The Lord Jesus enjoined, “When you pray, enter into your closet” (Matt. 6:6), and by His oft-repeated example enforced the admonition. Often were His footsteps traced to some secluded spot for the purpose of private prayer. So Isaac was apt to retire to meditate in the field at eventide (Gen. 24:63). The psalmist communed with his own heart and his spirit made diligent search (Psa. 77:6; 119:164). Daniel knelt three times a day in his private chamber (Dan. 6:10). Peter retired to the housetop to be alone with God, about the sixth hour (Acts 10:9). Mark the lives of men of God and you will find them often on their knees before their Maker in their closets.

        The object of these seasons of retirement is communion with the Lord, reading His Word, and engagement in self-judgment. Secluded from the world and its cares, the secret sins of our heart and the presumptuous faults of our life are brought to our view. We unburden our souls with supplications and tears, seeking forgiveness and grace through the merits of our glorified Redeemer, saying, “Search me, O God” (Psa. 139:23,24).

        Secret prayer should be attended to at regular seasons. Regularity in this activity is as necessary to the health of our soul as regularity in meals to that of our body. Let the habit become so fixed by custom that the consecrated hour cannot pass without awakening our conscience.

        Let us take care that we do not become so absorbed in any of the exciting enterprises of the day, however important they may be in themselves, as to neglect our own heart and our communion with God. Be assured that such enterprises will, under the blessing of God, succeed only as we seek for wisdom and grace daily in secret places.

        (From Help and Food, Vol. 26.)

        We are all “creatures of habit.” Sometimes the habits we develop are good; at other times we acquire bad habits which we need to break. God’s Word instructs us as to both. I have found eight excellent habits that Scripture encourages us to incorporate into our lives on a daily basis. If we would practice these, we would most surely benefit spiritually, and even more importantly, our blessed Lord Jesus would be glorified.

        1. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things we so” (Acts 17:11). Our first daily habit should be to search the Scriptures. Whether we are a babe in Christ, or one who has been on the road to heaven for many years, the Word of God is to be, as another has said, “food for our soul, and light for our path.” It is that by which we grow spiritually (see 1 Pet. 2:2). Notice it does not say “read the Scriptures daily, but “search the Scriptures daily.” This implies that we are to be diligent in our study of Scripture, and desirous of learning the Word of God so we can in turn obey the truth that we learn. I take it this was true of those in Berea, for “they received the Word with all readiness of mind.” They did not even take what the great apostle Paul taught them as gospel truth; they searched the Scriptures to see if what he had preached to them lined up with the Word of God. What diligence and zeal that we would do well to emulate!

        The question now is, “When is the best time to search the Scriptures?” To answer that I would turn our attention to Isaiah 50:4:“The LORD God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary; He wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as the learned.” This verse is speaking prophetically of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is humbling to see Him who was “God manifest in the flesh” taking the place of a learner (see also Luke 2:40-52 for another example of our blessed Lord, in His perfect humanity, taking the place of a learner). Here we are being taught that every morning He would awake and take His place as learner before the Father, and God would instruct Him by the Word. Before the Lord met the day, with all its duties and trials, He would begin the day in the Scriptures, which in turn would prepare Him to meet the day and to do God’s will. In this the Lord has given us an example to follow, for if we would meet the pressures of the day in God’s strength, we too must start our day searching the Scriptures.

        2. “Blessed is the man who hears Me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors” (Prov. 8:34). Another daily habit we should cultivate is to look for Christ in the Scriptures. Proverbs 8 speaks of Christ as the “wisdom of God.” The Lord Jesus is appealing to us in this chapter to be on the lookout for wisdom (that is, Christ Himself!) as we hear the Word of God. It is all too easy to take up the Scriptures and study them as we would any other book. But God’s desire is for our hearts to be taken up with His beloved Son, to have our affections set upon Him (see Col. 3:1,2). Our main objective, as we search the Scriptures, is to see Christ in those very Scriptures.

        The religious leaders of Jesus’ day failed to do this. They thought they were well-acquainted with God’s Word and yet when their Messiah appeared in their midst, according to all the Old Testament prophecies that outlined His birth and life’s ministry—He was born in Bethlehem as Micah predicted, He was born of a virgin as Isaiah had foretold, He was born of the tribe of Judah as Jacob had prophesied, and He preached the gospel of the kingdom and performed miracles to confirm the Word as Isaiah had written many years before—they not only rejected Him, but conspired to kill him. In a timely rebuke the Lord told them, “Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they that testify of Me” (John 5:38).

        Even those who believed in and loved the Lord Jesus failed to recognize Christ in some of their Old Testament Scriptures. You may recall that scene in Luke 24 where two of His own were making their way home from Jerusalem and they were sad because the One in whom they had trusted to redeem Israel had been crucified (Luke 24:13-21). Jesus had to gently rebuke them as well with these words, “O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (24:25-27).  They had believed in Jesus as their Messiah, but they had failed to see Christ in those passages that spoke of His suffering and death! How gracious of the Savior to have taken them aside to reveal to them all the Scriptures that spoke of the necessity of His sufferings and death. What a Bible study that must have been! Perhaps He took them first of all to the promise of the woman’s seed in Genesis 3 and said, “I am the woman’s seed!” And then He may have read a few verses further where we see the coats of skins God clothed Adam and Eve with, which are a blessed picture of Christ being offered up in death in order to provide sinners with the garments of salvation. In the very next chapter we see Abel, who by faith offered up a lamb in sacrifice to God, which provides another glimpse of Christ as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” On and on the Lord went, giving them one blessed view after another of Himself. Is it any wonder that later they declared, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures” (24:32). And so it will be with us dear fellow-believer, if we have our eyes opened to see Christ in the Scriptures.

        3. “Be merciful unto me, O Lord:for I cry unto Thee daily” (Psa. 86:3). “My eye mourns by reason of affliction; LORD, I have called daily upon Thee, I have stretched out my hands unto Thee” (Psa. 88:9). Equally important in our daily living is the need to pray. The Lord desires fellowship with us, which means He wants to hear from us just as much as He wants us to hear from Him. He desires us to be in a constant state of dependency, which is what prayer really is. Notice the language David employed to speak of his daily prayer to God:“I cry unto Thee.” He didn’t simply “say his prayers”; he cried out to the Lord with a felt need, and with faith depending on God to respond to the afflictions he was facing. Do we not face the same needs today, brethren? We too are afflicted at times and thus we need to cry out daily to our God who can meet our needs. The apostle wrote to the Hebrews, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

        When is the best time to pray? I think all would agree with the apostle Paul when he exhorts us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), in other words, at all times. But just as we learned that we should begin our day searching the Scriptures, we learn also that the morning is the best time to pray:“My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and will look up” (Psa. 5:3). Before the enemy assails us and our responsibilities begin, we need to cry out to the Lord in dependence and faith.

        4. “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits” (Psa. 68:19). We have just read of the afflictions David suffered, but David was equally aware of the blessings God had bestowed upon him. This surely implies that David was thankful for God’s blessings. I have been studying many of Paul’s Epistles over the last year or so and it has been impressed upon my heart how often Paul lifted up His voice to God for the blessings he received. One such occurrence is Ephesians 1:3:“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Paul was keenly aware of how God had “daily loaded him with benefits,” and it is absolutely vital for us to count our blessings daily and to give thanks to God for them.

        5. “And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba:prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised” (Psa. 72:15). We have just learned how important it is to thank God for our daily blessings; here we learn it is equally important to praise the Lord Jesus daily. This Psalm speaks primarily of Solomon who was to succeed David on the throne and to be honored by the nations round about him. But as we look closely at this Psalm we see that a “greater than Solomon” is before us. Verse 8 speaks of a king who will have universal dominion, something that was never true of Solomon. But in a coming day, when the Lord Jesus comes as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” to assume His throne and reign supremely over the entire world, He will then receive the praise that He deserves. If that is true of a coming day, should it not be true in this day of grace in which we find ourselves? Surely it should! He deserves all the praise our hearts can muster for His redeeming grace manifested at Calvary, and for the love and grace showered upon us daily. “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s Name is to be praised” (Psa. 113:3).

        Let us muse for a moment on how powerful praise can be. Consider that scene in Acts 16:16-24 where the apostle Paul and Silas were imprisoned for faithfully preaching the gospel. There they were in a deep, dark, and dank cell, with bleeding backs and nothing to encourage them. Yet we read, “At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God; and the prisoners heard them” (16:25). What a foreign sound that must have been to all who heard these hymns of praise. I am sure the men were accustomed to hearing complaints, angry threats, and profanity from their fellow inmates, so what a testimony to the grace of God to hear notes of praise ascending to God in view of the circumstances they were in. We know that God used this testimony to save the poor jailor who later fell at the feet of Paul and Silas with those memorable words, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved” (16:31). Those words of praise uttered by Paul and Silas resulted in the conversion of this precious soul, which in turn led to the formation of the assembly at Philippi. Such is the power of praise dear brothers and sisters! May it be found in our lives daily, that we too may prove its power as we testify of God and His saving grace!

        6. “Exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). The previous Scriptures in this article were not picked at random, for there is a definite order here. If we find ourselves in fellowship with God (by daily searching the Scriptures, looking for Christ in the Scriptures, praying, being thankful for our blessings, and praising our Lord and Saviour), we shall be prepared to reach out to other believers to “encourage one another daily.” Our fellowship with the Father and the Son fills our hearts to overflowing and the natural result is we want to be a channel of blessing to others. We will never lack for opportunity, for there will always be the need to encourage others. I had thought of preparing a list of ways in which we can encourage one another, but time and space forbid doing so. Suffice it to say that one of the greatest ways we can encourage one another is to point them to the preciousness of Christ that we have seen from the Word. This can be done by a phone call to a brother or sister, or a letter or e-mail, or even better by a personal visit. But perhaps the most opportune time to minister encouragement to our brethren is when we are assembled together for that very purpose; I am speaking of assembly meetings! Hebrews 10:25 states, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting [encouraging] one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.” Oh, how needful it is to come together, brethren, and in doing so to encourage one another. Sometimes just the presence of other saints serves to encourage us. We are, no doubt, living in the last days (as this verse intimates), where the world that hates Christ is becoming increasingly wicked and ungodly. This cold, sinful world can leave its influence on us if we are not diligent in seeking out other believers to encourage them and to be encouraged by them.

        7. “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their bread with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:46,47). I had verse 47 in mind, but I included verse 46 because it illustrates the need that we just saw of coming together for fellowship. As you will notice, there is no direct command in verse 47 instructing us to do something on a daily basis. Rather, we learn what the Lord Himself is doing daily:He is “building His Church.” That is, He is saving souls by sinners believing the gospel and then making them members of His body, which is the Church (see Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:22,23). We learn elsewhere that the gospel has been entrusted to believers (see 1 Thess. 2:4) and it is our responsibility as well as our privilege to reach out to sinners with the good news so they can be saved and become part of the Church of God. So, indirectly we learn from verse 47 that we should be concerned daily with evangelizing souls. In short, one of our daily habits should be to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5). This may involve speaking directly to souls of their need of Christ, passing out tracts, enclosing tracts in letters and bills, preaching a gospel meeting at a conference, and many other ways. Surely there will be days when there is not a direct opportunity to witness to souls, but even then we can be praying for those who are dealing directly with souls. I have often thought that the desire we have to see souls saved is a “spiritual barometer”; if we have that desire we are spiritually healthy; if we lose that desire we have drifted spiritually and are in need of being stirred up.

        8. “And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Last, but not least, we should respond to this command of our Lord and take up our cross daily. What does that mean? What is involved in a man taking up his cross? We know that our blessed Lord Himself took up His cross, for we read in John 19:16,17:“Then delivered he Him there unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him away. And He “bearing His cross” went forth into a place … called in the Hebrew Golgotha.” What did people think when they saw a man bearing his cross on his way to be crucified? I believe when they saw such a man they instantly thought, “Well, that is the end of that man’s life.” And beloved, I believe that this is the meaning of our Lord’s words to us as well. In telling us to take up our cross He is, in essence, telling us “this is the end of your life.” It is the end of our life as sinners in this world! This is confirmed by the next verse, “For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). To lose my life for His sake is to deny living for myself and the world; it is to live for Christ and for the world to come!

        I believe the cross is also an object of shame and contempt. When a man was bearing his cross on his way to be crucified he was ridiculed and persecuted, for he was looked upon as a criminal and one worthy of death. So, in “taking up our cross” we are willing to suffer reproach for Christ, to be hated by the world that hated Christ, and even to suffer martyrdom if called upon to do so. All this, and perhaps more, is involved in those weighty words, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

                In closing, may the Lord impress these thoughts deeply upon our minds and hearts. As I stated at the beginning, if we were to incorporate these eight things into our daily lives we would be spiritually blessed (beyond measure!) and the Lord Jesus (who is so deserving of honor and praise) would be glorified. If we have already made them part of our daily lives, let us, by the grace of God, continue in them. If we have not, may the Spirit be pleased to use these few lines to produce in us the desire to make them our daily habits.

        A tax auditor came many years ago to a poor servant of the Lord to determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay.

        “What property do you possess?” asked the auditor.

        “I am very wealthy,” replied the Christian.

        “List your possessions, please,” the auditor instructed.

        “First, I have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “Second, I have a mansion in heaven” (John 14:2). “Third, I have peace that passes understanding” (Phil. 4:7). “Fourth, I have joy unspeakable” (1 Pet. 1:8). “Fifth, I have divine love that never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8).

        “Sixth, I have a faithful wife” (Prov. 31:10). “Seventh, I have healthy, happy, obedient children” (Exod. 20:12). “Eighth, I have true, loyal friends” (Prov. 18:24). “Ninth, I have songs in the night” (Psa. 42:8). “Tenth, I have a crown of life” (Jas. 1:12). “Eleventh, I have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, who supplies all my need” (Phil. 4:19).

        The tax auditor closed his book and said, “Truly you are a very rich man, but your property is not subject to any taxation!”

        What a priceless heritage we possess in the Word of God (Psa. 119:111). Both the inspiration and the preservation of Scripture have been miraculous. It has stood the test of ages, and in spite of the many assaults upon it by unbelieving men, the Book has stood, has continued, and we possess it now.

        What a source of light, comfort and strength it has been throughout many generations! It has been the one perfect standard by which to test every doctrine, every preacher, every teacher. “What says the Scripture?” was the divine test used by the apostle Paul, and it remains still the divine standard after almost 2,000 years since his time.

        Neglect in reading the Scriptures is now very common. Considering their great value and importance, we should read and search them daily as for hidden treasure, value their contents more than silver and gold, and would thus find them sweeter than honey to our taste (Psa. 119:103,127).

        We read that in the early days of Christianity the Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily.” Paul’s preaching and teaching were such that whole cities and countries were stirred and moved to earnest inquiry; to ascertain the truth, these Bereans searched the records daily. What a fine example they have left us!

        Some of us can remember early days when this daily searching of the Scriptures was still characteristic, clear evidence of the Holy Spirit’s leading. But conditions have changed in these later years. In all spheres of life things move with more rapid pace, and these changed conditions have had a far-reaching effect, both upon the Church as a whole and on the lives of individual Christians. The change has not been for the better, spiritually, but rather for the worse. Among professing Christians generally less time is given to reading and especially less time is given to “searching the Scriptures daily.” Wherever the two prominent features of spiritual life—constant prayer and daily reading the Word of God—are neglected, spiritual declension will ever follow.

        While admitting the changed conditions of today, the marks of a pious life and of distinct witnessing for Christ ever remain the same. Enoch, in the early days, “walked with God,” and the God-given word of prophecy he possessed influenced and governed his life in the days before the flood. In a world of ungodly men, as the judgment was approaching, he walked with God and bore a distinct witness for Him before the world. In our day, we too are called by grace to bear a distinct witness for God as we approach the end of all things on earth.

        We may boast of being saved, and be able to discuss the doctrine of eternal security, or even to open up the subject of prophecy with a fair degree of intelligence, but mere knowledge of those things will not benefit us at the judgment-seat of Christ if our lives have not also been governed by the Word of God and guided by the Holy Spirit. This is an important consideration for every believer (Isa. 66:2).

        With these facts before us let us pause to take a fresh inventory and so learn what is our present condition before God. If such examination shows us to possess things that are a hindrance to spiritual progress, or that we lack others that are necessary to progress in our testimony for the Lord, such an exercise will be healthful and helpful. This exercise will concern first our individual life, then our home circle, and finally our relation to the assembly. It will test us if we have given the Word of God its proper place in our whole testimony.

        The daily reading of the Scriptures, both individually and in the home circle, should be our constant exercise. And preferably in the morning, if possible, for after a night’s rest of body and mind all our perceptions are more keen and ready to take in the daily lesson.

        The reading of the Scriptures imparts strength and tone to the spiritual life. Such an exercise at the beginning of the day resembles the gathering of the manna each morning by the children of Israel, by which they were furnished with food for their daily need (Exod. 16:15-20).

        It was in the morning that the Lord instructed Moses to present himself before Him to receive fresh communications, later to be conveyed to the children of Israel. “Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai and present yourself to Me” (Exod. 34:2).

        With David the King, we learn that the early morning characterized his spiritual devotions and prayers; in his psalms he describes his ardent desires, his heart-breathings in the morning. Also, led by the Holy Spirit, in those psalms he prophetically opens up lessons concerning the Lord Jesus upon the earth, by which we are furnished with instruction for a life of devotion and heavenly-mindedness here upon earth (Psa. 5:3; 55:17; 59:16; 88:13; 92:2; 143:8). “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee:my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh longs for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (Psa. 63:1).

        Still later, in the days of Ezekiel the prophet, when the nation had departed from Jehovah and were worshiping idols, and the Word of God was not only neglected, but openly disobeyed, we are told, “In the morning came the word of the LORD to me” (Ezek. 12:8). The prophet was thus furnished with his message to deliver to Israel.

        Again, the early morning had a special place in our Lord’s life here on earth. The prophet Isaiah wrote concerning Him, “He wakens morning by morning, He wakens My ear to hear as the learned” (Isa. 50:4). Mark, the evangelist, describing the heavenly character of the perfect life of God’s perfect Servant displacing Israel, the imperfect servant, writes, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). Both the prophet and the evangelist unite in their testimony that our Lord and Master received His fresh daily communications from the Father, and engaged in the sacred exercise of prayer to the Father, in the early morning.

        How necessary in our busy age to be reminded of this. To the examples mentioned could be added a long list of men and women who have followed the example of saintly Lois and Eunice, Timothy’s mother and grandmother, in observing the custom established in Israel, reading the Scriptures daily in the home circle. The family altar was a sacred spot around which parents and children gathered; its sanctity we need to establish and safeguard today.

        Since the days of Timothy, a host of men and women, among them many faithful, earnest preachers, have left their testimony that it was in the home circle, sanctified by the daily, reverential reading of Scripture, that they received their first light, changing the whole character of their lives and fitting them for future usefulness as witnesses for Christ (Deut. 4:9; 6:6-12; 11:18-21; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14-17).

        This maintenance of the family altar, the daily reading of the Word of God, brings into the home each day a spiritual and heavenly influence. For those in the pressure of business life, how necessary to carry from the home the sweet and hallowed influence and spirituality that the reading of the Word of God alone supplies. This testimony and influence in the home was also illustrated by the children of Israel in Egypt. At a time (as in the world today) when darkness covered the whole land, a people under the shelter of the blood of the lamb had “light in their dwellings” (Exod. 10:21-23).

        We remember a man who, the first morning after professing faith in Christ, read a chapter to the family at the breakfast table, and then upon bended knees thanked God for forgiveness of sins and the knowledge of present salvation, and implored the Lord to guide and safeguard each member of the family through the day. Writing a servant of Christ to tell of his new-found joy, he said, “Although it was but the humble home of a poor man, yet the home that morning was gilded all over with the glory of God.”

        (From Help and Food, Vol. 48.)

The Trinity and the Gospel

        The voice of holy Scripture bears the clearest testimony to the fact of the interest of the Trinity in the work of the gospel. Who first preached the gospel? Who first announced the good news of the bruised seed of the woman? The Lord God Himself in the garden of Eden. Further, who was the most earnest, laborious, and faithful preacher who ever trod this earth? The Son of God. And who has been preaching the gospel for the last 18 1/2 [now 20] centuries? The Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. Thus then we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all actually engaged in the work of evangelization; and if this be so, who are we to dare to speak slightingly of such a work? Rather may our whole moral being be stirred by the power of the Spirit of God so that we may be able to add our fervent and deep “Amen” to those precious words of inspiration, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things” (Isa. 52:7; Rom. 10:15).

 

The Earnest Seeker

        “A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things that were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us” (Acts 16:14,15).

        Here we have a picture of one who, having through grace gotten a measure of light, was living up to it and earnestly seeking for more. Lydia, the seller of purple, had something in common with the eunuch of Ethiopia and the centurion of Caesarea. All three appear on the page of inspiration as souls who have been drawn to the Lord but lacking the teaching that would give their souls rest and satisfaction.

        The eunuch had gone from Ethiopia to Jerusalem in search of something on which to rest his anxious soul. He had left that city still unsatisfied and was devoutly and earnestly studying the Scriptures. The eye of God was upon him and He sent His servant Philip with the very message that was needed to answer his questions and set his soul at rest (Acts 8:27-39).

        Cornelius was a man of the same stamp. He lived up to the light that he had. He fasted, prayed, and gave alms, the three branches of practical righteousness set forth by our Lord in Matthew 6. His righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. He earnestly followed the light as it streamed in upon his soul and he was led by the apostle Peter into the full blaze of the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 10).

        Lydia belonged to the same school. She was a worshiper of God and could be found meeting with other pious Jewish women for prayer. She was found at the place of expressed need and expected blessing. There God met her as He is sure to meet all who frequent such scenes in Lydia’s spirit. “God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). He sent a Philip to the eunuch in the desert of Gaza; He sent a Peter to the centurion in the town of Caesarea; He sent a Paul to the seller of purple in the suburbs of Philippi; and He will send a message to the reader of these lines if he or she is a really earnest seeker after God’s salvation.

 

The False Professor

        “It came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, who show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour” (Acts 16:16-18). Here was a case eminently calculated to test the spirituality and integrity of the evangelist. Most people would have hailed such words from the lips of this damsel as an encouraging testimony to the work. Why then was Paul grieved? Why did he not allow her to continue to bear witness to the object of his mission? Was she not saying the truth? Were they not the servants of the most high God? And were they not showing the way of salvation? Why silence such a witness? Because it was of Satan, and most assuredly the apostle was not going to receive testimony from him. He could not allow Satan to help him in his work.

        It is deeply important for the Lord’s workman to weigh this matter. We may rest assured that this narrative of the damsel has been written for our instruction. It is not only a statement of what has occurred, but a sample of what may occur and indeed what does occur every day. Christendom is full of false profession of Christ. We are surrounded by those who give a merely nominal assent to the truths of the Christian religion. It is our firm persuasion that the forms of professing Christianity are doing more to ruin precious souls than all the forms of moral depravity put together. How few, comparatively, are clear and settled as to the question of forgiveness of sins. Though your sins rise like a dreadful mountain and threaten to sink you into eternal perdition, yet do these words shine with divine and heavenly luster on the page of inspiration:”The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

 

The Hardened Sinner

        It was very unlikely that the Philippian jailor would ever have found his way to the prayer meeting at the river side. He was neither an earnest seeker nor a false professor. Very likely he was a hardened sinner, pursuing a very hardening occupation. Jailors, from the occupation of their office, are, generally speaking, hard and stern men. No doubt there are exceptions. There are some tender-hearted men to be found in such situations; but as a rule jailors are not tender. It would hardly suit them to be so. They have to do with the very worst class of society. Much of the crime of the whole country comes under their notice; and many of the criminals come under their charge. Accustomed to the rough and the coarse, they are apt to become rough and coarse themselves. The Philippian jailor does not seem to have shown much tenderness to Paul and Silas. “He thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks” (Acts 16:24). He seems to have gone to the utmost extreme in making them uncomfortable. But God had rich mercy in store for that poor, hardened, cruel jailor; and, as it was not at all likely that he would go to hear the gospel, the Lord sent the gospel to him. As to Paul and Silas, it is very evident that they were in their right place in the prison. They were there for the truth”s sake and the Lord was with them. Hence they were perfectly happy. Nothing can hinder the joy of one who has the Lord with him. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them” (16:25). We may safely say that no such sounds had ever issued thence before.

        The Lord had His eye upon the jailor. He had written his name in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world, and He was now about to lead him into the full joy of His salvation. “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed” (16:26). If Paul had not been in full communion with the mind and heart of Christ, he would assuredly have turned to Silas and said, “Now is the moment for us to make our escape.” But Paul knew better. The claims of truth had brought him into prison; the activities of grace kept him there. “The keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled” (16:27). This proves that the earthquake, with all its attendant circumstances, had not touched the heart of the jailor. He could not imagine a number of prisoners sitting quietly in jail when their chains were loosed and the doors lay open. Then what was to become of him if the prisoners were gone? How could he face the authorities? He was about to take his life when a voice of love fell upon his ear, “Do yourself no harm.” This was irresistible. A hardened sinner could meet an earthquake; he could meet death itself; but he could not withstand the mighty melting power of love. He “came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas … and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Love can break the hardest heart. We hear not one reproving word about the harsh treatment, the thrusting into the inner prison, the stocks. Rather, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.” Such is the rich and precious grace of God. It delights in taking up hardened sinners, melting and subduing their hard hearts, and leading them into the sunlight of a full salvation.

 

Individual Gospel Work

        I have been impressed with the simplicity with which the work of evangelizing was carried on in early days. We are apt to think that in order to evangelize there must be a special gift, and even where there is this special gift, there must be a great deal of machinery and human arrangement such as great public halls and large audiences. But I find in the Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles that a quantity of most blessed evangelistic work was done by persons who were not specially gifted at all, but who had an earnest love for souls and a deep sense of the preciousness of Christ and His salvation. What is more, I find in those who were specially gifted, called, and appointed by Christ to preach the gospel, a simplicity, freedom, and naturalness in their mode of working, which I greatly covet for myself and for all my brethren.

        Let us look a little into Scripture. Take that lovely scene in John 1:36-43 where John the Baptist pours out his heart in testimony to Jesus:”Behold the Lamb of God!” His soul was absorbed with the glorious object, and what was the result? “Two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” What then? “One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter”s brother.” What did he do? “He first found his own brother Simon, and said unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.” Again, “The day following Jesus … found Philip and said unto him, Follow Me…. Philip found Nathanael and said unto him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph…. Come and see.” Here is the style of thing for which I earnestly long:this individual work, this laying hold of the first man that comes in our way, this finding one”s own brother and bringing him to Jesus. I do feel we are deficient in this. It is all right enough to gather congregations and address them as God gives ability and opportunity. But do we not also want more of the individual work? more of the private, earnest, personal dealing with souls?

        Do you not think that if we had more “Philips” we should have more “Nathanaels” and if we had more “Andrews” we should have more “Simons”? I cannot but believe it. There is amazing power in an earnest personal appeal. Do you not often find that it is after the more formal public preaching is finished, and the close personal work begins, that souls are reached? How is it then that there is so little of this latter? I speak not now of the preacher who cannot possibly reach every case, but of the scores of Christians who have been listening to him. They have seen strangers enter the room and they have sat beside them; they have, it may be, noticed their interest, seen the tear stealing down the cheek; and yet they have let them pass away without a single loving effort to reach them or to follow up the good work. To be sure, it needs tact and judgment and direct spiritual guidance to be able to deal with souls, to know whom to speak to, and what to say. But, allowing all this, is there not a lack of that deep, personal, loving interest in souls that will express itself in a thousand ways that act powerfully on the heart?

        Let us all be on the look out for souls; then we may rest assured we should see soul-stirring results.

 

Sobriety and Quietness in Gospel Work

        We need to remember at all times that we can do nothing, and that God the Holy Spirit can do all. It holds good in the great work of evangelization. It is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). The abiding sense of this would keep us humble, and yet full of joyful confidence. Humble because we can do nothing, full of joyful confidence because God can do all. Moreover, it would have the effect of keeping us very sober and quiet in our work”not cold and indifferent, but calm and serious, which is a great matter just now. I was much struck with a remark lately made by an aged workman in a letter to one who had just entered the field. He wrote, “Excitement is not power, but weakness. Earnestness and energy are of God.” There are many, I fear, who would regard as “excitement” what you and I might really consider to be “earnestness and energy.” I love a deep-toned earnestness in the work. I do not see how a man can be otherwise than deeply and thoroughly in earnest, who realizes in any measure the awfulness of eternity, and the state of all those who die in their sins. How is it possible for any one to think of an immortal soul standing on the very brink of hell, and in danger at any moment of being dashed over, and not be serious and earnest? But this is not excitement. What I understand by excitement is the working up of mere nature and the putting forth of such efforts of nature as are designed to work on the natural feelings”all high pressure”all that is merely sensational. This is all worthless. We never find any of this in the ministry of our blessed Lord or His apostles:and yet what earnestness! what untiring energy! what tenderness! We see an earnestness that wore the appearance of being beside oneself; an energy that hardly afforded a moment for rest or refreshment; and a tenderness that could weep over impenitent sinners. All this we see, but no excitement. In a word, all was the fruit of the Eternal Spirit, and all was to the glory of God.

 

The Necessity of the Word of God in Evangelism

        The Word of God is the grand instrument to be used in the work of evangelization. Many passages of holy Scripture establish this point with such clearness and decision as to leave no room whatever for dispute. In James 1:18 we read, “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth.” In 1 Peter 1:23 we read, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides for ever.” The evangelist is to preach the Word, and he is to preach it in simple dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the true secret of success in preaching. It matters not what agency may be used to make the furrow, or in what form the Word may clothe itself, or by what vehicle it may be conveyed; it is only by “the Word of truth” that souls are begotten.

        Sometimes persons who undertake to preach the gospel are apt to leave the domain of the evangelist and travel into that of the teacher and lecturer. I know I have erred in this way myself, and I mourn over the error. The Lord has of late deepened immensely in my soul the sense of the vast importance of earnest gospel preaching. I do not think the less of the work of a teacher or pastor. I believe that wherever there is a heart that loves Christ, it will delight to feed and tend the precious lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ that He purchased with His own blood. But the sheep must be gathered before they can be fed, and how are they to be gathered but by the earnest preaching of the gospel? It is the grand business of the evangelist to go forth upon the dark mountains of sin and error, to sound the gospel trumpet and gather the sheep. Using the Word of God he gives the warning voice, the solemn appeal, the faithful reasoning of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, the awakening presentation of death and judgment, the dread realities of eternity, the lake of fire, and the worm that never dies. In short, beloved, we want preachers who have both a keen appreciation of the Word of God and an intense love for souls.

 

Prayer and Evangelism

        I deeply feel our lack of a prayerful spirit in carrying on the work of evangelization. I have referred to the subject of the Spirit”s work, and to the place that God”s Word ought ever to get; but it strikes me we are very deficient in reference to the matter of earnest, persevering, believing prayer. This is the true secret of power. The apostle says, “We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). Prayer brings in the power of God and this is what we want. It is not the power of eloquence, but the power of God; and this can only be had by waiting upon Him. “He gives power to the faint; and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall:but those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa. 40:29-31).

        There is too much of what I may call going through a service. I greatly fear that some of us are more on our legs than on our knees; more in the railway carriage than in the closet; more on the road than in the sanctuary; more before men than before God. This will never do. It is impossible that our preaching can be marked by power and crowned with results if we fail in waiting upon God. Look at the blessed Master Himself. See how often He was found in prayer. Again and again we find that blessed One in the attitude of prayer. At one time He rises up a great while before day, in order to give Himself to prayer. At another time He spends the entire night in prayer, because the day was given up to work. What an example for us! May we follow it! May we know a little better what it is to agonize in prayer! We cannot convert souls. God alone can do this; and if we go on without waiting on Him, if we allow public preaching to displace private prayer, we may rest assured our preaching will prove barren and worthless. We really must “give ourselves to prayer” if we would succeed in the “ministry of the Word.”

        (From “Papers on Evangelism” in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 3).

        When Christ was about leaving the world, He said, “Father, the hour is come!” not an hour, but “the hour.” That hour, in its far-reaching results embraced every hour since time began. In our lives there are periods that mold and shape our destiny. These are seed-hours; so that we reap, in the long harvest days that follow, what has been sown in these hours. Probably no hour in our lives molds and shapes our well-being for time and eternity as the morning hour spent with God. Then we are fresh and vigorous, and can take in and digest more truth than at any other time. To spend this best hour with our best Friend, for our best possible good, seems so suitable and so important that we should take time out to commune with Him.

        “An hour spent with God is worth a lifetime with man.” This hour will govern the day. The influence of family worship is wonderful on the whole household. It seems to anchor each heart to the truth for the day. It girds up the loins of the mind for work for God and man. It prepares us te resist temptation, to endure trials, and not to be drawn away by success. We go forth from this Divine granary to sow the seed of truth during the day.

Begin the day with God;

        Kneel down to Him in prayer;

Lift up your heart to His abode.

        And seek His love to share.

 

Open the Book of God,

        And read a portion there;

That it may hallow all your

                thoughts,

        And sweeten all your care.

 

Go through the day with God,

        Whate’er your work may be;

Where’er your are—at home, abroad—

        He still is near to thee.

 

Converse in mind with God,

        Your spirit heavenward raise:

Acknowledge every good bestowed,

        And offer grateful praise.

 

Conclude the day with God,

        Your sins to Him confess;

Trust in the Lord’s atoning blood,

        And plead His righteousness.

 

Lie down at night with God,

        Who gives His servants sleep;

And when you tread the vale of

                death,

        He will you guard and keep.

“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it, and whoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:24,25).

        Our Lord turns to the disciples and puts before them that not merely is He going to the cross, but they must be prepared to follow Him there. If I am to be in the true path of Jesus, I must deny myself and take up the cross and follow—not the disciples, not this church or that church, but—Jesus Himself. I must turn from what is pleasing to my heart naturally. I must meet with shame and rejection in this present evil world. If not, depend upon it, I am not following Jesus. And remember, it is a dangerous thing to believe in Jesus without following Him. Following Jesus may be like losing one’s life. At the present time much confession of Christ is, comparatively, an easy matter. There is little opposition or persecution. People imagine that the world is changed; they talk of progress and enlightenment. The truth is, Christians are changed. Let us ask ourselves whether we desire to be found taking up our cross and following Jesus.

        The flesh easily assumes superiority over the spirit; and indulgence to the path of ease comes in (though of Satan) under the plea of love and kindness. Is the cross of Christ our glory? Are we willing to suffer in doing His will? What a delusion is present honor and enjoyment!

                (From Lectures on the Gospel of Matthew.)

        I see increasingly in Scripture that you cannot take up the directions that are so plainly marked out in God’s Word with reference to any time in our history or to any conduct that God looks for from His children, apart from moral condition. That I see everywhere in Scripture. You might have the most perfect code of directions marked out by God, but what good are they to me if my condition of soul is not in some way answering to them? I cannot use them for myself unless I am walking with God; and you will find that this is the way people break down. It is in the application of the truth where they break down, rather than in their intelligence of it.

        There must be a condition of soul suited to God Himself before I can really take His truth and use it for myself in the clearing away of difficulties or in the marking out of my path in the midst of all the confusions in which I find myself enveloped in these times.

        This is very important for every one of us, old or young, because, be assured of it, half the difficulties of saints of God arise from their condition of soul. It is the state people are in that produces the difficulties; and I do not know anything more detrimental than handling the things of God if I am not in communion. I do not know anything that is more searing to the conscience, or that has a more lowering effect upon the whole moral tone of a man, than to take up the things of God out of communion. It has a peculiarly deadening effect upon the soul. That is the reason why I believe you will see, everywhere in Scripture, that there is no thought in God’s mind of a saint of God, either in his individual walk, or as a member of the Church of God, being led apart from that moral quality and tone of soul, under the power of His Spirit. Be assured there is no provision of God for saints not walking with Him. That is an important thing to get clearly before our souls. God has made no provision available to us, apart from characteristics in us, suitable to Himself. Without this, you cannot get people to see and comprehend the things of God; and that is where I think the harm and mischief has been, that there have been attempts to educate people into God’s things. You can never do it. It is through moral condition of soul, and this alone, that we are able truly to discern the mind of God.

                (From “The Resources of Faith Amidst Present Confusion.”)

As we think back over the year gone by, many of us are impressed by the remarkable growth—both physical and mental—exhibited by our little children or grandchildren in just one year’s time. But this, in turn, reminds us afresh that we older ones, too, are growing. Or at least we ought to be! It comes to our mind that we are often exhorted in the New Testament to grow, and that these exhortations are given not merely to babes in Christ but to all believers. Consequently, each of us is led to examine himself and to address the searching question to himself:“How much have I grown, spiritually, this past year?”

             If we desired to witness an example of rapid physical growth, we would be advised to observe a well-nourished baby during the first few months of its life. And is it not likewise true that in order to manifest steady spiritual growth, we must become, in certain respects, like an infant? The apostle Peter exhorts, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:12). This in no way contradicts the verses in 1 Corinthians and Hebrews that speak of our need to leave the milk and to go on to the solid food. The emphasis here is on our craving for the Word of God and on our state of soul while feeding upon that “milk of the Word.”

             If we are to grow by the milk of the Word, we must come, in the consciousness of our own weakness, littleness, and ignorance, to receive food from the Word of God.

             It is not the acquiring of a mere intellectual knowledge of the Word that will provide spiritual growth, but rather it is the laying hold of that grand Object presented in the Word, the One who is known as “The Word” and who is the full expression of that Word. “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” we are told (2 Pet. 3:18). How we need, each one of us, to learn the riches of His grace manifested in such varied and wondrous ways to His saints (see Ephesians 1). How we need to be found ever “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10); entering more fully into the glories, perfections, ways, and purposes of the Father and the Son; and having our affections drawn out and centered in Christ.

             Is there any end to such growth? The apostle Paul gives us the answer:“Till we all come … unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). Which of us has attained it?

                May there be a deep desire and prayerful longing in our hearts for the manifestation of steady spiritual growth, both for ourselves and for each of our brothers and sisters in Christ—until that blessed day comes when we shall be with Him and like Him and conformed to His image (1 John 3:2; Rom. 8:29).

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence:a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him” (Psa. 50:3).

             “Behold, it is written before me:I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom” (Isa. 65:6).

             “Our God shall come”. Precious thought and hope for the believer. Although this coming is in reference to the Lord’s coming to set up His kingdom on the earth, it is still an event to be eagerly anticipated by the believer. What a wonderful day it will be when the Lord judges the nations and, having eradicated all that is dishonoring to His name, begins his thousand year reign on the earth. It will, however, be a sad day, to be sure. Many will be judged. In order to maintain His own holy standards, the Lord MUST judge.

             What a sobering thought it is that the Lord will judge and not keep silence. While it may seem that the Lord is relatively silent now, the day is coming in which He will not keep silence any longer. He will judge. He will judge without mercy. He will judge without grace. His judgment will be harsh, but fair. How can any stand before Him and dispute with Him when He speaks from His throne? His own righteousness will be evidenced by His piercing judgments. How it saddens the Lord to judge. Isaiah refers to judgment as being God’s “strange work” (28:21). God is love and He desires, yes demands, that all men everywhere repent (Acts 17:30). Without repentance, there is nothing left but for God to judge … and to judge completely. We find the Lord saying, “Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live:turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die?” (Ezek. 33:11). There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. There is no joy in executing judgment on the wicked. There is not the slightest notion that God delights in punishing the sinner. However, judgment must come and the day is approaching when the Lord no longer will keep His silence.

             When the Lord Jesus first came to the earth, He kept His silence in relation to judging. “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets” (Matt. 12:19). There is a time for silence (Eccl. 3:7), but that time is soon over. It will be time for the Lord’s silence to end. He refuses to be silent any longer. Sin must be dealt with in harshness and without prejudice.

             Thankfully, the believer will never experience the judging hand of God. Being in Christ, we are free from condemnation. Never will the harsh hand of God be raised against us. We are His, precious thought! However, we are surrounded by precious souls who are in danger of facing the Lord in His wrath against sin … where He will not keep silence. He will speak in complete and fiery condemnation against the rejecters of His grace. Brethren, if the day is coming in which the Lord will not keep silence, then it must be that the day is here in which we must not keep silence. “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night:you who make mention of the LORD, keep not silence” (Isa. 62:6). Shout it, fellow believer. Proclaim the name of the Lord from the rooftops, in the streets, in the factories and businesses. Speak His name in the schoolyards, in the malls, in the highways and byways. We have been silent for too long. There is a time to keep silence, but that time is not now … not when it concerns the proclamation of the gospel of salvation. “How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14). What a grand privilege and responsibility we have.

             Without a doubt, we live in a day of apathy. People care very little about one another. People do not want to be bothered with the problems of their neighbors. This is indicative of the Laodicean age in which we live. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would you were cold or hot” (Rev. 3:15). This is a true characteristic not only in the professing Church, but in the real Church as well. How important is it to you that your friend is saved? How concerned are you that your neighbor is destined for hell? How much will you go out of your way to tell a lost, precious soul that salvation is a free gift from God through faith in Christ Jesus? Will you risk being ridiculed or rejected to tell someone that God loves them? Consider Paul’s earnest, soul-wrenching longing for the salvation of Israel, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). Can you believe that? Paul said, in effect, that he would give up his salvation for the salvation of Israel. Sometimes, I won’t even give up one of my free afternoons for the opportunity to tell someone of God’s saving grace, and that is to my own shame.

                There is an old saying that says, “Silence is golden.” I was once told by a dear, older brother that sometimes silence is not golden, it is just plain yellow. May the Lord give us the resolve to commit ourselves to doing the work of an evangelist. May our battle cry be, “I will not keep silent.” May the Lord give us such a burden for the lost that we cannot ignore it. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14).

             The apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were specially charged to preach “repentance and remission of sins” (Luke 24:47). Some of us are apt to overlook the first part of this commission in our eagerness to get to the second. This is a most serious mistake. It is our truest wisdom to keep close to the actual terms in which our blessed Lord delivered His charge to His earliest heralds. Do we give sufficient prominence to the first part of the commission? Do we preach repentance?

             Our Lord preached repentance (Mark 1:14,15) and He commanded His apostles to preach it; they did so consistently (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30,31; 20:21; 26:20). With the example of our Lord and His apostles before us, may we not ask whether we preach repentance as we ought? No doubt it is very important to preach the gospel of the grace of God in all its fullness, clearness, and power. But if we do not preach repentance, we will seriously damage our testimony and the souls of our hearers. What would we say if we saw a farmer scattering seed on a hard road? We would pronounce him out of his mind. The plow must do its work. The ground must be broken up before the seed is sown; and we may rest assured that, as in the kingdom of nature, so in the kingdom of grace, the plowing must precede the sowing. The ground must be duly prepared for the seed or the operation will prove altogether defective. Let the gospel be preached as God has given it to us in His Word.

             What is this repentance which occupies such a prominent place in the preaching of our Lord and His apostles? We are not aware of any formal definition of the subject furnished by the Holy Spirit. However, the more we study the Word in reference to this great question, the more deeply we feel convinced that true repentance involves the solemn judgment of ourselves, our condition, and our ways in the presence of God; further, this judgment is not a transient feeling but an abiding condition, not an exercise to be gone through as a sort of title to the remission of sins, but the deep and settled habit of the soul, giving seriousness, tenderness, and profound humility which should characterize our entire lives.

             We greatly deplore the light, superficial style of much of our modern preaching. It sometimes seems as if the sinner were led to suppose that he is conferring a great honor upon God in accepting salvation at His hands. This type of preaching produces levity, self-indulgence, worldliness, and foolishness. Sin is not felt to be the dreadful thing it is in the sight of God. Self is not judged. The world is not given up. The gospel that is preached is what may be called “salvation made easy” to the flesh. People are offered a salvation which leaves self and the world unjudged and those who profess to be saved by this gospel often exhibit a great lack of seriousness in their Christian lives.

             [Editor’s note:Perhaps this reminds us of some modern evangelism which says, in effect, “Accept Christ and enjoy good fellowship”; “accept Christ and play better football”; or “accept Christ and solve all your problems.”]

             Man must take his true place before God, and that is the place of self-judgment, contrition of heart, real sorrow for sin, and true confession. It is here the gospel meets him. The fullness of God ever waits on an empty vessel, and a truly repentant soul is the empty vessel into which all the fullness and grace of God can flow in saving power. The Holy Spirit will make the sinner feel and own his real condition. It is He alone who can do so; but He uses preaching to this end. By preaching, He brings the Word of God to bear upon the conscience. The Word is His hammer wherewith He “breaks the rock in pieces” (Jer. 23:29); it is His plowshare wherewith He breaks up the “fallow ground” (Jer. 4:3; Hos. 10:12; Matt. 13:23). He makes the furrow and then casts in the incorruptible seed to germinate and bear fruit to the glory of God.

             Let us be careful that we do not draw from these remarks that there is anything meritorious in the sinner’s repentance. This would be to miss the point completely. Repentance is not a good work whereby the sinner merits the favor of God. True repentance is the discovery and hearty confession of our utter ruin and guilt. It is the finding out that my whole life has been a lie, and I myself am a liar. This is serious work. There is no flippancy or levity when a soul is brought to this. A repentant soul in the presence of God is a solemn reality.

             May we more solemnly, earnestly, and constantly call upon men to “repent and turn to God” (Acts 26:20). Let us preach “repentance” as well as “remission of sins.”

             (From “The Great Commission” in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 4.)

These parables are our Lord’s answer to the murmuring of the Pharisees—“This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). They are His divinely perfect way of vindicating the love and grace of God. So far from denying the charge, the Lord displays the truth and blessedness of that with which they charge Him. To do this He uses not one but three parables, each giving different aspects of the same love and grace, and all blending together to reveal the heart of God. And in this we have displayed the whole Trinity.

 

The Lost Sheep (15:1-7)

             Fittingly, the Lord begins with Himself, the Son. He had come into the world for this very purpose—to save sinners. The sheep belongs to Him (as all things are His), but has gone astray, beyond all hope of recovery by its own efforts. In fact it does nothing toward that recovery; both the shepherd in the parable and the true Shepherd do it all—leave all to accomplish this purpose. It includes Christ’s coming in flesh, His perfect life showing His absolute sinlessness, and above all His atoning death—the finished work of divine love, in making possible its saving the lost.

             “But none of the ransomed ever

                 knew

How deep were the waters crossed;

Nor how dark was the night that

                 the Lord passed through,

             Ere He found the sheep that was

                 lost.”                                                                                                                                                          (E.C. Clephane)

             As the work of saving was His, so the power to keep and bring home is His. The joy in it all and over the lost one found is His also. Indeed the joy throughout these parables is looked at as chiefly on God’s part. The reflection of that is in the saved soul. 

The Lost Piece of Money (15:8-10)

             Here in the woman seeking to find the lost coin it is not difficult to think of the present work of the Holy Spirit in the people of God, seeking diligently by the light of the Word, and the zeal of love, to reach those hidden in the dust of the world—behind their business, cares, pleasures—whatever hides them. Those who believe in the truth of their sin and of Christ as Saviour are “found.” The Spirit’s work is accomplished in working “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). Again there is joy in the presence of the angels of God. 

The Lost Son (15:11-24)

             In the first two parables the lost is seen largely or entirely passive. But in the last is seen the working of grace in the person, leading to a sense of misery, a turning to God, and coming with confession, to Him from the place of distance and of shame. And yet, may we not say, this is but the background upon which to display the love of the Father. It is the Father who is waiting, who sees the poor wanderer at a great distance—for who has ever “repented enough” or come all the way alone? With divine haste, the Father anticipates all, and with the kiss of pardon welcomes the lost to the best in His house—robe, ring, sandals, and feast. All are the gift of the Father whose joy He only, with the Son and Spirit, knows in its divine eternal fullness.

             To God the Father be the praise now and ever, by the Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord.

                (From Help and Food, Vol. 38.)

             A circumstance that aptly illustrates the great truth of Christianity happened not long ago in a small village on the west coast of Scotland. The sewerage of the place needed improvement and cleansing; in the progress of the work, one of the principal wells in the town, from which pure water had been supplied to families in the vicinity, became polluted by contact with the sewer. As soon as the cause of the disaster was discovered, remedial measures were established in the hope of restoring the now foul spring to its original purity. Every effort that skill and ingenuity could suggest was taken into consideration, but to no purpose. It was thought possible to clean and wash out the old well as far as it could be seen, but this was abandoned as useless. It was next suggested that if the old building of the well, stones, sand, etc., were removed, and a new well built instead thereof, the desired object would be attained. Many conflicting opinions prevailed as to the possibility of success of this plan. At last it was resolved to call in a man whose occupation had been that of a constructor of wells, and whose experience justified the expectation that his counsel would lead to a proper decision. Nor did he disappoint this hope; for when called and questioned, his reply was unequivocally, “It is not possible to procure pure and sweet water from a spring polluted as this by sewage, either by cleansing it out as far as you can see or by removing the old building and constructing a new one. You must build a new well with new stones, new sand, and in an entirely new place.”

             I happened to walk into the shop where these facts were being told, and when I heard them it struck me what a picture of Christianity that is! It also struck me how little known or understood Christianity is! And now, do you not see, dear reader, how true all this is, that man, in his natural state, is the polluted well—defiled in his spring, his nature corrupt? What is to be done? God’s heart is overflowing in its love for guilty man, while man’s heart is overflowing with hatred to, or indifference toward the blessed God. What is to be done? God must set that filthy well—man—aside. There is nothing else for it. The spring is polluted at its source, man is irreparable.

             So God sends His own blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world, the scene of the dishonor done to Himself, as well as the witness of man’s ruin and degradation, and here where man had utterly failed to glorify God, He, that blessed One, that beautiful and perfect Man, perfectly glorified God:“I have glorified Thee on the earth” (John 17:4), and thus exhibited what a dependent and subject man ought to be. And not only this, but as He walked this world, He manifested God His Father:“He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). What a wonderful thought:“The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). This is the One who came into this poor world that was at a distance from God, to tell out the secrets of that bosom towards poor man on it. Inasmuch as judgment is resting on man by reason of sin, and that he is, moreover, walking the world in a forfeited life, God’s Son bore the judgment, gave up His own life for man’s that was forfeited, and at the same time presented His own personal excellency to God. Man’s history is now closed; the old well is declared, as to its standing and state, to be irremediable; but this is not all, for He who in grace thus gave Himself, “was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Rom. 6:4) and becomes now in Himself, thus risen, the new standing for the new well. Therefore is it written, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God” (2 Cor. 5:17,18).

             Dear reader, what wonderful words these last five are, “all things are of God”; the position is of God, the building on it of God, the builder, God. Even, as in the case of the well, the old position, mortar, stones, and sand were all set aside as good for nothing, so in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believer once a sinner, as a child of Adam, was entirely judged and put away out of God’s sight:not only his sins but that which did them, his nature. In the Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the new era or second volume of our history is opened, and on the title page of this volume is inscribed—“ All things are of God.”

             May the Lord the Spirit open hearts to see the great salvation of God, how He has settled the question of the old well with its corrupt spring, and what a magnificent well He has opened in His Son risen from the dead, the second Man, the last Adam, the completer of the old creation, and Head of the new.

             First it may be well to observe what repentance is not. Repentance is neither penitence (simple sorrow for sin), nor penance (the effort in some way to atone for wrong done), nor reformation (an attempt to replace bad habits with good ones).

             Repentance is a complete reversal of one’s inward attitude. To repent is to change one’s attitude toward self, toward sin, toward God, toward Christ. John the Baptist came preaching to publicans and sinners, hopelessly vile and depraved, “Repent [or change your attitude], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). To the haughty scribes and legalistic Pharisees came the same command, “Change your attitude,” and thus they would be ready to receive Him who came in grace to save. To sinners everywhere the Saviour cried, “Except you [change your attitude], you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5).

             True repentance implies that the pleasure lover sees and confesses the folly of his empty life; the self-indulgent learns to hate the passions that express the corruption of his nature; the self-righteous sees himself a condemned sinner in the eyes of a holy God; the man who has been hiding from God seeks to find a hiding place in Him; the Christ-rejecter realizes and owns his need of a Redeemer, and so believes unto life and salvation.

             To own frankly that I am lost and guilty is the prelude to life and peace. It is not a question of a certain depth of grief and sorrow, but simply the recognition and acknowledgment of need that lead one to turn to Christ for refuge. None can perish who put their trust in Him. His grace superabounds above all our sin, and His expiatory work on the cross is so infinitely precious to God that it fully meets all our uncleanness and guilt.

             (From Except Ye Repent.)