Milo

22 AUGUST

Birds of prey

‘And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.’ Genesis 15:10–11
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Peter 2:1–22

We note the birds came down—an emblem:
(i) of the attempts that would be made to frustrate the covenant—by men and by Satan. This is the vain thing that is always imagined from age to age [Psalm 2:1]. But as Abraham drove the birds away, so the Lord himself will protect his church and his people and keep them as the apple of his eye.
(ii) of the evil thoughts and imperfections that accompany our holy things. Alas, we cannot attempt a sacrifice to the Lord our God, but the birds of prey are ready to devour it. Of this the Apostle complains, When I would do good evil is present with me [Romans 7:21]. There are wandering thoughts, which insensibly catch our minds away till we forget almost where we are. And still worse, for there are wicked thoughts, such as would be wicked in any time or place, and are therefore doubly so when they mix with our sacrifices. The true believer, like Abraham, is grieved on this account and labours to drive them away. But formal worshippers regard them not. If they go through the outward duty they are satisfied.
(iii) May I not compare these birds to false believers? They would avail themselves of Christ’s sacrifice while they live and remain unclean, but they shall be driven away.

FOR MEDITATION: The Apostle was well acquainted with the Christian warfare, how fiercely the soul that loves Jesus is sure to be assaulted—he was well acquainted with the heart of man, how weak, deceitful and prone to wander. Yet, says he with a holy triumph, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Romans 8:35].… While Jesus is the foundation, root, head and husband of his people, while the Word of God is yea and amen, while the counsels of God are unchangeable, while we have a Mediator and High Priest appointed of God, while the Holy Spirit is willing and able to bear witness to the truth of the gospel, while God is wiser than men and stronger than the devil, so long, the believer in Jesus is, and shall be, safe.
Sermon on Romans 8:30, The Searcher of Hearts

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 32 [3/3], GENESIS 15:7–11

August 21st

The ministry of the unnoticed

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Matthew 5:3.

The New Testament notices things which from our standards do not seem to count. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” literally—Blessed are the paupers—an exceedingly commonplace thing! The preaching of to-day is apt to emphasize strength of will, beauty of character—the things that are easily noticed. The phrase we hear so often, ‘Decide for Christ,’ is an emphasis on something Our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him, a very different thing. At the basis of Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is the unaffected loveliness of the commonplace. The thing I am blessed in is my poverty. If I know I have no strength of will, no nobility of disposition, then Jesus says—Blessed are you, because it is through this poverty that I enter His Kingdom. I cannot enter His Kingdom as a good man or woman, I can only enter it as a complete pauper.
The true character of the loveliness that tells for God is always unconscious. Conscious influence is priggish and un-Christian. If I say, ‘I wonder if I am of any use,’ I instantly lose the bloom of the touch of the Lord. “He that believeth in Me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water.” If I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord.
Which are the people who have influenced us most? Not the ones who thought they did, but those who had not the remotest notion that they were influencing us. In the Christian life the implicit is never conscious; if it is conscious, it ceases to have this unaffected loveliness which is the characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.

August 21

“He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me; because he delighted in me.” (Psa. 18:19.)

AND what is this “large place”? What can it be but God Himself, that infinite Being in whom all other beings and all other streams of life terminate? God is a large place indeed. And it was through humiliation, through abasement, through nothingness that David was brought into it.—Madame Guyon.

“I bare you on eagle’s wings, and brought you unto myself.” (Exod. 19:4.)

Fearing to launch on “full surrender’s” tide,
I asked the Lord where would its waters glide
My little bark, “To troubled seas I dread?”
“Unto Myself,” He said.

Weeping beside an open grave I stood,
In bitterness of soul I cried to God:
“Where leads this path of sorrow that I tread?”
“Unto Myself,” He said.

Striving for souls, I loved the work too well;
Then disappointments came; I could not tell
The reason, till He said, “I am thine all;
Unto Myself I call.”

Watching my heroes—those I loved the best—
I saw them fail; they could not stand the test,
Even by this the Lord, through tears not few,
Unto Himself me drew.

Unto Himself! No earthly tongue can tell
The bliss I find, since in His heart I dwell;
The things that charmed me once seem all as naught;
Unto Himself I’m brought.
—Selected.

21 AUGUST

An atoning sacrifice

‘And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ Genesis 15:8–9
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 12:1–3

We have Abraham’s request—he wanted a sign:
(i) for the confirmation of his own faith. When we believe, there is still unbelief in us.
(ii) for the sake of his posterity. What the Lord put now in Abraham’s heart to ask, was recorded in his Word for those who should come after. Believers of old had but few footsteps to follow, but we have a beaten path before us—the advantage of their experiences.
In the Lord’s command we may observe a sacrifice and a sign.
(i) A sacrifice. The animals mentioned were the same as were principally used after Moses. The death of Christ was thus set forth from the beginning to intimate that without shedding of blood there is no remission. All the promises of God are made and confirmed in the death of Christ. Here is our only right to them, and in this way they are sure.
(ii) A sign. The division of the beasts was the customary form of a covenant (Jeremiah 34:18–19). And between these the smoking furnace and the lamp afterwards passed.
FOR MEDITATION:
The GOD who once to Israel spoke
The holy Moses quaked and feared
From Sinai’s top, in fire and smoke,
When Sinai’s thundering law he heard;
In gentler strains of gospel grace
But reigning grace, with accents mild,
Invites us, now, to seek his face.
Speaks to the sinner, as a child.

He wears no terrors on his brow,
Hark! how from Calvary it sounds;
He speaks, in love, from Zion, now;
From the Redeemer’s bleeding wounds!
It is the voice of JESUS’ blood
‘Pardon and grace, I freely give,
Calling poor wanderers home to GOD.
Poor sinner, look to me, and live.’

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 32 [2/3], GENESIS 15:7–11

August 20th

Completeness

And I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28. Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once and ask Him to establish rest. Never allow anything to remain which is making the dis-peace. Take every element of disintegration as something to wrestle against, and not to suffer. Say—‘Lord, prove Thy consciousness in me’, and self-consciousness will go and He will be all in all. Beware of allowing self-consciousness to continue because by slow degrees it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is Satanic. ‘Well, I am not understood; this is a thing they ought to apologize for; that is a point I really must have cleared up.’ Leave others alone and ask the Lord to give you Christ-consciousness, and He will poise you until the completeness is absolute.

The complete life is the life of a child. When I am consciously conscious, there is something wrong. It is the sick man who knows what health is. The child of God is not conscious of the will of God because he is the will of God. When there has been the slightest deviation from the will of God, we begin to ask—‘What is Thy will?’ A child of God never prays to be conscious that God answers prayer, he is so restfully certain that God always does answer prayer.
If we try to overcome self-consciousness by any commonsense method, we develop it tremendously. Jesus says “Come unto Me and I will give you rest,” i.e., Christ-consciousness will take the place of self-consciousness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest, the rest of the perfection of activity that is never conscious of itself.