Milo

October 29th

Substitution

He hath made Him to be sin for us, … that we might be made the righteousness of God.… 2 Cor. 5:21.

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy. The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy, but by identification. He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy with us. We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world. The revelation of His Father is to those to whom He has been introduced as Saviour: Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one Who revealed the Father, but as a stumbling-block (see John 15:22–24 ). John 14:9 was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (not—He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” It is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me.

October 29

“He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” (Mal. 3:3.)

OUR Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner’s fire. It is with the most precious metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form in the mould. The old refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal. But as soon as he skims from the surface the last of the dross, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire.—Arthur T. Pierson.

“He sat by a fire of seven-fold heat,
  As He watched by the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
  As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
  And He wanted the finest gold
To mould as a crown for the King to wear,
  Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
  Tho’ we fain would have said Him ‘Nay,’
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
  And it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
  But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire—not the Master’s hand,
  And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
  As it mirrored a Form above,

That bent o’er the fire, tho’ unseen by us,
  With a look of ineffable love.
Can we think that it pleases His loving heart
  To cause us a moment’s pain?
Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross
  The bliss of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
  With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
  Than was needed to make it pure.”

29 OCTOBER (PREACHED 4 OCTOBER 1767)

The Lord my Helper

‘Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.’ Psalm 63:7
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 63:1–11

Man is a helpless creature in himself, insufficient to his own happiness. The state of infancy is an emblem of his future life. From first to last he is unable to stand without support, and has wants and desires which he is not fully able to express. This weakness is felt by all and in our natural state, in the midst of our proudest boasts, we are seeking help from everything around us. But how many disappointments do we meet while we live without God in the world, and what a wilderness do we find ourselves in when awakened to see the world in a true light. Then we are stirred up to look for help in God. And blessed be his name, his Word warrants us so to do. He does not, as he might, send us to our idols—but he invites, he receives and he helps the unworthy. This is the acknowledgement and determination of an experienced soul—I have received a conviction that I can do nothing for myself, and that creatures cannot help me. I sought the Lord and he heard me, therefore with him will I abide.
My help. Here consider:
(i) to whom God is a help: those who know that they in themselves are helpless, that see and approve his way, his covenant in Jesus, that plead his promises for help.
(ii) when he helps: always, particularly in conviction, temptation, affliction, duty.
(iii) what a help he is: free and gracious, a present help; Romans 10: a seasonable help, a sufficient help.
FOR MEDITATION:
When Hannah pressed with grief,
When she began to pray,
Poured forth her soul in prayer;
Her heart was pained and sad;
She quickly found relief,
But ere she went away,
And left her burden there:
Was comforted and glad:
Like her, in every trying case,
In trouble, what a resting place,
Let us approach the throne of grace.
Have they who know the throne of grace!

SERMON: PSALM 63:7 [1/2] [ALSO PREACHED 28 JAN. 1776 & 3 OCT. 1779]

October 28th

Justification by faith

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:10.

I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me; repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause—It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God, and by the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.
The salvation of God does not stand on human logic, it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvellous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement: The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done—“It is finished.”

October 28

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ … and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:4–6.)

THIS is our rightful place, to be “seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” and to “sit still” there. But how few there are who make it their actual experience! How few, indeed think even that it is possible for them to “sit still” in these “heavenly places” in the everyday life of a world so full of turmoil as this.
We may believe perhaps that to pay a little visit to these heavenly places on Sundays, or now and then in times of spiritual exaltation, may be within the range of possibility; but to be actually “seated” there every day and all day long is altogether another matter; and yet it is very plain that it is for Sundays and week-days as well.
A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety.
There is immense power in stillness. A great saint once said, “All things come to him who knows how to trust and be silent.” The words are pregnant with meaning. A knowledge of this fact would immensely change our ways of working. Instead of restless struggles, we would “sit down” inwardly before the Lord, and would let the Divine forces of His Spirit work out in silence the ends to which we aspire. You may not see or feel the operations of this silent force, but be assured it is always working mightily, and will work for you, if you only get your spirit still enough to be carried along by the currents of its power.—Hannah Whitall Smith.

“There is a point of rest
At the great center of the cyclone’s force,
A silence at its secret source;
A little child might slumber undisturbed,
Without the ruffle of one fair curl,
In that strange, central calm, amid the mighty whirl.”

It is your business to learn to be peaceful and safe in God in every situation.