04 - The Good Shepherd: 11-17
Heavenly Integrity.
READPsalms 25:1-22ANDPsalms 26:1-12.
DOUBTLESS, beloved, these two Psalms will have their mission to fulfill in a yet future day, when God’s people Israel will be suffering under Antichrist ; but, observe, the Spirit of God purposely makes no special mention of Israel or Jerusalem. Doubtless they are penned by the Spirit of God through David, though there is nothing in particular to make them in themselves applicable to David, and thus the great intent is to make them a comfort to saints at all times. To us in this company, and at this time-this peculiar time of the world, and peculiar time of the Church of God in the land-they may be taken up and used for our own profit. Now, observe that the Psalmist makes a full confession that no unregenerate man either will or can do. He cannot say, "Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." Leave a natural man to himself, and he will only hope for mercy on the ground that his iniquity is little-a small matter; inasmuch as the natural conscience of man measures the guilt of sin by damage done to fellow-creatures. The mere natural conscience of man will never rise above that level. Damage to fellow-creatures--that is man’s measure of the guilt of sin, and hence all these cavils against the Scripture. "What! for eating a piece of fruit from a tree, all this flood of misery?" "We cannot believe it; there was no harm done." Not the life of an insect was taken when the first sin was committed-that first ruinous transgression. What was the sin? Self-will. All sin is great, because it lies in the creature’s will against God; and the measure of the guilt is neither more or less than the majesty of God. Now, natural man, left to himself, will never measure the guilt of sin in that way. "Pardon mine iniquity, for I judge it in Thine holiness; I confess it to Thee, because Thou hast taught me." You will observe how much the 6th verse has to do with the confession, "Thy tender mercies and Thy lovingkindnesses, for they are ever of old." If there had never been, beloved, a revelation of grace, there never would have been a confession of sin. You see by the behavior of the first offenders, what the sinner is, left to himself, without a knowledge of God’s grace. When paradise was untouched and no flower or leaf had faded, when nothing of God’s hand around them had yet been marred through their sin, they, were withered up and blighted through conscious guilt and fear and shame. The Psalmist makes this heavenly confession, "Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." If there is anyone in this company that has not yet received Christ, there is only one thing needful; tell the truth to God-nothing more. If the vilest sinner upon the face of the earth went and told the truth to God, he must go from God’s presence a saint ; it cannot be otherwise. I often have the readiness of God to forgive pictured to my soul thus: I see the waters at high tide clamoring at the flood-gates. In the dock within all is dry, and outside the high tide. What is there to do? Only open the gates! Just so, my dear friends, are the floods of God’s grace clamoring at the doors of sinners’ hearts. Nothing to do but to open the flood gates. How? Tell the truth to God. You cannot get to the bottom of your sin; you can never measure the height of it. God alone can do that; but the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, covers all. Man must have pardon if there is a confession of his guilt.
Observe, in this Psalm there is a most blessed close imitation of the Lord Jesus in the sixteenth Psalm and the 1st verse, "Preserve me, 0 God: for in Thee do I put my trust." The hand of power that plunged Him beneath all the waves of wrath, when God Almighty did baptize His Son in the lowest depths, was being trusted to raise Him. The mark of Christ was, growing faith with growing trial. Whatever were the expectations of the cross in His early days, it grew more solemn and terrible as He approached thereto. Now, in the twenty-fifth Psalm, you will observe how the Psalmist begins, "Oh my God, I trust in Thee." Let us walk in this simplicity before God. Let us take heed to it, that in dealing with God we be able to do so with an uncontradicting conscience, with an approving conscience to tell Him (that is, our God and Father), "We trust in Thee." You observe how the Psalmist goes on, "Keep my soul, for I put my trust in Thee." Now, beloved, there is something in man’s heart by which God would teach us. We all love to be trusted. If we see any token in others of distrust in our words, our promises, our faithfulness, our hearts resent it. The look that says, "Do you indeed mean it?"-" Do you say it?"-" Do you intend to keep your promise?" our hearts resent it instantly. Now, this should tell us how God delights to be trusted, and how He is grieved by His children to be distrusted. The first great business is, to trust God in anything, it matters not what-small or great-and the case is then entirely His. Anything which we really trust God with is God’s matter. Not barely because He is faithful; He delights to be trusted, and to show that He delights to be trusted.mod made by Dav1d C0x
Here you have an instance of what we so frequently observe in the Scriptures, that you cannot alter the place of a Scripture without marring it. If you were to put one verse in the place of another, you would mar that particular Scripture. Suppose we were to put the 17th verse in the place of the 4th and 5th and the 4th and 5th in the place of the 17th, you would mar the whole Psalm. A very precious lesson we have in this 17th verse, "The troubles of mine heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Show me Thy ways, 0 Lord; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day long." According to this order the Psalmist, in all his enlarged afflictions, is much more caring to be better acquainted with God than to be out of his trouble. But, to put the 17th verse in the place of the 4th and 5th, then the sense is reversed. The Psalmist would then be more anxious to be out of the furnace than to be learning the lesson. The only way in the furnace is, to be like to them of whom the king said, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto him, True, 0 king!" My dear friends, we should not wish to be out of the furnace till the Son of God is walking with us in the fire, which will do nothing but burn up all the badness; then we come out ready for the next trial. You will observe a great justification of God in the l0th verse of this twenty-fifth Psalm. The word "mercy" has a signification that is better expressed by the word "lovingkindness," and would be better so read.
You will observe that the 21st verse plainly gives birth to the next Psalm, "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee." The whole burden of the next Psalm is "integrity." Beloved, one of the highest and richest blessings from God is, to have what the Scripture means by "integrity." It is indispensable to our growth in grace and in the knowledge of Christ and to the careful maintenance of peace of soul-indispensable to our dealing in true and living faith with our daily trials and matters. Indispensable! But let me say this, beloved, that the integrity that God means, is not the integrity which the word generally implies; nor, alas! alas! is it the integrity that very commonly contents the consciences of God’s children. But, oh! if God’s people did but wake up to this-that God reckons nothing to be integrity that will not bear the test of His Word. For the most part, you know, the world is quite content if its dull, blind conscience does not rebuke, does not condemn; and, as conscience sinks in the man, in the family, in the nation, so that man, that family, that nation, may hold on the path to certain ruin, and yet be as quiet as if they were walking in ways pleasing to God. Dear friends, when once the devil succeeds in undervaluing God’s Word, and we have little of that sounded in the ears of the people, depend upon it, God will smite the people. They will care nothing about the acknowledgment of God in public or in private, then there will be an end of this great empire. But, alas! the grievous neglect of this treasure of treasures by the people of God is too common. They are dealing with God’s Word as they would not deal with a bag of copper! Their consciences become adapted to custom, and do not rise above the level of what is the universal practice. Hence many of these things which Christians are zealous of, will be but ill-commended at the judgment seat of Christ. Oh! my dear friends, when the Psalmist speaks about "integrity," he means "integrity" to be judged by God according to God’s Word.
Beloved, this is a peculiarly precious portion of the Word of God. I call it the Psalm of heavenly integrity. "Examine me." You will observe it is very like that in the first epistle to the Corinthians, fourth chapter, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful, But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self;" that is, "as regards myself I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified" That is to say, "my conscience, instructed by the Word of God, testifies to my integrity; but I do not rest in that." I will say, "He that judgeth me is the Lord," and, while I am thankful for the testimony of a good conscience, I seek to have it rectified more perfectly by the Word of God. This is what Paul means when he says, "Herein do I exercise myself, to have a conscience void of offense towards God and man." "I will wash my hands in innocency"-an allusion to the brazen laver and its pure waters; and it is good to remember that Aaron and his sons were not only to wash their hands, but they were to wash and to worship. Why this, beloved? Just as the Psalmist, so the apostle exercises himself. He knows how true it is that none can understand his error; and if we are truly walking with God as our Father--justly, blamelessly walking-then this will be a mark of it. God as a Father judges me not according to the law of Moses, but as a Father in Christ. God marks my walk. I have made Christ my best robe, to answer the demands of His justice, so as to cover all my sin and guilt. He can see what I cannot see; and I say, "Examine me, for what I do not now see." No cleansing of the sin of ignorance without blood; and there is no sin of a child of God but must cast him into hell, did not the blood of Christ prevent. What a blessing it would be, if God’s children everywhere sought to rectify their consciences by the Word of God! Now, note the 11th and 12th verses. No child of God ever grew in grace without exercising himself to have a conscience void of offense towards God and towards men; and there was never a child of God, that did so exercise himself, who did not grow in grace. As in the closing of the other Psalm, the psalmist has respect to the whole Church-the whole congregation. "My feet standeth in an even place: in the congregation will I bless the Lord." No one can be wrapped up in himself in his own service; the heart gains by a custom of fellowship that thinks much of other servants. Their service for God, my service; their joy my joy; their honor my honor, and their blessing my blessing-whether it be teaching in the Sunday-school or any other service. Oh! beloved, let us think with tender hearts of all in like manner serving. Are we endeavoring to preach the Gospel of Christ? Let us remember all our fellow-servants. Do we hear of their winning souls? Let us thank God, and then we shall have abundance of comfort from God in our own service; we shall be assisted in it, we shall be a savor of Christ to God; and as to success, the Spirit of God will take care of that, and we shall not lack it. Beloved, let us seek in our daily occupation to maintain a good conscience before God, and then the very trials of our outward occupation will help on our growth in grace, and increase our delight in God on the first day of the week. It is because of doing things to ourselves, and not to the Lord, that service does not help our faith and increase our joy. We bear our burdens ourselves, and they become too heavy for us.mod made by Dav1d C0x Present Answers to Prayer.
It is good for us to remember that we are to seek guidance for prayer in the revealed will of God, and not in His secret decrees. Our rule of prayer is His commandment, while we ever find encouragement in His promises; and looking at the commandments and the promises, we are sure that His decrees will be fulfilled to our joy and His glory. Yet we may not see the fulfillment of our prayers and our just and holy desires immediately. The blessed Lord uttered a prayer on the cross while the nails were being driven into His hands and feet. God the Father heard the Sufferer’s petition, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do;" and we are sure that that prayer was recorded in the highest heaven, though the full answer to it has not yet been given. There was, indeed, a precious answer given at Pentecost, but we still wait for the day of which we read in Zechariah, "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications."
Now, the Lord on the cross prayed as He enjoins us to pray-" Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." The prayer of John 17:1-26 is perfectly according to God’s decree, every jot and tittle of which must be fulfilled. It is not possible that there can be anything less than everlasting fruit resulting from any prayer, that God’s Holy Spirit has indited in the heart. We may call to mind the example of Paul, who could say, "My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Paul knew that it was as much the duty of Israel to repent and receive Christ then, as when they nailed Him to the cross, and his prayer was according to God’s commandment. Some few olive berries were gathered after Pentecost, but the people as a nation were given up to hardness of heart. Rejecting Christ, and adding iniquity unto iniquity, they will be punished by receiving Antichrist. But the day of their blessedness is coming. Christ prayed, and Paul prayed, and we still pray to God for Israel. Let us continue to pray according to God’s commandment, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee." The full issue and fruit of our present dealing with God cannot be seen until the Lord shall come, when He will show us that He has not forgotten any supplications presented in uprightness of heart; but there is a blessing which He cannot fail to give us immediately, and we are always bound to obtain it. In offering our supplications we should ever have the Lord present, and the Spirit testifying that the Lord approves us. In Daniel 9:19, the prophet records his petition, "0 Lord, hear:0 Lord, forgive; 0 Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for Thine own sake, 0 my God: for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name." And then he goes on to tell us how Gabriel came with the revelation of what should take place during the seventy weeks. Was that a rejection of Daniel’s prayer, "defer not?" No. Mark the words in v. 23, and consider that Gabriel is not only a holy angel, but his name signifies "Mighty one of God." Remember, too, the services that are recorded as rendered by him to the people of God. He was the messenger sent to Zacharias, and also to the mother of the Lord. To Daniel he says, "Thou art greatly beloved." This does not merely mean, "Thou art God’s child, or God’s servant ; but, " Thou art God’s well-approved servant-God’s empty vessel; He not only delights in Thee as His child and servant, but in thine affections towards Himself." But the Lord is not content with that, for in chap. 10:19 we hear another voice saying, "0 man, greatly beloved, fear not." In the previous chapter it was Gabriel who said, "Thou art greatly beloved," but who speaks here? It was, we are quite sure, the Son of God appearing unto Daniel, just as He afterwards appeared to that other Daniel-John the apostle, in the isle of Patmos.
Here, then, are samples of the immediate answers to prayer that we ought always to obtain-the conscious approval of God, the testimony of God’s Spirit that He not only delights in us His children, but that He also has pleasure in our affections towards Himself. It is Himself-the joy of His presence-that is the chief answer to prayer; and when He shall gather us in glory, He Himself will be the great answer to all the prayers that we have ever been taught by the Spirit of God to put up.
Gethsemane and Calvary.
READ Matthew 26:36-46.
GETHSEMANE means "olive press." When the Lord comes in His glory, He will have time to teach, and we to learn without distraction, dullness, or infirmity, the value of His death on the cross, and what His expectations of it were. This is one of the chief reasons of our longing for His coming quickly. Let us be thankful for the little which we know; we know truly what we know, being taught by the Spirit of God. We shall ever be learning. The Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the new Jerusalem, the Lamb shall be the light thereof. The world’s Christ is no more the Christ of God, nor the world’s Gospel the Gospel of the cross of Christ, than was the golden calf the God that brought Israel out of Egypt. No one can know anything of the cross, who is not taught the guilt of sin. As we grow in the knowledge of this, and know more of the cross, we discern more and more the justice that bruised Christ. God had the choice, whether to leave us as He left the angels that sinned, or to provide an atonement; He had the choice, whether He would have us for His or not, if so, there must be the death of the surety for us, and redemption wrought out "that He might be just." There is a great distinction between Christ in Gethsemane and Christ on the cross. Verse 39, 42, 44. "0 My Father!" three times in Gethsemane, and notice how careful the Spirit of God is in verse 44, in adding-" saying the same words." Contrast this with Matthew 27:46. "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ The words "My God" show the uttermost of faith, whilst the words "forsaken" indicates the very depths of sorrow. Read Psalms 22:1. The whole Psalm was in the heart of the Lord Jesus on the cross. A man of faith said, "Thou art become cruel unto me" (Job 30:21). When all the waves and billows of God went over Christ, He said "Thou art holy"-and looking on to the future said, "Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel" (verse 3). Though crucified, He had all the twelve jewels of the breast-plate on His heart. What are His hopes concerning His people, now that He is seated at the Father’s right hand? In Gethsemane, God was not fulfilling the office of the sin-avenging Judge, but on the cross Christ was sustaining the weight of sin’s heavy load, and God was visiting sin on Him in judgment. Christ when upon earth had the perpetual testimony of the Father’s approval. Genesis 22:1-24. In whose hand was the knife? In the Father’s hand. Isaac was spared-there could be mercy then, because there could not be atonement. In Christ’s case there could be no mercy, because by Him only could atonement be made. So the Father becomes the sin-avenging God. In Genesis 22:1-24 He said-"Lay not Thine hand," &c., but at the cross, "Awake, 0 sword-smite!" (Zechariah 13:7) as if the sword had slept till then. Romans 8:22, "He spared not His own Son" is used in the same sense as 2 Peter 2:4, "spared not the angels." He spared not His own Son, and now He cannot but always have mercy on us. All the blessings of God in Christ are written in the blood of His Son. Nothing but mercy can come into our cup. What a contrast between Paul’s experience (Php 2:27) "lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow," and the experience of Christ in Psalms 52:7-" All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me." His disciples could not watch with Christ for they were dull of hearing, and so an angel came to strengthen Him, but could not watch with Him. His disciples could not for lack of understanding, they would not have it that Christ should die; His words to their ears, were as those spoken in an unknown tongue. We should watch and suffer with Christ-we add to His glory when we share both; we can also rejoice with Him. Shall we not seek to rejoice with Him? He craves it, and we add to His joy when we thus share it with Him, and make His joy the chief part of the service.
Christ: The Perfect Servant.
Read Isaiah 49:1-7; John 4:31-34; Job 17:4-6. Job 26:1-14; 2 Timothy 4:5-8. A "POLISHED SHAFT" always hitting the mark. We are called to fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, not chiefly for our own joy, nor for our own glory, but for the joy and glory of the Father and of the Son. Do we really believe this, and bear it in mind as something to exercise our hearts about from day to day, and hour to hour? How precious the words in John 4:1-54, "My meat is to do the will of God." The hungry, thirsty, and weary One said this as He sat on the well. He now sits on the throne. "I have meat to eat that ye know not of." This probably implied a lack of sympathy and fellowship. You know what it is to say you have meat to eat which the world knows not of. It is said, "laborers are few;" after Pentecost this ought not to be so; during our Lord’s earthly ministry it was different-the Holy Ghost was not yet given. We are individually responsible to know and fill our place, it may be behind the counter, or may be in the kitchen. The highest success is, in seeking every moment to please the Father. "I have labored in vain" (Isaiah 40:4) was the language of the rejected One-the least successful of preachers, but the most successful in being constantly well-pleasing to the Father (Psalms 61:1). Whilst Christ never could fall, He could be preserved, "Behold My Servant whom I uphold." He was preserved in the way of perfect success in pleasing God. He finds His meat in the same thing now, for having finished the work, He is now unfolding it. There was perfect singleness of heart in Him-the Holy Spirit ever bore witness to this. Though we see such successful preaching at Pentecost by Peter, when 3,000 men (women not included) were "added unto them " in one day, and at another time 5,000 (Acts 4:4). Yet we see a still greater success in Acts 22:22, when Paul stood on the castle stairs bearing testimony amidst the fiendish hatred of the audience, and heard the shout of "Away with such a fellow," etc. The greater success being, in Paul knowing more of Christ through sharing more of Christ’s rejection. The once-persecuting one had the wages, "Away with such a fellow," etc. They said of Christ, "Away with Him!" How much there was of Christ in Paul rejected! He identified himself very closely with his loving Saviour in life and death, and this is the secret of his never growing cold or turning aside. If we do not seek to please God in all our ways, we shall be more likely to desert our colors. Paul did know and did eat the meat that the Lord was wont to eat. He could say, and indeed we should, that "We are to God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved and them that perish." There was more of Christ in Paul than Peter could have known until the sheet was let down from heaven (Acts 10:11), though 3,000 and 5,000 had been saved through his preaching. If we turn our eyes away from the business of pleasing God, we shall certainly be more or less discouraged and distrust our calling. The Redeemer spoke of His work as finished (John 17:4). The redeemed rest from their labors (Revelation 14:13). Paul did not say, "I have finished my work," but "I have finished my course," or "race." The Redeemer finished the work and the redeemed finish the race. God takes time to pay His servants their wages. He will not set aside any servant who is fit to work. We set ourselves aside. No laborer for the Master need beg for either work or wages from Him. In this and other lands thousands may beg for labor-not so with God-He begs laborers. God’s answer to Christ "It is a light thing" (Isaiah 49:6). Paul uses verse 8 in 2 Corinthians 6:2. Christ looked for a day beyond the present, and so should we. Let us look right on and see what is in store for us. That will enable us to leave our wages with God, and He will not be our debtor. Don’t let us be in His debt. The present rejection of Israel is only an occasion with God to glorify His name. The World’s Philosophy and the Word of Christ.
Read Colossians 2:3-10; Colossians 3:16; John 15:14; John 16:6-14, John 16:23-27. THE force of the admonition in Colossians is seen in verses 8-9. What the world calls "philosophy" the Spirit of God couples with "vain deceit," and against these, the child of God is exhorted to be on his guard, by letting the Word of Christ dwell in him richly. In Christ "dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," and" we are "complete in Him." When this is received in faith, it teaches the believer his true dignity according to God, and enables him to behave aright in the world, and to keep himself separate from it, because he is not of it. The whole Bible is irreconcilably opposed to the philosophy of the world. There is, of course, a wisdom from God in the natural man which can be rightly used in the things of this life and in what concerns this world, even as God filled Bezaleel with wisdom, and with understanding, and with knowledge, enabling him to make the Tabernacle. In Romans 1:1-32 the apostle says of men, that, "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools"; and in Corinthians he shows, that the world’s wisdom ends in crucifying the Lord of glory. The cross of Christ is the death-knell to all that man can boast of in the things of God. But in a risen Christ we who believe have a divine fullness of wisdom and knowledge treasured up, and He is to us the antitypical Solomon. God says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise," that is man’s Cain-like wisdom. Scientists may study geology and astronomy, but let them by virtue thereof have nothing to do with making a "theology," as if the world by wisdom could know and understand God, or anything outside the material world around them. There never was a time when men understood matter as they do now, but when worldly men touch the things of God they show themselves to be fools, and we do the same if we listen to them, or are influenced by them.
Men of the world cannot know God because they will not. The carnal mind is at enmity with God, and the natural heart says, "No God." Man preferred the creature to the Creator, as we read in Romans 1:1-32, and consequently God gave him up to a mind "void of judgment" (margin, v. 28). This is God’s judgment upon man. But what I have on my heart most, is to plead the cause of Christ our heavenly Friend, and His injured love, so that we may help each other to please Him well.
Turn to Deuteronomy 26:1. We injure His tender love when we cannot truthfully and experimentally say, "I am come in unto the land" ; and so, also, when we forget that we were Syrians "ready to perish." The Hebrew word there is "lost," and is the same word as that used in the passage, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep." When we forget Christ’s redeeming love and power, we injure His love and rob Him of our basket of first-fruits.
Another passage in connection with Christ’s injured love is Song of Solomon 5:2,
Let us compare Joseph’s heart with those of his brethren. It was Joseph who was the first to propose the embrace, and to welcome them to his heart, when he said, "Come near to me, I pray you." And then when they came near, he said, "I am Joseph your brother, "I will nourish you," and " he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them." They had been bringing their empty sacks and receiving from his fullness, but they had not thought of delighting his heart. Is not this of times the case with ourselves? Do we not injure Christ’s love, too, in our dealings one with another? "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye," is the figure God Himself has used; and Christ says, "Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." "And this is His commandment, that we love one another." The measure of our obligation depends upon the measure of God’s revelation. Through grace we are the first-fruits unto God, and the highest of all creation; so, correspondingly, is our obligation.
If I am walking in fellowship with Christ, His choice becomes my choice, and I shall have nothing apart from Him. There is no limit to our friendship with Christ, for He Himself said, "All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." The love wherewith God loves the Son is the measure of His love to us, and the hallowed intercourse between the Father and the Son is the rule of our freedom and fellowship with Christ. Such is the wondrous place into which Christ has brought us, and in which we stand through grace; but, alas! how feebly it is understood and appreciated by us. In John 15:1-27 we have both sides of this friendship brought out-God’s side in His revelation of Himself to us; our side in our obedience to His Word. The friendship of Christ with the family at Bethany was even deeper than the friendship which Abraham enjoyed with God. Abraham made the Lord a feast, but he stood while the Lord did eat. In John 12:1-50 we read, "Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him." Thus Abraham stood and served, but when Christ came in the flesh, Lazarus was permitted to sit down in the presence of the Lord, and to share the feast with Him. He calls us bosom friends. There is a platform of fellowship and a quality of fellowship enjoyed by saints now, that could not have been before the Holy Ghost came. Lack of this is not because of the lack of education, but because of the lack of heart and will. Self-will is a mighty hindrance to this communion, and against this we have to watch continually. The result of the enjoyment of this fellowship will be, that the word of Christ will dwell in us richly. It is not by reading much that we shall have the Word dwelling richly in us, but by having communion of soul with Christ about what we read. Friendship is the outcome of communion, and communion is the outcome of union-our union with Him as branches of the vine, and as members of His body.
Christians are very prone to be drawn into the snare of leaning to their own wisdom and understanding, instead of being guided by Christ and His Word. We chiefly trespass by our words, which influence and guide our acts; hence the Scripture; "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
There is a beautiful connection in Joshua 1:1-18 between faith having courage to grasp the promises of God, and faith finding strength and courage to do the will of God. All success flows out of this combination of promise and obedience. Israel sinned by making a league with the inhabitants of the land, and we never grieve the Holy Ghost more, than when we make a league with wicked spirits in heavenly places, over whom Satan is ruler, and under whose subtlety, unless we are watchful, we are ever prone to fall, as Israel fell under the Canaanites that were left. That we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, must never be forgotten. The secret of non-success lies within ourselves; neither the world nor the devil can gain any advantage over us but that which we allow them. By making a league with the inhabitants of the land, we forfeit the enjoyment of God’s friendship and the fulfillment of the promises.
There is an all-sufficiency in the Word of God whereby we may know ourselves, may condemn the flesh, and may have our faith ever strengthened. That is a solemn word in Joshua 23:13; "They shall be thorns in your eyes" ; and is not this an exact description of what is found in the church today? In the great work of the Reformation the corners of errors were left in the Prayer-book, and the terrible result is that today Popery is fast covering the land. Tares grow while men sleep. In Deuteronomy 25:1-19 we read of "divers weights and measures" (verses 13-16); then comes the reference to war with Amalek (verses 17-19); and this is followed by the command to bring the basket of first-fruits. Is it not true that the church has had divers weights and measures in the things of God, and that Amalek has been encouraged instead of being defeated and exterminated? Consequently God has not had: His due from His people; their basket of first-fruits· (chap. 26:1-11), and their tithes (verses 12-15) have not been brought into His presence, and the result has been that verses 16-19 are not fulfilled in the church of God today. There is not the avouching of the Lord as our God and walking in His ways, and therefore we are not avouched as His peculiar people.
There is no such thing as fellowship with God without a tender conscience in respect to the whole word of God. (Psalms 119:127-128). Hence the need of the prayer, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." I may not see them; others may or may not know them; but God does. We must not have "divers weights and measures" as to the question of sin. We are bound to be walking with God and aiming at intimacy with Christ; but in order to have this, there must be the confession of sin, and the crying to God for cleansing; not as we may think we need it, but as He knows we need it. There is today a gross misunderstanding of sin, and of the cross where sin was judged. Does any think himself sinless? Take such an one to Christ, as He walked in obedience to the perfect law and will of God, and ask if there was any imperfection in Him; then ask if he finds any in himself when tested by such a standard. If Christ had had any imperfection, His sacrifice would have been unfitted for the work of atonement.
God as Father can allow us to say what Paul said: "ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you." And God on the ground of sacrifice accounts us blameless as to our standing in Christ; yet, let it never be forgotten, that all imperfection and shortcoming in obedience-and that obedience according to the balances of the sanctuary-is accounted sin. In 1 John 3:9-10, a contrast is drawn between a child of God and one unsaved. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin"; "he that committeth sin is of the devil." "The devil sinneth from the beginning," and the unsaved person lives in self-will and rebellion against God; into this condition the believer cannot fall. The characteristics of the two families are given. Abel was a man of Cod; Cain was a man of the world. Cain was full of the enmity of Satan, and this came out, not at the plough, but at the altar. Solemn thought! It is man’s religion rather than his irreligion which shows the condition of his heart towards God. "Be filled with the Spirit’ is a command for all times, and should be the constant state of the believer in Christ, and thereby the difference between him and the unbeliever would be manifested. In Romans 6:1-23 Paul not only teaches us about reckoning ourselves dead unto sin and alive unto God, but he teaches us also about fighting. It is far easier to please God in our obedience, than to satisfy the upright heart and the enlightened conscience in ourselves. There are still lusts within the believer; but instead of being obeyed, they are to be subdued. In 1 John 3:1-24 we have two persons contrasted, and in Romans vi. we have two contrasted natures in one person.
Any imperfection in yielding our members to God, let us remember, is an act of iniquity. May we, then, learn to walk and to please God as children of obedience, not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts in our ignorance, but as He who hath called us is holy, so may we be holy in all manner of behavior. Then shall we escape the defilement of this world’s philosophy, and live in the enjoyment of unbroken fellowship with that Friend who sticketh closer than a brother.
Family Life.
ONE matter laid much upon our hearts is family life. Our hearts do cry that Enochs, Abrahams, Samuels, and Daniels may be raised up. God has great need of such for His own joy, according to that precious proverb, "My son, if thine heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice, even Mine. Yea, My reins shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things" (Proverbs 23:15-16). There is another in that Book of sonship, of Israel’s sonship and ours; that Book of Christ called the" Book of Proverbs." "My son, be wise, and make My heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth Me" (Proverbs 27:11). God’s Word speaks for itself. If His sun, moon, and stars speak to man, demanding on God their Maker’s behalf that man shall listen to their testimony for God, much more do the Scriptures of truth. Beloved, let us remember this, that our obligation to the Church of God is the same as ever, according to John xvii.-loved in Christ; God’s love, according to His eternal counsels, "Thou hast loved them as Thou hast loved me" (John 17:13). That belongs to all saints, because, according to God’s counsels, they are in the love of God; but the love of the fellowship ("Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you:’ John 15:14), that fellowship the Church has been content to forfeit. Instead of contending for obedience without reserve, a league has been made with the Canaanites, and there has been no Bochim about it (Judges 2:1-23). In family life it is not so. Supposing a child of God be an husband, his wife and helpmeet gives him offspring. There are those here, more or less, holding family responsibilities. My dear brethren and sisters, wont you accept this affirmation, that there is more glory brought to God by a man-a child of His-ruling his family according to Christ, than the wisest man ruling a kingdom. There is no kingdom under heaven so favored as this, by the excellent woman that God has been pleased to give (going out of his course, because rule does not belong to the woman), and in making her to rule this country she has been a blessing to the land. And yet all that glory is as nothing in the sight of God in comparison with a servant-a child of His-ruling his family according to Christ. What is the reason? It is not the duty of any kingdom to rule according to Christ. Rule in the family should be according to Christ. It is required of the child of God as an husband that he should represent Christ. Is he a father? Then he should be the very image of his Father in heaven to his children. Is the wife a child of God? She has favor from God such as is not to be found in any of the relations that rulers bear to each other-to show forth the future Church in glory subject to Christ. Surely in Ephesians v. it is not the Church now, but the Church by and-by in glory that is the pattern? Is it children? Then Christ is their pattern; Christ the pattern of subjection to the servant, and Christ the pattern of rule to the master. To the eye of God, and to the eye of faith, and to the understanding heart, this earth of ours is more abundant in types and shadows of heavenly things, and therefore a better world to look at, than was the earth as yet not marred by the sin of the first man. To pass by types innumerable that could not be found in Paradise, let us go to the most excellent of all types, the husband and wife, the parent and child, the master and servant.
I would now look at a few passages familiar to us, which the Spirit of God will make fresh and new to us. Ephesians 5:18; Ephesians 6:1, Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:18, Colossians 3:25; Colossians 4:1-2. Beloved, the greater part of the Scriptures is taken up with showing the saved how to be happy. I cannot but judge if you were to search out the Scriptures that refer to the enemies of God, to His judgments in time and eternity, and the Scriptures that show how the lost are to be saved, put these all together; then gather out the Scriptures that teach us, who are saved, how to please and honor God, and how to be happy, you would find the latter to be the greater portion of the Word. It is all wrapt up in this-Christ dwelling in your heart by faith (Ephesians 3:17), and God’s love poured into your heart abundantly by the Holy Ghost. That is the grand secret of happiness in the family, and there is no substitute for it. In God’s order, the special responsible person in connection with a family is the father-the head of that family; he is to be the spring of the family’s happiness. If I stand in the capacity of head to a household, or as father to children, or as master to servant, for their sakes, next to pleasing God, I do feel it to be my obligation to be happy in the love of God; to have God’s love shed abroad in my heart by the Spirit of God given to us. That is the course of His love, if I don’t hinder it. God’s love in me must press out, and if I don’t hinder it, it must flow into my heart. I trust that we may have opened ears and tender hearts to receive and treasure up the many things God has been saying to us. Above all, let this be rooted in us, that it is God’s delight to make us happy with His love, and it must be so if we don’t hinder.
What suits the Church suits the family, and what makes a happy church makes a happy family. In the exhortation that we have been reading (Ephesians 5:1-33), observe it begins with the relation of husband and wife; and for this reason the children can well understand God by observing the holy or unholy walk of father or mother. They keenly observe, and in the very order of God so it is, they must be affected by the walk and spirit of their parents. The father and mother may be upright and blameless persons to the world, yet if they little think of fashioning their minds, affections, speech, and behavior according to Christ, they more or less make void what they so teach. But, on the other hand, if they do walk according to Christ, if the Word of Christ dwell in their hearts richly, the children will say in their hearts, "What a blessed thing it is to know the Lord! How happy father is; how loving mother is!" Such impressions will thus be deeply made on the young hearts in their early days. Happiness and obedience go together. If the Word of Christ dwell in me richly, it will lead me to view everything in relation to God. And let us remember this, that if the Bible be used aright, it will be first of all the pleasantest book in the world to him that serves it well. The children will say, "What a lovely book the Bible is!" And they will not wish anything to please or interest them by comparison with the Scriptures handled by the lips of one full of the love of God. Beloved, let us remember this, it is one thing to read the Bible, choosing that which suits me, but quite another thing to search it in order to become acquainted with God in Christ, and that I may be fashioned like unto Christ. Let me, first of all, please God by my affections to Him, that thus He may find in my house a banqueting room. If I read the Bible for that end, the Spirit of God will always make it to me better than thousands of gold and silver; sweeter than honey, even the honeycomb.
Before I cease, I would say a word as touching that in Ephesians 6:1-24 with reference to children. "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise." There is no promise to any other. First of all let me say, that it is to be understood according to Christ, and not according to Moses. The promise of the old covenant I would show forth thus: The gold was scarce and the copper plentiful; that is, heavenly things were but dimly revealed, but the promise was given of earthly things, and of the abundance of them. No sickness or disease, length of days, increase of offspring, flocks, herds, &c. Now, beloved, we are to "be content with such things as we have, for He has said, I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). And, again, "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). The child of God has a far securer title to daily bread than the Queen of England. She, as such, has no title at all. God may or may not cast her down from her high estate. The world, simply as such, has no title from God to anything but the wages of sin. As a child of God He speaks to me through His Son. He says, "Consider the lilies of the field, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass which today is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. After these things do the Gentiles seek. . . Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things" (Matthew 6:28-34). We have these things by promise, but then in our day the gold of heavenly things is plentiful; the gold of the things concerning the Father and the Son-the gold of the full revelation of the mind of God touching the past, present, and future. Beloved, the gold of heavenly things is now plentiful, but the copper of things temporal we shall not be without. "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
But, remember this, beloved, teach your children that they honor you; that is, not only that they obey you, but joyfully teach them that to do this is better than that everyone of them had ten thousand pounds each. Teach them as soon as they can understand anything, and God will set His seal upon that. As to earthly things, God will take up your cause as to your children. But, besides that, there is another thing, they will see that you esteem God’s Word, because it not only teaches you how to be saved, but how to be happy, and reveals the very heart of God, His ways and works. They will see that you love the Bible, and commend by speech and ways the Scriptures even before it please God to convert them-calling them from death to life. Don’t urge them, overdrive, or chill them, and thus you will win them. Your hearts being happy in the love of God, you will find this, that your training before conversion will mightily tell upon their character afterwards; because we must never forget this, that whatever the vessel is before conversion, the heart purged from an evil conscience, the affections sanctified by the truth of God, the will subdued by God, the vessel is the same. Saul of Tarsus was the same after he was converted as before. His capacity and capability for evil was the same as before conversion, but they were afterwards used for God, to make him what he was; that is to say, all his natural and mental powers and capabilities were now under the direction of God by His Spirit. It is said of Timothy, "from a child thou hast known the Scriptures;" and God turned this to good account.