Milo

9 NOVEMBER

Secured by his mark

‘And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.’ Genesis 19:16
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Genesis 19:1–14

As the cry of Sodom’s sin, so the cry of Lot’s prayers had been heard of the Lord. Judgement must take place, but a mark is set upon him. The angels were sent to deliver him. They found that though Lot dwelt in Sodom, he was not of it. To him they were welcome guests—but the inhabitants would have offered them violence. This filled up the measure of their iniquities. An observation or two from the verses before my text, I must not omit:
(i) the angel’s question, Hast thou here any besides? Ah, some of the Lord’s people who see the destruction of Sodom approaching will feel this. Was it proper for you to speak, what complaints should I hear from different parts—I have a rebellious child, or a parent growing old in sin—or a wife or a husband. Well, complain to the Lord—pray for them yet more earnestly.
(ii) Lot’s endeavours to save his sons-in-law; but they would not be warned, and their wives, though the children of pious Lot, were equally hardened. Let those who have light, take care how they marry with the profane and wicked, lest they become like them.

FOR MEDITATION: The evening hymn on Sunday 11 June 1775, ‘which I composed with a view to the present troubles in America, and gave a brief sketch of the past and present state of the nation, with a view to engage the people to attendance on our Tuesday morning meetings, by apprising them of the importance of the crisis.’ [The 5am weekly Tuesday morning prayer meetings drew over a hundred people.]

The gathering clouds, with aspect dark,
The humble souls who mourn and pray,
A rising storm presage;
The LORD approves and knows;
Oh! to be hid within the ark,
His mark secures them in the day
And sheltered from its rage!
When vengeance strikes his foes.

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 41 [1/4], GENESIS 19:16

November 8th

The unrivalled power of prayer

We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26.

We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; we know what it is to pray in the Spirit; but we do not so often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays in us prayers which we cannot utter. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.
“He,” the Spirit in you, “maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God,” and God searches your heart not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what is the prayer of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God needs the nature of the believer as a shrine in which to offer His intercession. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, He “would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.” The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and said—“My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
Have we recognized that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, though it is only a tiny bit of our personality, is to be regarded by us as a shrine of the Holy Ghost. He will look after the unconscious part that we know nothing of; but we must see that we guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.

November 8

“He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray, and as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering … they saw his glory.” (Luke 9:29, 32.)
“If I have found grace in thy sight, show me thy glory.” (Exod. 33:13.)

WHEN Jesus took these three disciples up into that high mountain apart, He brought them into close communion with Himself. They saw no man but Jesus only; and it was good to be there. Heaven is not far from those who tarry on the mount with their Lord.
Who has not in moments of meditation and prayer caught a glimpse of opening gates? Who has not in the secret place of holy communion felt the rush of some white surging wave of emotion—a foretaste of the joy of the blessed?
The Master had times and places for quiet converse with His disciples, once on the peak of Hermon, but oftener on the sacred slopes of Olivet. Every Christian should have his Olivet. Most of us, especially in the cities and towns, live at high pressure. From early morning until bedtime we are exposed to the whirl. Amid all this maelstrom how little chance for quiet thought, for God’s Word, for prayer and heart fellowship!
Daniel needed to have an Olivet in his chamber amid Babylon’s roar and idolatries. Peter found his on a housetop in Joppa; and Martin Luther found his in the “upper room” at Wittenberg, which is still held sacred.
Dr. Joseph Parker once said: “If we do not get back to visions, peeps into heaven, consciousness of the higher glory and the larger life, we shall lose our religion; our altar will become a bare stone, unblessed by visitant from Heaven.” Here is the world’s need today—men who have seen their Lord.
—The Lost Art of Meditation.
Come close to Him! He may take you today up into the mountain top, for where He took Peter with his blundering, and James and John, those sons of thunder who again and again so utterly misunderstood their Master and His mission, there is no reason why He should not take you. So don’t shut yourself out of it and say, “Ah, these wonderful visions and revelations of the Lord are for choice spirits!” They may be for you!—John McNeill.

8 NOVEMBER

Access by faith in prayer

‘And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.’ Genesis 18:32
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 20:1–9

We may take notice of the issue:
(i) the Lord continued to answer, so long as Abraham continued to ask. It was his own Spirit encouraged and enabled Abraham to carry his suit so far. But he found no liberty to press it farther. Abraham could not but acknowledge the justice of the sentence against Sodom, if ten righteous persons could not be found in it. It may be right in us to pray far in such cases, when we cannot be sure what the Lord’s purpose may be, but at length he will overrule and direct his people’s desires so that they shall be brought to acquiesce in his will.
(ii) the Lord withdrew and Abraham returned humbled and thankful for the honour he had received. O it is wonderful—that dust and ashes should converse with the great God. Yet such honour have all his saints. This is the honour that cometh of God only—access by faith in prayer.
Abraham could not obtain mercy for Sodom. But there is One who by his intercession can prevail to save to the uttermost [Hebrews 7:25]. May the Spirit of the Lord enable poor sinners to put their cause into the hands of Jesus, so shall they be saved in the day of anger.
FOR MEDITATION: Ask what shall I give thee
Come, my soul, thy suit prepare,
With my burden I begin,
JESUS loves to answer prayer;
LORD, remove this load of sin!
He himself has bid thee pray,
Let thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Set my conscience free from guilt.

Thou art coming to a King,
LORD! I come to thee for rest,
Large petitions with thee bring;
Take possession of my breast;
For his grace and power are such,
There thy blood-bought right maintain,
None can ever ask too much.
And without a rival reign.

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 40 [3/3], GENESIS 18:32

November 7th

The undetected sacredness of circumstances

All things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8:28.

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say—‘I am going to be my own providence here; I must watch this, and guard that.’ All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the commonsense circumstances God puts you in, and the commonsense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God’s throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them: In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Ghost makes intercession in our particular lives, without which intercession someone will be impoverished.