Morning and Evening January 22nd Morning Reading Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? — Ezekiel 15:2 These words are for the humbling of Gods people; they are called Gods vine, but what are they by nature more than others? They, by Gods goodness, have become fruitful, having been planted in a good soil; the Lord hath trained them upon the walls of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit to His glory; but what are they without their God? What are they without the continual influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them? O believer, learn to reject pride, seeing that thou hast no ground for it. Whatever thou art, thou hast nothing to make thee proud. The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt to God; and thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a debtor. Consider thine origin; look back to what thou wast. Consider what thou wouldst have been but for divine grace. Look upon thyself as thou art now. Doth not thy conscience reproach thee? Do not thy thousand wanderings stand before thee, and tell thee that thou art unworthy to be called His son? And if He hath made thee anything, art thou not taught thereby that it is grace which hath made thee to differ? Great believer, thou wouldst have been a great sinner if God had not made thee to differ. O thou who art valiant for truth, thou wouldst have been as valiant for error if grace had not laid hold upon thee. Therefore, be not proud, though thou hast a large estate-a wide domain of grace, thou hadst not once a single thing to call thine own except thy sin and misery. Oh! strange infatuation, that thou, who hast borrowed everything, shouldst think of exalting thyself; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of thy Saviour, one who hath a life which dies without fresh streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud! Fie on thee, O silly heart! January 22nd Evening Reading Doth Job fear God for nought? — Job 1:9 This was the wicked question of Satan concerning that upright man of old, but there are many in the present day concerning whom it might be asked with justice, for they love God after a fashion because He prospers them; but if things went ill with them, they would give up all their boasted faith in God. If they can clearly see that since the time of their supposed conversion the world has gone prosperously with them, then they will love God in their poor carnal way; but if they endure adversity, they rebel against the Lord. Their love is the love of the table, not of the host; a love to the cupboard, not to the master of the house. As for the true Christian, he expects to have his reward in the next life, and to endure hardness in this. The promise of the old covenant is adversity. Remember Christs words—Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit—What? He purgeth it, that it may bring forth fruit. If you bring forth fruit, you will have to endure affliction. Alas! you say, that is a terrible prospect. But this affliction works out such precious results, that the Christian who is the subject of it must learn to rejoice in tribulations, because as his tribulations abound, so his consolations abound by Christ Jesus. Rest assured, if you are a child of God, you will be no stranger to the rod. Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire. Fear not, but rather rejoice that such fruitful times are in store for you, for in them you will be weaned from earth and made meet for heaven; you will be delivered from clinging to the present, and made to long for those eternal things which are so soon to be revealed to you. When you feel that as regards the present you do serve God for nought, you will then rejoice in the infinite reward of the future. January 23rd Morning Reading I have exalted one chosen out of the people. — Psalm 89:19 Why was Christ chosen out of the people? Speak, my heart, for heart-thoughts are best. Was it not that He might be able to be our brother, in the blest tie of kindred blood? Oh, what relationship there is between Christ and the believer! The believer can say, I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will He suffer me to want while He is on His throne? Oh, no! He loves me; He is my Brother. Believer, wear this blessed thought, like a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of thy memory; put it, as a golden ring, on the finger of recollection, and use it as the Kings own seal, stamping the petitions of thy faith with confidence of success. He is a brother born for adversity, treat Him as such. Christ was also chosen out of the people that He might know our wants and sympathize with us. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty-He knows them all, for He has felt all. Remember this, Christian, and let it comfort thee. However difficult and painful thy road, it is marked by the footsteps of thy Saviour; and even when thou reachest the dark valley of the shadow of death, and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou wilt find His footprints there. In all places whithersoever we go, He has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel. His way was much rougher and darker than mine Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine? Take courage! Royal feet have left a blood-red track upon the road, and consecrated the thorny path for ever. January 23rd Evening Reading We will remember Thy love more than wine. — Song of Songs 1:4 Jesus will not let His people forget His love. If all the love they have enjoyed should be forgotten, He will visit them with fresh love. Do you forget my cross? says He, I will cause you to remember it; for at My table I will manifest Myself anew to you. Do you forget what I did for you in the council-chamber of eternity? I will remind you of it, for you shall need a counsellor, and shall find Me ready at your call. Mothers do not let their children forget them. If the boy has gone to Australia, and does not write home, his mother writes-Has John forgotten his mother? Then there comes back a sweet epistle, which proves that the gentle reminder was not in vain. So is it with Jesus, He says to us, Remember Me, and our response is, We will remember Thy love. We will remember Thy love and its matchless history. It is ancient as the glory which Thou hadst with the Father before the world was. We remember, O Jesus, Thine eternal love when Thou didst become our Surety, and espouse us as Thy betrothed. We remember the love which suggested the sacrifice of Thyself, the love which, until the fulness of time, mused over that sacrifice, and long for the hour whereof in the volume of the book it was written of Thee, Lo, I come. We remember Thy love, O Jesus as it was manifest to us in Thy holy life, from the manger of Bethlehem to the garden of Gethsemane. We track Thee from the cradle to the grave-for every word and deed of Thine was love-and we rejoice in Thy love, which death did not exhaust; Thy love which shone resplendent in Thy resurrection. We remember that burning fire of love which will never let Thee hold Thy peace until Thy chosen ones be all safely housed, until Zion be glorified, and Jerusalem settled on her everlasting foundations of light and love in heaven. January 24th Morning Reading Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. — Psalm 91:3 God delivers His people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From, and out of. First, He delivers them from the snare-does not let them enter it; and secondly, if they should be caught therein, He delivers them out of it. The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is the best to others. He shall deliver thee from the snare. How? Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and He in mercy sends the rod. We say, Lord, why is this? not knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil. Many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses; these have frightened the birds from the net. At other times, God keeps His people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? But what a blessed thing it is that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out of it! O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair. Wanderer though thou hast been, hear what thy Redeemer saith-Return, O backsliding children; I will have mercy upon you. But you say you cannot return, for you are a captive. Then listen to the promise-Surely He shall deliver thee out of the snare of the fowler. Thou shalt yet be brought out of all evil into which thou hast fallen, and though thou shalt never cease to repent of thy ways, yet He that hath loved thee will not cast thee away; He will receive thee, and give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which He has broken may rejoice. No bird of paradise shall die in the fowlers net. January 24th Evening Reading Martha was cumbered about much serving. — Luke 10:40 Her fault was not that she served: the condition of a servant well becomes every Christian. I serve, should be the motto of all the princes of the royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she had much serving. We cannot do too much. Let us do all that we possibly can; let head, and heart, and hands, be engaged in the Masters service. It was no fault of hers that she was busy preparing a feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement. Her fault was that she grew cumbered with much serving, so that she forgot Him, and only remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion, and so presented one duty stained with the blood of another. We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the Amalekites; but Moses, on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands. The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits are the hardest to rear: the most heavenly graces are the most difficult to cultivate. Beloved, while we do not neglect external things, which are good enough in themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living, personal fellowship with Jesus. See to it that sitting at the Saviours feet is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing Him service. The first thing for our souls health, the first thing for His glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world. January 25th Morning Reading I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us. — Isaiah 63:7 And canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies which thou hast experienced? What though thou art gloomy now, canst thou forget that blessed hour when Jesus met thee, and said, Come unto me? Canst thou not remember that rapturous moment when He snapped thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth, and said, I came to break thy bonds and set thee free? Or if the love of thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be some precious milestone along the road of life not quite grown over with moss, on which thou canst read a happy memorial of His mercy towards thee? What, didst thou never have a sickness like that which thou art suffering now, and did He not restore thee? Wert thou never poor before, and did He not supply thy wants? Wast thou never in straits before, and did He not deliver thee? Arise, go to the river of thine experience, and pull up a few bulrushes, and plait them into an ark, wherein thine infant-faith may float safely on the stream. Forget not what thy God has done for thee; turn over the book of thy remembrance, and consider the days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill Mizar? Did the Lord never meet with thee at Hermon? Hast thou never climbed the Delectable Mountains? Hast thou never been helped in time of need? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back, then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all may be dark now, light up the lamps of the past, they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord till the day break and the shadows flee away. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old. January 25th Evening Reading Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. — Romans 3:31 When the believer is adopted into the Lords family, his relationship to old Adam and the law ceases at once; but then he is under a new rule, and a new covenant. Believer, you are Gods child; it is your first duty to obey your heavenly Father. A servile spirit you have nothing to do with: you are not a slave, but a child; and now, inasmuch as you are a beloved child, you are bound to obey your Fathers faintest wish, the least intimation of His will. Does He bid you fulfil a sacred ordinance? It is at your peril that you neglect it, for you will be disobeying your Father. Does He command you to seek the image of Jesus? Is it not your joy to do so? Does Jesus tell you, Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect? Then not because the law commands, but because your Saviour enjoins, you will labour to be perfect in holiness. Does He bid his saints love one another? Do it, not because the law says, Love thy neighbour, but because Jesus says, If ye love Me, keep My commandments; and this is the commandment that He has given unto you, that ye love one another. Are you told to distribute to the poor? Do it, not because charity is a burden which you dare not shirk, but because Jesus teaches, Give to him that asketh of thee. Does the Word say, Love God with all your heart? Look at the commandment and reply, Ah! Commandment, Christ hath fulfilled thee already-I have no need, therefore, to fulfill thee for my salvation, but I rejoice to yield obedience to thee because God is my Father now and He has a claim upon me, which I would not dispute. May the Holy Ghost make your heart obedient to the constraining power of Christs love, that your prayer may be, Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin. January 26th Morning Reading Your heavenly Father. — Matthew 6:26 Gods people are doubly His children, they are His offspring by creation, and they are His sons by adoption in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call Him, Our Father which art in heaven. Father! Oh, what precious word is that. Here is authority: If I be a Father, where is mine honour? If ye be sons, where is your obedience? Here is affection mingled with authority; an authority which does not provoke rebellion; an obedience demanded which is most cheerfully rendered—which would not be withheld even if it might. The obedience which Gods children yield to Him must be loving obedience. Do not go about the service of God as slaves to their taskmasters toil, but run in the way of His commands because it is your Fathers way. Yield your bodies as instruments of righteousness, because righteousness is your Fathers will, and His will should be the will of His child. Father!—Here is a kingly attribute so sweetly veiled in love, that the Kings crown is forgotten in the Kings face, and His sceptre becomes, not a rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of mercy—the sceptre indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of Him who wields it. Father!—Here is honour and love. How great is a Fathers love to His children! That which friendship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not attempt, a Fathers heart and hand must do for His sons. They are His offspring, He must bless them; they are His children, He must show Himself strong in their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father? Abba, Father! He who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in the depth of that word—Father! There is all I can ask; all my necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in all to all eternity when I can say, Father. January 26th Evening Reading All they that heard it wondered at those things. — Luke 2:18 We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of Gods glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet it silently adores. Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as the Wonderful. That God should consider His fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him away with the besom of destruction, should Himself undertake to be mans Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed marvellous! But to each believer redemption is most marvellous as he views it in relation to himself. It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you. Let your soul lose itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of His dear Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvellous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour? Dear reader, it may be that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told what they had seen and heard, but you can, at least, fill up the circle of the worshippers before the throne, by wondering at what God has done. January 27th Morning Reading And of his fulness have all we received. — John 1:16 These words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. There is a fulness of essential Deity, for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead. There is a fulness of perfect manhood, for in Him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a fulness of atoning efficacy in His blood, for the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. There is a fulness of justifying righteousness in His life, for there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. There is a fulness of divine prevalence in His plea, for He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him; seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. There is a fulness of victory in His death, for through death He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a fulness of efficacy in His resurrection from the dead, for by it we are begotten again unto a lively hope. There is a fuIness of triumph in His ascension, for when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and received gifts for men. There is a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort in affliction; a fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were impossible to survey, much less to explore. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell. Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive! Fulness, indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy need supplied; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this fulness is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel—God with us. January 27th Evening Reading But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. — Luke 2:19 There was an exercise, on the part of this blessed woman, of three powers of her being: her memory-she kept all these things; her affections-she kept them in her heart; her intellect-she pondered them; so that memory, affection, and understanding, were all exercised about the things which she had heard. Beloved, remember what you have heard of your Lord Jesus, and what He has done for you; make your heart the golden pot of manna to preserve the memorial of the heavenly bread whereon you have fed in days gone by. Let your memory treasure up everything about Christ which you have either felt, or known, or believed, and then let your fond affections hold Him fast for evermore. Love the person of your Lord! Bring forth the alabaster box of your heart, even though it be broken, and let all the precious ointment of your affection come streaming on His pierced feet. Let your intellect be exercised concerning the Lord Jesus. Meditate upon what you read: stop not at the surface; dive into the depths. Be not as the swallow which toucheth the brook with her wing, but as the fish which penetrates the lowest wave. Abide with your Lord: let Him not be to you as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth for a night, but constrain Him, saying, Abide with us, for the day is far spent. Hold Him, and do not let Him go. The word ponder, means to weigh. Make ready the balances of judgment. Oh, but where are the scales that can weigh the Lord Christ? He taketh up the isles as a very little thing:-who shall take Him up? He weigheth the mountains in scales-in what scales shall we weigh Him? Be it so, if your understanding cannot comprehend, let your affections apprehend; and if your spirit cannot compass the Lord Jesus in the grasp of understanding, let it embrace Him in the arms of affection.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 10:52:44 +0000
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