Milo

March 9

“Look from the top.” (Song of Solomon 4:8.)
CRUSHING weights give the Christian wings. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but it is a blessed truth. David out of some bitter experience cried: “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest” (Psa. 55:6). But before he finished this meditation he seems to have realized that his wish for wings was a realizable one. For he says, “Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee.”
The word “burden” is translated in the Bible margin, “what he (Jehovah) hath given thee.” The saints’ burdens are God-given; they lead him to “wait upon Jehovah,” and when that is done, in the magic of trust, the “burden” is metamorphosed into a pair of wings, and the weighted one “mounts up with wings as eagles.”—Sunday School Times.

One day when walking down the street,
On business bent, while thinking hard
About the “hundred cares” which seemed
Like thunder clouds about to break
In torrents, Self-pity said to me:
“You poor, poor thing, you have too much
To do. Your life is far too hard.
This heavy load will crush you soon.”
A swift response of sympathy
Welled up within. The burning sun
Seemed more intense. The dust and noise
Of puffing motors flying past
With rasping blast of blowing horn
Incensed still more the whining nerves,
The fabled last back-breaking straw
To weary, troubled, fretting mind.
“Ah, yes, ‘twill break and crush my life;
I cannot bear this constant strain
Of endless, aggravating car’s;
They are too great for such as I.”
So thus my heart condoled itself,
“Enjoying misery,” when lo!
A “still small voice” distinctly said,
“’Twas sent to lift you—not to crush.”
I saw at once my great mistake.
My place was not beneath the load
But on the top! God meant it not
That I should carry it. He sent
It here to carry me. Full well
He knew my incapacity
Before the plan was made. He saw
A child of His in need of grace
And power to serve; a puny twig
Requiring sun and rain to grow;
An undeveloped chrysalis;
A weak soul lacking faith in God.
He could not help but see all this
And more. And then, with tender thought
He placed it where it had to grow—
Or die. To lie and cringe beneath
One’s load means death, but life and power
Await all those who dare to rise above.
Our burdens are our wings; on them
We soar to higher realms of grace;
Without them we must roam for aye
On planes of undeveloped faith,
(For faith grows but by exercise
In circumstance impossible).

Oh, paradox of Heaven. The load
We think will crush was sent to lift us
Up to God! Then, soul of mine,
Climb up! for naught can e’er be crushed
Save what is underneath the weight.
How may we climb! By what ascent
Shall we surmount the carping cares
Of life! Within His word is found
The key which opes His secret stairs;
Alone with Christ, secluded there,
We mount our loads, and rest in Him.

—Miss Mary Butterfield.

March 8

“Do as thou hast said, that thy name may be magnified forever.” (1 Chron. 17:23, 24.)

THIS is a most blessed phase of true prayer. Many a time we ask for things which are not absolutely promised. We are not sure therefore until we have persevered for some time whether our petitions are in the line of God’s purpose or no. There are other occasions, and in the life of David this was one, when we are fully persuaded that what we ask is according to God’s will. We feel led to take up and plead some promise from the page of Scripture, under the special impression that it contains a message for us. At such times, in confident faith, we say, “Do as Thou hast said.” There is hardly any position more utterly beautiful, strong, or safe, than to put the finger upon some promise of the Divine word, and claim it. There need be no anguish, or struggle, or wrestling; we simply present the check and ask for cash, produce the promise, and claim its fulfillment; nor can there be any doubt as to the issue. It would give much interest to prayer, if we were more definite. It is far better to claim a few things specifically than a score vaguely.—F. B. Meyer.
Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request: “Do as Thou hast said.” The Creator will not cheat His creature who depends upon His truth; and far more, the Heavenly Father will not break His word to His own child.
“Remember the word unto thy servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope,” is most prevalent pleading. It is a double argument: it is Thy Word. Wilt Thou not keep it? Why hast thou spoken of it, if Thou wilt not make it good. Thou hast caused me to hope in it, wilt Thou disappoint the hope which Thou has Thyself begotten in me?—C. H. Spurgeon.
“Being absolutely certain that whatever promise he is bound by, he is able also to make good.” (Rom. 4:21, Weymouth’s Translation.)
It is the everlasting faithfulness of God that makes a Bible promise “exceeding great and precious.” Human promises are often worthless. Many a broken promise has left a broken heart. But since the world was made, God has never broken a single promise made to one of His trusting children.
Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch, whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father’s house.—Gurnal.
Every promise is built upon four pillars: God’s justice and holiness, which will not suffer Him to deceive; His grace or goodness, which will not suffer Him to forget; His truth, which will not suffer Him to change, which makes Him able to accomplish.—Selected.

March 7

“We are troubled on every side.” (2 Cor. 7:5.)

WHY should God have to lead us thus, and allow the pressure to be so hard and constant? Well, in the first place, it shows His all-sufficient strength and grace much better than if we were exempt from pressure and trial. “The treasure is in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
It makes us more conscious of our dependence upon Him. God is constantly trying to teach us our dependence, and to hold us absolutely in His hand and hanging upon His care.
This was the place where Jesus Himself stood and where He wants us to stand, not with self-constituted strength, but with a hand ever leaning upon His, and a trust that dare not take one step alone. It teaches us trust.
There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God’s school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life.
The lesson of faith once learned, is an everlasting acquisition and an eternal fortune made; and without trust even riches will leave us poor.—Days of Heaven upon Earth.

“Why must I weep when others sing?
‘To test the deeps of suffering’.
Why must I work while others rest?
‘To spend my strength at God’s request.’
Why must I lose while others gain?
‘To understand defeat’s sharp pain.’
Why must this lot of life be mine
When that which fairer seems is thine?
‘Because God knows what plans for me
Shall blossom in eternity.’ ”

March 6

“We trusted.” (Luke 24:21.)

I HAVE always felt so sorry that in that walk to Emmaus the disciples had not said to Jesus, “We still trust”; instead of “We trusted.” That is so sad—something that is all over.
If they had only said, “Everything is against our hope; it looks as if our trust was vain, but we do not give up; we believe we shall see Him again.” But no, they walked by His side declaring their lost faith, and He had to say to them “O fools, and slow of heart to believe!”
Are we not in the same danger of having these words said to us? We can afford to lose anything and everything if we do not lose our faith in the God of truth and love.
Let us never put our faith, as these disciples did, in a past tense—“We trusted.” But let us ever say, “I am trusting.”
—Crumbs.
The soft, sweet summer was warm and glowing,
Bright were the blossoms on every bough:
I trusted Him when the roses were blooming;
I trust Him now ….

Small were my faith should it weakly falter
Now that the roses have ceased to blow;
Frail were the trust that now should alter,
Doubting His love when storm clouds grow.

—The Song of a Bird in a Winter Storm.

10 MARCH (PREACHED 1770)

All of grace

‘And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart.’ Matthew 17:1
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Romans 12:1–8

The persons: Peter, James and John. It does not become us to enquire too curiously why he admitted only three of his disciples to be witnesses of his glory, or why these three rather than any of the rest. Yet since we are told it was his pleasure so to do, it may be proper to draw an observation or two from this circumstance.
I do not lay any stress upon the number three. It is plain that on several occasions these three were distinguished from the others. Some think because they were more eminent for grace—if they were so, I should judge this was the effect rather than the cause of the preference the Lord gave them. They who are most with him, will be most like him. It is true that humble, diligent waiting is the way to enjoy peculiar nearness, but we can render nothing to him, but what we first receive from him. It is sufficient to say he has a right to do what he will with his own. He admitted these three to a nearer intimacy and John was favoured beyond them all (John 13:23). He is called, by way of eminence, the disciple whom Jesus loved, though he loved them all. So he loves all his people, yet makes a difference between some and others in providence, in grace, in comforts. Some have two talents, some five, some of the good ground bears thirtyfold, other sixty, other one hundred—all according to his wise appointment, and yet so as that there is encouragement for everyone in the use of means to open their mouths wide and desire the best things: an abundance of grace and peace, and the fruits of holiness. They who seek shall surely find. However, these apostles were not without their faults. Peter was often wrong, and afterwards denied him. James and John would have called fire from heaven. His favours are all of grace.
FOR MEDITATION: [to precede the New Year’s Day sermon]
Now, gracious LORD, thine arm reveal,
Help us to venture near thy throne,
And make thy glory known;
And plead a Saviour’s name;
Now let us all thy presence feel,
For all that we can call our own,
And soften hearts of stone!
Is vanity and shame.

SERMON SERIES: ON THE TRANSFIGURATION, NO. 1 [3/4]