Milo

May 18

“I was crushed … so much so that I despaired even of life, but that was to make me rely not on myself, but on the God who raises the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8, 9)

“Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;
Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength;
Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,
Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll.
Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends.
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.

“Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
Pressed into faith for impossible things.
Pressed into living a life in the Lord,
Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured.”

THE pressure of hard places makes us value life. Every time our life is given back to us from such a trial, it is like a new beginning, and we learn better how much it is worth, and make more of it for God and man. The pressure helps us to understand the trials of others, and fits us to help and sympathize with them.
There is a shallow, superficial nature, that gets hold of a theory or a promise lightly, and talks very glibly about the distrust of those who shrink from every trial; but the man or woman who has suffered much never does this, but is very tender and gentle, and knows what suffering really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Death worketh in you.”
Trials and hard places are needed to press us forward, even as the furnace fires in the hold of that mighty ship give force that moves the piston, drives the engine, and propels that great vessel across the sea in the face of the winds and waves.
—A. B. Simpson.

“Out of the presses of pain,
  Cometh the soul’s best wine;
And the eyes that have shed no rain,
  Can shed but little shine.”

18 MAY

Sweet messenger of rest

‘And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.’ Genesis 8:11
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Isaiah 51:12–16; Matthew 11:28–30

Noah sent forth first the raven, which returned no more, then a dove, which, not finding rest, returned to the ark—but the second time brought an olive leaf. It was probably from an imperfect tradition of this circumstance that an olive branch has been considered an emblem of peace among all nations. The raven is an unclean bird. A bird of prey, it was confined in the ark and glad of its liberty, for it could find subsistence abroad. But the dove could not live upon ravens’ food and therefore returned till the earth was fully dried. Thus the carnal heart can find satisfaction in the world, but the believer can find no rest but in the ark. As Noah put forth his hand to receive her, so Jesus graciously receives the weary soul into his rest.
The dove, though it came back unsuccessful, is sent forth again and at last brings the token. The peace of God is revealed to persevering prayer, and when the heart has been humbled by the Word and brought into a meek and gentle spirit. The peace of God is made known not to ravens but to doves. At last the dove likewise took its flight and returned no more. The earth was dried and the fruits ready for its food. Believers go forth upon the wing of faith and prayer; they receive tokens of good and are witnesses and messengers of the Lord’s mercy. But in time their hope is exchanged for possession and they take their flight from the church below to the land of eternal rest, from whence they shall come back no more.
FOR MEDITATION:
Does the gospel-word proclaim
Safely lodged within thy breast,
Rest, for those who weary be?
What a wondrous change I find!
Then, my soul, put in thy claim,
Now I know thy promised rest
Sure that promise speaks to thee:
Can compose a troubled mind
Marks of grace I cannot show,
You that weary are like me,
All polluted is my best;
Hearken to the gospel call;
Yet I weary am I know,
To the ark for refuge flee,
And the weary long for rest.
JESUS will receive you all!

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 18 [3/3], GENESIS 8:11

May 17th

His ascension and our union

And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. Luke 24:51.

We have no corresponding experience to the events in Our Lord’s life after the Transfiguration. From then onwards Our Lord’s life was altogether vicarious. Up to the time of the Transfiguration He had exhibited the normal perfect life of a man; from the Transfiguration onwards—Gethsemane, the Cross, the Resurrection—everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His Resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to any man, and by His Ascension Our Lord enters heaven and keeps the door open for humanity.
On the Mount of Ascension the Transfiguration is completed. If Jesus had gone to heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone; He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the Mount to identify Himself with fallen humanity.
The Ascension is the consummation of the Transfiguration. Our Lord does now go back into His primal glory; but He does not go back simply as Son of God: He goes back to God as Son of Man as well as Son of God. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God by the Ascension of the Son of Man. As Son of Man Jesus Christ deliberately limited omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience in Himself. Now they are His in absolute full power. As Son of Man Jesus Christ has all power at the throne of God. He is King of kings and Lord of lords from the day of His Ascension until now.

May 17

“And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness … an angel of the Lord … saying, … now come, I will send thee into Egypt.”
(Acts 7:30–34.)

OFTEN the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth In again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.
Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith’s forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.
So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work.—Days of Heaven upon Earth.

Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!
  Till next steps made plain shall be;
To hear, with the inner hearing,
  The Voice that will call for me.

Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!
  With hope that need not grow dim;
The Master is pledged to guide me,
  And my eyes are unto Him.

Waiting! Expectantly waiting!
  Perhaps it may be today
The Master will quickly open
  The gate to my future way.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
  I know, though I’ve waited long,
That, while He withholds His purpose,
  His waiting cannot be wrong.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
  The Master will not be late:
He knoweth that I am waiting
  For Him to unlatch the gate.

—J. Danson Smith.

17 MAY

Guidance: divine & DIY

‘And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.’ Genesis 8:11
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Nehemiah 2:11–18

We have the resting of the ark upon a mountain, guided thither by God and not steered by Noah’s prudence. The Lord has times of rest for his people. A convinced sinner is like the ark tossed upon the waves, but in due time guided to the Rock that is higher than he [Psalm 61:2]. When the ark had rested some time, Noah was desirous of intelligence. He saw the tops of the hills from the window of the ark, but was solicitous to know when the earth should be dry and fit to receive him. God had told him the day when the flood should come, but not when it should subside. The knowledge of the one was necessary, the other not so. The one he could not have known but by revelation, but he might in due time discover the other in the use of ordinary means. The knowledge the Lord affords his people is not to indulge their curiosity or to make them indolent, but so graciously managed, that, while nothing truly profitable is held from them, their own diligence and application is still needful.

FOR MEDITATION: I wish I could advise you about your sons, but here likewise I am at a loss. Dispose of your children in any way, you cannot keep them out of the infectious air of the world’s evil atmosphere. When you have made the most prudent use in your power of the means that the providence of the Lord affords, you can do nothing further than to commend them to him by frequent, fervent prayer, and then in faith, patience and hope, wait for the issue: and if you give them up to him (when you have done your part), you must leave him (if you can) to answer his prayers in his own time and way; for he often brings the blind by a way they know not.
John Newton to James Coffin, 19 February 1799

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 18 [2/3], GENESIS 8:11

J