatever cause, stirs the father's pity; so our wants, and weaknesses, and cares, and fears, and sorrows, call up new pity in the bosom of Him who is "very pitiful." Whether we will believe it or not, He pities us; nay, pities us all the more when He sees the unhappiness to which our unbelief exposes us.
There is "mercy" too for us, for we are always sinning, rebelling, murmuring, going astray. It is "abundant mercy." It is "tender
mercy," or, as we read elsewhere, "tender mercies;" nay, it is a "multitude of tender mercies." This is enough, even for the most sinful. The thought of these "tender mercies" keeps the soul in peace, even when all things in us and about us speak trouble and war.
Keep the Joy in View
"Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross."—HEB. 12:2.
CHRIST'S cross was the heaviest ever borne, yet He bore it. Its pains were the sharpest that ever tore the frame of man, yet He endured them. No cross of ours can ever be like His, yet He "endured it." He went up to it without a murmur.
What made Him so willing to endure the cross, so patient under its shame and agony? It was the joy set before Him. He looked forward to the joy that lay beyond the cross, and He bore it gladly. It was that joy that made it so easy to bear.
Our cross is sometimes hard to bear. Grief comes on grief till we are quite bowed down. Burden presses on burden till we are ready to faint. The way is long, and rough, and dark. We get weary and troubled.
In such a time what is our relief? The joy set before us. This lifts us up. This smoothes our brow. This dries our tears. This nerves us with new strength. The joy set before us! How cheering the hope! For it is unspeakable and everlasting. And it will be here so soon! What is one hour's darkness to the eternal sunshine? What is one night's tossing on the roaring deep to the calm of the everlasting haven? What are the tears of the night to the joy of the bright morning and the
triumphant jubilee of the unending day? "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps. 30:5.)
Remember Thy Creator
"Thou hast created all things."—REV. 4:11.
HE who made things to be, must be the I Am. The Creator's name is JAH! And this is the God with whom we have to do. The Maker of heaven and earth is "our God."
The word creation is familiar to us. We think we understand it. In truth we do not. The idea is an unfathomable one. It is one of the deepest things of God. Who knows what it is to create save He who creates? Things that were not, are, when He speaks. This is all we know.
Here is the link between the seen and the unseen, the connexion between the outer and the inner circle of being. Here is the tie between this universe of ours and God. It is a tie closer, firmer, more abiding than any other. In comparison with it, all the ties we are wont to speak of as tender or endearing are as a thread or straw. Yet who amongst us feels either the strength or the blessedness of this peculiar tie? Was it not to this that Job appealed when he said, "Is it good that Thou shouldest despise the work of Thy hands?" (Job 10:3.) Might we not use it too, and say, "O Lord, Thou hast made, wilt Thou not bless me?"
The God who made these starry heavens and this green earth, is the God whose love is all to us; and in loving whom is the very joy of joys. His love in the new creation is no doubt the highest of all; but let us
not forget His love in the old creation, to which David and Job appealed.
The Eternal Well
"I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."—REV. 21:6.
IT is as if Christ had said, "Is there any one on earth that wants to be happy, but knows not how, let him come to Me, and I will give him all that he needs."
Christ spoke these words from heaven, shewing us that His love is the same in heaven as it was on earth. He spoke them especially for those who should live in the last days, for they come in at the close of the book, just after it had been said, "It is done." We ought to feel as if the message was specially meant for us, who are living so far down the ages, and so near the day of His coming.
Just when He is about to come, He looks down on a miserable world, as He did on Jerusalem, and sends before Him this declaration of His love. How unwilling is He to smite, how willing to save; how desirous that we should drink the living water, and be made partakers of the joy that there is in Himself for us! "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
"Behold, I come quickly." "Behold, I come as a thief." Thus He warns us? Yet side by side with the warning He sets the invitation, "I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."
Do You Know Your Maker?
"None saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night."—JOB 35:10.
HE who made all things to be must be the I AM. Who but JAH, the Being of beings, can create? Who but "the Beginning and the Ending" could create "in the beginning?" All within the circle of the universe, upper and under, is of His creating; above and beyond that circle must He be; greater, brighter, and more glorious than all that it contains.
This is the God with whom we have to do. He made us for Himself, and He made that universe for us. The Creator of heaven and earth is "our God." Have I learned in loving peacefulness of spirit to say, "He is mine?" His making me for Himself shews that He desires my fellowship; His making this fair world for me shews that He seeks my happiness; is He not then just such an one as I can confide in and commune with? Has He done aught to estrange Himself from me or repel my confidence? Has He not done everything to draw me to Himself, and win my unwilling love?
I dwell beneath the blue of His bright heaven; I walk upon the face of His fair earth; shall I not lean on Him? Shall I not love Him? Shall I not lay myself to rest each night upon His breast as the child upon the bosom of its mother? Is it not in this way that I am "to commit my soul unto Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator?" (1 Pet. 4:19.)
Delight Thyself in God
"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."—PSALM 34:8
TO delight myself in God must be the very life of my life, the very sunshine of my days. I am made for this; and nothing else can satisfy.
All the gifts of God—the sun, the sky, the stars, the flowers, the streams—are intended to facilitate this delighting in God, to be instruments for carrying it on and intensifying it.
Shall I then take these gifts and use them for the purpose of making myself happy without God? If the thoughts of God are pleasant to my spirit, then these gifts will be used for augmenting, ramifying, perpetuating such thoughts. If I have no joy in thinking of God, then these gifts will assuredly be perverted to the awful purpose of excluding God, drowning the thoughts of God,—nay, of making me happy without the necessity of having recourse to God at all!
Is not this what thousands are deliberately doing? Is not the whole system of their life based upon the principle of being happy, easy, comfortable without God? Is it not their object to draw so largely upon the gifts as to enable them to live without thinking of the Giver at all? "My soul, come not thou into their secret!"
This preference of created things to God may do for a few years; but what will eternity be to those who have no God to delight in?
When Wilt Thou Turn?
"To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart."— PSALM 95:7, 8.
THY time on earth, O man, is but a day! These limbs will soon cease to move; these eyes will close; that heart will no longer throb; and all that you call life will soon be done!
Is it not then time to turn? Have you calculated the chances and weighed the opportunities of your coming years, so that you can quietly sit down and say, "I will wait. I intend to turn, but not now!" Yet God urges you with His NOW. Your word is to-morrow, but His word is TO-DAY. Wilt thou not then turn now? Thou must turn some time or other, or else be lost; and why not NOW? Can you afford to trifle with your quick-posting time? Is it of so little value in your eyes? Ah, time, time! It may seem nothing now, it will soon be all; and you will learn its preciousness when all is over.
Can you afford to trifle with your souls? Have they so little value in your eyes that you can sport them away, or sell them for a few vain pleasures? Ah, that soul!—the seat of such joy and grief,—that soul, is it to be thus destroyed?
Can you afford to trifle with sin? Is it nothing to you? Is that which God hates so infinitely a mere word or sound?
Can you afford to trifle with God? And will He be trifled with? Be not deceived, God is not mocked!
Can you afford to trifle with Christ and His blood? Is the Saviour nothing? Is His blood a common thing? Oh, awake from your miserable sleep,—awake and turn! It must be NOW!
Art Thou Ready?
"There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth."— REV. 21:27.
THERE is a life to come, and a world to come! Our course on earth will be ended soon. The place that knew us shall know us no more. We shall have passed away out of all that grieves or gladdens us here.
What, then, O man, are thy hopes? What is that eternity to be which shall so soon receive thee? Whatever it may be, it can be no unimportant thing to thee. A whole eternity of being! That, surely, may startle and arouse thee. What thou art, or hast, here on earth, concerns thee very little, for what is your life? it is but a vapour. But what thou art to be and to have hereafter concerns thee much. This life is but a dream; the life to come is real.
Art thou, then, ready to pass on into that eternity? Are all preparations made, and thy well-being secured, so that thou canst enter on it without a fear? Or has no preparation been made? Is there nothing but darkness overhanging thee, so that thou shrinkest from the sick-bed, and the death-bed, and the tomb?
Hast thou been born from above?—born of the Spirit, born the second time, born of God? These are the marks of a soul prepared to pass into the eternal mansions. Are these marks traceable on thee? Hast thou been made partaker of this better birth,—this birth which, while it marks the sonship, secures the heirship and the kingdom?
The Evil of Sin
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die."—EZEK. 18:4.
ONE sin casts the angels out of heaven. One sin blights paradise and ruins a race. One sin spreads itself out, not over a region, but over a world. One sin propagates itself, and overflows, not one generation, but generations for six thousand years. One sin contains enough in its one drop to destroy millions upon millions,—to destroy them for eternity. What then must sin be! What must be its virulence, its contagiousness, its immeasurable fruitfulness in evil! What havoc it makes among immortal beings! With what a terrific power it is armed!
One sin! Who can count up its consequences? Yet in each of us there are myriads—not one, but myriads of these roots or seeds of evil!
Surely if we realised the woe, the curse that is wrapped up in each of these, we should tremble and be appalled. Our hearts would fail us at the thought. We are poison-trees, from whose branches there hang myriads of seeds,—seeds which every moment are dropping from us and springing up around.
Yet the divine Sin-bearer is at hand, ready to deliver, able to undo the evil. Shall we not seek His aid? Is not that aid available for us to the full, so that life, instead of death, may be ours? "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23.)
Forsaking the Lord
"Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God."—JER. 2:19