Milo

18 APRIL (PREACHED OLNEY FAIR DAY, 17 APRIL 1775)

The Spirit says, Come

‘And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ Revelation 22:17
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Romans 8:5–27

I shall take the words in the order they lie. Here is a joint invitation: the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
The Spirit: the Holy Spirit that searcheth the deep things of God and reveals his mind to men—the Spirit whose office it is to glorify Jesus. Here then is a sufficient warrant for poor sinners. Why are you poring upon yourselves, doubting whether such as you have any ground of hope, when the Spirit himself says, Come? Do you think he speaks to mock you? Indeed if you know nothing of God but by the law, you might expect and fear he would rather say, Depart, but now it is Come. For:
(i) Christ has died. Justice is satisfied.
(ii) Christ is pleading—he presents his own blood and is accepted. Therefore the Spirit assures us that God is reconciled and bids us, Come.

FOR MEDITATION: The Spirit is our prompter, that stirs up our hearts to lay hold of the golden opportunity. Our hearts are dull and backward to pray but when the Spirit shows us a glimpse of the things of Christ, of the glories of heaven, of the peace, honour and happiness of the Lord’s people, this quickens us. How forgetful are we, but the promise is fulfilled. We often approach the throne of grace, dumb, and are unwilling to go because we think we have nothing to say—rather dragged by conscience than drawn by love. Yet when at length we try to begin, how sweetly is one want, promise, blessing, after another, brought to our minds so that at last we are as loath to leave off as we were at first to begin.
Sermon on Romans 8:26, The Searcher of Hearts

SERMON: REVELATION 22:17 [2/6] [EASTER MONDAY EVENING]

April 17th

Neck or nothing

Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him …, and did cast himself into the sea. John 21:7.

Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately and emphatically and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of will. You may come up to it many times externally, but it amounts to nothing. The real deep crisis of abandonment is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of external things may be an indication of being in total bondage.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of will, not of emotion; the emotion is simply the gilt-edge of the transaction. If you allow emotion first, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make it in regard to the thing you do see, either in the shallow or the profound place.
If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the billows, let your convictions go to the winds, let your consistency go to the winds, but maintain your relationship to Him.

April 17

“The hand of the Lord hath wrought this.” (Job 12:9)

SEVERAL years ago there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world’s history. It was presented to the King of England to blaze in his crown of state. The King sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he did with it?

He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with his instrument, and lo! the superb jewel lay in his hand cleft in twain. What recklessness! what wastefulness! what criminal carelessness!

Not so. For days and weeks that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been studied with minutest care. The man to whom it was committed was one of the most skillful lapidaries in the world.

Do you say that blow was a mistake? Nay. It was the climax of the lapidary’s skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing which would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jewelled splendor. That blow which seemed to ruin the superb precious stone was, in fact, its perfect redemption. For, from those two halves were wrought the two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.

So, sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life. The blood spurts. The nerves wince. The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an apalling mistake. But it is not, for you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled lapidary in the universe.

Some day you are to blaze in the diadem of the King. As you lie in His hand now He knows just how to deal with you. Not a blow will be permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul but that the love of God permits it, and works out from its depths, blessing and spiritual enrichment unseen, and unthought of by you.—J. H. McC.

In one of George MacDonald’s books occurs this fragment of conversation: “I wonder why God made me,” said Mrs. Faber bitterly. “I’m sure I Don’t know what was the use of making me!”

“Perhaps not much yet,” said Dorothy, “but then He hasn’t done with you yet. He is making you now, and you are quarreling with the process.”

If men would but believe that they are in process of creation, and consent to be made—let the Maker handle them as the potter the clay, yielding themselves in resplendent motion and submissive, hopeful action with the turning of His wheel—they would ere long find themselves able to welcome every pressure of that hand on them, even when it was felt in pain; and sometimes not only to believe but to recognize the Divine end in view, the bringing of a son unto glory.

  “Not a single shaft can hit,
  Till the God of love sees fit.”

17 APRIL (PREACHED OLNEY FAIR DAY, 17 APRIL 1775)

Legal fears and gospel hopes

‘And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ Revelation 22:17
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Romans 15:1–13

The manner in which the Word of God addresses our consciences affords a proof that it is indeed from him who knows our frame. Hope and fear are the main principles of our conduct. And what so worthy of our fear as the terrors of the Lord? His justice, power, holiness, his hatred of sin, and the wrath that hangs over sinners, is therefore set forth in lively colours that we may be stirred up to flee for refuge to Jesus. But alas in vain, unless he is pleased to accompany the letter of the word with the operation of the Spirit—then the sinner hears and trembles and can no longer put the thoughts away, but cries out with earnestness, ‘Alas! What must I do to be saved?’ [Acts 16:30]. As the law is designed to awaken our fears, so the gospel is sweetly suited to engage our hopes. How glorious are the revelations there made of the Lord Jesus Christ—the riches of his grace, and the happiness of the eternal world—to a believing soul. In comparison with these, everything else appears but loss and dung. This prospect enlivens the soul to tread upon every difficulty and to press on to the prize. When faith obtains a view of that which is within the veil, hard things become easy and bitter things sweet. With respect to all that stands in the way it says, ‘None of these things move me.’ But it is seldom thus at the first setting out. Faith in the beginning is small as a grain of mustard, weak as a bruised reed. A sight of sin, the workings of unbelief, the temptations of Satan, unite to discourage the sensitive sinner. Thus it is, thus the Lord knew it would be. And therefore he has provided the most tender, endearing and repeated invitations. He says: Matthew 11:28; John 6:37; Isaiah 1:18; and in many other places to the same effect.
FOR MEDITATION:

A Word from JESUS calms the sea,
‘Upon my promise rest thy hope,
The stormy wind controls;
And keep my love in view;
And gives repose and liberty
I stand engaged to hold thee up,
To tempest-tossed souls.
And guide thee safely through.’

SERMON: REVELATION 22:17 [1/6] [EASTER MONDAY EVENING]

April 16th

Can you come down?

While ye have light, believe in the light. John 12:36.

We all have moments when we feel better than our best, and we say—‘I feel fit for anything; if only I could be like this always!’ We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for this workaday world when there is no high hour. We must bring our commonplace life up to the standard revealed in the high hour.
Never allow a feeling which was stirred in you in the high hour to evaporate. Don’t put your mental feet on the mantelpiece and say—‘What a marvellous state of mind to be in!’ Act immediately, do something, if only because you would rather not do it. If in a prayer meeting God has shown you something to do, don’t say—‘I’ll do it’; do it! Take yourself by the scruff of the neck and shake off your incarnate laziness. Laziness is always seen in cravings for the high hour; we talk about working up to a time on the mount. We have to learn to live in the grey day according to what we saw on the mount.
Don’t cave in because you have been baffled once, get at it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by your own act. Never revise your decisions, but see that you make your decisions in the light of the high hour.