LIONEL EDWARD KINGHAM 1886 – 1958

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

"I am the good Shepherd:the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.

"Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again." (John 10:11,17)

FRAGMENT
"We’ll sing of the Shepherd that died,
That died for the sake of the flock;
His love to the utmost was tried,
But firmly endured as a rock.

When blood from a victim must flow
This Shepherd, by pity, was led
To stand between us and the foe,
And willingly died in our stead.

Our song, then, forever shall be
Of the Shepherd who gave Himself thus;
No subject so glorious as He,
No theme so affecting to us.

Of Him and His love will we sing,
His praises our tongues shall employ,
Till heavenly anthems we bring
In yonder bright regions of joy."

There are some practical directions concerning the gathering of the manna which are of the utmost importance. First, they were to gather it every man according to his eating, (w. 16-18.) As a consequence he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. The appetite governed the amount collected. How strikingly true this is of the believer! We all have as much of Christ as we desire -no more, and no less. If our desires are large, if we open our mouth wide, He will fill it. We cannot desire too much, nor be disappointed when we desire. On the other hand, if we are but feebly conscious of our need, a little only of Christ will be supplied. The measure therefore in which we feed upon Christ, as our wilderness food, depends entirely upon our felt spiritual need upon our appetite.

Secondly, it could not be stored for future use. No man was to leave of it until the morning; but some disobeyed this injunction, only, however, to find that what they had thus left had become corrupt. No, the food collected to-day cannot sustain us on the morrow. It is only in a present exercise of soul that we can feed upon Christ. Much damage has accrued to souls from forgetting this principle. They have had a rich repast of manna, and they have attempted to feed upon it for days; but it has always issued in disappointment and loss instead of blessing. God only gives the portion of a day in its day (see margin of v. 4), and no more.

Thirdly, it was to be collected early, for when the sun waxed hot it melted. No time, indeed, is so precious to the believer for gathering the manna as the first moments of the day when in quiet he is alone with the Lord. He has not yet entered upon the experiences of the day, and he knows not what may be the precise character of his path; but he knows that he will need the sustaining manna. Let him therefore be diligent in the early morning, and let his hand not be slack to gather, and to gather as much as he may need; for even should he seek it afterwards, he will find that it has all disappeared before the glare and the heat of the day. How many a failure may be traced back to neglect on this point!

A trial comes – unexpectedly comes, and the soul breaks down. But why? Because the manna was not collected before the sun was hot. All should lay this to heart, and be on the watch against the artifices of Satan to divert our minds from this one necessary thing. Let all diligence be employed that, whatever the emergency throughout the day, there may be no lack of manna.

In connection with the manna the Sabbath is also given, (w. 22-30.)

We read in Genesis 2. that "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." (v.3) This fixes the meaning of the sabbath or the seventh day; for it should be carefully observed that it is the seventh and no other day, showing clearly that it is God’s rest. This meaning is asserted most distinctly also in the epistle to the Hebrews. (See Heb. 4:1-11.) The sabbath therefore is a type of God’s rest, and as given to man expresses the desire of God’s heart that he should share with Him in His rest. It is found here for the first time. There is not a trace of it through all the patriarchal age, or during the sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt, but, as found in this chapter in connection with the manna, it has a most blessed significance.

But a few remarks must be made before this is explained. The object God had in view in its institution has been indicated; but, as is abundantly clear, man in consequence of sin never possessed the thing signified. Nay, more, God Himself could not rest because of sin. Hence, when our blessed Lord was accused of breaking the sabbath, He replied, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." (John 5:17). God could not rest in the presence of sin, and of the dishonour done to Him by it, and as a consequence man could not share it with him.

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews develops this latter point. He shows that the children of Israel were shut out from it because of their unbelief and hardness of heart, that Joshua did not give them rest, that in David’s time it was spoken of as yet future, and he argues that "there remaineth therefore a rest (a keeping of the sabbath) to the people of God." (Heb. 3 and 4.) The question arises then, How is it to be possessed? The answer is found in our chapter. The manna, as we have seen, pre-figures Christ, and consequently the connection teaches that it is Christ, and Christ only, who can lead us into the rest of God. He is the only way. The apostle thus says, "We which have believed do enter into rest" (Heb. 4:3); that is, it belongs to those who believe in Christ to enter into rest – not be any means, as some have taught, that the rest is a present thing. The context shows distinctly that it is a future blessing. There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God. That believers may have rest of conscience and rest of heart in Christ is most blessedly true; but God’s rest will not be reached until we enter upon that eternal scene in which all things are made new, when the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Rev. 21:1-7.)

There are two circumstances connected with the institution of the sabbath in this place which demand a brief notice. The first is the double provision of manna on the sixth day, that the people might rest in their tents on the seventh. If collected thus on any other day in self-will, it became worthless and corrupt; but when done in obedience in view of the sabbath it remained sound and good.

The truth taught, however, is that when sharing in God’s rest, in His grace, throughout eternity, Christ will be still our food; nay, it might be said that our enjoyment of that rest will consist in feasting with God upon the once humbled Christ. Nothing less will satisfy His own heart than that we should have full fellowship with Himself concerning His beloved Son.

There is perhaps another thought. It is that whatever we acquire of Christ here becomes our eternal possession and delight. Gather as much manna as we may, two omers instead of one; if it is kept for the rest that remaineth, it will be a source of strength and joy throughout eternity. The second thing is that some of the people, spite of the injunction they had received, went out on the seventh day to gather manna, but they found none. (v. 27.) Whatever the exhibitions of grace man’s heart remained the same. Disobedience is native to his corrupt nature, and displays itself alike, whether under law or grace. The Lord rebuked through Moses the conduct of His people, though He bore with them in His long-suffering and tender mercy.

Taking the sabbath, as has been explained, as a type of God’s rest, and therefore, since sin has come in, as yet future, it will be at once seen that there is a distinct typical teaching connected with there being no manna on the sabbath. The time for the manna will then be forever past. Christ will never more be apprehended in that character; for the wilderness circumstances of His people will then have forever passed away. The store they collected while in the desert may be still employed; but there will be no more to be gathered. The same lesson, in one aspect, may be seen in the direction given by Moses at the commandment of the Lord, (w, 32-36.)

There is doubtless an allusion to this in the promise to the overcomer in the church at Pergamos:"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna," (Rev. 2:17.) Thus Christ in His humiliation is never to be forgotten, but always to be remembered, and gratefully to be fed upon throughout eternity by His people.

Hence an omer full of manna was laid up before the Lord, before the Testimony, to be kept for their generations. For forty years, during the whole of their wanderings in the desert, until they came to a land inhabited, this was their daily food; they did eat manna until they came into the borders of the land of Canaan.

FRAGMENT
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
‘Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear Name! the Rock on which we build!
Our Shield and Hiding-place!
Our never-failing Treasure, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

Jesus, our Saviour, Shepherd, Friend!
Thou Prophet, Priest, and King!
Our Lord, our Life, our Way, our End!
Accept the praise we bring.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
Heb.11:13.

Blessed and precious it is to behold this company of pilgrims and strangers on earth – the long line of those who, through faith, obtained a good report. They are witnesses to us of having sought a country undefiled and a city whose builder and maker God is.

The details about these early saints are very scanty, but in the brief words given we see a heavenly character shining through them. From the earliest days of Genesis the saints of God are seen apart from the world; the work of faith and the patience of hope was in them. Cain’s family may have their city, their arts and music, while Seth’s family are without a place or a name – the earth knew them not.

The Lord had set a mark on Cain, that no one finding him should slay him. The blood of Abel is to remain unavenged, and the family of Seth are observant of this; no attempt is made by them to answer the cry of innocent blood. They know it has come to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and vengeance does not belong to them. Express charge had been given in this, and theirs was simple obedience. If the earth be not cleansed, the elect are to be strangers in it, with a heavenly calling, and this is observed in the family of Seth.

True and beautiful in the mind of God is all this. It is the way of God, and was apprehended by these saints in the light of God’s perfect ways, more than with many of us, beloved, who have been so much instructed in the fuller revelations of this present age. But it is not the schooling only, but the capacity to sit at the lesson that we need.

The Lord began, in Adam, to claim and display His rights on the earth. The man in the garden was to own the sovereignty of God, and the earth was the rest and the delight of the Lord, and the place of His glory. But sin entering and polluting all, and the pollution being left uncleansed, in Seth God called a people away from the earth to an inheritance in heaven. Then in Noah the Lord God re-asserted His rights here, and took up the earth as the place where His elect might find a home, and His own presence be known again. But corruption having come in again, Abraham is separated from kindred, and from country, and from father’s house, to be a heavenly stranger on the earth, with his altar and his tent, looking for a city whose builder and maker was God.

Israel, in their day, then take up this mystic tale of the heavens and the earth, and in the land of Canaan become the witness of the scene of God’s sovereignty. The ark passes over the river as "the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth." But after Joshua and the elders that had known the works of the Lord had passed away, the apostasy soon followed, and the remnant became strangers among the nation, looking for redemption in Israel.

And now the Church is set for the full testimony of heavenly mysteries again; and strangership here is the divine idea, till our being taken to meet the Lord in the air.

Now let me observe, that whenever God arises in this progress of His counsels to assert title to the earth, He begins by judging and cleansing it, because, the scene of His purposed glory and presence being corrupted, He must take the offense away, for His presence could not brook defilement. Noah’s lordship of the earth was, accordingly, preceded by the flood carrying away the world of the ungodly. Israel’s inheritance of Canaan under Jehovah, as the God of all earth, was prepared by the judgment of the Amorites and the sword of Joshua. And the future millennial kingdom, when the earth is to be the place of the glory again, is (as all Scripture tells us) to be ushered in by that great action called "the day of the Lord," with a clearing out of all that offend, and all that do iniquity.

But the call of God is quite of another character. It proceeds on the principle that God Himself is apart from the earth, and is not seeking to have it as the home of His glory, or the place of His presence; but seeking a people out of it, to be His, away from it, and above it.

This was exhibited in Abraham. Abraham was the object of the call of God, and accordingly the Canaanites find no rival in him. He does not dispute with them the title or possession of the soil. He finds them, and he leaves them, lords of it. He desires only to pitch his tent and raise his alter on it for a season; and then to have his bones laid in the bowels of it for another season.

So with the Church in this age. She is likewise under the call of God. But her call leaves the Gentiles in power, as it found them. "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers." The saints have only to obey them unreluctantly, or to suffer from them patiently, according as the demand made of them, is or is not consistent with their subjection to Christ and the call of God:They are not to strive with the potsherds of the earth.

I own, beloved, that I greatly admire this fine expression of the mind of Christ in these earliest saints. They take the only way which the holiness of God could sanction. They are "partakers of His holiness." The light they walked in was God’s; the holiness they partook of was God’s. It is the light of heavenly strangership in a polluted world. It is a light which reproves the course of this world, and makes manifest other principles and hopes altogether.

After this pattern the Lord would have us:in the world, but not of it; of heaven, though not as yet in it. Paul, in the Holy Ghost, would so have us, taking example from those whose "conversation is in heaven." Peter, in the same Spirit, would so have us, "as strangers and pilgrims" abstaining from fleshy lusts. James summons us, in the same Spirit, to know that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God." And John separates us as by a stroke:"We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."

It is for the Church, beloved, to walk in this elevation and separateness. What is according to the call of God, and what worthy of heavenly hopes, but this? We breathe but feebly, and glow but faintly, in company with those and like witnesses. What a temper of soul, it has just struck me, we get in such a chapter as Phil. 4! What a glow is felt throughout it! What a shout of triumph the Spirit raises! What elevation in the midst of changes, perplexities, and depressions! The apostle’s whole temper of soul throughout that chapter is uncommon. But, if one may speak for others, it is to us little more than the tale of a distant land, or the warmth and brilliancy of other climes reported to our souls by travellers.

Lead us, Lord, we pray thee! Teach us indeed to sing –

"We’re bound for yonder land,
Where Jesus reigns supreme;
We leave the shore at His command,
Forsaking all for Him.

"Twere easy, did we choose,
Again to reach the shore –
But that is what our souls refuse,
We’ll never touch it more."

But surely it is one thing to be the advocate of Christianity and another to be the disciple of it. And though it may sound strange at first, far easier is it to teach its lessons than to learn them.

The new-born babe instinctively turns to its mother’s breast, and the young convert, the soul newly born into God’s family by faith in Christ, naturally seeks spiritual nourishment out of God’s Word. He may not do this very intelligently, nor is it with the same eagerness in all, but in every truly converted soul there is an instinctive desire for the word of God. It is true that some are converted under such circumstances and in such environments as to greatly obscure or hinder that holy and natural desire, but we speak of what is normal. To these the apostle Peter, who was especially commissioned by the Lord to feed the lambs and sheep of His flock (see John 21:15-17), writes:"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." Note the expression, "desire," or "earnestly desire," as the expression really is.

But young believers sometimes complain of a lack of felt interest in the Bible – a lack of real desire for it. This is a condition to be deplored, and the cause and its remedy is to be sought out sincerely before God. The love and desire for God’s Word may be stifled by a hankering after worldly things – the reading of trashy or corrupting books, or the indulgence of sin. In such a condition the soul is not only unable to enjoy God’s Word, but is in great danger of being betrayed into some alarming sin because of its lack of power to resist temptations. We must exhort such an one to betake himself at once to serious and full confession of it to God his Father. Fear not to tell Him all – in detail, not generalities. Sincere confession will bring relief to your heart, and be the beginning of breaking the spell of coldness and lack of desire for God’s Word of which you complain.

Let us remember the apostle’s expression, "Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow there-by." The Word of God and prayer are the God-appointed means to sustain and increase the spiritual life in the believer. The "sincere milk" may be rightly translated the pure, or unadulterated "milk of the Word." How many of God’s children are given adulterated milk today! Ah, and even worse; it may be poisoned food, instead of the pure, the unadulterated milk, that is served out in popular pulpits – discussion of social and political subjects, man’s opinions, the world’s philosophy – all that is of the present world; or, if on religious and spiritual subjects, the truth may be falsified, the credibility of the Holy Scriptures assailed, or tradition substituted or added to it. Oh, what injury is done to new-born souls by pernicious ministry in many places! "Take heed what ye hear," said our blessed Lord Jesus, the chief Shepherd of His sheep (Mark 4:24). So take heed, dear young Christian, that you do not imbibe the seductive and popular teaching of this day.

We turn now to the specified hindrances to the healthy, normal appreciation of the Word of God by which man lives (Matt. 4:4).

"Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and evil-speakings." The apostle here specifies things which in the child of God hinder or destroy his appetite for the food by which he is to grow. Almost any physician can tell us that the most common cause of impaired appetite is improper habits, such as late and irregular hours with tardy rising, improper food or immoderate eating and drinking, and abusing of the body. Spiritually this is the ground taken by the apostle here. He points out the possible or probable causes which hinder our appetite for the Word. He mentions five:malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, evil-speakings. What a cluster of the "vine of Sodom!"

"Laying aside all malice" is the first thing mentioned here. Malice is defined as "ill-will," "spite" "disposition to harm others." It is the exact opposite of "good-will." In 1 Cor. 5:8 it is seen in bad company, "The leaven of malice and wickedness." In Col. 3:8 it is put between "anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication." In Eph. 4:51 it is associated with "bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking," put last there as a kind of trailer to other evils. In Peter it is put first as probably more characteristic of the Jew than of the Gentile, as witness the book of Acts, where the bearers of the gospel are pursued everywhere by the Jews.

What a terrible thing to harbor malice in the heart! How unlike our Saviour-God who would have all men to be saved, who wishes ill to none, even to His enemies. It is easily understood how such an evil mind would effectually prevent a soul’s enjoyment of God’s holy Word. Let us, then, drive away from our hearts this hateful bird, and fear it as poison which would ruin our soul’s happiness and prevent our delight in God’s precious Word.

"All guile" comes next. Guile is a close associate of deceit. They are paired together in psalm 55:11; and in 1 Thess. 2:3 it is one of the unlovely trio – deceit, uncleanness, guile. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile," was our Lord’s commendation of Nathanael; and here Peter calls upon his fellow-believers to lay aside all guile. What is more lovely in a little child than its guilelessness, its beautiful artless candor! Oh Christian, beware of guile; lock your heart against its entrance.

"Hypocrisies" – what scorn attaches to the word! Who does not hate it in others? We commonly associate it with an unreal profession of religion, but it is not confined to this. Does not the Spirit of God detect some measure of it at times in the heart of the true Christian? Faithful old Cruden, in his Concordance, defines hypocrisy as "an affectation of the name, with a disaffection of the thing." True Christians often affect to be, to feel, to believe, and love, more than what is actually true in the heart. It may intrude in our conversations, our professions of love for brethren, for meetings, and may intrude even in public prayer. It is the off-spring of pride, and is to be unsparingly judged in our inmost heart. "Pure, and without hypocrisy" is a lovely Scripture combination, in Jas. 3:17, for us to pursue with perseverance. Malice, guile, hypocrisy – what a trinity of evil! – all these and more are in our very nature; let us be on our watch against them, remembering that we are "called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9), and as the "elect….of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:2).

"Envies and all evil speakings" are the last two mentioned; they are morally related, and usually go in company. "Who can stand before envy?" (Prov. 27:4). It has been aptly defined as "an evil affection of the heart which frets at the good name and prosperity of others." Pilate knew that "for envy" the chief priests had delivered Christ into his hands to be crucified. "Filled with envy" they cast Christ’s faithful witnesses into prison (Acts 5:17, marg.). "Moved with envy," Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph for slavery in Egypt (Acts 7:9); and "filled with envy" the unbelieving Jews pursued Paul from city to city (Acts 13:45; 17;5). Oh, Envy, Envy, what evils does not Scripture and every-day history lay at thy door!

"Evil speaking" is both the offspring and handmaid of envy. All the evils mentioned before – as a quartet of inward ills – for very shame lie concealed in the heart, but if unjudged there, give vent in evil-speakings. Alas, that such evil things should ever be seen among the redeemed of the Lord! But it is not by hiding them from ourselves, or closing our eyes to them, that they are overcome, but in judging them before the Lord; and His grace shall triumph over them, and enable the soul to feed in peace upon His word. Then shall we be enabled like David to say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"(Psa. 139:23,24).

What a deplorable condition of things! It is simply heart-breaking to contemplate. The public worship of God brought into utter contempt; the ministers of religion working only for hire; venality and corruption in connection with the holy service of God; every form of moral pravity practiced amongst the people. In short, it was a scene of deep moral gloom, depressing beyond expression to all who cared for the Lord’s interests.

And yet, even in the midst of this terrible scene, we have a most touching and exquisite illustration of our thesis. As ever, there is a. remnant – a beloved company who honored and loved the Lord, and found in Him their centre, their object, their delight. "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord harkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels (my special treasure) and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

How lovely is all this! What a contrast to the general condition of things! We may range through the entire history of the nation, and find nothing like this. Where do we read of "a book of remembrance written before the Lord"? Nowhere; not even amidst the brilliant victories of Joshua and David, or the splendors of Solomon. It may be said there was no need. That is not the point. What we have to ponder is the striking fact that the words and ways of this feeble remnant, in the very midst of abounding wickedness, were so refreshing to the heart of God that He had a book of remembrance written about them. We may safely assert that the communings of these beloved ones were more grateful to the heart of God than the singers and trumpeters in Solomon’s day. "They spake often one to another." "They feared the Lord, and thought upon His name." There was individual devotedness, personal attachment; they loved the Lord; and this drew them together.

Nothing can be more lovely. Would there were more of it in our midst! Those dear people were not doing anything very great or showy in man’s view; but ah, they loved the Lord, they thought of Him, and their common attachment to Him drew them together to speak of Him; and this gave a charm to their reunions which gratified and refreshed the heart of God!

FRAGMENT "But ye, beloved building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life eternal. And some convict when they dispute; others save, pulling them out of the fire; and others pity with fear, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. But to Him that is able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you with exultation blameless before His glory; to an only God our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all times, and now, and unto all the ages. Amen"

If I do not get what is mine in spiritual things, I will not give God what is His in spiritual things.

If I fail to enjoy my portion, I will not give God His portion, and the whole second part of this first division (of the Book of Judges) simply tells us how God is left out of account, how the people were alienated from Him simply because there was lack of faith and obedience to follow His will in taking possession of what was their own. You say perhaps in your inmost heart, if I am not enjoying the highest kind of spiritual life, it is my own fault, it is my own loss. No, my brother, it is God’s loss. He is the loser. What He craves from you is the obedience and worship of a heart which is so full of His blessing that it has got to express itself in worship and service. No, you are not the chief sufferer, not the chief loser. Our blessed God is the loser. "Will a man rob God?"

….Think what blessings the Spirit of God has revealed. A glorious Christ at God’s right hand, a heavenly Church, and all the precious truths that flow from and are connected with it. It is one thing for us to talk about these precious truths, but it is quite a different thing to have them brought home, revealed to us by the Holy Ghost. The elders have gone; the first generation of this movement has passed away, and we are risen in the room of our fathers, and I ask you, and I ask myself:Has it been merely something handed down to us from faithful men, or have we had to do with God about these things? Is it between us and God? Have we been alone with Him about them? Have we been personally at Gilgal with Him about them? Or have we learned them because this or that one has held and taught them? Beloved brethren, leaders are God-given. We can bless God for them. But we cannot follow leaders save as they follow Christ. We must follow a living Christ in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Lot, who was not a man of faith at all, might follow Abraham wherever he went. Abraham, to whom the God of glory appeared, when he dwelt in Mesopotamia, followed that beckoning hand of glory, out from his home, his country, his kindred – everything. Why did Lot follow? Because he had his eye on Abraham. Abraham went because he had his eye upon God. Lot went because he had his eye on man. Dear friends, why are we here, in this outside place? Why are we here, in this outside place? Why are we professing to bear reproach for the name of Christ? Have we followed the beckoning hand of divine glory? or have we followed near and dear ones? Have children followed parents, husbands wives, or wives husbands? Have we followed those whom we have loved and honored in the flesh merely? Or have we followed Christ? Have we listened to the guidance of the Spirit of God, or to the guidance of men of faith? Men of faith can lead, but they cannot lead in reality except as the eye is fixed upon Christ.

(From "Lectures on Judges".)

FRAGMENT "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing (or, persuasive) words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1 Cor. 2:4,5.

There is in the world a steady and rapid drift toward making the Lord’s Day a day of selfish pleasure, and an occasion for making money. Amongst believers there is a danger of losing sight of its true significance.

What then is its true significance? Let Scripture supply the answer. In Mark 14:1-2, we read, "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." Again we read Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them."

These quotations shew us two things:First, the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Second, His followers met together on that day to break bread and to enjoy the ministry of the Word.

From that day to this the First Day of the week has been essentially the Lord’s Day, the Christian’s day. Sunday, the popular name for the first day of the week is a name of pagan origin, and it was officially recognized and established by Constantine as a day of rest and religious observances.

The Sabbath was past when Christ arose. It was the seventh day and essentially Jewish, setting forth the rest of God. The Lord’s Day, therefore, is a memorial of the resurrection of Christ and it signifies complete deliverance from the whole Jewish system, for He died to it, once and forever.

Rising from the dead, He became the beginning of the creation of God – new creation and if any man be in Christ there is new creation. Liberty, freedom, and eternal salvation are associated with the first day of the week, for Christ has broken death’s power and brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel.

The great enemy of souls has ever sought to destroy this witness and is doing so today with all his power.

He would give it a Jewish character and bring souls into bondage, robbing them of the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free, or, failing in this he would go to the other extreme and turn liberty into license for the flesh. Alas! in the latter he is succeeding, perhaps more than in the former; for men are becoming increasingly lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

What is the meaning of the modern attitude towards the Lord’s Day – the mad rush for change and excitement entailing wasteful expenditure of money and hard and unnecessary work for many who are entitled to rest and quietude. It means the masses are throwing off allegiance to God and asserting their own will. To them it is no longer the Lord’s Day but their day, "Will a man rob God? Mal. 3:8. Yes, they are doing it, openly and unabashed. They say, with ever increasing defiance, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice."
The tide has set in and nothing can stop it. The religious leaders can see it and are alarmed, but in many cases they do not see the end, owing to their erroneous systems of theology. What will the end be? The One whose day it is, and to Whom it gives testimony, is coming again to assert His rights and establish His power in the earth. What an awakening it will be; but too late, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels." (2 Thess. 1-7.)

Should any read these lines who are on pleasure bent and who take to themselves the sacred hours of the Lord’s Day, shutting God out of their thoughts, let them beware – "The Judge standeth before the door." "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

To the Lord’s dear people I would affectionately address myself. It is the Lord’s Day – fill it for Him. Own His claims in connection with it. "Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s." 1st Cor. 6:19-20. "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is." Seek to be in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.

Avail yourselves of the holy privilege of assembling together to break bread. Listen with attentive ears to the ministry of the Word. Edify one another. Be in the Spirit; the Lord can then speak to you and you in turn can speak to others. Wait on the Lord for your service. He will direct you and fit and qualify you for it. Redeem the time for the days are evil.

May we, one and all, be found as each Lord’s Day comes round, answering to our Master’s will until He Himself shall come.

FRAGMENT How sweet in glory to be able to look back upon a course run in which Jesus had not been denied, confidence maintained, and now throughout eternity to enjoy the fulness of that blessing, the foretaste of which sweetened all their sorrows in this life!

FRAGMENT We will make a straight path if we are looking unto Jesus and running with patience; but if not, it is not only that we have turned aside from the appointed course, but that which is lame will also be turned out of the way. God keep us from turning any of His lame ones out of the way. Oh for the faith that, instead of turning others away, or stumbling the feeblest, shall heal those who would be tempted to wander.

At the close of our studies, I would press upon us all the enormous weight of responsibility that rests upon those whose eyes have been opened to the realities upon which we have been dwelling. Where are Gideon, Jephthah, Barak now? Where are the apostles, martyrs, and confessors of the Church? They have gone. No longer can they stand in the breach, or uphold the standard of Christ. They rest from their labors, waiting to be rewarded for their faithful service.

But the enemy is still here, as we have been abundantly seeing; and the Church of Christ is still here with the testimony to the truth of God to be preserved in the face of abounding evil. Yea, alas, the spiritual bondages are a present fact – but who and where are the deliverers?

Do you look about, near or far off? Do you think of someone across the sea, or in a distant land, whose name and work you have heard? Ah, beloved, look nearer home. Do you sigh and cry over the desolations? Do you hunger for the word of God? Are you absolutely broken and helpless? Then why not you? Why may not God use you, in complete weakness, as an instrument for help and deliverance for His people?

Oh, the honor and dignity, the joy of being permitted to stand for Christ, for His Church and His truth in a day of rebuke and ruin! To stand, to confess, yea to die if need be, for Him. Have the mass succumbed? Have principles been abandoned, or has godly care relaxed? Then in Christ’s name, if there be but one to stand to the truth, let him stand. One mightier than the mightiest stands with him.

There is no reformation for the Church of Christ, there is no improvement for the people of God, there is no such thing as getting right, or being right, there is no such thing as obedience to the word of God, that does not have one controlling Person before the soul.

Beloved brethren, you can be coldly exact, theologically accurate, you may be ecclesiastically correct, you may point out wrong in this and in that system, the inconsistencies of professing Christians, you may get to be quite Pharisees in your conduct, but you are nothing unless you have this one commanding fact throughout, – Christ in His blessed Person, Christ in His all-sufficiency, the Lord Jesus in the fulness of His love and the attractiveness of His Person, is the only One who can control and lead and deliver His people, the One whom we long to see.

There is a joy of conflict, there is a joy in getting the truth of God; a joy in meeting the enemy even, if we meet him in faith; a joy in getting down and learning our own weakness; but, ah, all these joys after all are only but foretastes of that one great joy for which our hearts are waiting, waiting with Him, and that is to behold Him. And when we behold Him, and His Church beholds Him, when we are caught up to be with Him, we will then, and not till then, be conformed to His image. If we are to represent Him here, the measure in which He Himself controls thought, motive, desire, everything in our lives, so that we can say with Paul, "To me, to live is Christ," beloved, in that measure we will have practical likeness to Him, and be a practical testimony for Him.

How blessedly simply, how blessedly satisfying. In the midst of all the confusion in which we live, in the midst of all the desolation which man’s pride and selfishness has brought in, in the midst of Satan’s malignity and the world’s allurements, to be able to say:

"I have heard the voice of Jesus,
Tell me not of aught beside,
I have seen the face of Jesus,
All my soul is satisfied."

Are we satisfied with Him, beloved? Does He fill the soul? Does He take possession of us, do we walk in fellowship with Him? If we do, in spite of all the ruin that is about us, and in the face of all the heavy load of our responsibility, we will have a power that will enable us to meet them every one, – Christ and Christ alone.

Not one thing but Christ Jesus; not one thing but Himself; Himself, His word, His will, His headship, His authority, His honor; everything centering in Him, radiating from Him, and the link between Him and every one of His blood-bought people recognized, and we ourselves seeking to be simply the reflection of Christ. Christ reflected out of a broken life, a broken self. Do you crave the honour of representing Christ, of being filled with Christ?

"To me, to live is Christ." "Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus."

"O blessed, living Lord,
Engage our hearts with Thee,
And strike within some answ’ring chord
To love so rich and free!

To know Thy loving heart!
To cleave to Thy blest side!
To gaze upon Thee where Thou art,
And in Thy love abide!

To walk with Thee below!
To learn Thy holy ways!
And more to Thine own stature grow,
To Thine eternal praise!

Thyself our one Desire!
Thyself our Object here!
The goal to which our hearts aspire –
To meet Thee in the air!"