Milo

2 FEBRUARY (PREACHED 1 FEBRUARY 1770)

Peace and provision

‘Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.’ Psalm 147:12–14
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Leviticus 26:3–13

Provision. The quality: the finest wheat, the doctrines and truths of the gospel in their power and purity. This is the bread of life Jesus Christ dispensed in the word and received by faith. The quantity: filleth, when ordinances are attended not only now and then, but frequently, and when by the Spirit’s application they are made lively and savoury.
Peace. Peace is threefold:
(i) peace in their own souls, when they grow into an established peace with God by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
(ii) peace amongst themselves, when the power of his grace prevents all those jealousies, envyings, discords, which wherever they prevail are dishonourable, uncomfortable and hurtful to the works.
(iii) outward peace. A full peace with the world cannot be expected, but I mean liberty to enjoy our privileges without interruption or ill-treatment—a mercy with which we are singularly favoured.
Now the most of the blessings and benefits I have mentioned depend under God upon the continuance of a gospel minister. This some of you will know, and therefore when the Lord seemed to threaten a removal you were pained. Woeful are the consequences when the Lord removes his candlestick—then profession languishes, errors creep in, dispensations and discords take place—the spirit of the world takes place, and the most established feel a want and a loss. Let us remember we are still dependent upon him. As the time of distress is his time of help, so the hour of security is the hour of danger.
FOR MEDITATION:
Round each habitation hovering
Thus deriving from their banner
See the cloud and fire appear!
Light by night and shade by day;
For a glory and a covering,
Safe they feed upon the Manna
Showing that the LORD is near:
Which he gives them when they pray.

SERMON: PSALM 147:12–14 [2/2] [ON THE COTTINGHAM ANNIVERSARY]

1 FEBRUARY (PREACHED 1 FEBRUARY 1770)

For an anniversary

‘Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.’ Psalm 147:12–14
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 147:1–20

Zion signifies the church: recovered by Jesus, the true David, out of the hand of his enemies; the seat of royal residence and of spiritual worship. The name is applicable to each of the hills of Zion: the congregations of believers. Happy the people that are in such a case as my text describes. The Lord grant it may in some measure be our case and that we may be thankful. I have chosen the subject as not unsuitable to what I believe is upon many of our hearts on the return of this day. Here we have protection, provision, blessing and peace.
Protection: he strengtheneth the bars of thy gates. Zion is a besieged city, but kept by the power of God. Satan is always endeavouring to break in, attempting to hurt them by erroneous doctrines or licentious practices. Therefore we are called upon to watch and stand fast in the faith, to quit ourselves like men and be strong.
He blesseth thy children. An increase in graces, making them thriving, giving them appetite as well as food and enabling them to show forth his praise in a holy conversation. An increase in numbers, calling them into the state of children who were by nature strangers and aliens.

FOR MEDITATION:
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Washed in the Redeemer’s blood!
JESUS, whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to GOD:
’Tis his love his people raises
Over self to reign as kings
And as priests, his solemn praises
Each for a thank-offering brings.

SERMON: PSALM 147:12–14 [1/2] [ON THE COTTINGHAM ANNIVERSARY]

January 31st

Do you see your calling?

Separated unto the Gospel. Romans 1:1.

Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God. The one thing that is all important is that the Gospel of God should be realized as the abiding Reality. Reality is not human goodness, nor holiness, nor heaven, nor hell, but Redemption; and the need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker to-day. As workers we have to get used to the revelation that Redemption is the only Reality. Personal holiness is an effect, not a cause, and if we place our faith in human goodness, in the effect of Redemption, we shall go under when the test comes.
Paul did not say he separated himself, but—“when it pleased God who separated me.…” Paul had not a hypersensitive interest in his own character. As long as our eyes are upon our own personal whiteness we shall never get near the reality of Redemption. Workers break down because their desire is for their own whiteness, and not for God. ‘Don’t ask me to come into contact with the rugged reality of Redemption on behalf of the filth of human life as it is; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.’ To talk in that way is a sign that the reality of the Gospel of God has not begun to touch me; there is no reckless abandon to God. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul is unconscious of himself, he is recklessly abandoned, separated by God for one purpose—to proclaim the Gospel of God (cf. Rom. 9:3).

January 30th

The dilemma of obedience

And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. 1 Samuel 3:15.

God seldom speaks to us in startling ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand, and we say, ‘I wonder if that is God’s voice?’ Isaiah said that the Lord spake to him “with a strong hand,” that is, by the pressure of circumstances. Nothing touches our lives but it is God Himself speaking. Do we discern His hand or only mere occurrence?
Get into the habit of saying, “Speak, Lord,” and life will become a romance. Every time circumstances press, say, “Speak, Lord”; make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline, it is meant to get me to the place of saying, “Speak, Lord.” Recall the time when God did speak to you. Have you forgotten what He said? Was it Luke 11:13, or was it 1 Thess. 5:23? As we listen, our ear gets acute, and, like Jesus, we shall hear God all the time.
Shall I tell my ‘Eli’ what God has shown to me? That is where the dilemma of obedience comes in. We disobey God by becoming amateur providences—I must shield ‘Eli’, the best people we know. God did not tell Samuel to tell Eli; he had to decide that for himself. God’s call to you may hurt your ‘Eli’; but if you try to prevent the suffering in another life, it will prove an obstruction between your soul and God. It is at your own peril that you prevent the cutting off of the right hand or the plucking out of the eye.
Never ask the advice of another about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will nearly always side with Satan: “Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.”

January 29th

But it is hardly credible that one could be so positively ignorant!

Who art Thou, Lord? Acts 26:15.

“The Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand.” There is no escape when Our Lord speaks. He always comes with an arrestment of the understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you in the language you know best, not through your ears, but through your circumstances. God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. ‘I know this is what I should do’—and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We have shown our ignorance of Him in the very way we determined to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, we hurt Him by our advocacy for Him, we push His claims in the spirit of the devil. Our words sound all right, but our spirit is that of an enemy. “He rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” The spirit of Our Lord in an advocate of His is described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Have I been persecuting Jesus by a zealous determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty and yet have hurt Him in doing it, I may be sure it was not my duty, because it has not fostered the meek and quiet spirit, but the spirit of self-satisfaction. We imagine that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord—“I delight to do Thy will, O My God.”