Milo

March 29

“Consider the lilies, how they grow.” (Matt. 6:28)

I NEED oil,” said an ancient monk; so he planted an olive sapling. “Lord,” he prayed, “it needs rain that its tender roots may drink and swell. Send gentle showers.” And the Lord sent gentle showers. “Lord,” prayed the monk, “my tree needs sun. Send sun, I pray Thee.” And the sun shone, gilding the dripping clouds. “Now frost, my Lord, to brace its tissues,” cried the monk. And behold, the little tree stood sparkling with frost, but at evening it died.

Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk, and told his strange experience. “I, too, planted a little tree,” he said, “and see! it thrives well. But I entrust my tree to its God. He who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or means. ‘Lord, send what it needs,’ I prayed, ‘storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou hast made it and Thou dost know.’ ”

Yes, leave it with Him,
The lilies all do,
  And they grow—
They grow in the rain,
And they grow in the dew—
  Yes, they grow:

They grow in the darkness, all hid in the night—
They grow in the sunshine, revealed by the light—
Still they grow.

Yes, leave it with Him,
’Tis more dear to His heart,
  You will know,
Than the lilies that bloom,
Or the flowers that start
  ’Neath the snow:

Whatever you need, if you seek it in prayer,
You can leave it with Him—for you are His care.
You, you know.
—Selected.

March 28

“And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap”. (Joshua 3:13)

BRAVE Levites! Who can help admiring them, to carry the Ark right into the stream; for the waters were not divided till their feet dipped in the water (ver. 15). God had not promised aught else. God honors faith. “Obstinate faith,” that the PROMISE sees and “looks to that alone.” You can fancy how the people would watch these holy men march on, and some of the bystanders would be saying, “You would not catch me running that risk! Why, man, the ark will be carried away!” Not so; “the priests stood firm on dry ground.” We must not overlook the fact that faith on our part helps God to carry out His plans. “Come up to the help of the Lord.”

The Ark had staves for the shoulders. Even the Ark did not move of itself; it was carried. When God is the architect, men are the masons and laborers. Faith assists God. It can stop the mouth of lions and quench the violence of fire. It yet honors God, and God honors it. Oh, for this faith that will go on, leaving God to fulfill His promise when He sees fit! Fellow Levites, let us shoulder our load, and do not let us look as if we were carrying God’s coffin. It is the Ark of the living God! Sing as you march towards the flood!—Thomas Champness.

One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid clinging to the shore.

Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us launch out into the deep, and find that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible unto him that believeth.

Let us, today, attempt great things for God; take His faith and believe for them and His strength to accomplish them.
—Days of Heaven upon Earth.

March 27

“I do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy of mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon us.” (Rom. 8:18) (20th Century Trans)

A REMARKABLE incident occurred recently at a wedding in England. A young man of large wealth and high social position, who had been blinded by an accident when he was ten years old, and who won University honors in spite of his blindness, had won a beautiful bride, though he had never looked upon her face. A little while before his marriage, he submitted to a course of treatment by experts, and the climax came on the day of his wedding.
The day came, and the presents, and guests. There were present cabinet ministers and generals and bishops and learned men and women. The bridegroom, dressed for the wedding, his eyes still shrouded in linen, drove to the church with his father, and the famous oculist met them in the vestry.
The bride, entered the church on the arm of her white-haired father. So moved was she that she could hardly speak. Was her lover at last to see her face that others admired, but which he knew only through his delicate finger tips?

As she neared the altar, while the soft strains of the wedding march floated through the church, her eyes fell on a strange group.
The father stood there with his son. Before the latter was the great oculist in the act of cutting away the last bandage. The bridegroom took a step forward, with the spasmodic uncertainty of one who cannot believe that he is awake. A beam of rose-colored light from a pane in the chancel window fell across his face, but he did not seem to see it.
Did he see anything? Yes! Recovering in an instant his steadiness of mien, and with a dignity and joy never before seen in his face, he went forward to meet his bride. They looked into each other’s eyes, and one would have thought that his eyes would never wander from her face.

“At last!” she said. “At last!” he echoed solemnly, bowing his head. That was a scene of great dramatic power, and no doubt of great joy, and is but a mere suggestion of what will actually take place in Heaven when the Christian who has been walking through this world of trial and sorrow, shall see HIM face to face.—Selected.

  “Just a-wearying for you,
  Jesus, Lord, beloved and true;
  Wishing for you, wondering when
  You’ll be coming back again,
  Under all I say and do,
  Just a-wearying for you.

  “Some glad day, all watching past,
  You will come for me at last;
  Then I’ll see you, hear your voice,
  Be with you, with you rejoice;
  How the sweet hope thrills me through,
  Sets me wearying for you.”

March 26

“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. (Gen. 13:14, 15)

NO instinct can be put in you by the Holy Ghost but He purposes to fulfill. Let your faith then rise and soar away and claim all the land you can discover.”—S. A. Keen.

All you can apprehend in the vision of faith is your own. Look as far as you can, for it is all yours. All that you long to be as a Christian, all that you long to do for God, are within the possibilities of faith. Then come, still closer, and with your Bible before you, and your soul open to all the influences of the Spirit, let your whole being receive the baptism of His presence; and as He opens your understanding to see all His fulness, believe He has it all for you. Accept for yourself all the promises of His word, all the desires He awakens within you, all the possibilities of what you may be as a follower of Jesus. All the land you see is given to you.

The actual provisions of His grace come from the inner vision. He who puts the instinct in the bosom of yonder bird to cross the continent in search of summer sunshine in the Southern clime is too good to deceive it, and just as surely as He has put the instinct in its breast, so has He also put the balmy breezes and the vernal sunshine yonder to meet it when it arrives.

He who breathes into our hearts the heavenly hope, will not deceive or fail us when we press forward to its realization.
—Selected.

“And they found as he had said unto them.” (Luke 22:13)

31 MARCH (PREACHED 25 MARCH 1787)

Especially to the young people

‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.’ Proverbs 14:34
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Exodus 1:22–2:10; Hebrews 11:23–29

If some, if but a few, if even but one of the children [of the Charity School] before you, besides being put in the path of honest industry, should be partakers of that righteousness which I have described, it will compensate for the expense. Who that had seen Moses cast out upon the water, would have expected that he would one day become the deliverer and leader of Israel? I would animate you with the hope that amongst these children there may be some who in future life will appear in a very different situation, and by the providence and grace of God be qualified for great usefulness in society—patterns and promoters of that righteousness that exalteth a nation. May God so enthuse the hearts of this assembly, and so direct you to improve the talents he has entrusted you with, that in the great day of his appearance you may be found in the number of those who have been instrumental in turning many to righteousness, and who shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and like the stars for ever and ever. Amen.

FOR MEDITATION: Now I look to thee for strength and for a blessing this evening. I am going to speak in thy name, and especially to the young people. May I carry thy message. May thy power apply it. May thy voice be heard, thy presence felt, thy glory seen amongst us. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be abundantly known tonight, and may some good work be wrought which may be recorded to thy praise in the annuls of eternity.
Diary, 1 January 1783

SERMON: PROVERBS 14:34 [7/7] [FOR THE ANNUAL CHARITY SERMON]