Milo

June 22nd

The undeviating test

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:2.

This statement is not a haphazard guess, it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give, it is measured to you again. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus says that the basis of life is retribution—“with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the defects in others, remember that will be exactly the measure given to you. Life serves back in the coin you pay. This law works from God’s throne downwards (cf. Psalm 18:25–26).
Romans 2 applies it in a still more definite way, and says that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act, He looks at the possibility. We do not believe the statements of the Bible to begin with. For instance, do we believe this statement, that the things we criticize in others we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The great characteristic of a saint is humility—‘Yes, all those things and other evils would have been manifested in me but for the grace of God; therefore I have no right to judge.’
Jesus says—“Judge not, that ye be not judged”; if you do judge, it will be measured to you exactly as you have judged. Who of us would dare to stand before God and say—‘My God, judge me as I have judged my fellow men’? We have judged our fellow men as sinners; if God should judge us like that we would be in hell. God judges us through the marvellous Atonement of Jesus Christ.

June 22

“Love covereth.” (Prov. 10:12.)

“Be eager in pursuit of this love.” (1 Cor. 13:7–13.) (Weymouth.)

REHEARSE your troubles to God only. Not long ago I read in a paper a bit of personal experience from a precious child of God, and it made such an impression upon me that I record it here. She wrote:
“I found myself one midnight wholly sleepless as the surges of a cruel injustice swept over me, and the love which covers seemed to have crept out of my heart. Then I cried to God in an agony for the power to obey His injunction, ‘Love covereth.’
“Immediately the Spirit began to work in me the power that brought about the forgetfulness.

“Mentally I dug a grave. Deliberately I threw up the earth until the excavation was deep.
“Sorrowfully I lowered into it the thing which wounded me. Quickly I shoveled in the clods.
“Over the mound I carefully laid the green sods. Then I covered it with white roses and forget-me-nots, and quickly walked away.
“Sweet sleep came. The wound which had been so nearly deadly was healed without a sear, and I know not today what caused my grief.”

“There was a scar on yonder mountain-side,
Gashed out where once the cruel storm had trod;
A barren, desolate chasm, reaching wide
Across the soft green sod.

“But years crept by beneath the purple pines,
And veiled the scar with grass and moss once more,
And left it fairer now with flowers and vines
Than it had been before.

“There was a wound once in a gentle heart,
Whence all life’s sweetness seemed to ebb and die;
And love’s confiding changed to bitter smart,
While slow, sad years went by.

“Yet as they passed, unseen an angel stole
And laid a balm of healing on the pain,
Till love grew purer in the heart made whole,
And peace came back again.”

22 JUNE (PREACHED 28 DECEMBER 1777)

The Israel of God

‘Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.’ Deuteronomy 33:29
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Deuteronomy 33:26–29

Happy indeed are the people who are in such a case, yea blessed are the people who have the Lord for their God. As we observed lately, no God like the God of Israel, so no people like the Israel of God. The believers are called Israel, because, like Jacob of old, they are children of the covenant and have obtained a new name by faith and prayer. They are a saved people. Saved from guilt, wrath and Satan, and saved of the Lord—therefore their salvation is honourable and sure. As they are called to war, they are well provided. The Lord is their shield, to defend them in all perils. The Lord is their sword, he fights for them; it is by laying hold of his arm that they are victorious. Therefore opposition shall be vain. Their enemies shall be liars. Satan despises and threatens us, but all shall be liars. There is help in God even to the uttermost. Their warfare shall end in complete victory. They shall tread upon the high places of sin (of long habit, of general custom—see Daniel 3), of sins that plead necessity (as a right hand or right eye) and of Satan (unbelief, terror, presumption). And when they are thus made more than conquerors, they shall enter into Canaan—that blessed rest which remaineth for the people of God.
FOR MEDITATION: [specially written to be sung after this sermon]
With Israel’s GOD who can compare?
Upheld by everlasting arms,
Or who, like Israel, happy are?
Thou art secured from foes and harms!
To people saved by the LORD,
In vain their plots, and false their boasts!
He is thy shield and great reward.
Our refuge is the LORD of Hosts.

SERMON: DEUTERONOMY 33:29 [1/1]

June 21st

The ministry of the interior

But ye are … a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9.

By what right do we become “a royal priesthood”? By the right of the Atonement. Are we prepared to leave ourselves resolutely alone and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual grubbing on the inside to see whether we are what we ought to be, generates a self-centred, morbid type of Christianity, not the robust, simple life of the child of God. Until we get into a right relationship to God, it is a case of hanging on by the skin of our teeth, and we say—‘What a wonderful victory I have got!’ There is nothing indicative of the miracle of Redemption in that. Launch out in reckless belief that the Redemption is complete, and then bother no more about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ said—pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints, pray for all men. Pray on the realization that you are only perfect in Christ Jesus, not on this plea—‘O Lord, I have done my best, please hear me.’
How long is it going to take God to free us from the morbid habit of thinking about ourselves? We must get sick unto death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God can tell us about ourselves. We cannot touch the depths of meanness in ourselves. There is only one place where we are right, and that is in Christ Jesus. When we are there, we have to pour out for all we are worth in the ministry of the interior.

June 21

“It was noised that he was in the house.” (Mark 2:1.)

THE polyps which construct the coral reefs, work away under water, never dreaming that they are building the foundation of a new island on which, by-and-by, plants and animals will live and children of God be born and fitted for eternal glory as joint-heirs of Christ.
If your place in God’s ranks is a hidden and secluded one, beloved, do not murmur, do not complain, do not seek to get out of God’s will, if He has placed you there; for without the polyps, the coral reefs would never be built, and God needs some who are willing to be spiritual polyps, and work away out of sight of men, but sustained by the Holy Ghost and in full view of Heaven.

The day will come when Jesus will give the rewards, and He makes no mistakes, although some people may wonder how you came to merit such a reward, as they had never heard of you before.—Selected.

Just where you stand in the conflict,
  There is your place.
Just where you think you are useless,
  Hide not your face.
God placed you there for a purpose,
  Whate’er it be;
Think He has chosen you for it;
  Work loyally.
Gird on your armor! Be faithful
  At toil or rest!
Whate’er it be, never doubting
  God’s way is best.
Out in the fight or on picket,
  Stand firm and true;
This is the work which your Master
  Gives you to do.

—Selected.

Safely we may leave the crowded meeting, the inspiring mountain top, the helpful fellowship of “just men,” and betake ourselves to our dim homely Emmaus, or to our dread public Colossae, or even to our far Macedonia in the mission field, quietly confident that just where He has placed us, in the usual round of life, He ordains that the borderland may be possessed, the victory won.—Northcote Deck.