Milo

August 6

“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out!”
(Song of Solomon 4:16.)

LOOK at the meaning of this prayer a moment. Its root is found in the fact that, as delicious odors may lie latent in a spice tree, so graces may lie unexercised undeveloped in a Christian’s heart. There is many a plant of profession; but from the ground there breathes forth no fragrance of holy affections or of godly deeds. The same winds blow on the thistle bush and on the spice tree, but it is only one of them which gives out rich odors.
Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung to and fro; just as the juniper plant smells sweetest when flung into the flames; so the richest qualities of a Christian often come out under the north wind of suffering and adversity. Bruised hearts often emit the fragrance that God loveth to smell.

“I had a tiny box, a precious box
Of human love—my spikenard of great price;
I kept it close within my heart of hearts,
And scarce would lift the lid lest it should waste
Its perfume on the air. One day a strange
Deep sorrow came with crushing weight, and fell
Upon my costly treasure, sweet and rare,
And broke the box to atoms. All my heart
Rose in dismay and sorrow at this waste,
But as I mourned, behold a miracle
Of grace Divine. My human love was changed
To Heaven’s own, and poured in healing streams
On other broken hearts, while soft and clear
A voice above me whispered, “Child of Mine,
With comfort wherewith thou art comforted,
From this time forth, go comfort others,
And thou shalt know blest fellowship with Me,
Whose broken heart of love hath healed the world.”

6 AUGUST

Jesus our shield

‘After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ Genesis 15:1
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Romans 5:1–11

The promise expresses the believer’s safety: the Lord is his shield (Psalm 18:2). Many images denote the safety and security of those who put their trust in him—none more comfortable or suitable than this of a shield:
(i) against the demands of the law and justice of God. Too many would shelter themselves with a refuge of lies—self-righteousness, false notions of God’s mercy—repentance, promises and purposes are all they have to trust to. But this is like trusting to a cobweb to shield us from a cannonball. Jesus is the only shield. He bore the wrath for his people and keeps it from them. Under his wing they are safe and the swift sword that justice draws, flaming and red, shall pass them by.
(ii) from Satan. This is the shield of faith. Faith itself is not properly our shield, but Christ is the shield which faith opposes to the enemy, and thus his fiery darts are quenched. As one said, ‘Trouble not me Satan, I am a weak and sinful woman, but go to Jesus—he shall answer you.’ So the Apostle (in Romans 8:34) looks round and challenges his enemies, Who shall condemn? Then he takes up his shield, It is Christ that died. With this shield in hand, we cannot be greatly hurt.

FOR MEDITATION:
Heavy charges Satan brings
To fill me with distress;
Let me hide beneath thy wings,
And plead thy righteousness:
Lord, to thee for help I call,
’Tis thy promise bids me come;
Tell him thou hast paid for all,
And that shall strike him dumb.

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 29 [3/5], GENESIS 15:1

August 5th

The baffling call of God

And all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.… And they understood none of these things. Luke 18:31, 34.

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed unmitigated disaster. Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death; He led every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. Jesus Christ’s life was an absolute failure from every standpoint but God’s. But what seemed failure from man’s standpoint was a tremendous triumph from God’s, because God’s purpose is never man’s purpose.
There comes the baffling call of God in our lives also. The call of God can never be stated explicitly; it is implicit. The call of God is like the call of the sea, no one hears it but the one who has the nature of the sea in him. It cannot be stated definitely what the call of God is to, because His call is to be in comradeship with Himself for His own purpose, and the test is to believe that God knows what He is after. The things that happen do not happen by chance, they happen entirely in the decree of God. God is working out His purposes.
If we are in communion with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, we shall no longer try to find out what His purposes are. As we go on in the Christian life it gets simpler, because we are less inclined to say—‘Now why did God allow this and that?’ Behind the whole thing lies the compelling of God. “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” A Christian is one who trusts the wits and the wisdom of God, and not his own wits. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God.

August 5

“IS.” (2 Cor. 12:9.)

IT had pleased God to remove my youngest child under circumstances of peculiar trial and pain; and as I had just laid my little one’s body in the churchyard, on return home, I felt it my duty to preach to my people on the meaning of trial.
Finding that this text was in the lesson for the following Sabbath, I chose it as my Master’s message to them and myself; but on trying to prepare the notes, I found that in honesty I could not say that the words were true; and therefore I knelt down and asked God to let His grace be sufficient for me. While I was thus pleading, I opened my eyes and saw a framed illuminated text, which my mother had given me only a few days before, and which I had told my servant to place upon the wall during my absence at the holiday resort where my little one was taken away from us.
I did not notice the words on returning to my house; but as I looked up and wiped my eyes, the words met my gaze, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
The “is” was picked out in bright green while the “My” and the “thee” were painted in another color.
In one moment the message came straight to my soul, as a rebuke for offering such a prayer as, “Lord, let Thy grace be sufficient for me”; for the answer was almost as an audible voice, “How dare you ask that which is?” God cannot make it any more sufficient than He has made it; get up and believe it, and you will find it true, because the Lord says it in the simplest way: “My grace is (not shall be or may be) sufficient for thee.”
“My,” “is,” and “thee” were from that moment, I hope, indelibly fixed upon my heart; and I (thank God) have been trying to live in the reality of the message from that day forward to the present time.
The lesson that came to me, and which I seek to convey to others, is, Never turn God’s facts into hopes, or prayers, but simply use them as realities, and you will find them powerful as you believe them.—Prebendary H. W. Webb Peploe.

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercies,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
—Annie Johnson Flint.

5 AUGUST

Fear not

‘After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ Genesis 15:1
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 56:1–13

After these things:
(i) after Abraham’s conduct towards the king of Sodom, proving the disinterestedness of his spirit and the strength of his faith. He would accept nothing, though offered all. He would not tarnish his good action by admitting selfish views, nor be beholden to a king when he was at God’s keeping. Now the Lord shows him that he shall be no loser.
(ii) It seems to intimate that Abraham, though honoured and successful, had intervals of fear. We find it so now and have reason to think it has been so always. Believer, though in the Lord’s strength you have gained many a battle, you know you cannot live by past experiences. Unless the Lord says again, Fear not, your fears will return like an armed man. And what he said to Abraham in a vision, he says to you, Fear not, … for this promise belongs not to Abraham only, but to all who partake of his faith (as Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5–6).
FOR MEDITATION:
When the wounded spirit hears
Pardon, grace, and peace proclaimed,
The voice of JESUS’ blood;
And the sinner called a child;
How the message stops the tears
Then the stubborn heart is tamed,
Which else in vain had flowed:
Renewed, and reconciled.

         Oh! ’twas grace indeed, to spare,
         And save a wretch like me!
         Men or angels could not bear
         What I have offered thee.

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 29 [2/5], GENESIS 15:1