Milo

June 6

“Watch unto prayer.” (1 Peter 4:7)

GO not, my friend, into the dangerous world without prayer. You kneel down at night to pray, drowsiness weighs down your eyelids; a hard day’s work is a kind of excuse, and you shorten your prayer, and resign yourself softly to repose. The morning breaks; and it may be you rise late, and so your early devotions are not done, or are done with irregular haste.
No watching unto prayer! Wakefulness once more omitted; and now is that reparable! We solemnly believe not.
There has been that done which cannot be undone. You have given up your prayer, and you will suffer for it.
Temptation is before you, and you are not ready to meet it. There is a guilty feeling on the soul, and you linger at a distance from God. It is no marvel if that day in which you suffer drowsiness to interfere with prayer be a day in which you shrink from duty.
Moments of prayer intruded on by sloth cannot be made up. We may get experience, but we cannot get back the rich freshness and strength which were wrapped up in those moments.—Frederick W. Robertson.
If Jesus, the strong Son of God, felt it necessary to rise before the breaking of the day to pour out His heart to God in prayer, how much more ought you to pray unto Him who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and who has promised all things necessary for our good.
What Jesus gathered into His life from His prayers we can never know; but this we do know, that the prayerless life is a powerless life. A prayerless life may be a noisy life, and fuss around a great deal; but such a life is far removed from Him who, by day and night, prayed to God.—Selected.

6 JUNE

No loser

‘And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.’ Genesis 13:14–15
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Romans 8:28–39.

Happy is he who has the God of Israel for his help … [Psalm 146:5]. Whatever changes or trials he may meet, he has a sure resource. From these verses we may take note of the time: after Lot had separated.
Observe:
(i) Abraham had given up something for the sake of peace—now he is made amends. It is good to be willing to suffer for the Lord’s sake and to commit our cause to him. Such shall be no losers.
(ii) Abraham had lost the company of a dear friend and associate. But the Lord visited him. We are liable to be separated from those we love, by many things, but who shall separate from the Lord? Communion with him can make up the want of creature converse and creature assistance.
(iii) The land was designed for Abraham’s family, not Lot’s—it was necessary that Lot should settle elsewhere, yet his own fault was the immediate occasion. Thus the Lord overrules the mistakes as well as the good intentions of his people, and in general the actions of mankind, to his own glory (Genesis 45:8; Luke 2:1). When Lot was gone, the promise was confirmed.

FOR MEDITATION:
Since all that I meet
Shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet,
The medicine is food;
Though painful at present,
’Twill cease before long,
And then, oh! how pleasant,
The conqueror’s song!

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 26 [1/2], GENESIS 13:14–18

June 5th

God’s say-so

He hath said … so that we may boldly say … Hebrews 13:5–6 .

My say-so is to be built on God’s say-so. God says—“I will never leave thee,” then I can with good courage say—“The Lord is my helper, I will not fear”—I will not be haunted by apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s say-so. I will be full of courage, like a child ‘bucking himself up’ to reach the standard his father wants. Faith in many a one falters when the apprehensions come, they forget the meaning of God’s say-so, forget to take a deep breath spiritually. The only way to get the dread taken out of us is to listen to God’s say-so.
What are you dreading? You are not a coward about it, you are going to face it, but there is a feeling of dread. When there is nothing and no one to help you, say—‘But the Lord is my Helper, this second, in my present outlook.’ Are you learning to say things after listening to God, or are you saying things and trying to make God’s word fit in? Get hold of the Father’s say-so, and then say with good courage—“I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in the way, He has said—“I will never leave thee.”
Frailty is another thing that gets in between God’s say-so and ours. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God becomes a nonentity. Remember God’s say-so—“I will in no wise fail you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s key-note? Are we always possessed with the courage to say—“The Lord is my helper,” or are we succumbing?

June 5

“Make thy petition deep.” (Isa. 7:11, margin.)
Make thy petition deep, O heart of mine,
Thy God can do much more
Than thou canst ask;
Launch out on the Divine,
Draw from His love-filled store.
Trust Him with everything;
Begin today,
And find the joy that comes
When Jesus has His way!
—Selected.

WE must keep on praying and waiting upon the Lord, until the sound of a mighty rain is heard. There is no reason why we should not ask for large things: and without doubt we shall get large things if we ask in faith, and have the courage to wait with patient perservance upon Him, meantime doing those things which lie within our power to do.
We cannot create the wind or set it in motion, but we can set our sails to catch it when it comes; we cannot make the electricity, but we can stretch the wire along upon which it is to run and do its work; we cannot, in a word, control the Spirit, but we can so place ourselves before the Lord, and so do the things He has bidden us do, that we will come under the influence and power of His mighty breath.—Selected.
“Cannot the same wonders be done now as of old? Where is the God of Elijah. He is waiting for Elijah to call on Him.”
The greatest saints who ever lived, whether under the Old or New Dispensation, are on a level which is quite within our reach. The same forces of the spiritual world which were at their command, and the exertion of which made them such spiritual heroes, are open to us also. If we had the same faith, the same hope, the same love which they exhibited, we would achieve marvels as great as those which they achieved. A word of prayer in our mouths would be as potent to call down the gracious dews and melting fires of God’s Spirit, as it was in Elijah’s mouth to call down literal rain and fire, if we could only speak the word with that full assurance of faith wherewith he said it.—Dr. Goulburn, Dean of Norwich.

5 JUNE (PREACHED 2 JUNE 1771)

Guidelines for choosing

‘Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.’ Genesis 13:12–13
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Proverbs 24:1–27

This affords a lesson to us, especially to people that are newly setting out in the world. Look not at outward advantages only. Prize the people and ordinances of God, and pray that your lot may not be cast at a distance from them. If you know the Lord, you will meet many trials by living in a dark place where there are no means of grace to help you forward, but, on the contrary, continual hindrances to strive against. You will hardly meet anything can make you amends for the loss it will prove to your souls. If your lot is already fixed like Lot in Sodom, yet may you at least imitate him in being a witness for his truth and in grieving for the abounding of sin around you. Then you shall find the Lord whom you serve is able to deliver and protect you [Daniel 3:17]. The land of Sodom was well watered for a season, but sin brought upon it a storm of fire. So sinners may be favoured a while with outward prosperity, but judgement is at the door. Remember what our Lord said of Sodom: it was a wicked place, but it had not the gospel. It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for many called Christians in the great day [Luke 10:12].
FOR MEDITATION:
In vain his sons-in-law he warned,
Yea; Lot himself could lingering stand,
They thought he told his dreams;
Though vengeance was in view;
His daughters too, of them had learned,
’Twas mercy plucked him by the hand,
And perished in the flames.
Or he had perished too.

His wife escaped a little way,
The doom of Sodom will be ours
But died for looking back:
If to the earth we cleave;
Does not her case to pilgrims say,
LORD quicken all our drowsy powers,
‘Beware of growing slack’?
To flee to thee and live.

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 25 [4/4], GENESIS 13:12–13