Morning Thoughts or Daily Walking With God
by Octavius Winslow
June 1
And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein [shall be] forgiven [their] iniquity.
- Isaiah 33:24
Let the Christian invalid be cheered with the prospect of before long arriving at this land of light and love,
of rest and holiness. The moment the spirit is "absent from the body, and present with, the Lord," it
treads those balmy shores, where health breathes in the air, flows in the waters, and sparkles in the sunbeams.
There is no sickness in heaven, for "the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity;"
and this accounts for the absence of all physical maladies. There is no sickness in heaven, because there is no
sin. But the more full enjoyment of this blessing is reserved for the new earth, upon which the "holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," will dwell.
Then it is that "God shall wipe away all tears front their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Christian
sufferer! You are nearing this land- a few more days of languishing and pain, a few more nights of weary wakefulness,
and you are there! Don't you see, through the chinks of the "earthly house of this tabernacle," "a
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"? Don't you see the "city which
has foundations, whose maker and builder is God"? It has "no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to
shine on it: for the glory of God does enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. . . The gates of it shall
not be shut at all by day: for there is no night there." Soon you will exchange this hospital for your Father's
house, and as you cross the threshold, the last pang is inflicted, the last sigh is heaved, and the last tear is
brushed from your eye. Then, at the resurrection of the just, comes the new body. "It is sown in corruption;
it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised
in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." All this blessedness and glory Jesus
has procured for you. All this blessedness and glory awaits you; and into its full possession and experience Jesus
will soon bring you. Animated with such a prospect, and cheered with such a hope, patiently endure the prolonged
sickness, the protracted suffering, exclaiming in the spirit and language of Jesus, "O my Father, if this
cup may not pass from me, except I drink it, Your will be done!"
June 2
But I have prayed for thee. - Luke 22:32
We must not overlook the individuality of our Lord's intercession. As if forgetting for that moment the whole Church,
and regarding Peter as representing in his person each tempted believer, Jesus makes him the especial object of
His prayer. How much comfort do we lose in overlooking this truth- in not more distinctly recognizing the personal
interest which each believer has in the love of Christ! "My grace is sufficient for you;" "I have
prayed for you," are the gracious words with which Jesus would meet each individual case. Think not then,
O believer, that you are alone, unloved, uncared for, unthought of- Jesus bears you upon His heart; and if loved,
and cared for, and remembered by Him, you can afford to part with some creature stream, however loved and valued
that stream may be. Keep your eye intently fixed upon your Lord's intercession.
We too much lose ourselves in the crowd, and merge ourselves in the mass. We forget alike our individual interest
in the covenant, and our personal obligation to glorify God in our different walks of life. But it is the especial
privilege of the believer to concentrate upon himself, as in focal power, every thought and affection of God, just
as the eye of a well-executed portrait may be said to fasten itself exclusively upon each individual in the room.
"I have prayed for you." O cheering declaration! Christian reader, lose not sight of it. Come and lay
your hand of faith upon the covenant of grace, and say, "the fulness of the covenant is mine." Lay your
hand upon the covenant of God, and say, "the God of the covenant is mine; Jesus, its Mediator, is my Savior.
He obeyed, suffered, bled, and expired, all for me. 'He has loved me, and has given Himself for me.' Lord! Do you
think of me? Does my case come up before Your notice? do You bear my burden upon Your arm, my sorrow upon Your
heart, my name upon Your lips; and do You pray for my poor, assaulted, and trembling faith? Yes, Lord, You do.
I believe it, because You have said it, and press the precious truth, so rich in consolation, to my trembling,
grateful heart."
June 3
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: - Luke 22:32
The Lord as its Shepherd goes before His flock. He precedes it every step, not only to map its path, but also to
provide for all the circumstances, the most trivial and minute, of its history. To Him nothing can be unforeseen;
from Him nothing can be concealed. No event can surprise Him, no contingency can thwart Him, and no difficulty
can embarrass Him. The entire history of the individual saint of God, from his earliest to his latest breath, is
written in His book, when as yet it had no existence, as minutely and as accurately as though it were a record
of the past. In anticipation of each developed circumstance, of each temptation and trial, difficulty and need,
Jesus prays for His people "I have prayed." It would seem as if the sorrow had reached His heart before
it touched our own; as if the assault had fallen upon Him before it fell upon us; and that, knowing what would
transpire, seeing in what critical and painful circumstances His child would be placed, He anticipates his case
by especial intercession on his behalf: "I have prayed for you."
Can the mind of the tried believer repose upon a truth more sustaining and soothing than this? It had been a glorious
unfolding of the love of Jesus, to know that when the sifting came, when faith was actually tried, that then Jesus
prayed for the sufferer. But to be assured that before a dart was winged, or a shock was felt, or even a suspicion
was awakened that the tempter was approaching, and that danger was near, Jesus, robed in His priestly garments,
and bearing the golden censer in His hand, had entered within the veil to make especial intercession for that trial
of faith- oh, it is a view of His love, which to the mind of the tempted believer would seem to overtop and outshine
all others!
And for what does Jesus pray? That the temptation might not come? That faith may not be tried? Oh no! He does not
ask the Father in behalf of His people, for their entire exemption from temptation and trial. Full well does He
know that if conformed to Him, their Head, they must through much tribulation enter the kingdom. Pure and sinless
though He was, needing no sifting and no refining, He yet passed through each process as if there were in Him the
chaff to scatter, and the alloy to consume. How much more needful does Jesus see that His people, in whom there
is such an admixture of the precious with the vile, so much indwelling sin, so much powerful corruption perpetually
seeking to destroy indwelling grace, should not be exempted from the process which, painful though it be, is absolutely
needful and eternally good! But Jesus prays that in the actual trial of faith it might not fail. Now, why, is it,
O believing soul that your tried faith has not failed? Why, have you passed through the sifting with not one precious
grain fallen to the ground? Because your great High Priest prayed for you before the trial, and prayed for you
in the trial, and has not ceased to pray for you since the trial. All upholding grace, all restraining grace, all
restoring grace, all establishing grace, has been meted out to you through the channel of your Lord's perpetual
and ever-prevalent intercession. Oh, how should this truth endear the Savior to your heart! With what holy contrition
should it fill your spirit, and with what sweet affection should it constrain your soul to a simple and an unreserved
surrender to God!
June 4
Have faith in God. - Mark 11:22
Have faith in Him as God. His character justifies it, His word invites it, His promises encourage it, His blessing
crowns it. How frequently in the word does God condescend to invite the exercise of faith in Himself by a declaration
and on the ground of what He is. Thus to Abraham: "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord
appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect." And again to
His Church: "I am the Lord God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will
fill it." How kind and condescending in God is this mode of asking and encouraging the confidence of His people!
How signally does He come down to our weakness and infirmity! What a foundation for faith to build upon does He
reveal! What a field for faith to work in does He open! What amplitude, what scope, and what riches amid which
it may revel! "I am God all-sufficient. Is anything too hard for me?" Faith needs and asks no more. Less
than this would not meet its case more than this it could not have. When faith feels that it has God's word for
its warrant in believing, God's command for its rule in obeying, God's promise for its encouragement in suffering,
and God Himself as the foundation of its confidence and the center of its rest, it becomes invulnerable, and almost
omnipotent. The exact measure of our faith is the extent of our experimental knowledge of God. Acquaintance with
God must inspire the mind with confidence in Him. The more truly we know, the more implicitly we trust in Him.
It is in this way, among others, that He answers the prayer of His people, "Establish Your word unto Your
servant, who is devoted to Your fear." God establishes the truth of His word by enlarging the believer's knowledge
of Himself, and this knowledge is mainly attained through the truth. The word reveals God, and an experimental
knowledge of God confirms the truth of the word; the one thus establishing the other. Our faith, then, if it be
a real principle, must have respect to God as God. "Have faith in God."
June 5
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned:
for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. - Isaiah 40:2
By sealing a sense of pardon upon the conscience, God comforts the disconsolate. There is no comfort equal to this.
As our deepest sorrow flows from a sense of sin, so our deepest joy springs from a sense of its forgiveness. What
comfort can there be where this is lacking? What sorrow where this is felt? "When he gives quietness, who
then can make trouble?" This was the comfort which God commanded the prophet to speak to His spiritual Jerusalem:
"Say unto her, that her sins are forgiven." And this is the message which the Lord sends to His whole
Church. This comfort has all His saints. Your sins, O believer, are forgiven. "I have blotted out your sins
as a cloud, and your iniquities as a thick cloud," says God. You are not called upon to believe that God will
pardon, but that He has pardoned you. Forgiveness is a past act; the sense of it written upon the conscience is
a present one. "By one offering Jesus has perfected forever those who are sanctified," has forever put
away their sins. Faith in the blood of Jesus brings the soul into the possession of a present forgiveness. And
when God the Holy Spirit thus imprints a sense of pardoned sin upon the troubled conscience, all other sorrows
in comparison dwindle into insignificance. "Strike, Lord," says Luther, "I bear anything willingly,
because my sins are forgiven." Thus, beloved, God comforts his conscience-troubled people. He loves to speak
comfortably to their hearts. Is it any delight to Him to see you carrying your burden of conscious sin day after
day and week after week? Ah no! He has procured the means of your pardon at a great price- nothing less than the
sacrifice of His beloved Son; and will not the same love which procured your forgiveness, speak it to your heart?
Oh yes; the sun in the heavens pours not forth its light more freely, light itself speeds not more rapidly, the
mountain stream rushes on not more gladsome and unfettered, than the pardon of sin flows from the heart of God
to the humble and the contrite mourner. Is sin your trouble? Does conscious guilt cast you down? Look up, disconsolate
soul! There is forgiveness with God. It is in His heart to pardon you. Repair to His feet, go you to God's confessional,
and over the head of the atoning sacrifice acknowledge your transgression, and He will forgive the iniquity of
your sin. And, oh, what will be the joy of your heart, the music of your lips, the grateful surrender of your person,
when Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven; go in peace"!
June 6
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. - Matthew 10:38
How few there are, among the many professing Christ, who yet know anything by experience of the great and wondrous
life of faith! Only those who are taught by the Spirit the plague of their own hearts can possibly know it. How
few there are who appear to possess vital religion in their souls! How few choose Christ with His cross! The great
masses of professors are aiming to separate them. They would sincerely bear the name of Christ, and be accounted
as the followers of Christ, and do something for the cause of Christ; but they hide His cross, they are ashamed
of His cross, they shrink from His cross. Christ and His outward lowliness, Christ and His poverty, Christ and
His humiliation, Christ and the world's despising, form no part of their creed nor their religion. But Christ and
the world, Christ and the popular opinion, Christ and the slavery of sin, Christ and an unhumbled spirit, Christ
and a love of money, and ease, and self-indulgence, make up the religion of vast numbers who yet profess and call
themselves Christians. Awful fact! How forcibly does it remind us of the solemn words of Jesus, "Not every
one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father
who is in heaven." Let us, in view of this solemn truth, search our hearts, and ask the searching of God's
Spirit; and in ascertaining the real state of our souls, let us take nothing for granted, rest not in past experience,
nor in gifts, nor usefulness, but be satisfied only with the present, inward witness of the Holy Spirit.
June 7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. - James 4:7
Submission to the Divine will is a great advance in holiness; and this is mainly and effectually attained through
sanctified chastisement. In prosperity, how full are we of self-sufficiency! When the Lord asks our obedience,
we give Him our counsel. But when He sends the rod, and by the accompanying grace of His Spirit sanctifies its
stroke, we learn in what true obedience consists. It was in this school our blessed Lord Himself was taught. "Though
He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." He learned to obey in suffering-
to bring His will in suffering into complete submission to His Father's will. God has not in His family such obedient
children as those who, "passing under the rod," are "brought into the bond of the covenant."
Oh, what a high Christian attainment is submission to the will of God! The noblest grace attainable upon earth
is it. When our Lord taught His disciples to pray to the Father for the spread of holiness, He embodied the petition,
in these words, "Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." The universal and complete holiness
of heaven springs from the universal and complete perfection in which the will of God is done by angels and glorified
spirits. In proportion as the Divine will prevails upon earth, holiness will reign. And, oh, what a beauteous earth
and what a blissful world would this be, were the will of God done by every creature! In the new earth, in which
will dwell righteousness, it will be so. The original harmony of this fallen universe will then be restored, its
pristine beauty recovered, and God, in the person of His Son, will once more reign over, and walk in the midst
of, a people whose will shall be but the reflection of His own. Thus to approximate to the Divine will is to assimilate
with the Divine holiness. What God will, how God will, and when God will, defines the rule which should govern
all the conduct and limit all the desires of the child of God. The instant the overwhelmed heart is brought into
this state, the afflicted believer has planted his feet upon the Rock that is higher than he. All is peace, all
is composure, because all is submission to the will of God. "The Lord reigns" is the truth whose all-commanding
yet gentle whisper has stilled the tempest and calmed the waves. In its intense anxiety that the Divine will might
be done, the chastened soul is but breathing after deeper holiness; and every fervent desire for the attainment
of holiness is holiness already attained. Blessed chastening of love that produces in this world, so distant and
uncongenial, the buds and blossoms and fruits of heaven! A richer fruit grows not within the Paradise of God than
Holiness. And yet, in the experience of a chastened believer, bleeding under the rod of his heavenly Father, there
may be obtained such victories over sin, such purification of heart, such meekness of spirit, such Christ-like
conformity, and such a discipline of the will, as to make him a rich "partaker of the Divine holiness."
June 8
Now the just shall live by faith: - Hebrews 10:38
We cannot too frequently nor too deeply study the profound meaning of these words. God will have his child perpetually
looking to, leaning upon, and receiving from Him. At present we are but in an immature state. We are not, therefore,
in a condition to be trusted with grace for the future. Improvident and careless, we would soon squander and exhaust
our resources; and when the emergency came, we should find our selves unprepared to meet it. The Lord, in wisdom
and love, keeps all our grace in His own hands, and deals it out just as our circumstances demand. Oh, who that
knows his own heart, and the heart of Christ, would not desire that all his supply should be in God, and not in
himself? Who, so to speak, would wish to be his own spiritual treasurer? Who that knows the blessedness of a life
of faith, the sweetness of going to God in everything, and for everything, would wish to transfer his mercies from
Christ's keeping to his own, or wish to hold in the present the supply of the future? Be satisfied, dear reader,
to walk by faith, and not by sight. You have a full Christ to draw from, and a faithful God to look to. You have
a "covenant ordered in all things and sure," and the precious promise, "As your days, so shall your
strength be," to lean confidently upon all your journey through. Be content, then, to be poor and dependent.
Be willing to travel on empty-handed, seeing God's heart opened, and Christ's hand outstretched to supply your
daily bread. Oh! it is sweet to be a dependent creature upon God- to hang upon a loving Father- to live as a poor,
needy sinner, day by day, moment by moment, upon Jesus- to trace God in ten thousand ways- to mark His wisdom here,
His condescension there- now His love, and then His faithfulness, all combining and exerted for our good- truly
it is the most holy and blessed life upon earth. Why should we, then, shrink from any trial, or flee from any duty,
or turn aside from any cross, since for that trial, and for that duty, and for that cross, Jesus has provided its
required and appropriate grace? You are perhaps exclaiming, "Trouble is near!" Well, be it so. So also
Divine grace is near- and strength is near - and counsel is near- and deliverance is near- and Jesus is near- and
God is near- and a throne of grace is near; therefore, why must you fear, though trouble be near? "God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
June 9
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. - John 15:9
What sweet repose is here for the saints of God! Does God rest in His love? Then the believer in Jesus may rest
in it too. Does Infinity, find repose here? Then may a poor finite creature. Does Immanuel rest in it? Then may
I, resting in Immanuel. If it is enough for Jehovah, surely, it is enough for the people of Jehovah. Our dear Lord's
exhortations harmonize with this truth, "Abide in me;" "Continue in my love." Beloved reader,
come and rest in this love- Jesus invites you to its blessed repose. Are you weary, tossed with tempest? Is there
sadness in your spirit, sorrow in your heart, a cloud upon your mind? Is some crystal cistern broken, some fragrant
flower withered, some fond and pleasant mercy gone? "Come," says Jesus, "and rest in my love- rest
in the reality of my love- rest in the depth of my love- rest in the tenderness of my love- rest in the deathlessness
of my love." Oh blessed rest! Poor, heart-broken sinner, weeping penitent, weary, laboring soul! What do you
need? Mercy? It is in Christ. Forgiveness? It is in Christ. Acceptance? It is in Christ. The silencing power of
love? It is in Christ. A reconciled Father, a pacified God? He is in Christ. All that you need is in Christ. Draw
near, then, and rest in His love. The Father rests in Jesus, His justice rests in Jesus, His holiness rests in
Jesus, His truth rests in Jesus, His power rests in Jesus- and in Jesus you too may rest! God rests in His love
towards you, because He rests in the Son of His love. And in the Son of His love your weary, jaded, trembling spirit
may find full and eternal repose. And whatever your present circumstances are, be the severity of your Father's
dealings what it may; ever remember that He still rests in His love. Judging of Him by providences rather than
by promises, your faith may become unhinged from this truth. But the standard by which you are to form your views
of God's character is the same by which you are to judge your own- His word. That word declares that He rests in
His love, that He now rests in it, that He rests in it at the present time, and, therefore, He rests in it at the
moment that His providences in your history are the darkest and most lowering. When to your view all things seem
against you- when even God himself seems against you- then is He resting with infinite satisfaction and delight
in the love with which He has loved you from everlasting. And when all the mighty wheels of His providence are
rapidly revolving, when event follows event, and convulsion succeeds convulsion- when your spirit is agitated,
and your heart is alarmed, and your whole soul is awe-struck and appalled at the wonder-workings of His power,
then is God calmly, serenely, resting in His love towards you, unmoved, unruffled, unbeclouded by the things which
convulse the universe.
June 10
The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6
How shall we account for the sufferings of Christ, which were intense, and mysterious, if not on the ground of
their vicarious character? Those sufferings were intense in the extreme. There was a severity in those who, if
not required by Divine justice, would be perfectly unaccountable. Heaven, earth, and hell, all were in league against
Him. Survey His eventful history- mark every step which He took from Bethlehem to Calvary; and what do we learn
of His sufferings, but that they were of the most extraordinary and intense character. His enemies, like dogs of
war, were let loose upon Him. His professed followers themselves stood aghast at the scenes through which their
Lord was passing- one betraying Him, another denying Him, and all, in the hour of His extremity, forsaking Him.
Is it any wonder that, in the anguish of His soul, His suffering humanity should exclaim, "Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." In that awful moment, all the waves
and billows of God's wrath, due to the sins of His people, were passing over Him. The Father, the last resource
of sympathy, veiled His face, and withdrew from Him His sensible presence; and on the cross, draining the cup of
sorrow, He fulfilled the prophecy, which spoke of Him- "I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people
there were none with me."
His sufferings, too, were mysterious. Why a holy, harmless being, whose whole life had been one act of unparalleled
beneficence, should be doomed to persecution so severe, to sufferings so acute, and to a death so painful and ignominious,
the denier of the atonement must be embarrassed to account. But the doctrine of a vicarious sacrifice explains
it all, and presents the only key to the mystery. "He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us." All the mystery now is gone. He was "made sin for us." He was "made a curse
for us." He bore the sin, and consequently the penalty of sin. Had we been left, Christian reader, to bear
our sins, we must inevitably have borne alone the punishment of our sins. But Jesus took upon Him our sins. For
this, He became a party in the covenant of redemption; for this, He assumed our nature; for this, He sorrowed in
Gethsemane; for this, the law of God exacted its utmost claim; and for this, the justice of God inflicted the utmost
penalty. Oh, what a truth is this! The Son of God offering Himself up a sacrifice for sin! He who knew no sin-
who was holy, harmless, and undefiled- not one thought of evil in His heart, yet made sin, or a sin-offering! Oh
the greatness of the thought! If God had not Himself declared it, we could not have believed it, though an angel's
tongue had announced it. God Himself must proclaim it; and because He has so proclaimed it, we believe it. And
God alone can write it upon the heart.
June 11
Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: - Hosea 6:3
True faith in God supposes him reconciled in Christ. This is the ground-work of all holy, humble converse with
God. But here we must be cautious of placing a limit, as too many do. It is a great display of sovereign grace
that we should have peace with God. God reconciled to us in Jesus is, of all divine and experimental truths, the
greatest. Until this is experienced, we can affirm of no individual that he is safe for eternity. Yet, alas! What
numbers reject this truth, and still dream on of heaven! But, great as is this grace, it is not less our mercy
to be advancing, on the ground of assured peace, to more matured attainments in universal holiness. We are, at
best, but dull scholars in the science of spiritual arithmetic. We have imperfectly learned one of its first rules,
that of adding grace to grace. "Giving all diligence," exhorts the apostle, "add to your faith virtue,"
etc. Peace through the atoning blood being obtained, the movement is to be progressive, the course onward; each
day, if possible, augmenting the measure of our grace, and adding to the number of the Spirit's graces. Reconciliation
with God is but the starting-post in the divine life, not the finish-line; it is the commencement, and not the
end, of our course. In other words, vast numbers rest in their first reception of Christ. They are hopefully converted;
they unite themselves with a particular section of the Church of God, and settle down under an attached ministry.
But here they seem to abide. There is no advance, no progress, no forgetting of the things that are behind, pressing
upwards to higher rounds in the glorious ladder, which a gracious Father has let down out of heaven, by which we
may ascend to heaven. Content with having placed the foot upon the first step, there they remain. There is no "following
on to know the Lord." And yet why has the Lord removed the burden from the shoulder, but that we might mount
upward? Why has He broken the chains from our feet, but that we may go forward? Thus are we constantly forgetting
that the cross is our starting-point in our race, and yet ever to be kept in view- while holiness, breathed after
upon earth, and in some blessed degree attained, but perfected in heaven, is our bright and certain goal.
June 12
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. - John 16:24
A most powerful incentive to prayer is found in a close and realizing view of the atoning blood. What encouragement
does it present to this blessed and holy life of communion with God! The atoning blood! The mercy-seat sprinkled
over! The High Priest before the throne! The cloud of incense constantly ascending! The Father well pleased! What
can more freely invite the soul that pants for close and holy communion with God? And when the atoning blood is
realized upon the conscience, when pardon and acceptance are sealed upon the heart by the Eternal Spirit, oh, then
what a persuasion to draw near the throne of grace has the believer in Christ! Then, there is no consciousness
of guilt to keep the believer back; no dread of God; no trembling apprehensions of a repulse. God is viewed through
the cross as reconciled, and as standing in the endeared relationship, and wearing the inviting smile of a Father.
With such an altar, such a High Priest, such atoning blood, and such a reconciled God, what an element should prayer
be to a believer in Christ! Let the soul, depressed, burdened, tried, tempted, as it may be, draw near the mercy-seat:
God delights to hear, delights to answer. Taking in the hand the atoning blood, pleading the infinite merit of
Christ- reminding the Father of what His Son has accomplished, of His own gracious promise to receive and favorably
answer the petition endorsed with the name and presented in behalf of that Son- the feeblest child of God, the
most disconsolate, the most burdened, may approach and open all the heart to a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering
God. Let the atoning blood be strenuously pleaded, let the precious and infinite merit of Christ be fully urged,
and the blessing petitioned for will be obtained.
May not this be assigned as a reason why so few of our petitions are answered, why so little blessing is obtained-
the faint pleading of the atoning blood? There is so feeble a recognition of the blessed way of access, so little
wrestling with the precious blood, so little looking by faith to the cross, the dear name of Immanuel so seldom
urged, and when urged so coldly mentioned- oh, is it any marvel that our prayers return to us unanswered, the petition
ungranted, the draft on the full treasury of His love unhonored? The Father loves to be reminded of His beloved
Son; the very breathing of the name to Him is music; the very waving of the censer of infinite merits to Him is
fragrant. He delights to be pressed with this plea; it is a plea at all times prevalent; it is a plea He cannot
reject; it glorifies Himself, honors His Son, while it enriches him who urges it. And, oh, in the absence of all
other pleas, what a mercy to come with a plea like this! Who can fully estimate it? No plea has the poor believer
springing from himself: he searches, but nothing can he find on which to rest a claim; all within is vile, all
without is marred by sin; unfaithfulness, ingratitude, departure do but make up the history of the day. But in
Christ he sees that which he can urge, and in urging which God will hear and answer.
June 13
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; - Isaiah 40:31
We may here meet a question which has often been asked by those who are conscious of a relapsed state of soul-
"Am I still to be found in spiritual duties and enjoyments while sensible of a backsliding state of heart
from God?" To this we reply- The warrant of a Christian's duty is not the measure of his grace, but the command
of his God. If this be so- and we have no reason to question its truth- then, be your state of soul low as it may,
you are bound to meet all those obligations and to discharge all those duties which a profession of Christ enjoins,
irrespective of the spiritual and mental fluctuations to which the soul is always exposed. Unless aware of his
design, Satan will here obtain a great advantage over you. Assuming the form of an angel of light, and with angelic
gentleness and plausibility, he will suggest that your frame of soul is too torpid and lifeless and dull to draw
near to God; that your affections are too frigid, your love too congealed, your heart too carnal, your mind too
groveling, your pursuits too earthly, your backslidings too great, your neglects too many to take to Christ. He
will hold up to view the folly, the hypocrisy, and the inconsistency of being found in the employment and use of
holy and spiritual duties, while your soul thus cleaves to the dust. But listen not to his false suggestions, and
heed not his sophistical reasoning, no, not for a moment. It is only in the way of waiting upon God that you will
be recovered from the lapsed state of your soul. In the way of meditation, of confession, of tears, of prayer,
you may yet rise from the dust, and with bolder pinion, and richer plumage, and sweeter song, soars to the gate
of heaven, and return again, scattering around you its blessings, and reflecting its glory. Oh! Go to Jesus, then,
however low and discouraging your spiritual state may be, and relax not a single means of grace.
June 14
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: - Psalm 138:7
Contemplate the Psalmist's circumstances "Walking in the midst of trouble." It was no new and untrodden
path along which he was pursuing his way to God. The foot-print, sometimes stained with blood, always moistened
with tears- of many a suffering pilgrim might be portrayed in that way, from the time that Abel, the primeval martyr,
laid the first bleeding brow that ever reposed upon the bosom of Jesus. And yet how often does trial overtake the
believer, as "though some strange thing had happened to him"! That at the peculiar nature of an affliction
a Christian man should be startled and alarmed, would create no surprise; but that he should be startled at the
trial itself, as if he alone- the only one of the family- were exempted from the discipline of the covenant, and
had no interest in the Savior's declaration, "In the world you shall have tribulation," might well astonish
us.
But David's experience is that of many of the spiritual seed of David. His words seem to imply, continuous trial:
"I walk in the midst of trouble." With how many travelers to the celestial city it is thus! They seem
never to be without trial. They know no cessation, they obtain no repose, and they experience no rest. The foam
of one mountain billow has scarcely broken and died upon the shore, before another follows in its wake- "Deep
calls unto deep." Is it the trial of sickness? the darkened chamber, scarcely ever illumined with one cheering
ray of light, the bed of suffering, seldom offering one moment's real repose, the couch of weariness, rarely left,
are vivid pictures of trial, drawn from real life, needing no coloring of the fancy to heighten or exaggerate.
Is it domestic trial? What scenes of incessant chafing and anxieties, turmoils and sources of bitterness, do some
families present; trouble seems never to absent itself from the little circle. Yes, it is through a series of trials
that many of Christ's followers are called to travel. The loss of earthly substance may be followed by the decay
of health, and this succeeded perhaps by that which, of all afflictions, the most deeply pierces and lacerates
the heart, and for a season covers every scene with the dark pall of woe- the desolation of death. Thus the believer
ever journeys along a path paved with sorrow, and hemmed in by trial. Well, be it so! We do not speak of it complainingly;
God forbid! We do not arraign the wisdom, nor doubt the mercy, nor impeach the truth of Him who has drawn every
line of that path, who has paved every step of that way, and who knows its history from the end to the beginning.
Why should our heart fret against the Lord? Why should we weary at the way? It is the ordained way- it is the right
way- it is the Lord's way; and it is the way to a city of habitation, where the soul and body- the companions of
the weary pilgrimage- will together sweetly and eternally rest. Then all trouble ceases; then all conflict terminates.
Emerging from the gloom and labyrinth of the wilderness, the released spirit finds itself at home, the inhabitant
of a world of which it is said, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."
June 15
My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: - Matthew 26:38
The spiritual troubles which encompass the Christian are the deepest and the severest of all his trials. What,
in comparison, are others? Our Lord keenly felt this when He uttered that affecting exclamation, "Now is my
soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour."
What to Him- galling and agonizing as they were- what to Him the smiting, and the scourging, and the spitting,
and the excruciating torture, compared with the sword which was now entering His soul- the mental conflict and
spiritual sorrow which, in the hour of atonement, amazed, staggered, and overwhelmed Him? Listen again to His affecting
cry: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Then, withdrawing Himself from His disciples-
for the human sympathy upon which He had relied in anticipation of the hour of suffering failed Him now- retiring
from man, He flung Himself upon the bosom of God, and kneeling down, He prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me!" Such, my soul, was the conflict which your Savior endured for you!
Partakers of Christ's sufferings, all true believers are in a measure acquainted with some of those soul troubles
which thus overwhelmed the Son of God. The suspensions of Divine consolation- the hidings of God's countenance-
the assaults of Satan- the contact and conflict with sin- are bitter ingredients in that cup of spiritual sorrow
of which they are sometimes called deeply to drink.
Are you, beloved, walking in the midst of trouble? Think not that you are alone. May your eye of faith be "anointed
with fresh eye-salve," to see One walking side by side with you, the same who walked with the three children
through the fiery furnace, "whose form is like the Son of God." Yes! Jesus is with you in your trial.
Christ is with you in your trouble. The path, however strait, is not so narrow that your Lord cannot tread it with
you, side by side. Your way is not so intricate that He cannot enable you to thread your steps through the labyrinth.
There is room enough for you and Christ to walk together. He is with you; though, like the two disciples journeying
in mournful communion one with the other to Emmaus, your eyes may be so blurred that you see Him not, yet is He
traveling with you along that sad and mournful, that lone and pensive path. Christ is in your adversity- Christ
is in your cross- Christ is in your burden- Christ is in your suffering- Christ is in your persecution- Christ
is m your sickness- yes, Christ is at your side every step you take, and He will conduct you safely to your Father's
house. Though you walk in the midst of trouble, He will revive you.
June 16
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. - Psalm 50:15
It is in the time of trouble that we learn to pray with new power. We become more thoroughly acquainted with the
divine nature and the omnipotent energy of prayer. We learn what our resources, as the true sons of Israel, are.
Many are then led to pray who never prayed before. "Lord, in trouble have they visited You, they poured out
a prayer when Your chastening was upon them." Then it is the proud spirit yields; the knee that never bent
before, bends now and the terrified soul cries out unto Him whose chastening is upon it. The slumbering Christian,
too, is awakened to call upon God. Then it is he finds at what a distance he had been living from God. Then he
discovers his true position- the real state of his soul- touching prayer. Thus aroused, like the slumbering prophet,
by a voice, and startled by a rebuke issuing from a quarter he would least have suspected- "What meanest you,
O sleeper? Arise and call upon your God!"- He awakes, and finds himself in a storm, threatening instant destruction.
To what does he then betake himself? David shall answer: "I give myself unto prayer." And oh, how, eloquent
is then the voice of the wrestling believer! Never did the fugitive prophet "pray unto the Lord his God"
as when walking in the midst of trouble. "I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me;
out of the belly of hell cried I, and You heard my voice. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord:
and my prayer came in unto You, into Your holy temple." In this way the Lord revives the spirit of prayer
within us. And oh, what words can describe the blessedness of prayer in trial! - The preciousness of the privilege
of having a God to go to, a Father to flee to in trouble! To bring you more deeply and personally into the experience
of this, dear tried Christian, the Lord your God is dealing with you now. O beloved, betake yourself unto prayer!
You shall indeed find it the outlet of all sorrow, and the inlet of all joy. Welcome the trouble that thus revives
you. Receive with meekness of spirit, yes, with gladness of heart, the discipline, however humbling, that throws
you upon God- yes, that severs you from all creatures, and that shuts you up to Him alone. That discipline, painful
as it is, springs from love. In love that trouble is sent, in love that cross is permitted, in love that cup is
given, in love that rod is used- it is to set you upon the work of prayer. What are these frowns of your Father,
what these hidings of your Savior, what these withholdings of the Spirit, but to allure you within the holiest,
there to find the throne of grace? "I will go," says the Lord, "and return to my place, until they
acknowledge their offence, and seek my face; in their affliction they will seek me early."
June 17
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy ways: - Isaiah 64:5
Let us not fail to learn the secret of receiving much from Christ- even the free dispensing abroad of what we have
already received. Be assured of this, that he will receive the most from God who does the most for God: "The
diligent soul shall be made fat. He becomes poor that deals with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent makes
rich. There is that scatters, and yet increases." This is God's law, and He will never repeal it; His promise,
and He will ever and in all cases make it good. Go forth, believer in Christ, and let your beams of light irradiate,
let your streams of grace be dispersed abroad; live for God, suffer for Christ, witness for the truth, and labor
for man. Be such a depository of this living and life-giving treasure, that others, less favored than yourself,
instructed, guided, and strengthened by your wisdom, experience, and grace, may proceed on their way, glorifying
God for the grace given to you. Oh, to have the word of God dwelling in us so richly, and our hearts so intensely
glowing with the love of Christ, as to be ever ready, to open our lips for God- a well always full and running
over.
This, then, is the secret of augmenting our stores, even by scattering them- of replenishing our resources, even
by exhausting them. Who, we repeat the question, has ever become impoverished by giving and laboring for God? Where
lives the Christian steward whose fidelity to his Master's interest has compromised the welfare of his own? Where
is the Christian man who, with cheerful munificence, has consecrated his intellectual wealth or his temporal wealth
to advance the truth and kingdom of Jesus, whom Christ has not reimbursed a thousand-fold? Where is the believer
in Jesus who has endured reproach and suffering, patiently and silently, for conscience' sake, for truth's sake,
for Christ's sake, who has not infinitely gained in the rest which he has found in God? Where is the active Christian,
who, zealously laboring to dispense abroad the life-giving waters, has not felt, in the solemn retirement and calm
repose of his closet, when pouring out his sorrow into the bosom of his Savior, or in holding close and holy communion
with his God, the springing up into his soul of a hidden well of peace, and joy, and love, which has more than
restored the energies he has exhausted, and recompensed him for the sacrifice which he has made? God meets His
people in all their works of faith and labors of love. They are never alone. He meets them in the path of duty
and of trial- both in doing and in suffering His will. He meets them, when embarrassed; with counsel; He meets
them, when assailed, with protection; He meets them, when exhausted, with strength; He meets them, when faint,
with cordials. If we take up Christ's cross upon our shoulder, Christ will take both us and our cross up in His
arms. If we bow down our neck to His yoke, and bend low our back to His burden, we shall find our rest in both.
June 18
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as
the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye
shall abide in him. - 1 John 2:27
"The Lord's anointed" is the expressive and appropriate designation of all the Lord's people. This anointing
it is that marks them as a "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people."
It is the Lord's peculiar mark upon those who distinguishes and designates them as His own. All who are strangers
to this anointing are strangers to the grace of God and the calling of the Holy Spirit. There may be much spiritual
light in the judgment, and even an open profession of religion before the world, added to which there shall be
something of Jehu's "zeal for the Lord;" and yet that anointing of the Holy Spirit be still lacking,
apart from which all intellectual illumination, and outward profession, and party zeal, pass for nothing with a
heart searching God. As the proper signification of the endeared name, Christ, is anointed, so the true signification
of the honored appellation, Christian, points us to the anointing, of which all who have union with Christ personally
share. I believe the remark to be as solemn as it is true, that eternity will only fully unfold the amount of evil
that has sprung from calling those Christians who call themselves Christians, without any valid title to the high,
holy, and distinguished appellation. How imperfectly are men in general aware of the deep, the significant, the
spiritual import of the term! They think not, they know not, that a Christian is one who partakes, in His renewing,
sanctifying grace, of that same Divine Holy Spirit with which Christ was anointed of the Father for His great work.
The effects of this anointing are what might be expected from a cause so glorious. It beautifies the soul. It is
that anointing spoken of by the Psalmist: "And oil to make his face to shine." Therefore it is called
the "beauties of holiness." How does a man's face shine? How is his countenance lighted up? When the
joy of the Lord is his strength, when the spirit of adoption is in his soul, when the love of God is shed abroad
in his heart! It gladdens too. Therefore it is called the "oil of joy" and "the oil of gladness."
It causes the heart to sing in its deep sorrows, imparts the "garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,"
and fills the soul with the glory of that "kingdom which consists not in foods and in drinks, but in righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Another effect springing from this anointing is the deep teaching it
imparts- "You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things." Such are some of the effects
of this holy anointing. It beautifies, gladdens, and teaches.
June 19
I shall be anointed with fresh oil. - Psalm 92:10
That the Lord re-anoints His people, who can doubt? Alas for them, if He did not! The ample provision which He
has made for the exigence proves it. There is more of the precious oil in the sacred vessel! Oh blessed, holy,
comforting truth to those who, mournfully conscious of their loss, are earnestly desirous for their recovery. In
the Lord Jesus Christ all fulness of anointing dwells. "With Him is the fulness of the Spirit." He is
prepared to impart more grace to those who have lost grace or who to their present state desire to add an increase.
In the renewed quickening of the Spirit, the re-anointing is received. "Quicken me!" was the reiterated
prayer of David. What! Was he not already a quickened soul? Undoubtedly. Yet, feeling the need of a renewed quickening,
he earnestly importunes for it: "Quicken me in Your truth, through Your judgments, by Your precepts: only
quicken me- for this my soul pants." And while the world was asking, "Who will show us any good?"
the fervent breathing of this anointed priest of God was, "Quicken me, O Lord, for Your name's sake."
Oh, seek this renewed quickening. New supplies of grace from Christ are implied in this fresh anointing. New grace-
to subdue new corruptions, perpetually rising to the surface; to meet new temptations, through the ever-shifting
ways of the subtle enemy; to overcome new difficulties, perpetually occurring in the path to heaven; and to bear
up under new trials, ever transpiring in a world of tribulation. The renewed joys and comforts of the Holy Spirit
are also found in the fresh anointing. The joys which had evaporated are replaced by others; the peace which had
been interrupted flows back again; consolations, which had fled, are restored; and confidence in God, which seemed
shaken, is once more established in the soul. Do not be content with the old anointing. It is essential to a more
holy and happy life, it is essential to a peaceful and cloudless death that you seek to be anointed with fresh
oil. Do not be satisfied with past experiences. You may at one time have possessed the clear witness of the Spirit;
you may have enjoyed the love of God in your heart; you many have lived so near to Christ as to have found "Wisdom's
ways, ways of pleasantness, and her paths, paths of peace:" but the old anointing ceases to afford you now
the high delight which you once experienced. Seek, then, the fresh anointing of the Spirit. Seek to have a new
revelation of Christ to your soul. Seek the renewed application of His precious blood to your conscience. Oh, seek
the fresh oil! There is a fresh supply in Christ; a fresh supply in the Spirit; a fresh supply in the heart of
God; a fresh supply in the covenant of grace. Jesus is prepared to pour it upon your soul more abundantly. The
Holy Spirit is prepared to lead you to the source where this costly treasure dwells. A vessel of clay though you
are- your capacity small- your unworthiness great- yet is the Triune God ready to recognize your exalted dignity
and rank as a king and a priest, by shedding more copiously than ever the oil of gladness upon your head. Let aged
Christians especially look to the state of their souls, and seek this renewed anointing. In nearing the end of
their journey, in looking into their graves, and beyond them, to the meeting with their God and Savior, they will
need to be anointed with fresh oil. One drop- oh, how will it insinuate itself through the whole inner life, diffusing
energy and might! - The soul thus renewing its strength, and composing its ruffled pinions for its heavenly flight.
Come, pilgrim of many a weary stage! Come, soldier of many a hard-fought battle! Come, voyager of many a storm
and tempest, and sit down at the Savior's feet, and receive of the fresh oil! Come, gather up the trailing garments,
shake off the gathered dust from your sandals, wipe the sweat from your brow, and rest awhile upon the bosom of
your Lord, while with fresh oil He anoints you for your burial. Is it not time for you to give up this poor world's
pursuit, and lay aside in some measure its needless anxiety and care, and allow a holy pause, a solemn calm, to
intervene- before you unclasp your helmet, lay down your staff, and are gathered to your fathers?
June 20
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:26
It is delightful to trace the different exhibitions of faith which the Holy Spirit has presented to our view in
His own Word. And he seems to have thus spread them out before us, that the ever varied and varying circumstances
of the saints of God may be adequately met. In some sections of His Word, He has presented to our view sturdy characters,
impressed with the lineaments of a strong, gigantic faith. For example that was strong faith in the centurion,
when he said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed." That was great faith exhibited in the case of the woman of Canaan, who, at the apparent
repulse of the blessed Lord, would take no denial, but met His seeming objection by saying, "Truth, Lord;
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman,
great is your faith: be it unto you even as you will." That, too, was strong faith in Abraham, who could take
his son, his only, son, his son whom he loved, and offered him up at God's bidding. And, to mention no more, that
was strong, unwavering faith in Job, who could say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." But,
on the other hand, the Holy Spirit presents to the view some of the weakest exhibitions of faith, in order that
no dear child of God, reposing by simple reliance on Christ, might despair. That was feeble faith which the leper
exercised when he said, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Here was no doubting of Christ's
ability- the only point He seemed to question was His willingness to cleanse him. That was faith of the same feeble
character, exercised by the father who brought his child possessed of a dumb spirit to Jesus, to be dispossessed,
with the request thus couched- "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." In this case,
Christ's willingness was fully believed, His ability only doubted; and yet, in cases, the one that doubted His
willingness, and the other that doubted His ability, Christ manifested His compassion and answered their requests.
Let no anxious, seeking soul, then, hang back from Jesus, because of the weakness of its faith. It may be small
faith; it may be small in its degree, and weak in its exhibition; yet it is "precious faith,"- yes, "like
precious faith" with Abraham and Job, and all the prophets and apostles. If it be faith, however small, it
yet is "the faith of God's elect;" it is of the mighty operation of the Holy Spirit, and though feeble,
yet, if it directs its eye out of and off of itself, simply to Jesus, that single glance shall sweep the ocean
fulness of His love in the soul.
June 21
This do in remembrance of me. - Luke 22:19
To the soul hungering and thirsting for the Lord Jesus in the ordinance, Jesus presents Himself. He draws back
the shutter, opens the window, stands within it, and looks forth upon His people, clustering around His table,
desiring to remember His love. "Precious Jesus!" is the meditation of a soul thus looking for its Beloved,
"I have come to Your ordinance invited by Your love, drawn by Your Spirit; but what is it to my soul without
You? Your minister may open this institution with clearness and power, but if You do not manifest Yourself, to
break and heal my heart- if I don't catch one glimpse of You, my Lord, it is no ordinance of grace or sweetness
to my soul. I want by faith to see You in the baptism of Your sufferings, to feed upon Your flesh, and to drink
of Your blood. I want to enjoy communion with You. You know, Lord, the workings of my heart; You know that this
is the great desire of my soul, that I might enjoy fellowship with Christ. Oh, that I might have more of Christ
that I might meet with Christ, that I might have some further manifestation of Christ, and that I might have my
soul closer knit to Christ. I come with thirsting after Jesus, knowing my infinite need of Him, and His infinite
excellency and fulness to meet my case. My soul does famish and perish without Christ; but in the enjoyment of
Christ there is a sufficiency for the satisfying of my soul. That which I have had of Christ, sometimes in the
word, and sometimes in prayer, has been sweet unto my taste; but I look for closer communion, for a clearer manifestation
of Christ here, for this is the great "communion of the body and blood of Jesus." Behold, Lord, I approach
these windows of Your house, a poor, unworthy, backsliding child, tried and tempted; yet just as I am, clear Lord,
I come. I dare not, I cannot, stay away from You, Divine loadstone of my heart, precious magnet of my soul! Draw
me, and then I will run after You; Show Yourself in the window, and, overcome with Your beauty and Your love, I
exclaim, "Turn away Your eyes from me, for they have overcome me." Blessed Spirit! I have been taught
to believe that You will take of the things of Jesus, and show them unto me. Open the window of this ordinance,
and let me behold my soul's Beloved standing within it. I cannot live; I cannot die, without Him. Living or dying
I must have Christ. "I am any Beloved's, and His desire is towards me;" and truly my soul's desire is
towards Him. There is to my soul no love like Christ's love. There is no voice like Christ's voice. There is no
sympathy like Christ's sympathy. There is no friend like this Friend; there is no Christ like my Christ.
The window is open! "The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon
the hills." He looks forth at the window; and lively faith and ardent love, sweet contrition and holy joy,
possess and overwhelm my soul!
June 23
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, - Hebrews 13:20
How beautifully the apostle associates the two blessings! He is now truly the "God of peace" - the pacified
God, the reconciled Father; and the evidence of it is His raising up His dear Son from the grave. Thus what a bright
view does this truth unfold to us of God! When we retire within ourselves, we see much to engender dark views of,
and distrustful feelings towards, Him. But when faith travels to the grave of Jesus, and we see it empty, we have
such an overwhelming evidence of the perfect reconciliation of God, of His thoughts of peace towards us that instantly
faith triumphs and all our gloomy, trembling apprehensions of His character vanish and disappear. He is the "God
of peace," because Jesus is a risen Savior. And in proportion as you lay hold by faith of the resurrection-life
of Christ, you will have that pillar to sustain you upon which rest the whole fabric of salvation. The peace of
God will fill your heart, as you know from experience the power of the Lord's resurrection in your soul. The power
of Christ's resurrection, in fact, lies in a sense of pardoned sin, in our apprehension of complete justification,
in the living hope of eternal glory. Jesus saves to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him, because he is
a risen and a living Savior, and ever lives to make intercession in behalf of all His people. Oh, deal believingly
with a risen Christ! The same resurrection-power which brought back to life again the Head of the Church is exerted
in effecting the spiritual resurrection of the Church itself. The true believer is already risen. He was once dead
in sin, and entombed in the grave of his iniquities. But a power- the same which awoke the death-slumber of Lazarus-
has darted from the tomb of Jesus, and has quickened Him to a new and a deathless life. Oh, were we more directly
to trace the mighty energy of the Eternal Spirit in our souls, raising us from the region of death to life and
immortality, to that stupendous fact of redemption- the resurrection of Christ from the dead- how would it exalt
our views of its importance, and fill our souls with its glory! What must be the power of our Lord's resurrection
that can even now awake the profoundest sleep of spiritual death! When the Spirit of God puts forth His own grace
to raise a soul from the grave of sin, oh, forget not it is in virtue of a risen, living Savior. Despair not of
the spiritual life of any, though they may have laid in the grave so long as well near to have quenched all hope
of their conversion, since Christ has risen from the dead, and is alive, to give life in answer to the prayer of
faith. "The second Adam is a quickening Spirit."
June 23
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, - Philippians 3:10
Of the downward tendency of our hearts we are, alas! But too conscious. We need an antagonistic principle- something
to counteract the overworking influence of an ungodly world. Where shall we meet with it? We answer, in the power
of Christ's resurrection, felt, realized, and experienced in the soul. This is the argument of Paul: "You
are a risen people, risen in union with Christ. If this be so, then seek after heavenly mindedness, setting your
affections on things above." What a heaven-attracting power, then, has this glorious truth! What is Christ?
He is alive. Where is Christ? He is in heaven, at the right hand of God, as my head- my representative- my forerunner-
my treasure- my all. Then, let me rise! Shall not my affections soar to their best beloved? Shall not my heart
be where its treasure is? Shall I set my mind upon things on the earth, when my Lord rose out of the earth, and
ascended above the earth, and bids me rise and follow Him in faith, in spirit, and in love, until He calls me to
come away to Him entirely, that I may be ever with Him and behold His glory? If I am indeed risen with Christ,
then let me evidence it by my increasing spiritual-mindedness. Christ, who is my life, is in heaven- why should
I needlessly be buried in the earth? Why allow- as I appear to do- that there is an object upon earth whose claims
to my love are paramount, whose beauty to my eye is greater, whose attraction to my soul is stronger, than my risen,
ascended, and glorified Lord? Is there upon earth one who loves me as Jesus loves me? Is there one who has done
for me what Jesus has done? Is there one who is doing for me now what Jesus is doing? Is there one who is to me
such a friend, such a brother, such a counselor as Jesus? No, not one! Then, why should not my thoughts be more
with Him? Why should not my heart cling closer to Him? Why this vagrancy of mind, this truancy of affection, this
wandering of desire; why this forgetfulness, coldness, and cleaving to earth, when my Lord is risen, and I am professedly
risen with Him? Oh, to feel more sensibly, more deeply; more constantly the power of His resurrection! Lord! I
detect my heart settling down on creature things- objects of sense and sin. My business is a snare- my domestic
blessings are a snare- my friendships are a snare- my position is a snare- the too fond opinion which others entertain
of me is a snare- my grace, my gifts, my usefulness, through the corruption of my heart, are snares. Lord, place
beneath my soul the mighty lever of Your resurrection, and lift me towards Yourself! Oh, let me feel the earth-severing,
the heaven-attracting power of Your resurrection-life! Having been buried with You by baptism into death, sincerely
would I now rise with You, like as You were raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; that I might walk
with You in newness of life, until I reach You in the realms of glory.
June 24
For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham. - Hebrews 2:16
Who are the people upon whom the heart of Jesus is set? They, are not angels; and yet He loves angels, because
they are elect and holy; He loves them as the creatures of His power, and as the ministers of His will. But God
loves not angels as He loves man. The Lord Jesus bears not the same affection towards those unfallen and pure spirits
as He does towards a poor sinner hiding in His wounded side, cleansing in His blood, and enfolding himself within
the robe of His righteousness. He never took part of the nature of angels, nor wept over angels, nor bled for angels-
but all this He did for man!
It is His Church, then, which is represented as the object of His love- His own people, the donation of His Father,
the creatures of His choice, the subjects of His grace, the treasure of His heart. Is it asked wherein has He loved
them? Rather might we ask wherein has He not loved them? Look at His assumption of their nature! What a mighty
stoop was this! - The Infinite to the finite. Were it possible for me to save the life of an insect by assuming
the form of that insect, I should, by so doing, manifest my great benevolence. But behold the love of our Incarnate
God! His heart was bent, His whole soul was set, upon saving man. But He could save man only by becoming man. He
could not raise our nature, but as He stooped and assumed that nature. He must not only look upon it, and pity
it, and weep over it, but He must take it into the closest and most indissoluble union with Himself. Nor was it
the mere exchange or blending together of natures so as to form one new nature. It was not the absorption of the
Infinite into the finite, for He ceased not to be God when He became man; He only veiled, He did not extinguish,
the glory of His Deity. In this consisted the mightiness of the stoop. I see no humiliation in the Savior's life,
but as it springs from this one fact- His condescension in taking up into union with His own Divine our human nature.
This was the first and greatest step in the path that conducted Him to the cross. All the acts of abasement and
ignominy which follow were ingrafted upon this. And, oh, what humiliation! Look at your nature! Contemplate it
in some of its severest forms of degradation, wretchedness, and woe. Are you not often constrained to blush that
it is your own? Do you not turn from it at times with loathing and abhorrence, ashamed to confess that you are
a man? Above all, what self-loathing, what self-abhorrence, when the Holy Spirit opens the chambers of iniquity
in your own heart, and makes you acquainted with the abominations that are there! And yet the Son of God stooped
to our nature. "A body have You prepared me." But it was unfallen, sinless humanity that He took into
union with His Godhead. Where, then, is His condescension? In stooping to an inferior nature, though in that stoop
He received no taint from us. He was made a sin- offering, yet He was "without sin." If this truth, dear
reader, has no glory to your eye, nor sweetness to your soul, what is your Christianity? It is the foundation of
Christianity, it is the marrow of the Gospel, it is the hope of the soul, it is that truth which takes every ruffle
from the pillow of death.
And is not this just the truth we need as a suffering and a tried people? When do we extract the sweetest honey
from this bitter of bitters? Is it not when our humanity is wounded, oppressed, and cast down? When do we most
value and love the humiliation of the Incarnate God? Is it not when by suffering we are driven to it, then to learn
the tenderness and the sympathy that are in Christ? Oh blessed affliction, sweet sorrow, friendly chastisement,
that brings my soul into the deeper experience of what God is in my nature!
June 25
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweetsmelling savour. - Ephesians 5:2
It was an entire sacrifice. It was Himself He offered up. More He could not give; less would not have sufficed.
He gave Himself- all that He possessed in heaven, and all that belonged to Him on earth, He gave in behalf of His
people. His life of obedience, His death of suffering, He gave as "an offering and is sacrifice to God."
It was an entire surrender.
It was a voluntary offering. "He gave Himself." It was not by compulsion or by constraint that He surrendered
Himself into the hands of Divine justice- He went not as a reluctant victim to the altar- they dragged Him not
to the cross. He went voluntarily. It is true that there existed a solemn necessity, why Jesus should die in behalf
of His people. It grew out of His covenant engagement with the Father. Into that engagement He voluntarily entered:
His own ineffable love constrained Him: But after the compact had been made, the covenant of redemption ratified,
and the bond given to justice, there was a necessity resting upon Jesus why He should finish the work. His word,
His honor, His truth, His glory, all were pledged to the entire fulfilment of His suretyship. He had freely given
Himself into the power of justice; He was therefore, on His taking upon Him the form of a servant, under obligations
to satisfy all its claims; He was legally bound to obey all its commands. And yet it was a voluntary surrender
of Himself as a sacrifice for His people. It was a willing offering. If there was a necessity, and we have shown
that there was, it grew out of His own voluntary love to His Church. It was, so to speak, a voluntary necessity.
See how this blessed view of the death of Jesus is sustained by the Divine word. "He was oppressed, and He
was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth." His own declaration confirms the truth. "Therefore does
my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it the following is from
me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."
June 26
Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? -
John 18:4
His voluntariness was not founded on ignorance. He well knew what the covenant of redemption involved- what stern
justice demanded. The entire scene of His humiliation was before Him, in all its dark and somber hues- the manger-
the bloodthirsty king- the scorn and ridicule of His countrymen- the unbelief of His own kinsmen- the mental agony
of Gethsemane- the bloody sweat- the bitter cup- the waywardness of His disciples- the betrayal of one, the denial
of another, the forsaking of all- the mock trial- the purple robe- the crown of thorns- the infuriated cry, "Away
with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him, crucify Him!"- the heavy cross- the painful crucifixion- the cruel taunts-
the vinegar and the gall- the hidings of His Father's countenance- the concentrated horrors of the curse- the last
cry of anguish- the falling of the head- the giving up the spirit; all, all was before the omniscient mind of the
Son of God, with vividness equal to its reality, when He exclaimed, "Save him from going down to the pit:
I have found a ransom." And yet He willingly rushed to the rescue of ruined man. He voluntarily, though He
knew the price of pardon was His blood, gave Himself up thus to the bitter, bitter agony. And did He regret that
He had undertaken the work? Never! It is said that repented God that He had made man; but in no instance is it
recorded that it repented Jesus that He had redeemed man. Not an action, not a word, not a look betrayed an emotion
like this. Every step He took from Bethlehem to Calvary did but unfold the willingness of Jesus to die. "I
have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!"
Oh, how amazing was the love of Jesus! This, this was the secret why He loved not His own life unto the death.
He loved sinners too well. He loved us better than Himself. With all our sinfulness, guilt, wretchedness, and poverty;
He yet loved us so much as to give Himself an offering and sacrifice unto God for us. Here was the spring-head
where flowed these streams of mercy. This was the gushing fountain that was opened when He died. And when they
taunted Him and said, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself," oh, what a reply did His silence
give "I came not to save myself, but my people- I hang here, not for my own sins, but for theirs- I could
save myself, but I came to give my life a ransom for many." They thought the nails alone kept Him to the cross-
He knew it was His own love that fastened Him there. Behold the strength of Immanuel's love. Come, fall prostrate,
adore and worship Him. Oh, what love was His! Oh the depth! Content not yourself with standing upon the shore of
this ocean- enter into it, drink largely from it. It is for you, if you but feel your nothingness, your poverty,
your vileness; this ocean is for you. It is not for angels, it is for men. It is not for the righteous, but for
sinners. Then drink to the full from the love of Jesus. Do not be satisfied with small supplies. Take a large vessel
to the fountain. The larger the demand, the larger the supply. The needier, the more welcome. The viler, the more
fit.
June 27
[It is] good that [a man] should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. - Lamentations 3:26
A believer may present a right petition in a right way, and yet he may not wait the Lord's answer in His own time.
He may appoint a time, and if the Lord does not answer within that period, he turns away, resigning all expectation
of an answer. There is such a thing as waiting for the Lord. The apostle alludes to and enjoins this holy patience,
when he speaks to the Ephesians of "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance." A believer may present his request- may have some degree of nearness in
urging it- may press it with fervency- and yet, forgetting the hoping, quiet, waiting patience which ought invariably
to mark a praying soul; he may lose the blessing he has sought. There is such a thing as "waiting upon the
Lord." Oh; how long have we made Him to wait for us! For years, it may be, we kept Him knocking, and standing,
and waiting at the door of our hearts, until His own Spirit took the work in His own hands, and unlocked the heart,
and the Savior entered. The Lord would now often have us wait His time in answering prayer. And, if the vision
tarries, still let us wait, and hope, and expect. Let the delay but stimulate hope, and increase desire, exercise
faith, and multiply petitions at the mercy-seat. It will come when the Lord sees best.
A believer may lose the answer to his prayer, by dictating to the Lord the mode, as well as the time, of answering.
The Lord has His own mode of blessing His people. We may prescribe the way the Lord should answer, but He may send
the blessing to us through an opposite channel, in a way we never thought of, and should never have selected. Sovereignty
sits regent upon the throne, and in no aspect is its exercise more manifestly seen than in selecting the way and
the means by which the prayers of the saints of God are answered. Dictate not to the Lord. If you ask a blessing
through a certain channel, or in a prescribed way, let it be with the deepest humility of mind, and with perfect
submission to the will of God. Be satisfied to receive the blessing in any way which a good and covenant God may
appoint. Be assured, it will be in that way that will most glorify Himself, and secure to you the greatest amount
of blessing.
June 28
But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. - Proverbs
4:18
The first light that dawns upon the soul is the daybreak of grace. When that blessed period arrives, when the Sun
of Righteousness has risen upon the long-benighted mind, how do the shadows of ignorance and of guilt instantly
disappear! What a breaking away of, perhaps, a long night of alienation from God, of direct hostility to God, and
of ignorance of the Lord Jesus, then takes place. Not, however, strongly marked is this state always at the first.
The beginning of grace in the soul is frequently analogous to the beginning of day in the natural world. The dawn
of grace is at first so faint, the daybreak so gentle, that a skillful eye only can observe its earliest tints.
The individual himself is, perhaps, ignorant of the extraordinary transition through which his soul is passing.
The discovery of darkness which that day-dawn has made, the revelation it has brought to view of the desperate
depravity of his heart, the utter corruption of his fallen nature, the number and the turpitude of his sins, it
may be, well near overwhelms the individual with despair! But what has led to this discovery? What has revealed
all this darkness and sin? Oh! It is the daybreak of grace in the soul! One faint ray, what a change has it produced!
And is it real? Ah! Just as real as that the first beam, faintly painted on the eastern sky, is a real and an essential
part of light. The daybreak, faint and glimmering though it be, is as really day as the meridian is day. And so
is it with the day-dawn of grace in the soul. The first serious thought- the first real misgiving- the first conviction
of sin- the first downfall of the eye- the first bending of the knee- the first tear- the first prayer- the first
touch of faith, is as really and as essentially the daybreak of God's converting grace in the soul as is the utmost
perfection to which that grace can arrive. Oh, glorious dawn is this, my reader, if now for the first time in your
life the daybreak of grace has come, and the shadows of ignorance and guilt are fleeing away before the advancing
light of Jesus in your soul. If now you are seeing how depraved your nature is; if now you are learning the utter
worthlessness of your own righteousness; if now you are fleeing as a poor, lost sinner to Christ, relinquishing
your hold of everything else, and clinging only to Him; though this be but in weakness, and tremulousness, and
hesitancy, yet sing for joy, for the day is breaking- the prelude to the day of eternal glory- and the shadows
of unregeneracy are forever fleeing away. And as this day of grace has begun, so it will advance. Nothing shall
impede its course, nothing shall arrest its progress. "He which has begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ." The Sun, now risen upon you with healing in His beams, shall never stand
still- shall never go back. "He has set a tabernacle for the sun" in the renewed soul of man; and onward
that sun will roll in its glorious orbit, penetrating with its beams every dark recess, until all mental shadows
are merged and lost in its unclouded and eternal splendor.
June 29
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. - 1 Corinthians 13:9
With all our attainments, how little have we really attained! With all our knowledge, how little do we actually
know! How superficially and imperfectly are we acquainted with truth; with Jesus who is emphatically "the
Truth," with God whom the Truth reveals. "We see through a glass darkly,"- all is yet but as a riddle,
compared with what we shall know when the shadows of ignorance have fled. There are, too, the enshrouding shadows
of God's dark and painful dispensations. Our dealings are with a God of whom it is said, "Clouds and darkness
are round about Him." Who often "covers Himself as with a cloud," and to whom the midnight traveler
to the world of light has often occasion to address himself in the language of the Church, "You are a God
that hides Yourself." Ah! Beloved, what clouds of dark providences may be gathering and thickening around
your present path! Through what a gloomy, stormy night of affliction faith may be steering your tempest-tossed
barque! That faith eyeing the promise, and not the providence, the "bright light that is in the cloud,"
and not the lowering cloud itself- will steer that trembling vessel safely through the surge. Remember that in
the providences of God the believer is passive, but with regard to the promises of God he is active. In the one
case he is to "be still" and know that God reigns, and that the "Judge of all the earth must do
right." In the other, his faith, childlike, unquestioning, and unwavering, is to take hold of what God says,
and of what God is, believing that what He has promised He is also able and willing to perform. This is to be "strong
in faith, giving glory to God."
June 30
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, - Song of Solomon 2:17
The Divine withdrawal is a shadow, often imparting an aspect of dreariness to the path we are treading to the Zion
of God. "Why do You hide Yourself?" says Job. "For a small moment," says God to the Church,
"have I forsaken you. ... In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment." Ah! There are many
who have the quenchless light of life in their souls, who yet, like Job, are constrained to take up the lamentation,
"I went mourning without the sun." There are no shadows darker to some of God's saints than this. Many
professing Christians dwell so perpetually in the region of shadows, they so seldom feel the sunshine of God's
presence in their souls, that they scarcely can discern when the light is withdrawn. But there are others, wont
to walk so near with God in the rich, personal enjoyment of their pardon, acceptance, and adoption, that if but
a vapor floats between their soul and the sun, in an instant they are sensible of it. Oh, blessed are they whose
walk is so close, so filial with God, whose home is so hard by the cross, who, like the Apocalyptic angel, dwell
so entirely in the sun, as to feel the barometer of their soul affected by the slightest change in their spiritual
atmosphere; in other words- who walk so much beneath the light of God's reconciled countenance as to be sensible
of His hidings even "for a small moment." Then there comes the last of our shadows, "the valley
of the shadow of death." There they terminate. This may be the focus where they all shall meet, but it is
to meet only to be entirely and forever scattered. The sentiment is as true as the figure is poetic- "the
shadow of death." It is but a "shadow" to the believer; the body of that shadow Jesus, the "Captain
of our salvation," met on the cross, fought and overcame. By dying He so completely destroyed death, and him
that had the power of death, that the substance of death in the experience of the dying Christian dwindles into
a mere shadow, and that shadow melts into eternal glory.