Mar 21
8
The more burdens we put on His shoulders
(Charles Spurgeon)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble!” Psalm 46:1
Scripture promises are not meant to be looked at only—but to be appropriated. Even our Lord Jesus is given to us for our present use. Believer, you do not make use of Christ as you ought to do.
When you are in trouble, why do you not tell Him all your grief? Has He not a sympathizing heart, and can He not comfort and relieve you? But no, you are going about to all your friends—except your best Friend; and telling your tale everywhere, except into the bosom of your Lord.
Are you burdened with this day’s sins? Here is a fountain filled with blood—use it, saint, use it!
Has a sense of guilt returned upon you? The pardoning grace of Jesus may be used again and again. Come to Him at once for cleansing!
Do you deplore your spiritual weakness? He is your strength—why not lean upon Him?
Do you feel yourself spiritually sick? Use the cable of prayer, and call up the Beloved Physician! He will give the cordial that will revive you.
You are spiritually poor—but then you have “a kinsman, a mighty man of wealth.” What! will you not go to Him, and ask Him to give you out of His abundance, when He has given you the promise that you shall be joint-heir with Him; and has made over all that He is and all that He has—to be yours?
There is nothing Christ dislikes more, than for His people to make a show-thing of Him, and not to use Him. He loves to be employed by us. The more burdens we put on His shoulders—the more precious will He be to us!
“He has given unto us exceeding great and precious promises!” 2 Peter 1:4
THE SAFE REFUGE
John MacDuff
“And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isaiah 32:2
“A man!” This first word forms the key to the precious verse, it is “The man Christ Jesus!” And when and where is He thus revealed to His people as their hiding place and shelter? It is, as with Elijah of old, in the whirlwind and the storm! Amid the world’s bright sunshine, in the tranquil skies, uninterrupted prosperity — they seek Him not! But when the clouds begin to gather, and the sun is swept from the skies; when they have learned the insecurity of all earthly refuges — then the prayer ascends, “My heart is overwhelmed — lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” The Earthquake, the Tempest, the Fire — and then “the still small voice!”
Sorrowing believer, you have indeed a Sure Refuge; a Strong Tower which cannot be shaken! The world has its refuges too — but they cannot stand the day of trial. The wind passes over them — and they are gone! But the louder the hurricane — the more will it endear to you the abiding Shelter; the deeper in the clefts of this ROCK — the safer you are.
A Man! Delight often to dwell on the humanity of Jesus; you have a brother on the throne! a “living Kinsman,” one who “knows your frame,” and who, by the exquisite sympathies of His exalted human nature — can gauge, as none other can, the depths of your sorrow!
An earthly friend comes to you in trial — he has never known bereavement, and therefore can not enter into your woe. Another comes — he has been again and again in the furnace — his heart has been touched tenderly as your own; he can feelingly sympathize with you. It is just so with Jesus. As man, He has passed through every experience of suffering. He has Himself known the storm from which He offers you shelter. He is the ROCK — yet “a Man!” “Mighty to save;” yet mighty to compassionate! “Emmanuel, God with us!” He is like the rainbow in the material heavens, which, while its summit is in the clouds, each base of its are rests on earth; or like the oak which, while it can wrestle with the tempest, yet invites the most feeble bird to fold its wing on its branches!
Mourner! Go sit under your “Beloved’s shadow with great delight.” Hide in His wounded side! The hand which was pierced for you — is ordering your trials; He who roused the storm — is the hiding place from it! And as you journey on, gloomy clouds mustering around you, let this bright rainbow of comfort ever arrest your drooping eye; “For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way… since He Himself has gone through suffering and temptation, He is able to help us when we are being tempted.”
It was His own love that fastened Him there!
(Octavius Winslow, “Morning Thoughts”)
“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him.” John 18:4
His voluntariness was not founded on ignorance.
He well knew what the covenant of redemption
involved; what stern justice demanded. The entire
scene of His humiliation was before Him, in all its
dark and somber hues . . .
the manger,
the bloodthirsty king,
the scorn and ridicule of His countrymen,
the unbelief of His own kinsmen,
the mental agony of Gethsemane,
the bloody sweat,
the bitter cup,
the waywardness of His disciples,
the betrayal of one,
the denial of another,
the forsaking of all,
the mock trial,
the purple robe,
the crown of thorns,
the infuriated cries, “Away with Him, away
with Him! Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
the heavy cross,
the painful crucifixion,
the cruel taunts,
the vinegar and the gall,
the hidings of His Father’s countenance,
the concentrated horrors of the curse,
the last cry of anguish,
the falling of the head,
the giving up the spirit;
all, all was before the omniscient mind of the
Son of God, with vividness equal to its reality.
And yet He willingly rushed to the rescue of
ruined man! He voluntarily, though He knew
the price of pardon was His blood, gave Himself
up thus to the bitter, bitter agony.
And did He regret that He had undertaken the work?
Never!
Every step He took from Bethlehem to Calvary
did but unfold the willingness of Jesus to die.
Oh, how amazing was the love of Jesus!
This, this was the secret why He did not spare
His own life. He loved sinners too well.
He loved us better than Himself. With all our
sinfulness, guilt, wretchedness, and poverty;
He yet loved us so much as to give Himself an
offering and sacrifice unto God for us. Here was
the springhead where these streams of mercy
flowed from. This was the gushing fountain
that was opened when He died.
And when they taunted Him and said, “If You are
the King of the Jews, save Yourself,” oh, what a
reply did His silence give, “I came not to save
Myself, but My people. I hang here, not for My
own sins, but for theirs. I could save Myself,
but I came to give My life a ransom for many.”
They thought the nails alone kept Him
to the cross. He knew it was His own love
that fastened Him there!
Behold the strength of Immanuel’s love!
Come, fall prostrate, adore and worship Him!
Oh, what love was His!
Oh the depth!
Do not content not yourself with standing upon
the shore of this ocean; enter into it, drink largely
from it. It is for you, if you but feel . . .
your nothingness,
your poverty,
your vileness;
this ocean is for you!
It is not for angels, it is for men.
It is not for the righteous, but for sinners.
Then drink to the full from the love of Jesus.
Do not be satisfied with small supplies.
Take a large vessel to the fountain.
The larger the demand, the larger the supply.
The more needy, the more welcome.
The more vile, the more fit.
The Lord’s secret power in our souls?
(J. C. Philpot, “Power Given to the Faint”, 1845)
“He giveth power to the faint: and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Is. 40:29
The Lord’s people are often in the state that they have
no might. All their power seems exhausted, and their
strength completely drained away; sin appears to have
gotten the mastery over them; and they feel as if they
had neither will nor ability to run the race set before
them, or persevere in the way of the Lord.
Now what has kept us to this day? Some of you have
made a profession ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years.
What has kept us?
When powerful temptations were spread for our feet,
what preserved us from falling headlong into them?
When we felt the workings of strong lusts, what kept
us from being altogether carried captive by them?
When we look at the difficulties of the way, the
perplexities which our souls have had to grapple with,
the persecutions and hard blows from sinners and
saints that we have had to encounter–what has still
kept in us a desire to fear God, and a heart in some
measure tender before Him?
When we view the . . .
infidelity,
unbelief,
carnality,
worldly-mindedness,
hypocrisy,
pride, and
presumption of our fallen nature,
what has kept us still . . .
believing,
hoping,
loving,
longing,
and looking to the Lord?
When we think of our . . .
deadness,
coldness,
torpidity,
rebelliousness,
perverseness,
love to evil,
aversion to good, and
all the abounding corruptions of our nature,
what has kept us from giving up the very profession
of religion, and swimming down the powerful current
that has so long and so often threatened to sweep
us utterly from the Lord? Is it not the putting forth
of the Lord’s secret power in our souls?
Can we not look back, and recall to mind our first
religious companions; those with whom we started
in the race; those whom we perhaps envied for their
greater piety, zeal, holiness, and earnestness; and
with which we painfully contrasted our own sluggishness
and carnality; admiring them, and condemning ourselves?
Where are they all, or the greater part of them?
Some have embraced soul-destroying errors; others
are buried in a worldly religious system; and others
are wrapped up in delusion and fleshly confidence.
Thus, while most have fallen into the snares of the devil;
God, by putting forth His secret power in the hearts of His
fainting ones, keeps His fear alive in their souls; holds up
their goings in His paths that their footsteps slip not; brings
them out of all their temptations and troubles; delivers them
from every evil work; and preserves them unto His heavenly
kingdom. He thus secures the salvation of His people by
His own free grace.
How sweet and precious it is . . .
to have our strength renewed;
to have fresh grace brought into the heart;
to feel the mysterious sensations of renovated life;
to feel the everlasting arms supporting the soul . . .
fighting our battles for us,
subduing our enemies,
overcoming our lusts,
breaking our snares, and
delivering us out of our temptations!
THE WONDROUS RELATIONSHIP
John MacDuff
“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,”
“For whoever shall do the will of God — the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.” — Mark 3:35
As if no solitary earthly type were enough to image forth the love of Jesus, He assembles into one verse — a group of the tenderest earthly relationships. Human affection has to focus its loveliest hues — but all is too little to adequately expatiate the depth and intensity of His love. He is “Son,” “Brother,” “Friend” — all in one; “cleaving closer than any brother.”
And can we wonder at such language? He gave Himself for us; after that pledge of His affection — we must cease to marvel at any expression of the interest He feels in us. Anything that He can say or do for us now — is infinitely less than what He has done.
Believer! are you solitary and desolate? Has bereavement severed earthly ties? Has the grave made forced estrangements — sundered the closest links of earthly affection? In Jesus you have filial and fraternal love combined; He is the Friend of friends, whose presence and fellowship compensates for all losses, and supplies all blanks! If you are orphaned, friendless, comfortless here, remember that there is in the Elder Brother on the Throne — a love deep as the unfathomed ocean, and boundless as Eternity!
And who are those who can claim the blessedness spoken of under this wondrous imagery? On whom does He lavish this unutterable affection? No mere outward profession will purchase it. No church, no priest, no ordinances, no denominational distinctions are sufficient.
It is for those who are possessed of holy characters. “He who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven!” He who reflects the mind of Jesus; imbibes His Spirit; takes His Word as the regulator of his daily walk, and makes His glory the great end of his being; he who lives to God, and with God, and for God; the humble, lowly, Christ-like, Heaven-seeking Christian — he it is who can claim as his own this wondrous heritage of love!
If it is a worthy object of ambition to be loved by the good and the great on earth — then what must it be to have an eye of love ever beaming upon us from the eternal Throne, in comparison of which the attachment here of brother, sister, kinsman, friend — all combined — pales like the stars before the rising sun!
Though we are often ashamed to call Him “Brother,” “He is not ashamed to call us brethren.” He looks down on poor worms, and says, “These are My mother, and sisters, and brothers!” “I will write upon them,” He says in another place, “My new name.” Just as we write our name on a book to tell that it belongs to us — so Jesus would write His own name on us, the wondrous volumes of His grace — that they may be read and pondered by principalities and powers.
Have we known and believed this astonishing love of God to us? Ah, how poor has been the requital! Who cannot subscribe to these holy words: “Your love has been as a shower to us — but our return but a dew-drop, and that dew-drop is stained with sin!” “If a man loves Me, he will keep My Words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”