Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

IF

August 8.

UNWISE INQUIRY.

F, after the partial revelation the Lord made to him of his own future, Peter had, for practical ends, only inquired still more minutely what he had first to do, or where next to go, no fault could have been found. But, not satisfied with knowing his own duty and destiny, he became unduly curious about his fellow-disciple. Pointing to John, he said, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" To this inquiry the only answer given was, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." Had the Lord been dealing with John, as well as with Peter, in searching yet loving scrutiny, there might have been something to justify the question put. But there being nothing of this kind, Peter had no more call in providence to make such inquiries about John than he had to make them about James or Andrew, or any other of the Twelve.

Yet, what Peter did then, multitudes are ever ready to do still. Instead of quietly doing their Master's work in the sphere assigned them, with high aim and pure motive, they busy themselves in other men's matters, to their own injury and their neighbours' disquiet. The duties and responsibilities of others seem more to concern them than their own, and thus they become mere idlers in the Lord's vineyard. They forget what the apostle said to the Thessalonians: "We hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies."

So long as, like Paul, and in his spirit, we simply say,

"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" the guidance needed will not be withheld, nor the daily grace for daily duty.

"Lord, and what shall this man do?

Ask'st thou, Christian, for thy friend?—
If his love for Christ be true,

Christ hath told thee of his end.
This is he whom God approves,

This is he whom Jesus loves—
Ask not of him more than this.
Leave it in his Saviour's breast,
Whether early called to bliss

He in youth shall find his rest,
Or armed in his station wait
Till his Lord be at the gate."

What each man is to do, and where and how long, the Lord himself appoints, mysteriously sometimes to us, yet ever, in reality, wisely and graciously.

Foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.-2 TIM. ii. 23.

Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.-TITUS iii. 9.

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister ques tions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.-1 TIM. i. 4.

August 9.

NONE NEED FEAR THE STRONG WHO HAVE THE STRONGER THAN HE AT THEIR BACK.

E are told in the Word of a broken-hearted father,

WE

who, coming to Jesus with his son, and kneeling at his feet said, "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him." Moved with compassion,

Jesus at once graciously replied, "Bring him hither to And rebuking the devil, and casting him out, the child was cured from that very hour. Verily, nothing is too hard for our blessed Lord to do. Here was a desperate case. The father could do nothing; the very disciples could do nothing; and it was instinctively felt by every onlooker that vain was the help of man. Yet the very instant that Jesus took him in hand, he was healed, and so effectually and visibly that all men marvelled.

Now the main interest of this to us lies in its typicalness. In ordinary circumstances, the more a benefactor does for one the less he is able to do for another; and when a fresh application is made, he often excuses himself on this very ground. But here it is the very reverse. What was done by our Lord on that occasion emphatically intimates what can be done by him on any and every occasion; for, as the Lord of life-the Seed of the woman, the Stronger than the strong man armed—he can save to the uttermost, for there is no limit whatever to his redeeming power.

[ocr errors]

As a foe Satan is mighty, and we are weak; but our Lord being mightier far, and ever near in times of conflict, we have nothing whatever to fear. It is," says one, "a narrow and straight path between overrating and underrating Satan. Underrate him not, for thou art no match for him; overrate him not, for he is no match for Christ. Remember he is a resistible foe; his power, great as it is, is not omnipotence, his cunning is not omniscience." In our time of need, therefore, we cannot either too trustfully or too hopefully say, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me."

When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.— LUKE Xi. 21, 22.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.-Isa. liii. 12.

I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.-JOHN x. 28.

IN

August 10.

LITTLE SUCCESS AND LARGE.

N our gardens, what is our hope in spring is not always our joy in autumn: there is the early blossom, but not the after fruit. So is it often in the Church of God. Even in the worst of times his servants have usually some success; but often, alas! it is sadly mingled with disappointment. Some are their hope in the beginning who fail to be their joy in the end: like Felix, they tremble, but never repent; or like Agrippa, they are almost persuaded, but never altogether; or like the young man in the Gospel, they have many good thoughts about Christ, yet go away sorrowful. Nay, even believers are not always the joy to them they might be: the root of the matter, indeed, is in them, but their backslidings are so frequent and their love so cold that they are rather a grief than a gladness.

Now, labourers in God's vineyard must neither yield to unbelieving despondency, nor sluggish contentedness in such a state of things, but rather prayerfully strive to have the little success turned into the large. In so doing, they may find, if they are to be used by the Lord, that he empties before he fills, and weakens before he strengthens; just the more deeply to impress the great truth that suc

cess is not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord. The most lowly, therefore, if only heartily trustful, are usually the most likely to be greatly honoured in the Lord's service.

Not long before his death, William Grimshaw stood with John Newton on a hill near Haworth, surveying the romantic prospect. He then said, that at the time he first came into that part of the country, he might have gone half a day's journey on horseback, towards east, west, north, and south, without meeting one truly serious person, or even hearing of one. But now, through the blessing of God, not fewer than twelve hundred were in communion with him; most of whom, in the judgment of charity, he could not but believe to be one in Christ. But such was his humility, that when nearing his end he said: "When I die I shall then know my greatest grief and my greatest joy: my greatest grief, that I have done so little for Jesus; and my greatest joy, that Jesus has done so much for me. My last words shall be, ‘Here goes an unprofitable servant!""

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?— Ps. lxxxv. 6.

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. 2 COR. ii. 14.

August 11.

THE WORTHLESSNESS OF WILL-WORSHIP.

NOTHI

OTHING seems to have surprised or saddened the great apostle of the Gentiles more than the readiness of the Galatians to revert to Judaism. It gave clear

« AnteriorContinuar »