Milo

1 AUGUST (VERSE 18 PREACHED 1 FEBRUARY 1767)

Instruments for his service

‘And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.’ Genesis 14:18
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 7:1–28

In the remaining part of this chapter we have two things worthy of note: Abraham’s interview with Melchizedek and his conduct to the king of Sodom. We may be sure the account of Melchizedek is recorded with a view to our instruction, since it is so largely commented on in Hebrews 7 with reference to the gospel. Yet the subject has its difficulties and has given rise to a variety of uncertain conjectures concerning this person. He was a priest of the most High God, a servant of the God of Abraham, though not of Abraham’s family. Canaan was then inhabited by idolaters whose posterity were to be destroyed before Israel. That there was such a man in such a place at such a time may teach us:
(i) that the Lord can raise up instruments for his service and glory when and where he pleases.
(ii) that a person in the character of a priest of God and a signal type of Christ, at the same time the promises were made to Abraham, was a pledge and intimation of the call of the Gentiles.

FOR MEDITATION: What a phenomenon has Mr Wilberforce sent abroad! Such a book, by such a man, and at such a time! A book which must and will be read by persons in the higher circles, who are quite inaccessible to us little folks; who will neither hear what we can say, nor read what we may write. I am filled with wonder and with hope. I accept it as a token for good, yea as the brightest token I can discern in this dark and perilous day. Yes, I trust that the Lord, by raising up such an incontestable witness to the truth and power of his gospel, has a gracious purpose to honour him as an instrument of reviving and strengthening the sense of real religion where it already is, and of communicating it, where it is not.
John Newton to Charles Grant, 18 April 1797

[on the publication of A Practical View of Christianity
by William Wilberforce]

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 28 [1/3], GENESIS 14:18–19

July 31st

Till you are entirely His

Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect. James 1:4 (Moffatt).

Many of us are all right in the main, but there are some domains in which we are slovenly. It is not a question of sin, but of the remnants of the carnal life which are apt to make us slovenly. Slovenliness is an insult to the Holy Ghost. There should be nothing slovenly, whether it be in the way we eat and drink, or in the way we worship God.
Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the external expression of that relationship must be right. Ultimately God will let nothing escape, every detail is under His scrutiny. In numberless ways God will bring us back to the same point over and over again. He never tires of bringing us to the one point until we learn the lesson, because He is producing the finished product. It may be a question of impulse, and again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to the one particular point; or it may be mental wool-gathering, or independent individuality. God is trying to impress upon us the one thing that is not entirely right.
We have been having a wonderful time this Session over the revelation of God’s Redemption, our hearts are perfect towards Him; His wonderful work in us makes us know that in the main we are right with Him; now, says the Spirit, through St. James, “Let your endurance be a finished product.” Watch the slipshod bits—‘Oh, that will have to do for now.’ Whatever it is, God will point it out with persistence until we are entirely His.

July 31

“He guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.” (Psa. 78:72.)

WHEN you are doubtful as to your course, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, and ask Him to shut against you every door but the right one.… Meanwhile keep on as you are, and consider the absence of indication to be the indication of God’s will that you are on His track. … As you go down the long corridor, you will find that He has preceded you, and locked many doors which you would fain have entered; but be sure that beyond these there is one which He has left unlocked. Open it and enter, and you will find yourself face to face with a bend of the river of opportunity, broader and deeper than anything you had dared to imagine in your sunniest dreams. Launch forth upon it; it conducts to the open sea.
God guides us, often by circumstances. At one moment the way may seem utterly blocked; and then shortly afterward some trivial incident occurs, which might not seem much to others, but which to the keen eye of faith speaks volumes. Sometimes these things are repeated in various ways, in answer to prayer. They are not haphazard results of chance, but the opening up of circumstances in the direction in which we would walk. And they begin to multiply as we advance toward our goal, just as the lights do as we near a populous town, when darting through the land by night express.—F. B. Meyer.
If you go to Him to be guided, He will guide you; but He will not comfort your distrust or half-trust of Him by showing you the chart of all His purposes concerning you. He will show you only into a way where, if you go cheerfully and trustfully forward, He will show you on still farther.—Horace Bushnell.

As moves my fragile bark across the storm-swept sea,
Great waves beat o’er her side, as north wind blows;
Deep in the darkness hid lie threat’ning rocks and shoals;
But all of these, and more, my Pilot knows.

Sometimes when dark the night, and every light gone out,
I wonder to what port my frail ship goes;
Still though the night be long, and restless all my hours,
My distant goal, I’m sure, my Pilot knows.
—Thomas Curtis Clark.

31 JULY (PREACHED CHRISTMAS EVENING 1777)

A Star in sight

‘I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.’ Numbers 24:17
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Revelation 22:7–21

How useless to the believer—gifts without grace! Judas an apostle, Balaam a prophet, etc. In the words we have:
(i) his certainty—I see, I behold. What the Lord reveals is clear and sure.
(ii) an interval—not now, or nigh, but through a series of ages. From his character, we may consider the words as spoken without personal hope—not as Job, I know my Redeemer liveth [Job 19:25]. Uncomfortable thought to see him, as the rich man saw Lazarus—afar off.
It is Christ called a Star—not a conducting star as Matthew 2, but the bright morning star whose approach brings on the day. The Day Star, the Sun, the Light of the Gentiles, the Glory of Israel—he shall arise and shine. Jesus is the Sun, the source of life, light and comfort, the light and life of the world.
His Sceptre—his rule and government of his kingdom, of which there shall be no end.
His victories—He shall smite the corners of Moab. Moab and Edom are types of all adversary and antichristian powers.
Sheth perhaps was some place in Moab. Some understand it of men in general and the word may be rendered ‘to subdue’. He will conquer all his enemies, and all by nature are his enemies—the hearts of his people are a stronghold till he forces and wins them. This Scripture was fulfilled in type in David who conquered Moab. Jesus subdues by love, but those that finally resist he will destroy.

FOR MEDITATION: Have you seen this Star? Has he shined into your hearts? If so, be thankful. Rejoice that he came into the world. If asked, how knew you he was born today?—no matter, you may keep Christmas all the year round. If not, remember you must see him (Revelation 1). Have you submitted to his Sceptre? Surely yes, if you have indeed seen him. But remember, he must and will rule. He will be glorified in you either in mercy or subjection.

SERMON: NUMBERS 24:17 [1/1]

July 30th

The discipline of disillusionment

Jesus did not commit Himself unto them … for He knew what was in man. John 2:24–25 .

Disillusionment means that there are no more false judgments in life. To be undeceived by disillusionment may leave us cynical and unkindly severe in our judgment of others, but the disillusionment which comes from God brings us to the place where we see men and women as they really are, and yet there is no cynicism, we have no stinging, bitter things to say. Many of the cruel things in life spring from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts; we are true only to our ideas of one another. Everything is either delightful and fine, or mean and dastardly, according to our idea.
The refusal to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering in human life. It works in this way—if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; we are demanding of a human being what he or she cannot give. There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Why Our Lord is apparently so severe regarding every human relationship is because He knows that every relationship not based on loyalty to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, never bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God and in what His grace could do for any man was so perfect that He despaired of no one. If our trust is placed in human beings, we shall end in despairing of everyone.