Milo

September 22

“And the Lord said … Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” (Luke 22:31, 32.)

OUR faith is the center of the target at which God doth shoot when He tries us; and if any oter grace shall escape untried, certainly faith shall not. There is no way of piercing faith to its very marrow like the sticking of the arrow of desertion into it; this finds it out whether it be of the immortals or no. Strip it of its armor of conscious enjoyment, and suffer the terrors of the Lord to set themselves in array against it; and that is faith indeed which can escape unhurt from the midst of the attack. Faith must be tried, and seeming desertion is the furnace, heated seven times, into which it might be thrust. Blest the man who can endure the ordeal!—C. H. Spurgeon.
Paul said, “I have kept the faith,” but he lost his head! They cut that off, but it didn’t touch his faith. He rejoiced in three things—this great Apostle to the Gentiles; he had “fought a good fight,” he had “finished his course,” he had “kept the faith.” What did all the rest amount to? St. Paul won the race; he gained the prize, and he has not only the admiration of earth today, but the admiration of Heaven. Why do we not act as if it paid to lose all to win Christ? Why are we not loyal to truth as he was? Ah, we haven’t his arithmetic. He counted differently from us; we count the things gain that he counted loss. We must have his faith, and keep it if we would wear the same crown.

22 SEPTEMBER (PREACHED 22 SEPTEMBER 1782)

Deliverance comes from God

‘Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.’ Judges 5:18
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Judges 5:1–18

War, with all its calamities, is the effect of sin. Relief and deliverance from those calamities are to be ascribed to the will and the mercy of God. He ruleth over the nations of the earth. He is the God of battles, the God of victory, and to him it is equally easy to save by many or by few. His favoured people Israel were often brought low by their iniquities, but when they were humbled, he pitied and delivered them. Sometimes he wrought salvation by his own Almighty Arm. When he destroyed Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea and the army of Sennacherib, the people had only to stand still and see the mighty works of the Lord. At other times he commanded and animated them to attempt their own deliverance, but the success was from himself. We have an account of Barak being commissioned for such a service when Israel had groaned under the yoke of Midian. The tribes were all called upon, the army raised, the battle fought, the victory complete, their liberty restored, their enemies destroyed. This chapter is a hymn of praise to God who made them conquerors. The indolence of some of the tribes is reproved, the zeal and activity of others commended. And particular notice is taken of Zebulun and Naphtali who at such a time cheerfully hazarded their lives in the common cause. I would accommodate this passage to the present occasion. A noble design has been formed to furnish the navy and army with Bibles; it has been graciously supported, encouraged by the approbation of many of our officers, and received with thankfulness by many of our sailors and soldiers. I am appointed to recommend it today to this respectable auditory and I recommend it under this consideration, that is, in behalf of those who hazard their lives for us, even unto death, to defend us from our enemies.
FOR MEDITATION: [for the Fast Day, 27 February 1778]
When Moses’ hands through weakness dropped,
A people, always prone to boast,
The warriors fainted too;
Were taught by this suspense,
Israel’s success at once was stopped,
That not a numerous armed host,
And Am’lek bolder grew.
But God was their defence.

SERMON: JUDGES 5:18 [1/4] [FOR THE BIBLE SOCIETY AT ALDGATE]

September 21st

Missionary predestination

And now, saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be His servant. Isaiah 49:5.

The first thing that happens after we have realized our election to God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our prejudices and our parochial notions and our patriotisms; we are turned into servants of God’s own purpose. The whole human race was created to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever. Sin has switched the human race on to another tack, but it has not altered God’s purpose in the tiniest degree; and when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, viz., I am created for God, He made me. This realization of the election of God is the most joyful realization on earth, and we have to learn to rely on the tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do with us is to “force thro’ the channels of a single heart” the interests of the whole world. The love of God, the very nature of God, is introduced into us, and the nature of Almighty God is focused in John 3:16—“God so loved the world …”
We have to maintain our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and not muddle it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to crush our intentions on one side however much it may hurt. The purpose for which the missionary is created is that he may be God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. When once we realize that through the salvation of Jesus Christ we are made perfectly fit for God, we shall understand why Jesus Christ is so ruthless in His demands. He demands absolute rectitude from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.

September 21

“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.” (Phil. 3:8.)

THIS is the happy season of ripening cornfields, of the merry song of the reapers, of the secured and garnered grain. But let me hearken to the sermon of the field. This is its solemn word to me. You must die in order to live. You must refuse to consult your own ease and well-being. You must be crucified, not only in desires and habits which are sinful, but in many more which appear innocent and right.
If you would save others, you cannot save yourself. If you would bear much fruit, you must be buried in darkness and solitude.
My heart fails me as I listen. But, when Jesus asks it, let me tell myself that it is my high dignity to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings; and thus I am in the best of company. And let me tell myself again that it is all meant to make me a vessel meet for His use. His own Calvary has blossomed into fertility; and so shall mine. Plenty out of pain, life out of death: is it not the law of the Kingdom?—In the Hour of Silence.
Do we call it dying when the bud bursts into flower?
—Selected

“Finding, following, keeping, struggling,
Is He sure to bless?
Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs,
Answer, ‘Yes.’ ”

21 SEPTEMBER (PREACHED OLNEY FAIR DAY)

How willing Jesus is to save

‘And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.’ Revelation 20:12
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: John 5:16–30

Think how Jesus has loved you. You might have been cut off in your sins. You might (and would, had not he prevented you with his grace) have gone on hardened and blinded till you perished with a lie in your right hand [Isaiah 44:20]. But now you have hope and can think of this great day without dismay—or if you feel a fear, you know it is your infirmity (2 Timothy 1:12, Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day).
But this, I fear, is not the case of all. Perhaps you have never thought of this before. See you take warning now. I hope some are thinking, How shall we escape? [Hebrews 2:3]. I direct you to that other book—the Gospel. There you may read and learn how able, how willing, Jesus is to save. He came into the world, he suffered, he died, he rose again, for this very purpose. Beware you do not stifle these thoughts. Perhaps vain company are waiting for you, or will seek you, to spend the rest of the evening in folly. But will you destroy your own soul? Will you sin against the light? Break from them as from a house where you expect to meet the plague. Consider you have a soul to be saved. Will you trifle upon the pit’s brink? Rather, humble yourself before the Lord, pray for pardon, grace, and his Holy Spirit, that you may with him here stand with boldness in judgement and be received into his kingdom to dwell with him for ever.
FOR MEDITATION:
Now my soul knows what to do;
If thou help a foolish worm
Thus I shall with boldness stand,
To believe thy promise now;
Numbered with the faithful few,
Justice will at last confirm
Owned and saved, at thy right hand:
What thy mercy wrought below.

SERMON: REVELATION 20:11–12 [6/6] [EASTER MONDAY EVENING]