{"id":2941,"date":"2014-07-05T09:17:02","date_gmt":"2014-07-05T09:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2941"},"modified":"2014-07-05T09:17:02","modified_gmt":"2014-07-05T09:17:02","slug":"the-poor-satisfied-james-smith-1860","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2941","title":{"rendered":"The Poor Satisfied! James Smith, 1860"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Poor Satisfied! Ja<\/strong>mes Smith, 1860<\/p>\n

\u201cI will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.\u201d\u00a0Psalm 132:15<\/p>\n

It is astonishing, when we think of the greatness and glory of God, that he would pay any attention to such insignificant and vile worms as we are. And yet it would appear from his word, that he pays more attention to us, than to any other part of his creation! Israel, and the land of promise, represented the\u00a0Church <\/em>of God and her privileges. Therefore we read, \u201cThe Lord has chosen\u00a0Zion<\/em>, he has desired it for his habitation.\u201d As a man chooses some lovely spot for his residence, and sets his heart upon it \u2014 so the Lord has chosen his people, and set his heart upon dwelling among them. \u201cThis is my\u00a0rest <\/em>forever, here will I dwell; for I havedesired <\/em>it.\u201d God finds rest and refreshment among his people, and desires to have them with him entirely and eternally.\u00a0\u201cI will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.\u201d<\/em>Precious promise!<\/p>\n

TO WHOM IS IT MADE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To Zion, or the\u00a0Church <\/em>founded on the rock. The temple which typified the Church, was built on a rocky eminence; and the Church herself, is built on the\u00a0rock <\/em>Christ. Christ in his glorious person, finished work, and various offices, is the one and only foundation of his Church. On him, all the persons and interests of his people rest. He bears up the whole fabric of saving mercy. All the materials were . . .
\nchosen <\/em>by him,\u00a0
\npurchased <\/em>by him,\u00a0
\ncollected <\/em>by him, and
\nare\u00a0united <\/em>together by him.<\/p>\n

It is his Church \u2014 and a\u00a0costly <\/em>Church it has been to him. To this Church, in all places, at all times, this promise belongs.<\/p>\n

To the poor he pays\u00a0special attention<\/em>.
\nTo the poor he speaks\u00a0loving words<\/em>.
\nFor the poor he has made\u00a0special provision<\/em>.
\nTo the poor he gives his\u00a0richest blessings<\/em>.<\/p>\n

His poor are\u00a0hungry<\/em>, and long for bread;
\nthey are\u00a0penniless<\/em>, and cannot procure it;
\nthey are\u00a0dependent <\/em>on him to supply it.<\/p>\n

They must beg or starve \u2014 appeal to him or perish.<\/p>\n

The poor in spirit are precious in his sight.<\/p>\n

The hungry and thirsty are blessed, and shall be filled.<\/p>\n

The Lord regards the poor, \u201cHe will satisfy his poor with bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES THIS PROMISE CONTAIN?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is the promise of a\u00a0blessing<\/em>. God loves to bless his people. To bless their persons. To bless their bread and their water. To bless all they have, and bless them in all they do. He has made provision for his people in his\u00a0ordinances<\/em>. They present Jesus the bread of life. They are wells of salvation. They bring us into the presence of God, and set before us the feast which God has made. The\u00a0gospel <\/em>contains their provision.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here is . .
\npardon and peace,
\nrighteousness and strength,
\nlight and life,
\nrelief and deliverance.<\/p>\n

Here is the great supper of the great King, made to commemorate the marriage of his Son. The\u00a0promises <\/em>especially contain the provision he has made for us. Provision . . .
\nfor every need,
\nfor every day,
\nfor every place,
\nfor every circumstance.
\nFull supplies.
\nFree supplies.
\nEver fresh supplies.<\/p>\n

This provision God will bless \u2014 even his ordinances, his gospel, and his promises.\u00a0When God blesses them<\/em> \u2014 they impart light, infuse strength, and work our deliverance. Christ meets with his people\u2013and manifests himself to his people. They are the\u00a0galleries <\/em>in which he walks. The\u00a0chambers <\/em>in which he rests. The\u00a0palace <\/em>in which he is enthroned. Every believer can say, \u201cWe have seen the goings of our God, even the goings of our king in the sanctuary.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his blessing, a little goes a great way, and lasts a long while. Everything is to us what God\u2019s blessing makes it, even his own ordinances and word. We need not only the\u00a0means<\/em> \u2014 but\u00a0his blessing <\/em>with them. By blessing his provision, he will satisfy his poor with bread. He will give them the true bread from Heaven, and his blessing with it, and then they\u00a0feed <\/em>upon it,enjoy <\/em>it, and are fully\u00a0satisfied <\/em>with it. It just suits the craving desires of the soul.<\/p>\n

It is sufficient to meet and supply all their needs. It gives them satisfaction \u2014 they are content, they desire nothing more. The health of the soul is not good, if we do not relish the\u00a0bread of life<\/em>. The state of the heart is not satisfactory, if we are not satisfied with\u00a0Christ<\/em>, and with Christ alone. We may enjoy music, we may admire flowers \u2014 but they are not food; so there are many things we may like in their places \u2014 but if the mind is spiritual, nothing will satisfy it but spiritual provision.<\/p>\n

What a mercy it is to be stripped of everything of our own. To be emptied of self and self-importance. To feel that\u00a0we are absolutely dependent on the Divine bounty<\/em>. To have to look to God for\u00a0all<\/em>, and to have to look to God\u00a0always<\/em>. The poorer we are in self \u2014 the more we shall enjoy God\u2019s provision, and the more we shall relish the bread of God. Nothing in self \u2014 we shall find all in Christ. But even for God\u2019s people, there is no satisfaction \u2014 but as they feed on the\u00a0bread of life<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0promises <\/em>of God are food for the soul; let us therefore\u00a0believe <\/em>them,\u00a0feed <\/em>on them, and expect to be strengthened and\u00a0nourished <\/em>by them.<\/p>\n

Poor sinner, you have no food for your soul, but husks, yet there is bread enough in our Father\u2019s house and to spare, and you may have it for asking for. You have no satisfaction in anything you\u00a0do <\/em>or\u00a0possess<\/em>; neither can you have, until you are found among Zion\u2019s poor, and then you will find, that God abundantly blesses her provision, and satisfies her poor with bread.<\/p>\n

Jesus! you are the living bread, By which our needy souls are fed;
\nIn you alone your Children find Enough to fill the empty mind.<\/p>\n

Without this bread I starve and die, No other can my need supply;
\nBut this will suit my wretched ease, Abroad, at home, in every place.<\/p>\n

This precious food my heart revives;What strength, what nourishment it gives!
\nO! let me evermore be fed With this divine celestial bread!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Poor Satisfied! James Smith, 1860 \u201cI will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.\u201d\u00a0Psalm 132:15 It is astonishing, when we think of the greatness and glory of God, that he would pay any attention to such insignificant and vile worms as we are. And yet it would appear from his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-james-smith","category-christ-and-his-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2942,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941\/revisions\/2942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}