The Two “Israels”

Now this comprehends GOD'S whole conception of a spiritual Israel.

Why have we taken that fragment - “the Israel of GOD”?

You know, Paul was almost invidious when he used that phrase.

If you look at the letter to the Galatians, you will see that he is dealing with two Israels, and in that phrase he is saying that there is a true Israel and a false. 

I think Phillips, in his "Letters to Young Churches", has put in a word which, while it is not in the text, is what is generally believed to give the meaning of Paul.

His rendering is: “To the TRUE Israel of GOD”. 

That is exactly what Paul meant. There is another Israel, which Paul says is not the true one.

But there are those who “walk by this rule”, this measure, this standard.

What standard is this? If you look at the letter you will see. “My little children, of whom I am again in travail till Christ be formed in you…” (4:19).

As many as walk by this measure… the true Israel of GOD.

The measure of Christ is made complete by travail.

The true Israel of GOD is the “seed” which is of the travail of his soul.

We see, then, that, whether we like it or not, this is an established law.

We can, of course, do many things in order to avoid or get rid of the travail, but GOD'S law means that there is something of preciousness that comes out when it is suffered for, when you suffer for it.

May we never get to the place where we try to make the Christian life cheap and easy...a perpetual holiday.

While there is the joy...and it should be there; while there should be the deep worship, thanksgiving and praise to GOD: surely the truest reality even of the joy is that it comes from deep experience through suffering.

It is not the superficial, flippant, frivolous kind of Christian who really knows the LORD most. 

No: “We rejoice”, said Paul, “in our tribulations” (Rom. 5:3). 

There is something precious for the LORD bound up with suffering, and you and I have to face that.

A few months ago I received, as out from China, a message given by brother Watchman Nee just before he was put in prison about four years ago.

The subject of that message was - the necessity for the breaking of the vessel in order to reveal the preciousness of the treasure within.

It is true. Now he is experiencing it. But: “He shall see his seed… He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied”.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Because Of Us

                                                       
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

For the sake of His elect the LORD withholds many judgments and shortens others.

In great tribulations the fire would devour all were it not that Out of regard to His elect the LORD damps the flame.

Thus, while He saves His elect for the sake of Jesus, He also preserves the race for the sake of His chosen.

What an honor is thus put upon saints! How diligently they ought to use their influence with their LORD!

He will hear their prayers for sinners and bless their efforts for their salvation.

He blesses believers that they may be a blessing to those who are in unbelief.

Many a sinner lives because of the prayers of a mother, or wife, or daughter to whom the LORD has respect.

Have we used aright the singular power with which the LORD entrusts us?

Do we pray for our country, for other lands, and for the age? 

Do we, in times of war, famine, pestilence, stand out as intercessors, pleading that the days may be shortened?

Do we lament before God the outbursts of infidelity, error, and licentiousness?

Do we beseech our LORD Jesus to shorten the reign of sin by hastening His own glorious appearing?

Let us get to our knees and never rest till Christ appeareth.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Plead His Own Promise

2Sa 7:29  Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.
 

This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us.

Anything which the LORD GOD has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it at the throne.

Oh, how sweet to quote what our own GOD has spoken! How precious to use a "therefore," which the promise suggests, as David does in this verse!

We do not pray because we doubt but because we believe.

To pray unbelievingly is unbecoming in the LORD's children. 

No, LORD, we cannot doubt Thee: we are persuaded that every word of Thine is a sure foundation for the boldest expectation.

We come to Thee and say, "Do as Thou hast said." Bless Thy servant's house.

Heal our sick; save our hesitating ones; restore those who wander; confirm those who live in Thy fear.

LORD, give us food and raiment according to Thy Word. 

Prosper our undertakings; especially succeed our endeavors to make known Thy gospel in our neighborhood.

Make our servants Thy servants, our children Thy children. 

Let the blessing flow on to future generations, and as long as any of our race remains on earth may they remain true to Thee.

O LORD GOD, "let the house of thy servant be blessed."

~Charles Spurgeon~

Delayed

Gen 15:12  And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
 
Gen 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
 
Gen 15:14  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 

An assured part of GOD'S pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering.

A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put GOD'S pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seeming unendurable delay of Abram's descendants.

But it was only a delay: they "came out with great substance." The pledge was redeemed.

GOD is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need.

The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today;

And let me wait on the LORD and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart.

~C. G. Trumbull~

Unanswered yet the prayer your lips have pleaded In agony of heart these many years?

Does faith begin to fail? Is hope departing? And think you all in vain those falling tears?

Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer; You shall have your desire sometime, somewhere.

Unanswered yet? Nay do not say ungranted; Perhaps your work is not yet wholly done.

The work began when first your prayer was uttered, And GOD will finish what He has begun.

If you will keep the incense burning there, His glory you shall see sometime, somewhere.

Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered, Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock;

Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted, Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.

She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer, And cries, "It shall be done"--sometime, somewhere.

~Miss Ophelia G. Browning~

The Carnal Mind Is Enmity Against GOD

The flesh is incurably bad. "It is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be." It never can be any better. It is no use trying to improve the flesh. 

You may educate it all you please. You may train it by the most approved methods, you may set before it the brightest examples, you may pipe to it or mourn to it, treat it with encouragement or severity; its nature will always be incorrigibly the same.

Like the wild hawk which the little child captures in its infancy and tries to train in the habits of the dove, before you are aware it will fasten its cruel beak upon the gentle fingers that would caress it, and show the old wild spirit of fear and ferocity.

It is a hawk by nature, and it can never be made a dove.

For the carnal mind is enmity against GOD. It is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be.

The only remedy for human nature is to destroy it, and receive instead the divine nature.

GOD does not improve man. He crucifies the natural life with Christ, and creates the new man in Christ Jesus

~A. B. Simpson~

Don't Fret

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

Not a few Christians live in a state of unbroken anxiety, and others fret and fume terribly.

To be perfectly at peace amid the hurly-burly of daily life is a secret worth knowing.

What is the use of worrying? It never made anybody strong; never helped anybody to do GOD'S will; never made a way of escape for anyone out of perplexity.

Worry spoils lives which would otherwise be useful and beautiful.

Restlessness, anxiety, and care are absolutely forbidden by our LORD, who said: "Take no thought," that is, no anxious thought, "saying what shall we cat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

He does not mean that we are not to take forethought and that our life is to be without plan or method; but that we are not to worry about these things.

People know you live in the realm of anxious care by the lines on your face, the tones of your voice, the minor key in your life, and the lack of joy in your spirit.

Scale the heights of a life abandoned to GOD, then you will look down on the clouds beneath your feet.

 ~Rev. Darlow Sargeant~

It is always weakness to be fretting and worrying, questioning and mistrusting.

Can we gain anything by it? Do we not unfit ourselves for action, and unhinge our minds for wise decision?

We are sinking by our struggles when we might float by faith.

Oh, for grace to be quiet! Oh, to be still and know that Jehovah is GOD!

The Holy One of Israel must defend and deliver His own.

We may be sure that every word of His will stand, though the mountains should depart.

He deserves to be confided in.

Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the LORD Jesus.

~Selected~

Peace thy inmost soul shall fill Lying still!
     

Leaning Sides

Song Of Solomon 8:5  Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.

Some one gained a good lesson from a Southern prayer meeting. 

A colored brother asked the Lord for various blessings--as you and I do, and thanked the Lord for many already received-as you and I do; 

But he closed with this unusual petition: "And, O Lord, support us! Yes support us Lord on every leanin' side!"

Have you any leaning sides?

This humble man's prayer pictures them in a new way and shows the Great Supporter in a new light also.

He is always walking by the Christian, ready to extend His Mighty arm and steady the weak one on "every leanin' side."

Child of My love, lean hard, And let Me feel the pressure of thy care,  I know thy burden, child.

I shaped it; Poised it in Mine Own hand; made no proportion In its weight to thine unaided strength,

For even as I laid it on, I said,  'I shall be near, and while she leans on Me, This burden shall be Mine, not hers;

So shall I keep My child within the circling arms.

Of My Own love.' Here lay it down, nor fear To impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds.

Yet closer come: Thou art not near enough. I would embrace thy care; So I might feel My child reposing on My breast.

Thou lovest Me? I knew it. Doubt not then; But Wing Me, "lean hard."

Reflections Of The LORD's Beauty

Psa 17:15  As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. 

The portion of other men fills their bodies and enriches their children, but the portion of the believer is of another sort.

Men of the world have their treasure in this world, but men of the world to come look higher and further.

Our possession is twofold. We have GOD'S presence here and His like-ness hereafter.

Here we behold the face of the LORD in righteousness, for we are justified in Christ Jesus. 

Oh, the joy of beholding the face of a reconciled GOD! The glory of GOD in the face of Jesus Christ yields us heaven below, and it will be to us the heaven of heaven above.

But seeing does not end it: we are to be changed into that which we gaze upon.

We shall sleep a while and then wake up to find ourselves as mirrors which reflect the beauties of our LORD.

Faith sees GOD with a transforming look.

The heart receives the image of Jesus into its own depths, till the character of Jesus is imprinted on the soul.

This is satisfaction. To see God and to be like Him-what more can I desire?

David's assured confidence is here by the Holy Ghost made to be the LORD's promise.

I believe it. I expect it. LORD, vouchsafe it. Amen.

~Charles Spurgeon~

An Unconscious Ministry In Music

Act 16:25  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

Strangers in a strange city, Paul and Silas had very violent treatment. They were seized and, without semblance of a trial, were thrust into the inner prison.

It was a gloomy and miserable place and might have appalled the spirits of the bravest. Men had been known in that dark cell to curse and some, in black despair, to kill themselves.

But never, since these walls had been embattled, had any prisoner been known to sing there, and yet at midnight Paul and Silas sang.

It was dark, and yet all bright to them. It was exceeding loathsome, and yet beautiful.

Stone walls did not a prison make for them, nor iron bars a cage.

And so they sang like the lark at heaven's gate--although for them it was a prison-gate--and as they sang, the prisoners heard them. 

Probably some of these prisoners became Christians afterwards.

It was they who told the story to the Church: told how at dead of night, dull and despairing--hark the sound of music.

And one would recall how it held his hand from suicide, and another how it revived his hope, and another perhaps how it brought back the memory of his mother and his childhood and his home.

Of all that service the men who sang knew nothing They were totally unconscious of such ministry. 

They sang because Christ was with them and was cheering them. They sang because they could not help but sing.

And all the time, although they never dreamed of it, they were serving others better than they knew, touching old tenderness, reviving courage, making it easier to suffer and be strong.

~George H. Morrison~