Days of Heaven Upon Earth Part 9

But to the glory of the grace of G.o.d we can add that what the law could not do for Moses the Gospel did; and he who could not pa.s.s over the Jordan under the old dispensation is seen on the very heights of Hermon with the Son of Man, sharing His Transfiguration glory, and talking of that death on Calvary to which be owed his glorious destiny.

That grace we have inherited under the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

FEBRUARY 25.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John xv. 5).

How can I take Christ as my Sanctifier, or Healer? is a question that we are constantly asked. It is necessary first of all that we get into the posture of faith. This has to be done by a definite and voluntary act, and then maintained by a uniform habit. It is just the same as the planting of a tree. You must put it in the soil by a definite act, and then you must let it stay put and remain settled in the ground until the little roots have time to fix themselves and begin to draw the sustenance from the soil. There are two stages, the definite planting and then the habitual absorbing of moisture and nourishment from the ground. The root fibers must rest until they reach out their spongy pores and drink in the nutriment of the earth. After the habit is established, then by a certain uniform law, the plant draws its life from the ground without an effort, and it is just as natural for it to grow as it is for us to breathe.

Lord, help me this day to abide in Thee, and to grow into the habit of drawing all my life from Thine so that it shall be true for me, "In Him I live and move and have my being."

FEBRUARY 26.

"Make you perfect in every good work" (Heb. xiii. 21).

In that beautiful prayer at the close of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Now the G.o.d of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will," the phrase, "make you perfect in every good work," literally means, it is said, "adjust you in every good work." It is a great thing to be adjusted, adjusted to our surroundings and circ.u.mstances rather than trying to have them adjusted to us, adjusted to the people we are thrown with, adjusted to the work G.o.d has for us, and not trying to get G.o.d to help us to do our work; adjusted to do the very will and plan of G.o.d for us in our whole life. This is the secret of rest, power and freedom in our life-work.

"Oh, fill me with Thy fulness, Lord.

Until my very heart o'erflow In kindling thought and glowing word, Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show.

Oh, use me, Lord, use even me, Just as Thou wilt, and when, and where; Until Thy blessed face I see, Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share."

FEBRUARY 27.

"Stablish, strengthen, settle you" (I. Peter v. 10).

In taking Christ in any new relations.h.i.+p, we must first have sufficient intellectual light to satisfy our mind that we are ent.i.tled to stand in this relations.h.i.+p. The shadow of a question here will wreck our confidence. Then, having seen this, we must make the venture, the committal, the choice, and take the place just as definitely as the tree is planted in the soil, or the bride gives herself away at the marriage altar. It must be once for all, without reserve, without recall.

Then there is a season of establis.h.i.+ng, settling and testing, during which we must stay put until the new relations.h.i.+p gets so fixed as to become a permanent habit. It is just the same as when the surgeon sets the broken arm. He puts it in splints to keep it from vibration. So G.o.d has His spiritual splints that He wants to put upon His children and keep them quiet and unmoved until they pa.s.s the first stage of faith.

It is not always easy work for us, "but the G.o.d of all grace who hath called you unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered awhile, stablish, strengthen, settle you."

FEBRUARY 28.

"Count it all joy" (James i. 2).

We do not always feel joyful, but we are to count it all joy. The word "reckon" is one of the key-words of Scripture. It is the same word used about our being dead. We do not feel dead. We are painfully conscious of something that would gladly return to life. But we are to treat ourselves as dead, and neither fear nor obey the old nature.

So we are to reckon the thing that comes as a blessing. We are determined to rejoice, to say, "My heart is fixed, O G.o.d, I will sing and give praise." This rejoicing, by faith, will soon become a habit, and will ever bring speedily the spirit of gladness and the spontaneous overflow of praise.

Then, "although the fig-tree may wither and no fruit appear in the vines, the labor of the olive fail and the fields yield no increase, the herd be cut off from the stall, and the cattle from the field, yet we will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the G.o.d of our salvation."

"Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round, On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found; Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown, Jesus we know, and He is on the throne."

MARCH 1.

"Wait on the Lord" (Ps. xxvii. 14).

How often this is said in the Bible, how little understood! It is what the old monk calls the "practice of the presence of G.o.d." It is the habit of prayer. It is the continued communion that not only asks, but receives.

People often ask us to pray for them and we have to say, "Why, G.o.d has answered our prayer for you, and you must now take the answer. It is awaiting you, and you must take it by waiting on the Lord."

This it is that renews the strength, until we mount up with wings as eagles, run and are not weary, walk and are not faint. Our hearts are too vast to take in His fulness at a single breath. We must live in the atmosphere of His presence till we absorb His very life. This is the secret of spiritual depth and rest, of power and fulness, of love and prayer, of hope and holy usefulness. "Wait, I say, on the Lord."

I am waiting in communion at the blessed mercy seat, I am waiting, sweetly waiting, on the Lord; I am drinking, of His fulness; I am sitting at His feet; I am hearkening to the whispers of His word.

MARCH 2.

"That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost"

(II. Tim. i. 14).

G.o.d gives to us a power within which will hold our hearts in victory and purity. "That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." It is the Holy Ghost; and when any thought or suggestion of evil arises in our breast, the quick conscience can instantly call upon the Holy Ghost to drive it out, and He will expel it at the command of faith or prayer, and keep us as pure as we are willing to be kept. But when the will surrenders and consents to evil, the Holy Ghost will not expel it. G.o.d, then, requires us to stand in holy vigilance, and He will do exceeding abundantly for us as we hold fast that which is good, and He will also be in us a spirit of vigilance, showing us the evil and enabling us to detect it, and to bring it to Him for expulsion and destruction.

"O Spirit of Jesus fill us until we shall have room only for Thee!"

O, come as the heart-searching fire, O, come as the sin-cleansing flood; Consume us with holy desire, And fill with the fulness of G.o.d.