Milo

June 20

“Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isa. 30:21)

WHEN we are in doubt or difficulty, when many voices urge this course or the other, when prudence utters one advice and faith another, then let us be still, hushing each intruder, calming ourselves in the sacred hush of God’s presence; let us study His Word in the attitude of devout attention; let us lift up our nature into the pure light of His face, eager only to know what God the Lord shall determine—and ere long a Very distinct impression will be made, the unmistakable forth-telling of His secret counsel.
It is not wise in the earlier stages of Christian life to depend on this alone, but to wait for the corroboration of circumstances. But those who have had many dealings with God know well the value of secret fellowship with Him, to ascertain His will.
Are you in difficulty about your way? Go to God with your question; get direction from the light of His smile or the cloud of His refusal.
If you will only get alone, where the lights and shadows of earth cannot interfere, where human opinions fail to reach—and if you will dare to wait there silent and expectant, though all around you insist on immediate decision or action—the will of God will be made clear; and you will have a new conception of God, a deeper insight into His nature and heart of love, which shall be for yourself alone—a rapturous experience, to abide your precious perquisite forever, the rich guerdon of those long waiting hours.—David.

“STAND STILL,” my soul, for so thy Lord commands:
E’en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise hands;
His arm is mighty to divide the wave.
“Stand still,” my soul, “stand still” and thou shalt see
How God can work the “impossible” for thee,
For with a great deliverance He doth save.

Be not impatient, but in stillness stand,
Even when compassed ’round on every hand,
In ways thy spirit does not comprehend.
God cannot clear thy way till thou art still,
That He may work in thee His blessed will,
And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.

“BE STILL,” my soul, for just as thou art still,
Can God reveal Himself to thee; until
Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow;
In stillness God can work through thee and reach
The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach
His lessons, and His power in weakness show.

“BE STILL”—a deeper step in faith and rest.
“Be still and know” thy Father knoweth best
The way to lead His child to that fair land,
A “summer” land, where quiet waters flow;
Where longing souls are satisfied, and “know
Their God,” and praise for all that He has planned.—Selected.

20 JUNE

Be poor in spirit

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:3
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Luke 5:1–11

To be poor in spirit is to be humble, to know ourselves, and to judge ourselves to be what we are. There would be no excellency in this poverty of spirit if it was not founded in truth and suited to our circumstances. It is such a temper of mind as becomes a sinner under a dispensation of mercy and grace. When we hear a rich man talk of his wealth, furniture and servants, we are not surprised or offended, but if a beggar who has neither food, raiment or dwelling, should affect an air of importance and talk at the same rate, we should think him mad. No less an impropriety is it for one of fallen Adam’s race to fancy that he has any wisdom, strength or goodness of his own. Yet thus we all dream by nature. Vain man would be wise. Sinful man labours to establish his own righteousness. He knows not that he is poor and miserable and blind and naked, but is trusting and boasting in a power which he has not. When we are awakened from this dream by the Spirit of God, we become poor in spirit, or humble—truly so in a measure, but imperfectly at the best. Now there are three discoveries made to the soul, which strip us of our fancied riches and attainments and make us poor. Those who know the most of these are the most advanced in poverty of the spirit:
(i) a humbling sense of the sinfulness of our hearts. When this is known it causes as sudden a change of thought as it would if a man should unexpectedly find he had the plague upon him. How little then would he think of all his possessions! So the convicted sinner.
(ii) a humbling sight of the majesty of God. How greatly did this affect Job and Isaiah (chapter 6). But especially,
(iii) a humbler taste of his love. A manifestation of God reconciled in Christ humbles the soul to purpose. Without a hope of this sort, the former would lead to despair. But when this hope arises to a strong, well-grounded persuasion, when the Lord shines upon the soul, then there is true poverty of spirit.

FOR MEDITATION: O that my failings might at least teach me humility, and convince me more effectually how frail I am. Diary, 22 January 1755

SERMON: MATTHEW 5:3 [2/3]

June 19th

The service of passionate devotion

Lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep. John 21:16.

Jesus did not say—Make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Me. We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed. “If any man come to Me and hate not …, he cannot be My disciple.” There is no argument and no compulsion, but simply—‘If you would be My disciple, you must be devoted to Me.’ A man touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says—‘Now I see Who Jesus is,’ and that is the source of devotion.
To-day we have substituted credal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offence to the educated mind of to-day that does not want Him in any other way than as a Comrade. Our Lord’s first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat. The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of the life is its unobtrusiveness. It is like a corn of wheat, which falls into the ground and dies, but presently it will spring up and alter the whole landscape. (Cf. John 12:24.)

June 19

“Bread corn is bruised.” (Isa. 28:28.)

MANY of us cannot be used to become food for the world’s hunger until we are broken in Christ’s hands. “Bread corn is bruised.” Christ’s blessing ofttimes means sorrow, but even sorrow is not too great a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with benediction. The sweetest things in this world today have come to us through tears and pain.” J. R. Miller.
God has made me bread for His elect, and if it be needful that the bread must be ground in the teeth of the lion to feed His children, blessed be the name of the Lord.
—Ignatius.
“We must burn out before we can give out. We cease to bless when we cease to bleed.”
“Poverty, hardship and misfortune have pressed many a life to moral heroism and spiritual greatness. Difficulty challenges energy and perseverance. It calls into activity the strongest qualities of the soul. It was the weights on father’s old clock that kept it going. Many a head wind has been utilized to make port. God has appointed opposition as an incentive to faith and holy activity.
“The most illustrious characters of the Bible were bruised and threshed and ground into bread for the hungry. Abraham’s diploma styles him as ‘the father of the faithful.’ That was because he stood at the head of his class in affliction and obedience.
“Jacob suffered severe threshings and grindings. Joseph was bruised and beaten and had to go through Potiphar’s kitchen and Egypt’s prison to get to his throne.
“David, hunted like a partridge on the mountain, bruised, weary and footsore, was ground into bread for a kingdom. Paul never could have been bread for Caesar’s household if he had not endured the bruising, whippings and stonings. He was ground into fine flour for the royal family.”
“Like combat, like victory. If for you He has appointed special trials, be assured that in His heart He has kept for you a special place. A soul sorely bruised is a soul elect.”

19 JUNE

Finding true happiness

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:3
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Matthew 5:1–12

The desire of happiness is natural to man, but all are bewildered and disappointed in the present, except those who are enriched and taught by the Spirit of God to seek it by Christ Jesus. He came down from heaven that by his doctrine in life and death he might correct our mistakes concerning happiness and show us wherein it consists, how it is to be attained, and remove every obstacle that would deprive us of the possession. Full happiness is not upon earth, it is only to be expected in the kingdom of heaven, and true happiness in any degree is restrained to them who by his grace are brought into his appointed way to that kingdom. His people are happy here in comparison with others and shall be happy for ever. They derive their title from his blood, their temper and characters from his Spirit. These heavenly and gracious tempers are enumerated here, but they are never found singly or separate. Whoever has truly one, has received the seeds of them all, though they are not equally called out to lively exercise at all times and in all persons. Whoever is entirely destitute of any one, is destitute of the rest. May the Spirit of God help us to examine ourselves by this test for our consolation, conviction, and instruction in righteousness.

FOR MEDITATION: But I find among these illiterate and uninformed people, some who are truly wise, wise unto salvation. They know themselves, they know the Lord. The know the summum bonum, the true happiness of man, wherein it consists and how it is to be obtained. They have learnt to taste the goodness of God in their brown bread, to be content and satisfied with a low estate—to cast all their cares upon God, and to be assured that he careth for them. They know how to obtain an audience of the King of kings. They have more in hand than the world can either give or take away.151
John Newton to William Wilberforce, 19 June 1794

SERMON: MATTHEW 5:3 [1/3]