Milo

September 8

“Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” (Psalm 4:1.)

THIS is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man’s thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering: “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life’s enlargement.
And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written of Joseph in the dungeon that “the iron entered into his soul.” We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the iron. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams; and dreaming hardens the heart. He who sheds tears over a romance will not be most apt to help reality; real sorrow will be too unpoetic for him. We need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy, but sorrow; gold is partial, but iron is universal.
My soul, if thou wouldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Joseph’s dungeon is the road to Joseph’s throne. Thou canst not lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is thy limit that is thine enlargement. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfillment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered thee; thy fetters are wings—wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow’s chain.—George Matheson.
If Joseph had not been Egypt’s prisoner, he had never been Egypt’s governor. The iron chain about his feet ushered in the golden chain about his neck.—Selected.

8 SEPTEMBER

His eye is upon them

‘Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ Hebrews 13:20–21
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Ezekiel 34:11–16

The Shepherd seeks the sheep out while wandering upon the dark mountains and brings them into his fold. Not one shall be lost or overlooked. When they know him, then they shall experience:
(i) his care. Though his flock is large and widely dispersed, he has his eye upon them all at once and every moment. He never slumbers nor sleeps, and is as present to each one as if he had but that one. I am with you in all places.
(ii) his tenderness. O this good Shepherd has an especial regard to the weak and wounded of the flock (Isaiah 40:11 [He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young]).
(iii) his bounty. He provides well for them. The eyes of all wait upon him; he gives them their food in due season [Psalm 145:15]. He leads them to green pastures, living waters, promises, ordinances, manifestations, so that they are satisfied as with marrow and fatness.
(iv) his power. He shall stand and feed in the majesty of the Lord. He is able to protect them in the midst of wolves and cruel enemies. Once when the wolf came, because they were his own sheep, he laid down his life for them, but now he dieth no more, but lives to save them to the uttermost.
O that I could commend him to sinners. The fold is not full, the Shepherd is waiting—yet there is room. Unless Jesus is your Shepherd the wolves of hell will prey upon your souls forever. You that are seeking, take courage—think of his tenderness. Let his people look to him and rejoice in him continually.
FOR MEDITATION:
When Satan threatens to devour,
There, ’midst the flock the Shepherd dwells,
When troubles press on every side;
The sheep around in safety lie;
Think of our Shepherd’s care and power,
The wolf, in vain, with malice swells,
He can defend, he will provide.
For he protects them with his eye.

SERMON SERIES: HEBREWS 13:20–21, NO. 2 [3/3]

September 7th

Springs of benignity

The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water. John 4:14.

The picture Our Lord gives is not that of a channel but a fountain. ‘Be being filled,’ and the sweetness of vital relationship to Jesus will flow out of the saint as lavishly as it is imparted to him. If you find your life is not flowing out as it should, you are to blame; something has obstructed the flow. Keep right at the Source, and—you will be blessed personally? No, out of you will flow rivers of living water, irrepressible life.
We are to be centres through which Jesus can flow as rivers of living water in blessing to everyone. Some of us are like the Dead Sea, always taking in but never giving out, because we are not rightly related to the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive from Him, He will pour out through us, and in the measure He is not pouring out, there is a defect in our relationship to Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything that hinders your belief in Him? If not, Jesus says, out of you will flow rivers of living water. It is not a blessing passed on, not an experience stated, but a river continually flowing. Keep at the Source, guard well your belief in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow for other lives, no dryness and no deadness.
Is it not too extravagant to say that out of an individual believer, rivers are going to flow? ‘I do not see the rivers,’ you say. Never look at yourself from the standpoint of—‘Who am I?’ In the history of God’s work you will nearly always find that it has started from the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.

September 7

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1.)

THE question often comes, “Why didn’t He help me sooner?” It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the trouble and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, “I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” He must be with you in the trouble first all day and all night. Then He will take you out of it. This will not come till you have stopped being restless and fretful about it and become calm and quiet. Then He will say, “It is enough.”
God uses trouble to teach His children precious lessons. They are intended to educate us. When their good work is done, a glorious recompense will come to us through them. There is a sweet joy and a real value in them. He does not regard them as difficulties but as opportunities.—Selected.

Not always OUT of our troublous times,
And the struggles fierce and grim,
But IN—deeper IN—to our one sure rest,
The place of our peace, in Him.
—Annie Johnson Flint.
We once heard a simple old colored man say something that we have never forgotten: “When God tests you, it is a good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming from Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary.”
There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of Divine grace. Thus even the adversary becomes an auxiliary, and the things that seem to be against us turn out to be for the furtherance of our way. Surely, this is to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
—A. B. Simpson.

7 SEPTEMBER

None like him

‘Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ Hebrews 13:20–21
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: John 10:1–18

Let us speak of the Shepherd. Jesus the Son of God, Christ the anointed, is the Shepherd. Herein we may notice:
(i) condescension. The Lord of angels, undertaking to be the Shepherd of sinners.
(ii) love. For his sheep were in a ruined state and must have perished, unless he had paid the redemption price. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
(iii) authority. Anointed, sent and empowered for this purpose, and having done all in their behalf, he has a right to give them eternal life.
He is the great Shepherd. That great—emphatical—there is none like him, there is no other. He has many under-shepherds, his ministers, by whom as instruments he works, but whatever is effectually done is done by him. He fully and truly answers to the Shepherd’s character. This title is applied to him very early (Genesis 49 [verse 24]). The ancient patriarchs were mostly shepherds, Jacob in particular. He calls the Lord his Shepherd—the Shepherd of Israel. O how happy are his people! The welfare of the flock depends upon the ability and care of the Shepherd. None can shadow forth his qualifications.
FOR MEDITATION:
JEHOVAH is our Shepherd’s name,
Dear LORD, if I am one of thine,
Then what have we, though weak, to fear?
From anxious thoughts I would be free;
Our sin and folly we proclaim,
To trust, and love, and praise, is mine,
If we despond while he is near.
The care of all belongs to thee.

SERMON SERIES: HEBREWS 13:20–21, NO. 2 [2/3]