Milo

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.

28 OCTOBER (PREACHED NEW YEAR’S EVENING 1785)

Heavenly minded

‘And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.’ Jeremiah 24:7
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Philippians 3:12–4:1

His service, and the views under which his people engage in it, enables them. They no longer grovel. They are heavenly minded. Like the angels they behold his face and do his will. A dignity and grandeur is impressed upon the actions of common life—because done for him. They are faithful, diligent in all their callings. Devotedness to God inspires them with benevolence to man for his sake. Hence they are delivered from guilt, fear, anxiety, the dominion and hurtful tormenting passions. They live with honour, they die with comfort, and then they ascend to dwell with him whom here they loved, trusted and served. May I not hope you are touched with the high ambition of being the Lord’s? Some young people, I trust, have already chosen this good part; yea, I will hope others see it desirable. To both, permit me to offer a word of advice:
(i) prize and study the Scripture and ordinances
(ii) draw nigh to him by prayer
(iii) be careful of your company
(iv) beware of resisting conscience.
Tremble at the thoughts of rejecting this call. Life is uncertain. If you are not his people here, you will sink at death into the outward darkness, prepared for the devil. Your ruin will be aggravated.
[Newton made himself a note here to ‘add a word to the aged’ also.]

FOR MEDITATION: They shall be my people, and I will be their God. Now can the world promise anything like this? Will it give you comfort? Will it comfort you in trouble? Will it cheer your dying hours? Will its pleasures attend you into an eternal state?

SERMON: JEREMIAH 24:7 [4/4] [FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE]

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
God is A spirit – This is the second reason why men should worship him in spirit and in truth. By this is meant that God is without a body; that he is not material or composed of parts; that he is invisible, in every place, pure and holy. This is one of the first truths of religion, and one of the sublimest ever presented to the mind of man. Almost all nations have had some idea of God as gross or material, but the Bible declares that he is a pure spirit. As he is such a spirit, he dwells not in temples made with hands Acts 7:48, neither is worshipped with men’s hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, Acts 17:25. A pure, a holy, a spiritual worship, therefore, is such as he seeks – the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the body – the homage of the heart rather than that of the lips.