Milo

3 NOVEMBER

These miracles

‘… For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.’ John 3:2
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Luke 7:11–23

Some of these works our Lord sums up as evidence of his mission to John’s disciples (Luke 7:22).
(i) The blind see. This was a proof of the power of God, and so acknowledged in John 10:21. His ministers cannot indeed give bodily sight, but they are his instruments to open the eyes of the mind. All men are blind till the gospel gives them sight—stark blind to the things of God. They know not where they are going, they are insensible to danger, though they stand upon the brink of it. They know not God or themselves. But this foolishness of preaching opens the eyes of many. And they can say, Whereas I was blind, now I see [John 9:25]. Where this preaching is applied to the heart by the Spirit, those who were before ignorant are made wise. Yea, though they are of moderate capacities and of the lowest ranks in life, they soon outstrip such as have the greatest natural advantages, if they have not this likewise.
(ii) The deaf hear. God is often speaking to sinners—to their consciences by his Spirit, to their eyes and their ears by his providence—but they are deaf. Though his voice is in the city there is no man of wisdom to understand it, till the preaching of the gospel comes, then the ears of the deaf are unstopped, and …
(iii) The dumb speak. Men indeed are not dumb wholly. They have tongues which they think are their own. Words of blasphemy, cursing, lying and vanity they are free to speak, but with respect to the best use and purpose of speech they are as dumb as fishes, till the knowledge of sin and of a Saviour opens their mouths. Then they speak to God’s praise and say, Come and I will tell you what he hath done [Psalm 66:16] [contd in 5/6].
FOR MEDITATION:
Sight, hearing, feeling, taste and smell,
It hears the mighty voice of GOD,
Are gifts we highly prize;
And ponders what he saith;
But faith does singly each excel,
His word and works, his gifts and rod,
And all the five comprise.
Have each a voice to faith.

SERMON SERIES: JOHN 3:1–2, NO. 2 [4/6]

November 2nd

Authority and independence

If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments. John 14:15 (R.V.).

Our Lord never insists upon obedience; He tells us very emphatically what we ought to do, but He never takes means to make us do it. We have to obey Him out of oneness of spirit. That is why when Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an IF—you do not need to unless you like. “If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself”; let him give up his right to himself to Me. Our Lord is not talking of eternal positions, but of being of value to Himself in this order of things, that is why He sounds so stern (cf. Luke 14:26). Never interpret these words apart from the One who uttered them.
The Lord does not give me rules, He makes His standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone else in competition with Him, viz., myself. Jesus Christ will not help me to obey Him, I must obey Him; and when I do obey Him, I fulfil my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean, but if I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I shall discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When once God’s Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.

November 2

“But prayer…” (Acts 12:5.)

BUT prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need.
How significant the picture of the Apostolic Church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle’s blood, and everything else against it. “But prayer was made unto God without ceasing.” And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms, a spectacle of hidden retribution, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory.
Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer!—A. B. Simpson.
Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things.
—Andrew Murray.
Our prayers are God’s opportunities.
Are you in sorrow? Prayer can make your affliction sweet and strengthening. Are you in gladness? Prayer can add to your joy a celestial perfume. Are you in extreme danger from outward or inward enemies? Prayer can set at your right hand an angel whose touch could shatter a millstone into smaller dust than the flour it grinds, and whose glance could lay an army low. What will prayer do for you? I answer: All that God can do for you. “Ask what I shall give thee.”—Farrar.

“Wrestling prayer can wonders do,
  Bring relief in deepest straits;
Prayer can force a passage through
  Iron bars and brazen gates.”

2 NOVEMBER

Gospel doctrine

‘The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.’ John 3:2
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Galatians 2:15–21

Let us briefly speak of gospel doctrine. Its chief points are:
(i) to show that all mankind are by nature under the curse of the law.
(ii) that there is no deliverance from this curse but by Jesus.
(iii) that no work of man contributes in the least to their acceptance with God.
(iv) that true religion supposes an entire change in the soul and all its faculties and that without this change of the heart the most costly or painful services are of no value or acceptance before God.
This is what we mean by the gospel doctrine. The sum and substance of it is Jesus Christ and him crucified. This awakens the opposition and scorn of men, even as the appearance and preaching of Christ in the flesh did. But we are bold to say that by this doctrine as the means, such mighty works are wrought as necessarily declare the power of God does accompany it—such works as no other sort of preaching can effect, such works as in the spiritual sense are answerable to the miracles which our Lord wrought in the view of the Jews, and are equally sufficient to condemn those of obstinacy, who refuse to acknowledge the doctrine to be of God.

FOR MEDITATION: With regard to the work—I hope I am in some measure aware of its weight and importance and am willing to enter upon it accordingly, so as to make it the sole business of my life: to devote all my time, strength, talents and interest to the carrying it on; to allow myself in no engagement, converse, correspondence or study, which I cannot conscientiously pursue as subservient to this main point. Having a view of the pearl of great price, I am willing to part with all to receive it, and to take the apostle’s resolution to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified, that I may declare his unsearchable riches to sinners.
Miscellaneous Thoughts, Monday 26 June 1758

SERMON SERIES: JOHN 3:1–2, NO. 2 [3/6]

November 1st

Ye are not your own

Know ye not that … ye are not your own? 1 Cor. 6:19.

There is no such thing as a private life—‘a world within the world’—for a man or woman who is brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ’s sufferings. God breaks up the private life of His saints, and makes it a thoroughfare for the world on the one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves, we are called into the fellowship of the Gospel, and things happen which have nothing to do with us, God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have his way, if you do not, instead of being of the slightest use to God in His Redemptive work in the world, you will be a hindrance and a clog.
The first thing God does with us is to get us based on rugged Reality until we do not care what becomes of us individually as long as He gets His way for the purpose of His Redemption. Why shouldn’t we go through heartbreaks? Through these doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God’s purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so-called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death-bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says—‘Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.’ If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.