Love The Cause Of Redemption

                                                 

 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Everything that God does is done without effort or strain. 

He does all his acts with equal ease and tranquillity. 

We are often tempted to wonder how God could love us, but honest as this feeling is, it is nevertheless the result of a wrong way of looking at things. 

God does not love us because we are hard or easy to love; He loves us because He is God, not because we are good or bad or more attractive or less so. 

God's love is not drawn out of Him by its object; it flows out from God in a steady stream because He is love. 

"God so loved the world," not because the world was lovable but because God is love. 

Christ did not die for us that God might love us; He died for us because God already loved us from everlasting. 

Love is not the result of redemption; it is the cause of it. 

One question may demand to be answered: Does God love some people more than others? 

If not, what was meant by calling John "the disciple Jesus loved," as if to say that He loved John more than the rest? 

The answer is simple. 

John was more responsive to the love of Christ and could receive and enjoy it to a greater fullness. 

The divine love could operate toward this loving man with a joyous freedom not possible with others who had not his simplicity and faith. 

The sunflower that turns its face to the sky all day long gets more sun than the violet that hides among the leaves. 

But the same sun shines in fullness upon both.

God has no favorites, except as some of His children by their loving response make it possible for Him to shower more love upon them.

God loves us because He is God. 

He does not love some of us more or less than others. 

He loves each one. 

Out of His love He has provided redemption. 

Are we running to His love or running from it?

Father, You so love me that You gave Christ for me. 

He so loved me that He paid the penalty of my sin by dying for me. 

In thanks and worship I bow before You.

~A. W. Tozer

The Divine Approval Of Faithfulness

But what is it that brings out this divine approval? 'I am going to make them know that I have loved thee'.

There is a partiality of God - not just for persons, for people, as such; it is not a selectiveness among people which draws out His partiality.

But there is a partiality of the Lord towards faithfulness itself.

It is that which draws out this word, "I have loved thee".

I am sure it must have been very heartening to the saints at Philadelphia to get a message like that.

It must almost have startled them in their difficulties, in everything that seemed to say that the Lord was not with them and was not prospering them.

There is so much that is against them; there are so many difficulties.

Then suddenly a letter arrives, and in it the Lord says: "I have loved thee".

Almost startling! Why?

Here are the oppressed saints at Philadelphia, and the Lord says, "thou hast a little power".

They themselves are more conscious of weakness than of power, seeming to be very much weaker than otherwise, and yet there is that there which speaks of the Lord, something that the Lord can light upon and say...

In all your consciousness of weakness, in the seeming overwhelming insufficiency, there is that there which is My foothold, which speaks of Me'.

Thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word...

You have been faithful to My revealed thoughts and mind...

And didst not deny my name - the Name of absolute supremacy and honour and glory... 

And "didst keep the word of my patience".

~T. Austin Sparks

Blessed Are They That Have Not Seen, And Yet Have Believed!

John 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
 
How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! 

If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. 

If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings. 

But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying.
 
God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. 

He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work...

And when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform.
 
That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them...

And then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as faith.
 
~A. B. Simpson
 
I do not ask that He must prove His Word is true to me...
 
And that before I can believe He first must let me see.
 
It is enough for me to know Tis true because He says 'tis so...
 
On His unchanging Word I'll stand And trust till I can understand.
 
~E. M. Winter

All That He Has, And All That He Is, Is Theirs

Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Child of God, let me urge you to make use of your God. 

Make use of him in prayer; I beseech you, go to Him often, because He is your God. 

He has made Himself over to you, and He has become the property of all His children, so that all that He has, and all that He is, is theirs. 

O child of God, will you let your treasury lie idle, when you need it?

No! go and draw from it by prayer.

Fly to Him, tell Him all your needs. 

Use Him constantly by faith, at all times.

Oh! I beseech you, if some dark providence has come over you-use your God as a sun, for He is a sun.

If some strong enemy has come out against you-use your God for a shield, for He is a shield to protect you.

If you have lost your way in the mazes of life-use Him for a guide, for the great Jehovah will direct you.

If you are in storms-use Him, for He is the God who stills the raging of the sea, and says unto the waves, "Be still."

If you are a poor thing, knowing not which way to turn-use Him for a shepherd, for the Lord is your Shepherd, and you shall not want.

Whatever you are, and wherever you are, remember that God is just what you need.

I beseech you, then, make use of your God!

~Charles Spurgeon

"Try Thanksgiving"

John 11:41  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 

This is a very strange and unusual order. 

Lazarus is still in the grave, and the thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. 

I thought that the thanksgiving would have risen when the great deed had been wrought, and Lazarus was restored to life again. 

But Jesus gives thanks for what He is about to receive. 

The gratitude breaks forth before the bounty has arrived, in the assurance that it is certainly on the way. 

The song of victory is sung before the battle has been fought. 

It is the sower who is singing the song of the harvest home. 

It is thanksgiving before the miracle!

Who thinks of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? 

Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received?

And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master's order. 

Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. 

Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. 

Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith.
 
~Dr. Jowett
 
PRAISE CHANGES THINGS

Nothing so pleases God in connection with our prayer as our praise, and nothing so blesses the man who prays as the praise which he offers. 

I got a great blessing once in China in this connection. 

I had received bad and sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. 

I prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. 

I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. 

Just then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: "Try Thanksgiving." 

I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. 

Yes, the Psalmist was right, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."
 
~Rev. Henry W. Frost

The Thankfulness Of Jesus

I Want to lead the meditation of my readers to one of the private habits of our LORD...

His habit of thanksgiving.

Everyone who knows the New Testament knows how the apostolic life Abounded In Praise. 

It runs like some singing river through all their changing days. 

And where did they learn the habit? 

They had got it from their LORD.

The Master's habit must have made a profound impression upon them. 

There must have been something very distinct and distinctive about it.

We are told that the two disciples, journeying to Emmaus after the awful happenings in Jerusalem, recognized their risen LORD when He began to give thanks. 

He was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

They knew Him by His gratitude and by the manner in which He expressed it. 

He was recognized By His Praise. 

Let us recall two or three examples of this shining habit of our Lord.

And Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks.

That is to say, He took commonplace, common bread, and associated it with GOD, and it was no longer a commonplace.

He gave thanks, and in the recognition the common was revealed as the Divine.

The man whose praise is elicited by loaves will also be thankful for the cornfield, the sunshine, the dew, and the rain, for the reapers who gather the corn, for the touch of GOD in the labourer, and for the millstones which grind the corn that makes the bread.

He who took the loaves and gave thanks would also give thanks for the common lily of the field, the daisy of His native land.

Indeed, I think we may truly say that the Master's habit of praise made every common thing radiant, and every wayside bush became aflame with GOD. 

He breathed His music of gratitude through the commonest reeds.

Now unless His disciples can do the same...

Unless we can touch and feel GOD in the commonplaces, He is going to be a very infrequent and unfamiliar Guest.

For life is made up of very ordinary experiences. 

Now and again a novelty leaps into the way, but the customary tenor is rarely broken.

It is the ordinary stars that shine upon us night after night; it is only occasionally that a comet comes our way.

Look at some of the daily commonplaces-health, sleep, bread and butter, work, friendship, a few flowers by the wayside, the laughter of children, the ministry of song, the bright day, the cool night...

If I do not perceive GOD in these things I have a very unhallowed and insignificant road.

On the other hand, the man who discovers the Divine in a loaf of bread, and lifts his song of praise, has a wonderful world, for divinity will call to him on every side.

I do not know how we can better begin to cultivate the Master's habit than by beginning with daily bread. 

Because if we begin with bread we cannot possibly end there.

If we see one commonplace lit up with GOD, other commonplaces will begin to be illumined, until life will be like some city seen from a height by night, with all the common lamps in the common streets burning and shining with mystic flame.

So let us begin with bread. 

But let us give thanks reverently, not with the sudden tap and the sharp, superficial sentence of a public dinner. 

Let us do it quietly, apprehendingly, with an effort to realize the presence of the awful, gracious, merciful God. 

And let us do it without formality, and seeking deliverance from the perilous opiate of words. 

Let us change our phraseology, let us sometimes bow in silence, and share the significant, worshipful stillness of the Friends.

Let us watch our Master again and listen to His praise. "I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."

Our Master thanks the Father that spiritual secrets are not the perquisites of culture, that it is not by cleverness that we gain access into the Kingdom of Grace.

He gives thanks that "these things" have not been made dependent upon academic knowledge, that they are not the prizes of the merely clever and acute, but that they are "revealed unto babes."

~John Henry Jowett~

Practical Kindness

Rom 12:9  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Kindness must be practical - not merely emotional and sentimental.

It will not be satisfied merely with good wishes, with sympathetic words, or even with prayers.

It should be put into some form that will do practical good.

There are times when even prayer is a mockery.

At times it is our duty to answer our own prayers, to be the messengers we ask God to send to help others.

We are God's messengers, when we find ourselves in the presence of human needs and sorrows, which we can supply or comfort.

Expressions of pity or sympathy are mockeries when we do nothing to relieve the distress. 

1Pe 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

~J. R. Miller

"Poor Jack!"

A few years ago it pleased the Holy Spirit to work a saving change in the heart of a poor sailor, while out at sea.

Jack knew nothing of real religion, nor had he one on board with him to whom he could open his mind.
 
Convinced of sin, afraid of hell -  he was terrified and alarmed, and knew not what to do.

He prayed, obtained a Bible, read it, and sunk still deeper into distress of soul.

At length all hope that he could be saved was taken away, and self-despair seized him.

He considered his case to be singular, and was now tempted to drown his convictions in the intoxicating cup, and then to end his miserable life by suicide.

At length, when he had done business in these deep waters of despair for a time, the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus to his soul as an able and willing Savior...

And, committing himself entirely to Jesus, to be saved wholly by him...he found peace, and was filled with unspeakable joy.

In this state of mind he reached the port, and soon inquired where he could hear the Gospel.

He was directed to a place of worship, where a friend of mine was preaching.

When Jack entered, he was all eyes and ears.

The first hymn was full of Christ, and poor Jack felt his heart swell.
 
In the prayer, the minister appeared to speak the very feelings of his soul.

As sweet as the first hymn was - the second appeared to be sweeter, and the tears flowed down poor Jack's cheeks!

At length the minister arose to announce his text, which was Colossians 3:11, and fixing his eyes on the poor sailor, he emphatically pronounced the words, "Christ is all!"

When the minister once more said, "Christ is all!" Jack could contain himself no longer, and at the top of his voice, Jack shouted..."And poor Jack's nothing at all!"

This was just the poor sailor's religion..."Jesus Christ all in all and poor Jack is nothing at all!"

And this is the religion of every one who is taught of God!

The work of the Holy Spirit has a twofold tendency...to humble the sinner, and exalt the Savior!

And just in proportion as we are taught by the Spirit of God, shall we have low views of ourselves and high thoughts of Christ.

As the sinner sinks...the Savior rises in his estimation.

Christ is all that the sinner needs and all that the saint desires.

He is a perfect Savior and an infinite portion.

Christ has all, and gives all we can need:

His blood procures our pardon...

His righteousness secures our justification...

His Spirit sanctifies our nature...

And his fullness supplies all our needs!

He is just suited to the sinner and the sinner is just suited to Him.
 
He loves to save, to save freely, to save perfectly, and to save forever...

And the sinner who is taught of God, feels that he needs just such a Savior.

And this makes the Gospel so sweet and precious to every truly convinced sinner...

Because it proclaims as from the mouth of God, that the Lord Jesus is a perfect Savior...

A present Savior...

A willing Savior...

Who never did, and never will, cast out one that comes to Him.

Reader, are you truly saved?

If so, is your religion the same as poor Jack's?

Can you say, I am a poor sinner and nothing at all...

And Jesus Christ is all in all!

You must be brought to this before you can be saved...

For salvation is entirely of grace, and grace only saves the unworthy.
 
Grace will save you...if you feel you are lost, and unable to do anything toward your own salvation...

And are willing to be saved gratuitously through simple faith in Christ.

Anyone may be saved in this way...

But there is no possibility of being saved in any other way...

For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him! John 3:36

~James Smith

It Is FINISHED!

John 19:30  When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost

Though the life of Jesus had been so short, He was Quite Ready to go when the end came. 

 

He had done each day the work given to Him to do that day, and when the Last Hour of the last day came there was nothing that He had left undone.

We ought to learn the lesson, and live as Jesus lived, so as to have every part of our work finished when the end comes. 

 

But what was it that was finished, when Jesus bowed His head on the cross?

A famous picture represents Christ lifted up, and beneath Him an innumerable procession of the saints advancing out of the darkness and coming into the light of His cross.
                                               
There can be no doubt that He had such a vision of redemption while He hung there, for we are told that He Endured The Cross, despising the shame, Because Of The Joy Set Before Him.

It is finished, was therefore a shout of victory as He completed His work of suffering.

He went into the grave, But Not To Stay There. 

 

He came again, a Glorious Conqueror...

 

And because He lives, all His people shall live also.

~J. R. Miller~

An infallible Test!

1Co 16:22  If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

If you truly love the Lord Jesus Christ-then you earnestly study and endeavor to please Him by a life of universal obedience. 

Love is always desirous to please the person beloved; and it will naturally lead to a conduct that is pleasing. 

This, then, you may be sure of, that if you truly love Jesus-then it is the labor of your life to please Him.

The only way to please Jesus, and the best test of your love to Him-is obedience to His commandments. 

This is made the decisive mark by Christ Himself:
 
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
 
John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
 
Jesus repeats this theme over and over in different forms: John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

This is love for God, says John; that is, it is the surest evidence, and the natural, inseparable effect of our love to God, that we obey His commands. 

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

That is, they will not seem grievous to one who obeys them from the principle of sincere love.

Here, then, you who profess to love the Lord Jesus-here is An Infallible Test for your love! 

Do you make it the great aim of your life to keep His commandments? 

Do you honestly endeavor to perform every duty which He has required-and that because He has commanded it? 

And do you vigorously resist and struggle against every sin, however constitutional, however fashionable, however gainful-because He forbids it? 

And is the way of obedience pleasant to you? 

Would you choose this holy way to Heaven, rather than any other-if it were left to your choice?

Your not loving God-If it continues, will certainly lead you to Hell. 

You are fit for no other place! 

Where should the enemies of God be-but in an infernal prison? 

There is the same propriety in throwing you into Hell-as in shutting up madmen in bedlam, or rebels in a dungeon! 

Why, you are devilized already!  

You have the very temperament of devils! 

Enmity to God is the grand constituent of a devil-it is the worst ingredient in that infernal disposition...

And this you have in your hearts, and, as it were, incorporated with your habitual temperament! 

And what do you think will become of you? 

Judge for yourselves-must you not be doomed to that everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels-whom you resemble?

1Co 16:22  If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. 

~Samuel Davies

Fly Into The Bosom Of Christ For Refuge And Safety

Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

It is very sweet just to nestle down in the bosom of Christ... 

To be as a little child with Him.

Those who come otherwise do not get near to Him...

But the child-like always find a close place in His heart.

So the more like children we can be in our trust and in the simplicity of our faith, in humbleness of disposition, in willingness to do His will and to learn of Him the nearer to Him shall we get, and the more shall we enjoy of His love.

Some years ago, as I was passing along one of our streets one afternoon, I heard a fluttering of birds over my head and, looking up, saw a little bird flying wildly about in circles, chased by a hawk!

The bird flew down lower and lower, and then darted into my bosom, under my coat. 

I cannot quite express to you, the feeling which filled my heart at that moment...that a little bird, chased by an enemy, had come to me for refuge, trusting me in time of danger.

I laid my hand over the bird, which nestled as quietly and confidently under my coat, as a baby would in a mother's bosom. 

I carried the little thing along for several blocks until I thought the way was clear of danger, and then let it out.  

It flew away into the air again, but showed no fear of me.

Ever since that experience, I have understood better what it is to fly into the bosom of Christ for refuge and safety in time of danger, or in time of distress.

All this helps me to understand better what it means to Jesus when we, hunted and chased by enemies, or suffering from weakness or pain...fly to Him and hide ourselves in His love.

That is all we need to do...just to creep into the bosom of Christ, and lie down there, with no fear, no anxiety, but with simple trust.

The lines of Wesley's old hymn have meant more ever since:

Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high.

Hide me, O my Savior, hide,Till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide; Oh, receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, ah! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring...

Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of Thy wing.

~J. R.  Miller~

"Be Of Good Cheer!"

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

My LORD's words are true as to the tribulation. 

I have my share of it beyond all doubt.

The flail is not hung up out of the way, nor can I hope that it will be laid aside so long as I lie upon the threshing floor, How can I look to be at home in the enemy's country, joyful while in exile, or comfortable in a wilderness?

This is not my rest. 

This is the place of the furnace, and the forge, and the hammer. 

My experience tallies with my LORD's words.

I note how He bids me "be of good cheer." 

Alas! I am far too apt to be downcast. 

My spirit soon sinks when I am sorely tried. 

But I must not give way to this feeling.

When my LORD bids me cheer up I must not dare to be cast down.

What is the argument which He uses to encourage me? 

Why, it is His own victory. 

He says, "I have overcome the world."

His battle was much more severe than mine. 

I have not yet resisted unto blood. 

Why do I despair of overcoming?

See, my soul, the enemy has been once overcome. 

I fight with a beaten foe. 

O world, Jesus has already vanquished thee; and in me, by His grace, He will overcome thee again. 

Therefore am I of good cheer and sing unto my conquering LORD.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Fleeting Earthly Comforts And Worldly Trinkets!

God often does better for us than we ask. 

We go to Him with our little requests.

We are in need and ask for temporal relief. 

We are suffering and ask that our pain may cease. 

We are poor and ask Him for more money.

We are just like the beggar, holding out our hands for paltry alms to eke out the day's need. 

Then God looks down upon us and says, "My child, are these little trifles all you want Me to give to you..daily bread, clothing, fuel for your fire, medicine for your sickness, comfort for your grief? 

The small things to supply your common needs...are these the only gifts and blessings you want and ask from the hand of your heavenly Father, who has infinite treasures to give to you?

Yet thousands never get beyond just such requests in their praying! 

Bowing daily before a God of infinite power and love, in whose hands are unsearchable riches.

They never ask for anything but fleeting earthly comforts and worldly trinkets! 

They ask only for things for their bodies, or to beautify their homes making no requests for the heavenly and spiritual gifts that God has for their souls!

We should learn to ask for the best things in all God's treasure house!

Col 3:1-2  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

~J. R. Miller~

“He Who Would Be A Christian Must Be So At the Risk of All He Counts Dear In This Life”

The world is never pleased with the people of God. 

The son of the bond-woman still strives with the son of the free-woman. 

Opposition to all that is godly...is stern, constant, and determined. 

Nothing but divine grace can ever enable a child of God to endure the fearful hostility of the enemy. 

Our Savior’s word is still fulfilled:

Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  

The offense of the cross has not ceased! 

It never can cease but by the conversion of the soul to God. 

John 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Men of the world have no better attitude towards Christianity than when they crucified its Author, and cast his followers to the wild beasts! 

He who would be a Christian must be so at the risk of all he counts dear in this life. 

The world will heap hatred upon him, will vex his righteous soul from day to day; and if possible, turn him away from his tender walk with God.

~William S. Plumer