{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_23438/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_23438","id":"gutenberg_23438","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23438","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Study and teaching","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"A Ribband of Blue\nAND\nOTHER BIBLE STUDIES\n\n\nBy\nJ. HUDSON TAYLOR.\n(A companion volume to \"Union and Communion,\"\nand to \"Separation and Service.\")\n\n\nLondon\nCHINA INLAND MISSION, Newington Green, N.\nMorgan & Scott, 12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C.\n\n\n\n\nA Ribband Of Blue.\n\n\nWe would draw the attention of beloved friends to the instructive\npassage with which the fifteenth chapter of Numbers closes; and may\nGOD, through our meditation on His precious Word, make it yet more\nprecious and practical to each one of us, for CHRIST our REDEEMER'S\nsake!\n\nThe whole chapter is full of important teaching. It commences with\ninstruction concerning the burnt-offering, the sacrifice in\nperforming a vow, and the free-will offering. It was not to be\nsupposed that any one might present his sacrifice to GOD according to\nhis own thought and plan. If it were to be acceptable--a sweet savour\nunto the LORD--it must be an offering in every respect such as GOD\nhad appointed. We cannot become acceptable to GOD in ways of our own\ndevising; from beginning to end it must be, \"Not my will, but Thine,\nbe done.\"\n\nThen, from the seventeenth to the twenty-first verse, the LORD claims\na first-fruits. The people of GOD were not to eat their fill, consume\nall that they cared to consume, and then give to GOD somewhat of the\nremainder; but before they touched the bread of the land, a\nheave-offering was to be offered to the LORD; and when the\nrequirement of GOD had been fully met, then, and not till then, were\nthey at liberty to satisfy their own hunger and supply their own\nwants. How often we see the reverse of this in daily life! Not only\nare necessaries first supplied from the income, but every fancied\nluxury is procured without stint, before the question of the\nconsecration of substance to GOD is really entertained.\n\nNext follow the directions concerning errors from heedlessness and\nignorance. The people were not to imagine that sin was not sinful if\nit were unconsciously committed. Man's knowledge and consciousness do\nnot make wrong right or right wrong. The will of GOD was revealed and\nought to have been known: not to know that will was in itself sinful;\nand not to do that will, whether consciously or unconsciously, was\nsin--sin that could only be put away by atoning sacrifice.\n\nGOD dealt in much mercy and grace with those who committed sins of\nignorance; though, when the sin became known and recognised,\nconfession and sacrifice were immediately needful. But, thank GOD!\nthe sacrifice was ordained, and the sin could be put away.\n\nIt was not so with the presumptuous sin. No sacrifice was appointed\nfor a man, whether born in the land or a stranger, who reproached the\nLORD by presumptuous sin. Of that man it was said, \"that soul shall\nutterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.\"\n\nThis distinction is very important to make. We are not to think that\nour holiest service is free from sin, or can be accepted save through\nJESUS CHRIST our LORD. We are not to suppose that sins of omission,\nany more than sins of commission, are looked lightly upon by GOD:\nsins of forgetfulness and heedlessness or ignorance are more than\nfrailties--are real sins, needing atoning sacrifice. GOD deals very\ngently and graciously with us in these matters; when transgression or\niniquity is brought home to the conscience, \"if we confess our sins,\nHe is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us\nfrom all unrighteousness.\" Even when walking in the light, \"as He is\nin the light,\" we are not beyond the need of atonement. Though our\nfellowship with GOD be unbroken by any conscious transgression, it\ncontinues unbroken only because \"the blood of JESUS CHRIST HIS SON is\ncleansing us from all sin.\"\n\nThe man, however, who would presume on GOD's forgiveness, and despise\nGOD's holiness and His claim upon His people, by doing deliberately\nthe thing that he knows to be contrary to GOD's will, that man will\nfind spiritual dearth and spiritual death inevitably follow. His\ncommunion with GOD is brought to an end, and it is hard to say how\nfar Satan may not be permitted to carry such a backslider in heart\nand life. It is awfully possible not merely to \"grieve\" and to\n\"resist,\" but even to \"quench\" the SPIRIT of GOD.\n\nWe have a solemn example of presumptuous sin in the case of the man\nfound gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. He was not--he could not\nbe ignorant of GOD'S ordinance concerning the Sabbath. The gathering\nof sticks was not to meet a necessity; his case was not parallel with\nthat of the poor man who perhaps had received his wages late on\nSaturday night, and has had no opportunity of purchasing food in time\nto prepare it for the day of rest. To the Israelite, the double\nsupply of manna was given on the morning of the day before the\nSabbath; and as the uncooked manna would not keep, it was necessary\nthat early in that day it should be prepared for food. He had,\ntherefore, no need of sticks to cook his Sabbath's dinner. And the\ncountry was so hot that no man would kindle a fire from choice or\npreference. His object in gathering sticks was simply to show, openly\nand publicly, that he despised GOD, and refused to obey His holy\nordinance: rightly, therefore, was that man put to death.\n\nBut occasion was taken in connection with this judgment to introduce\nthe wearing of the\n\n\"RIBBAND OF BLUE.\"\n\nGOD would have all His people wear a badge. Throughout their\ngenerations they were to make them fringes in the borders of their\ngarments, and to put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of\nblue, that they might look upon it and remember all the commandments\nof the LORD, and do them, and might be a holy people, holy unto their\nGOD, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, to be their GOD.\n\nBlue is the colour of heaven. The beautiful waters of the sea reflect\nit, and are as blue as the cloudless sky. When the clouds come\nbetween, then, and then only, is the deep blue lost. But it is the\nwill of GOD that there should never be a cloud between His people and\nHimself; and that, as the Israelite of old, wherever he went, carried\nthe ribband of blue, so His people to-day should manifest a heavenly\nspirit and temper wherever they go; and should, like Moses, in their\nvery countenances bear witness to the glory and beauty of the GOD\nwhom they love and serve.\n\nHow interesting it must have been to see that ribband of blue carried\nby the farmer into the field, by the merchant to his place of\nbusiness, by the maid-servant into the innermost parts of the\ndwelling, when performing her daily duties. Is it less important that\nthe Christian of today, called to be a witness for CHRIST, should be\nmanifestly characterised by His spirit? Should we not all be\n\"imitators of GOD, as dear children,\" and \"walk in love as CHRIST\nalso hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us\"? And should not\nthis Spirit of GOD-likeness be carried into the smallest details of\nlife, and not be merely reserved for special occasions? If we\nunderstand aright the meaning of our SAVIOUR'S direction \"Be ye\ntherefore perfect, even as your FATHER which is in heaven is\nperfect,\" it teaches this great truth.\n\nWe are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, not to\nbreak one of the least of the commandments, not to give way to anger,\nnot to tolerate the thought of impurity, to give no rash promises, or\nin conversation to say more than yea or nay. The spirit of\nretaliation is not to be indulged in; a yieldingness of spirit is to\ncharacterise the child of the kingdom; those who hate and\ndespitefully use us are to be pitied, and loved, and prayed for. Then\ncomes the direction, \"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your FATHER\nwhich is in heaven is perfect.\" In the little frictions of daily\nlife, as well as in the more serious trials and persecutions to which\nthe Christian is exposed, he is to be manifestly an imitator of his\nheavenly FATHER.\n\nNow, GOD'S perfection is an absolute perfection; while ours, at best,\nis only relative. A needle may be a perfect needle, in every respect\nadapted for the work for which it was made. It is not, however, a\nmicroscopic object; under magnifying power it becomes a rough,\nhoneycombed poker, with a ragged hole in the place of the eye. But it\nwas not made to be a microscopic object; and, being adapted to the\npurpose for which it was made, it may properly be considered a\nperfect needle. So we are not called to be perfect angels, or in any\nrespect Divine, but we are called to be perfect Christians,\nperforming the privileged duties that as such devolve upon us.\n\nOur FATHER makes according to His perfection the least little thing\nthat He makes. The tiniest fly, the smallest animalcule, the dust of\na butterfly's wing, however highly you may magnify them, are seen to\nbe absolutely perfect. Should not the little things of our daily life\nbe as relatively perfect in the case of each Christian as the lesser\ncreations of GOD are absolutely perfect? Ought we not to glorify GOD\nin the formation of each letter that we write, and as Christians to\nwrite a more legible hand than unconverted people can be expected to\ndo? Ought we not to be more thorough in our service, not simply doing\nwell that which will be seen and noticed, but as our FATHER makes\nmany a flower to bloom unseen in the lonely desert, so to do all that\nwe can do, as under His eye, though no other eye ever take note of it?\n\nIt is our privilege to take our rest and recreation for the purpose\nof pleasing Him; to lay aside our garments at night neatly (for He is\nin the room, and watches over us while we sleep), to wash, to dress,\nto smooth the hair, with His eye in view; and, in short, in all that\nwe are and in all that we do to use the full measure of ability which\nGOD has given us to the glory of His holy Name? Were we always so to\nlive, how beautiful Christian life would become! how much more worthy\na witness we should bear to the world of Him whose witnesses we are!\nMay the life we are living be characterised by the growth in grace\nwhich will glorify GOD; and may tell-tale faces, and glad hearts, and\nloving service be to each one of us as \"a ribband of blue,\"\nreflecting the very hue of heaven, and reminding ourselves and one\nanother of our privileges to \"remember all the commandments of the\nLORD, and do them.\"\n\n\n\n\nBlessed Prosperity\nMeditations On The First Psalm.\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\nThere is a prosperity which is not blessed: it comes not from above\nbut from beneath, and it leads away from, not towards heaven. This\nprosperity of the wicked is often a sore perplexity to the servants\nof GOD; they need to be reminded of the exhortation, \"Fret not\nthyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man\nwho bringeth wicked devices to pass.\" Many besides the Psalmist have\nbeen envious at the foolish when seeing the prosperity of the wicked,\nand have been tempted to ask, \"Is there knowledge in the MOST HIGH?\"\nWhile Satan remains the GOD of this world, and has it is his power to\nprosper his votaries, this source of perplexity will always continue\nto those who do not enter into the sanctuary and consider the latter\nend of the worldling.\n\nNor is it the godless only who are tempted by the offer of a\nprosperity which comes from beneath. Our SAVIOUR Himself was tempted\nby the arch-enemy in this way. CHRIST was told that all that He\ndesired to accomplish for the kingdoms of this world might be\neffected by an easier path than the cross--a little compromise with\nhim who held the power and was able to bestow the kingdoms, and all\nshould be His own. The lying wiles of the seducer were instantly\nrejected by our LORD; not so ineffective are such wiles to many of\nHis people; a little policy rather than the course for which\nconscience pleads; a little want of integrity in business dealings; a\nlittle compromise with the ways of the world, followed by a\nprosperity which brings no blessing, these prove often that the\nenemy's arts are still the same.\n\nBut, thank GOD! There is a true prosperity which comes from Him and\nleads towards Him. It is not only consistent with perfect integrity\nand uncompromising holiness of heart and life, but it cannot be\nattained without them, and its enjoyment tends to deepen them. This\ndivine prosperity is GOD'S purpose for every believer, in all that he\nundertakes; in things temporal and in things spiritual, in all the\nrelations and affairs of this life, as well as in all work for CHRIST\nand for eternity, it is GOD'S will for each child of His that\n\"whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\"\n\nYet many of His children evidently do not enjoy this uniform\nblessing; some find failure rather than success the rule of their\nlife: while others, sometimes prospered and sometimes discouraged,\nlive lives of uncertainty, in which anxiety and even fear are not\ninfrequent. Shall we not each one at the outset ask, How is it with\nme? Is this blessed prosperity my experience? Am I so led by the\nSPIRIT in my doings, and so prospered by GOD in their issues, that as\nHis witness I can bear testimony to His faithfulness to this promise?\nIf it be not so with me, what is the reason? Which of the necessary\nconditions have I failed to fulfil? May our meditations on the First\nPsalm make these conditions more clear to our minds, and may faith be\nenabled to claim definitely all that is included in this wonderful\npromise!\n\nTHE NEGATIVE CONDITIONS OF BLESSING\n\"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.\"\n\nMore literally, O the blessings, the manifold happiness of the man\nwhose character is here described in the first and second verses of\nthis Psalm! He is happy in what he escapes or avoids, and happy and\nprospered in what he undertakes.\n\nThe first characteristic given us is that he walks not in the counsel\nof the ungodly, the wicked. Notice, it does not merely say that he\nwalks not in wicked counsel: a man of GOD clearly would not do this;\nbut what is said is that he \"walketh not in the counsel of the\nwicked.\" Now the wicked have often much worldly wisdom, and become\nnoted for their prosperity and their prudence, but the child of GOD\nshould always be on his guard against their counsel; however good it\nmay appear, it is full of danger.\n\nOne of the principal characteristics of the wicked is that GOD is not\nin all his thoughts; he sees everything from the standpoint of self,\nor, at the highest, from the standpoint of humanity. His maxim, \"Take\ncare of number one,\" would be very good if it were meant that GOD is\nfirst, and should always be put first; but he means it not so: self\nand not GOD is number one to the ungodly. The wicked will often\ncounsel to honesty, not on the ground that honesty is pleasing to\nGOD, but that it is the best policy; if in any particular business\ntransaction a more profitable policy appears quite safe, those who\nhave simply been honest because it pays best, will be very apt to\ncease to be so.\n\nThe child of GOD has no need of the counsel of the ungodly; if he\nlove and study GOD'S Word it will make him wiser than all such\ncounsellors. If he seek for and observe all the counsel of GOD,\nthrough the guidance of the HOLY SPIRIT, he will not walk in darkness\neven as to worldly things. The directions of GOD'S Word may often\nseem strange and impolitic, but in the measure in which he has faith\nto obey the directions he finds in the Scripture, turning not to the\nright hand nor to the left, will he make his way prosperous, will he\nfind good success.\n\nThe history of the early Friends in America, who would not take a\nweapon to protect themselves against the savage Indian tribes, shows\nhow safe it is to follow the Word of GOD and not to resist evil. And\ntheir later experience in the recent Civil War, in which no one of\nthem lost his life, though exposed to the greatest dangers and\nhardships because they would not fight, further confirms the wisdom\nas well as blessedness of literally obeying the Scripture. The eyes\nof the LORD still run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show\nHimself strong in behalf of those who put their trust in Him before\nthe sons of men. The enlightened believer has so much better counsel\nthat he no more needs than condescends to accept the counsel of the\nungodly.\n\nAnd, more than this, the wise child of GOD will carefully ascertain\nthe standpoint of a fellow-believer before he will value his counsel;\nfor he learns from Scripture and experience that Satan too\ninfrequently makes handles of the people of GOD, as, for instance, in\nPeter's case. Little did the astonished Peter know whence his\nexhortation to the LORD to pity Himself came; \"Get thee behind me,\nSatan,\" showed that our LORD had traced this counsel, which did not\nseek first the Kingdom of GOD, to its true source. Alas, the counsel\nof worldly-minded Christians does far more harm than that of the\nopenly wicked. Whenever the supposed interests of self, or family, or\ncountry, or even of church or mission come first, we may be quite\nsure of the true source of that counsel; it is at least earthly or\nsensual, if not devilish.\n\nFurther, the truly blessed man--\n\nStandeth not in the way of sinners.\n\nBirds of a feather flock together; the way of a sinner no more suits\na true believer than the way of the believer suits the sinner. As a\nwitness for his MASTER in the hope of saving the lost, he may go to\nthem; but he will not, like Lot, pitch his tent towards Sodom; lest\nhe be ensnared as Lot was, who only escaped himself, losing all those\nhe loved best, and all his possessions. Ah, how many parents who have\nfluttered moth-like near the flame, have seen their children\ndestroyed by it, while they themselves have not escaped unscathed!\nHow many churches and Christian institutions, in the attempt to\nattract the unconverted by worldly inducements or amusements, have\nthemselves forfeited the blessing of GOD; and have so lost spiritual\npower, that those whom they have thus attracted have been nothing\nbenefited! Instead of seeing the dead quickened, a state of torpor\nand death has crept over themselves.\n\nThere is no need of, nor room for, any other attraction than that\nwhich CHRIST Himself gave, when He said, \"I, if I be lifted up ...\nwill draw all men unto Me.\" Our MASTER was ever \"separate from\nsinners,\" and the HOLY SPIRIT speaks unmistakably in 2 Cor. vi.:\n\"What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what\ncommunion hath light with darkness? ... for ye are the temple of the\nliving GOD; as GOD hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them;\nand I will be their GOD, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come\nout from among them, and be ye separate ... and touch not the unclean\nthing; and I will receive you, and will be a FATHER unto you, and ye\nshall be my sons and daughters, saith the LORD Almighty.\"\n\n\"Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.\"\n\nThe seat of the scornful is one of the special dangers of this age.\nPride, presumption, and scorn are closely linked together, and are\nfar indeed from the mind which was in CHRIST JESUS. This spirit often\nshows itself in the present day in the form of irreverent criticism.\nThose who are spiritually least qualified for it are to be found\nsitting in the seat of judgment, rather than taking the place of the\ninquirer and the learner. The Bereans of old did not scornfully\nreject the, to them, strange teachings of the Apostle Paul, but\nsearched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.\nNow, forsooth, the Scriptures themselves are called in question, and\nthe very foundations of Christian faith are abandoned by men who\nwould fain be looked upon as the apostles of modern thought. May GOD\npreserve His people from abandoning the faith once for all delivered\nto the saints, for the baseless ephemeral fancies of the present day!\n\nTHE POSITIVE CONDITIONS OF BLESSING.\n\nWe have considered the things which are avoided by the truly blessed\nman. O, the miseries and the losses of those who fail to avoid them!\nWe have now to dwell upon the special characteristics of the man of\nGOD, those which are at once the source of his strength and his\nshield of protection.\n\n\"His delight is in the law of the LORD;\n\"And in His law doth he meditate day and night.\"\n\nThe unregenerate cannot delight in the law of the LORD. They may be\nvery religious, and may read the Bible as one of their religious\nduties. They may admire much that is in the Bible, and be loud in its\npraise--for as a mere book it is the most wonderful in the world.\nNay, they may go much further than this; and may imagine, as did Saul\nthe persecutor, that their life is ordered by its teachings, while\nstill they are far from GOD. But when such become converted, they\ndiscover they have been blind; among the \"all things\" that become\nnew, they find that they have got a new Bible; and as new-born babes\nthey desire the unadulterated milk of the Word that they may grow\nthereby. Well is it when young Christians are properly fed from the\nWord of GOD, and have not their taste corrupted, and their spiritual\nconstitution destroyed, by feeding on the imaginations of men rather\nthan on the verities of GOD.\n\nIt is not difficult to discover what a man delights in. \"Out of the\nabundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.\" The mother delights to\nspeak of her babe, the politician loves to talk of politics, the\nscientific man of his favourite science, and the athlete of his\nsport. In the same way the earnest, happy Christian manifests his\ndelight in the Word of GOD; it is his food and comfort; it is his\nstudy and his guide; and as the Holy Spirit throws fresh light on its\nprecious truths he finds in it a joy and pleasure beyond compare.\nNaturally and spontaneously he will often speak of that which is so\nprecious to his heart.\n\nBy regeneration the believer, having become the child of GOD, finds\nnew interest and instruction in all the works of GOD. His FATHER\ndesigned and created them, upholds and uses them, and for His glory\nthey exist. But this is peculiarly true of the Word of GOD.\nPossessing the mind of CHRIST, instructed by the SPIRIT of CHRIST, he\nfinds in every part of GOD'S Word testimony to the person and work of\nhis adorable Master and Friend. The Bible in a thousand ways endears\nitself to him, while unfolding the mind and ways of GOD, His past\ndealing with His people, and His wonderful revelations of the future.\n\nWhile thus studying GOD'S Word the believer becomes conscious of a\nnew source of delight; not only is that which is revealed precious,\nbut the beauty and perfection of the revelation itself grows upon\nhim. He has now no need of external evidence to prove its\ninspiration; it everywhere bears the impress of Divinity. And as the\nmicroscope which reveals the coarseness and blemishes of the works of\nman only shows more fully the perfectness of GOD'S works, and brings\nto light new and unimagined beauties, so it is with the Word of GOD\nwhen closely scanned.\n\nIn what remarkable contrast does this Book stand to the works of men!\nThe science of yesterday is worthless to-day; but history and the\ndiscoveries of our own times only confirm the reliability of these\nancient sacred records. The stronger our faith in the plenary, verbal\ninspiration of GOD'S Holy Word, the more fully we make it our guide,\nand the more implicitly we follow its teachings, the deeper will be\nour peace and the more fruitful our service. \"Great peace have they\nwhich love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.\" Becoming more and\nmore convinced of the divine wisdom of the directions and commands of\nScripture, and of the reliability of the promises, the life of the\nbeliever will become increasingly one of obedience and trust; and\nthus he will prove for himself how good, acceptable, and perfect is\nthe will of GOD, and that Bible which reveals it.\n\nThe words, \"the Law of the LORD,\" which we understand to mean the\nwhole Word of GOD, are very suggestive. They indicate that the Bible\nis intended to teach us what GOD would have us to do; that we should\nnot merely seek for the promises, and try to get all we can from GOD;\nbut should much more earnestly desire to know what he wants us to be\nand to do for Him. It is recorded of Ezra, that he prepared his heart\nto seek the Law of the LORD, in order that he might do it, and teach\nin Israel the statutes and judgments. The result was that the hand of\nhis GOD was upon him for good, the desires of his heart were largely\ngranted, and he became the channel of blessing to his whole people.\nEvery one who searches the Scriptures in the same spirit will receive\nand communicate the blessing of GOD: he will find in it the guidance\nhe needs for his own service, and oft-times a word in season for\nthose with whom he is associated.\n\nBut not only will the Bible become the Law of the LORD to him as\nteaching and illustrating what GOD would have him to be and to do,\nbut still more as revealing what GOD Himself is and does. As the law\nof gravitation gives us to know how a power, on which we may ever\ndepend, will act under given circumstances, so the Law of the LORD\ngives us to know Him, and the principles of His government, on which\nwe may rely with implicit confidence.\n\nThe man of GOD will also delight to trace GOD in the Word as the\ngreat Worker, and rejoice in the privilege of being a fellow-worker\nwith Him--a glad, voluntary agent in doing the will of GOD, yet\nrejoicing in the grace that has made him willing, and in the mighty,\ndivine power that works through him. The Bible will also teach him to\nview himself as but an atom, as it were, in GOD'S great universe; and\nto see GOD'S great work as a magnificent whole, carried on by ten\nthousand agencies; carried on through all spheres, in all time, and\nwithout possibility of ultimate failure--a glorious manifestation of\nthe perfections of the great Worker! He himself, and a thousand more\nof his fellow-servants, may pass away; but this thought will not\nparalyse his efforts, for he knows that whatever has been wrought in\nGOD will abide, and that whatever is incomplete when his work is done\nthe great Worker will in His own time and way bring to completion.\n\nHe does not expect to understand all about the grand work in which he\nis privileged to take a blessed but infinitesimal part; he can afford\nto await its completion, and can already by faith rejoice in the\ncertainty that the whole will be found in every respect worthy of the\ngreat Designer and Executor. Well may his delight be in the Law of\nthe LORD, and well may he meditate in it day and night.\n\nTHE OUTCOME IN BLESSING.\n\nWe next proceed to notice the remarkable promises in the third verse\nof this Psalm--one of the most remarkable and inclusive contained in\nthe Scriptures:--\n\n\"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,\n\"That bringeth forth his fruit in his season;\n\"His leaf also shall not wither;\n\"And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\"\n\nIf we could offer to the ungodly a worldly plan which would ensure\ntheir prospering in all that they undertake, how eagerly they would\nembrace it! And yet when GOD Himself reveals an effectual plan to His\npeople how few avail themselves of it! Many fail on the negative side\nand do not come clearly out of the world; many fail on the positive\nside and allow other duties or indulgences to take the time that\nshould be given to reading and meditation on GOD'S Word. To some it\nis not at all easy to secure time for the morning watch, but nothing\ncan make up for the loss of it. But is there not yet a third class of\nChristians whose failure lies largely in their not embracing the\npromise and claiming it by faith? In each of these three ways failure\nmay come in and covenant blessings may be lost.\n\nLet us now consider what are the blessings, the manifold happinesses\nwhich faith is to claim when the conditions are fulfilled.\n\nI. Stability.--He shall be like a tree (not a mere annual plant), of\nsteady progressive growth and increasing fruitfulness. A tree\nplanted, and always to be found in its place, not blown about, the\nsport of circumstances. The flowers may bloom and pass away, but the\ntree abides.\n\nII. Independent Supplies.--Planted by the rivers of water. The\nordinary supplies of rain and dew may fail: his deep and hidden\nsupplies cannot. He shall not be careful in the year of drought, and\nin the days of famine he shall be satisfied. His supply is the living\nwater--the SPIRIT of GOD--the same yesterday, today, and forever:\nhence he depends on no intermitting spring.\n\nIII. Seasonable Fruitfulness.--The careful student of Scripture will\nnotice the parallelism between the teaching of the First Psalm and\nthat of our LORD in the Gospel of John, where in the sixth chapter we\nare taught that he who feeds on CHRIST abides in Him, and in the\nfifteenth that he who abides brings forth much fruit. We feed upon\nCHRIST the incarnate WORD through the written Word. So in this Psalm\nhe who delights in the Law of the LORD, and meditates upon it day and\nnight, brings forth his fruit in his season.\n\nThere is something beautiful in this. A word spoken in season how\ngood it is; how even a seasonable look will encourage or restrain,\nreprove or comfort! The promise reminds one of those in John about\nthe living water thirsty ones drink, and are not only refreshed, but\nbecome channels through which rivers of living water are always\nflowing, so that other thirsty ones in their hour of need may find\nseasonable refreshment. But the figure in the Psalm is not that of\nwater flowing through us as through a channel; but that of fruit, the\nvery outcome of our own transformed life--a life of union with CHRIST.\n\nIt is so gracious of our GOD not to work through us in a mere\nmechanical way, but to make us branches of the True Vine, the very\norgans by which Its fruit is produced. We are not, therefore,\nindependent workers, for there is a fundamental difference between\nfruit and work. Work is the outcome of effort; fruit, of life. A bad\nman may do good work, but a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. The\nresult of work is not reproductive, but fruit has its seed in itself.\nThe workman has to seek his material and his tools, and often to set\nhimself with painful perseverance to his task. The fruit of the Vine\nis the glad, free, spontaneous outcome of the life within; and it\nforms and grows and ripens in its proper season.\n\nAnd what is the fruit which the believer should bear? May it not be\nexpressed by one word--Christliness? It is interesting to notice that\nthe Scripture does not speak of the fruits of the SPIRIT, in the\nplural, as though we might take our choice among the graces named,\nbut of the fruit, in the singular, which is a rich cluster composed\nof love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. How blessed to bring forth\nsuch fruit in its season!\n\nIV. Continuous Vigour.--\"His leaf also shall not wither.\" In our own\nclimate many trees are able to maintain their life throughout the\nwinter, but unable to retain their leaves. The hardy evergreen,\nhowever, not only lives, but manifests its life, and all the more\nconspicuously because of the naked branches around. The life within\nis too strong to fear the shortened day, the cold blast, or the\nfalling snow. So with the man of GOD whose life is maintained by\nhidden communion through the Word; adversity only brings out the\nstrength and the reality of the life within.\n\nThe leaf of the tree is no mere adornment. If the root suggests to us\nreceptive power in that it draws from the soil the stimulating sap,\nwithout which life could not be maintained, the leaves no less remind\nus of the grace of giving, and of purifying. They impart to the\natmosphere a grateful moisture; they provide for the traveller a\nrefreshing shade, and they purify the air poisoned by the breathings\nof animal life.\n\nWell, too, is the tree repaid for all that it gives out through its\nleaves. The thin stimulating sap that comes from the root, which\ncould not of itself build up the tree, thickens in giving out its\nmoisture, and through the leaves possesses itself of carbon from the\natmosphere. Thus enriched, the sap goes back through the tree,\nbuilding it up until the tiniest rootlets are as much nourished by\nthe leaves as the latter are fed by the roots. Keep a tree despoiled\nof its leaves sufficiently long and it will surely die. So unless the\nbeliever is giving as well as receiving, purifying his life and\ninfluence, he cannot grow nor properly maintain his own vitality. But\nhe who delights in the Law of the LORD, and meditates in it day and\nnight--his leaf shall not wither.\n\nV. Uniform Prosperity.--\"Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\" Could\nany promise go beyond this? It is the privilege of the child of GOD\nto see the hand of GOD in all his circumstances and surroundings, and\nto serve GOD in all his avocations and duties. Whether he eat or\ndrink, work or rest, speak or be silent; in all his occupations,\nspiritual, domestic, or secular, he is alike the servant of GOD.\nNothing lawful to him is too small to afford an opportunity of\nglorifying GOD; duties in themselves trivial or wearisome become\nexalted and glorified when the believer recognises his power through\nthem to gladden and satisfy the loving heart of his ever-observant\nMASTER. And he who in all things recognises himself as the servant of\nGOD may count on a sufficiency from GOD for all manner of need, and\nlook with confident expectation to GOD to really prosper him in\nwhatever he does.\n\nBut this prosperity will not always be apparent, except to the eye of\nfaith. When Chorazin and Bethsaida rejected our LORD'S message, it\nneeded the eye of faith to rejoice in spirit and say, \"Even so,\nFATHER; for so it seemed good in Thy sight.\" Doubtless the legions of\nhell rejoiced when they saw the LORD of Glory nailed to the accursed\ntree; yet we know that never was our blessed LORD more prospered than\nwhen, as our High Priest, He offered Himself as our atoning\nsacrifice, and bore our sins in His own body on the tree. As then, so\nnow, the path of real prosperity will often lie through deepest\nsuffering; followers of CHRIST may well be content with the path\nwhich He trod.\n\nBut though this prosperity may not be immediately apparent, it will\nalways be real, and should always be claimed by faith. The minister\nin his church, the missionary among the heathen, the merchant at his\ndesk, the mother in her home, the workman in his labour, each may\nalike claim it. Not in vain is it written, \"Whatsoever he doeth shall\nprosper.\"\n\nVI. Finally, let us notice that these promises are all in the\nindicative mood, and, provided the conditions are fulfilled, are\nabsolute. There is no \"may be\" about them. And further, they are made\nto individual believers. If other believers fail, he who accepts them\nwill not; the word is, \"Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\"\n\nTHE CONTRAST.\n\"The ungodly are not so.\"\n\nIt is not necessary to dwell at any length upon the contrast. The\nungodly cannot enjoy the happiness of the child of GOD, for they\ncannot carry out the conditions. They neither can, nor desire to,\navoid the counsel, the society, or the ways of their own fellows; and\nthey lack that spiritual insight which is essential to delighting in\nGOD'S Word. Instead of being full of life, like the tender grain,\nthey become hard and dry; and the same sun that ripens the one\nprepares the other for destruction. Instead of being \"planted,\" the\nwind drives them away; and He who delights in the way of His people,\ncauses the way of the ungodly to perish.\n\n\n\n\nBlessed Adversity.\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\nIn our meditations on the first Psalm we have dwelt on \"Blessed\nProsperity.\" But all GOD'S dealings are full of blessing: He is good,\nand doeth good, good only, and continually. The believer who has\ntaken the LORD as his SHEPERD, can assuredly say in the words of the\ntwenty-third Psalm, \"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all\nthe days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for\never;\" or, taking the marginal reading of the Revised Version, \"Only\ngoodness and mercy shall follow me.\" Hence, we may be sure that days\nof adversity are still days of prosperity aso, and are full of\nblessing.\n\nThe believer does not need to wait until he sees the reason of GOD'S\nafflictive dealings with him ere he is satisfied; he knows that all\nthings work together for good to them that love GOD; that all GOD'S\ndealings are those of a loving FATHER, who only permits that which\nfor the time being is grievous, in order the accomplish results that\ncannot be achieved in any less painful way. The wise and trustful\nchild of GOD rejoices in tribulation, \"knowing that tribulation\nworketh patience,\" experience, hope--a hope that \"maketh not ashamed;\nbecause the love of GOD is shed abroad in our hearts by the HOLY\nGHOST which is given unto us.\"\n\nThe history of Job is full of instruction, and should teach us many\nlessons of deep interest and great profit. The veil is taken away\nfrom the unseen world, and we learn much of the power of our great\nadversary; but also of his powerlessness apart from the permission of\nGOD our FATHER.\n\nGOD'S TESTIMONY AND CHALLENGE.\n\"The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the Name of\nthe LORD.\"--Job i.21.\n\nIn the 8th verse of the 1st chapter, GOD Himself bears testimony to\nHis servant: \"that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and\nan upright man, one that feareth GOD, and escheweth evil; and in the\n2nd chapter and 3rd verse, He repeats the same testimony, adding:\n\"still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me\nagainst him, to destroy him without cause.\" Stronger testimony to the\nlife which GOD'S grace enabled Job to live can scarcely be imagined.\nThe chastisement that came upon him is declared to have been without\ncause so far as his life and spirit were concerned. Let us thank GOD\nthat the same grace which enabled Job, so long ago, to live a life\nthat pleased GOD and received His repeated commendation, is\nunchanged; and that by it we may also live lives that will be\nwell-pleasing to Him with whom we have to do.\n\nSatan would very frequently harass the believer in times of sorrow\nand trial by leading him to think that GOD is angry with him--that\nthis is a punishment for some unknown offence, and many of the\ncomforts and consolations that might otherwise be enjoyed may thus be\nclouded. Do we not rather see from the Word of GOD that He is like a\nglad father, delighting to be able to encourage a strong healthy son\nto undertake some athletic feat which will entail arduous effort and\ncareful training, or to stimulate him to prepare for a difficult\nliterary examination by a prolonged and toilsome course of study,\nknowing he will obtain honours and permanent advantage from his\nattainments? So, our HEAVENLY FATHER delights to trust a trustworthy\nchild with a trial in which he can bring great glory to GOD, and\nthrough which he will receive permanent enlargement of heart, and\nblessing for himself and others.\n\nTake the case of Abraham: GOD so thoroughly trust him, that He was\nnot afraid to call upon His servant to offer up his well-beloved son.\nAnd here, in the case of Job, it was not Satan who challenged GOD\nabout Job, but GOD who challenged the arch-enemy, the accuser of the\nbrethren, to find any flaw in his character, or failure in his life.\nIn each case grace triumphed, and in each case patience and fidelity\nwere abundantly rewarded; but more of this anon.\n\nTHE UNSEEN HEDGE.\n\nThe reply of Satan is noteworthy. He does not need to ask, \"Which\nJob?\" or, \"Where does he live?\" He had considered GOD'S servant, and\nevidently knew all about him. How came it that he was so well\nacquainted with this faithful man of GOD? It may have come about in\nthis way: those subordinate spirits of evil who are evidently under\nthe control of Satan had in vain tried ordinary means of temptation\nwith the patriarch. Probably reporting their want of success to some\nof the principalities and powers of evil, these likewise had essayed\ntheir diabolical arts, but had not succeeded in leading Job to swerve\nfrom his integrity. Last of all, the great arch-enemy himself had\nfound all his own efforts ineffectual to harass and lead astray GOD'S\nbeloved servant. He found a hedge around him, and about his servants,\nand about his house, and about all that he had on every side--an\nentrenchment so strong that he had been unable to break through, so\nhigh that, going about as a roaring lion, he had been unable to leap\nover, or to bring disaster within the GOD-protected circle.\n\nHow blessed it must have been to dwell so protected! The work of\nJob's hands was prospered--his substance increased in the land, and\nhe became the greatest as well as the best of all the men of the\nEast, for in that day GOD manifested His approval largely, though not\nsolely, by the bestowal of temporal blessings.\n\nIs there no analogous spiritual blessing to be enjoyed now-a-days?\nThank GOD, there is. Every believer may be as safely kept and as\nfully blessed, though, perhaps, not in the same way, as Job--may be\ndelivered from the power of the enemy, and preserved in a charmed\ncircle of perfect peace. The conditions are simple, and are given us\nby the Apostle Paul in the 4th chapter of Philippians, v. 4-7,\n\"Rejoice in the LORD always ... Let your moderation [your gentleness,\nor yieldingness] be known unto all men. The LORD is at hand.\" Not\nyour power of resistance of evil, and of \"maintaining your own\nrights;\" but your spirit of yieldingness, believing that the LORD\nwill maintain for you all that is really for your good; and that in\nany case, He is at hand, and will soon abundantly reward fidelity to\nHis command. And lastly, \"Be careful for nothing; but in everything\nby prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be\nmade known unto GOD. And the peace of GOD, which passeth all\nunderstanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through CHRIST JESUS.\"\n\nHow is it that believers so often fail to enjoy this promised\nblessing? Is it not that we fail to be anxious for nothing, and to\nbring everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving before\nGOD? We may bring nine difficulties out of ten to Him, and try to\nmanage the tenth ourselves, and that one little difficulty, like a\nsmall leak that runs the vessel dry, is fatal to the whole; like a\nsmall breach in a city wall, it gives entrance to the power of the\nfoe. But if we fulfil the conditions, He is certainly faithful, and\ninstead of our having to keep our hearts and minds--our affections\nand thoughts--we shall find them kept for us. The peace, which we can\nneither make nor keep, will itself, as a garrison, keep and protect\nus, and the cares and worries will strive to enter in vain.\n\nTHE TESTING OF JOB\n\nReverting to the history of Job: the great accuser, having no fault\nto find with his character or life, insinuates that it is all the\nresult of selfishness. \"Doth Job fear GOD for nought.\" Indeed, he did\nnot, as Satan well knew! Nor has anyone, before or since, ever feared\nGOD for nought. There is no service which pays so well as the service\nof our HEAVENLY MASTER; there is none so royally rewarded. Satan was\nmaking a true assertion, but the insinuation he connected with it,\nthat it was for the sake of this reward that Job served GOD, was not\ntrue.\n\nTo vindicate the character of Job himself in the sight of the angels\nof GOD, as well as of the evil spirits, Satan is permitted to test\nJob, and take away all those treasures for the sake of which alone\nSatan imagined, or pretended to imagine, that Job was serving GOD.\n\"All that he hath,\" said GOD, \"is in thy power; only upon himself put\nnot forth thine hand.\"\n\nSATAN'S MALIGNITY.\n\nAnd soon Satan showed the malignity of his character by bringing\ndisaster after disaster upon the devoted man. By his emissaries he\nincited the Sabeans, and they fell upon the oxen and the asses\nfeeding beside them, slaying the servants with the edge of the sword,\nsuffering one only to escape--and this, not in any pity or sympathy,\nbut that he might bear the message to his unhappy master, telling of\nthe destruction of his property and servants. The evil one appears,\nalso, to have had power to bring the lightning from heaven--by which\nthe sheep, and the servants caring for them, were destroyed. Here,\nagain, one servant only was left, by his message to increase the\ndistress of the afflicted man of GOD.\n\nWorking in another direction, the Chaldeans were led to come in three\nbands and carry off Job's camels, slaying all the servants with the\nedge of the sword, save the one left to convey the evil tidings. And,\nas if this were not sufficient, even the very children of Job, his\nseven sons and three daughters--children of so many prayers--were\nswept away at one blow, by a terrible hurricane from the wilderness,\nwhich smote the four corners of the house so that it fell upon them,\nleaving only one servant to bear witness of the calamity. One only of\nall his family--his wife--seems to have been left to Job. But so far\nfrom being a spiritual help to him in this hour of sorrow and trial,\nshe lost faith in GOD; and when further calamity came upon him, and\nhe was in sore bodily suffering and affliction, his trial was added\nto by the words of his despairing wife: \"Curse GOD, and die.\" We see\nfrom this, that even she was left to Job through no mercy on the part\nof the great enemy, but simply to fill the cup of affliction to the\nfull in the hour of his extremity.\n\nGRACE SUFFICIENT.\n\nBut He who sent the trial gave also the needful grace, and in the\nwords which we have already quoted, Job replied: \"The LORD gave, and\nthe LORD hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the LORD.\"\n\nWas not Job mistaken? Should he not have said: \"The LORD gave, and\nSatan hath taken away?\" No, there was no mistake. The same grace\nwhich had enabled him unharmed to receive blessing from the hand of\nGOD, enabled him also to discern the hand of GOD in the calamities\nwhich had befallen him. Even Satan himself did not presume to ask of\nGOD to be allowed himself to afflict Job. In the 1st chapter and the\n11th verse he says: \"Put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he\nhath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face;\" and in the 2nd chapter and\nthe 5th verse: \"Put forth Thine hand now, and touch his bone and his\nflesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.\" Satan knew that none but\nGOD could touch Job; and when Satan was permitted to afflict him, Job\nwas quite right in recognising the LORD Himself as the doer of these\nthings which He permitted to be done.\n\nOftentimes shall we be helped and blessed if we bear this in\nmind--that Satan is servant, and not master, and that he, and wicked\nmen incited by him are only permitted to do that which GOD by His\ndeterminate counsel and foreknowledge has before determined shall be\ndone. Come joy, or come sorrow, we may always take it from the hand\nof GOD.\n\nJudas betrayed his Master with a kiss. Our LORD did not stop short at\nJudas, not did He even stop at the great enemy who filled the heart\nof Judas to do this thing; but He said: \"the cup which My FATHER hath\ngiven me, shall I not drink it?\" How the tendency to resentment and a\nwrong feeling would be removed, could we take an injury from the hand\nof a loving FATHER, instead of looking chiefly at the agent through\nwhom it comes to us! It matters not who is the postman--it is with\nthe writer of the letter that we are concerned: it matters not who is\nthe messenger--it is with GOD that His children have to do.\n\nWe conclude, therefore, that Job was not mistaken, and that we shall\nnot be mistaken if we follow his example, in accepting all GOD'S\nprovidential dealings, as from Himself. We may be sure that they will\nissue in ultimate blessing; because GOD is GOD, and, therefore, \"all\nthings work together for good\" to them that love Him.\n\nDEEPER TRIALS.\n\nJob's trial, however, was not completed, as we have seen, when his\nproperty was removed. When the LORD challenged Satan a second time:\n\"Hast thou considered my servant Job ... ?\" Satan has no word of\ncommendation, but a further insinuation: \"Skin for skin, yea, all\nthat a man hath will he give for his life ... touch his bone and his\nflesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.\" Receiving further\npermission to afflict him bodily, but with the charge withal to save\nhis life, Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote\nJob with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown.\n\nThe pain of his disease, the loathsomeness of his appearance, must\nhave been very great; when his friends came to see him they knew him\nnot. His skin was broken and had become loathsome; his flesh was\nclothed with worms and clods of dust. Days of vanity and wearisome\nnights followed in sad succession; his rest at night was scared by\ndreams and terrified through visions; so that, without ease or\nrespite, strangling would have been a relief to him, and death chosen\nrather than life. But of death there was no danger, for Satan had\nbeen charged not to touch his life.\n\nHis kinsfolk failed him, and his familiar friends seem to have\nforgotten him. Those who dwelt in his house counted him as a\nstranger, and his servant gave no answer to his call when he\nentreated help from him. Nay, worse than all, his own wife turned\nfrom him, and in his grief he exclaimed: \"My breath is strange to my\nwife, though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body.\"\nNo wonder that those who looked on thought that GOD Himself had\nbecome his enemy.\n\nYet it was not so. With a tender Father's love GOD was watching all\nthe time; and when the testing had lasted long enough to vindicate\nthe power of GOD'S grace, and to prepare Job himself for fuller\nblessing, then the afflictions were taken away; and in place of the\ntemporary trial, songs of deliverance were vouchsafed to him.\n\nTHE LOVING-KINDNESS OF THE LORD.\n\nNor was the blessing GOD gave to His servant a small one. During this\ntime of affliction, which, perhaps, was not very prolonged, Job\nlearned lessons, which all his life of prosperity had been unable to\nteach him. The mistakes he made in the hastiness of his spirit were\ncorrected; his knowledge of GOD was deepened and increased; he had\nlearned to know Him better than he could have done in any other way.\nHe exclaimed that he had heard of Him previously, by the hearing of\nthe ear, and knew GOD by hearsay only; but that now his eye saw Him,\nand that his acquaintance with GOD had become that which was the\nresult of personal knowledge, and not of mere report. All his\nself-righteousness was gone: he abhorred himself in dust and ashes.\n\nThen, when he prayed for his friends, the LORD removed the sorrow,\nrestored to him the love and friendship of those who previously were\nfor the time alienated, and blessed the latter end of Job more than\nthe beginning. His sheep, his camels, his oxen, and his asses, were\ndoubled. Again seven sons and three daughters were granted to him,\nand thus the number of his children also was doubled; for those who\nwere dead were not lost, they had only gone before. And after all\nthis, Job lived 140 years, and saw his children, and grandchildren,\nto the fourth generation; and finally died, being old and full of\ndays.\n\nMay we not well say that if Job's prosperity was blessed prosperity,\nhis adversity, likewise, was blessed adversity? \"Weeping may endure\nfor a night, but joy cometh in the morning;\" and the night of weeping\nwill bear a fruit more rich and permanent than any day of rejoicing\ncould produce. \"The evening and the morning were the first day.\"\nLight out of darkness is GOD'S order, and if sometimes our Heavenly\nFATHER can trust us with a trial, it is a sure presage that, if by\ngrace the trial is accepted, He will ere long trust us with a\nblessing.\n\nIn this day, when material causes are so much dwelt upon that there\nis danger of forgetting the unseen agencies, let us not lose sight of\nthe existence and reality of our unseen spiritual foes. Many a child\nof GOD knows what it is to have sore conflict with flesh and blood;\nand yet, as says the Apostle, \"We wrestle not against flesh and\nblood, but against ... wicked spirits in heavenly places\" (margin).\nIt would be comparatively easy to deal with our visible foes, if the\ninvisible foes were not behind them. With foes so mighty and, apart\nfrom GOD'S protecting care, so utterly irresistible, we should be\nhelpless indeed if unprotected and unarmed.\n\nWe need to put on the whole armor of GOD, and to be not ignorant of\nSatan's devices. Let us not, on the other hand, lose sight of the\nprecious truth that GOD alone is Almighty; that GOD is our Helper,\nour Protector, and our Shield, as well as our exceeding great Reward.\n\"If GOD be for us, who can be against us?\" Let us always be on His\nside, seeking to carry out His purposes; then the power of GOD will\nalways be with us, and we shall be made more than conquerors through\nHim that loved us.\n\n\n\n\nComing to the King.\n\n\n\"And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire,\nwhatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal\nbounty.\"--1 Kings x. 13.\n\nThe beautiful history recorded in the chapter from which the above\nwords are quoted is deeply instructive to those who have learned to\nrecognise CHRIST in the Scriptures. The reference to this narrative\nby our LORD Himself was surely designed to draw our attention to it,\nand gives it an added interest. The blessings, too, received by the\nQueen of Sheba were of no ordinary kind. She was not only pleased\nwith her reception, and with what she saw, but all her difficulties\nwere removed, all her petitions were granted, all her desire was\nfulfilled. She was satisfied--so satisfied that, with glad and\nthankful heart, she turned and went away to her own country to fulfil\nthe duties which, in the providence of GOD, devolved upon her.\n\nIf we may learn from this narrative how to approach the Antitype of\nKing Solomon, and to receive from Him blessings as much greater than\nthose received by the Queen of Sheba as CHRIST is greater than\nSolomon, we shall not meditate without profit on this portion of\nScripture.\n\nIn many respects we resemble the Queen of Sheba. Though of royal\nbirth, she was doubtless, like the bride in the Song of Solomon,\nblack, because the sun had looked upon her. The post which she was\ncalled to occupy was no easy one; in her own life, and in her duty\ntowards others, she found many hard questions to which she saw no\nsolution. She heard of one reigning in the power of the LORD, whose\nwisdom exceeded that of the wisest of men, and who, if any one could,\nmight afford her the help that she needed. She felt sure that the\nreports that she heard of his wisdom and of his acts were\nexaggerated; yet, even allowing for this, she was prepared to take a\nlong and difficult journey that she might see his face and prove for\nherself how far her difficulties could be solved by him. And she came\nnot empty-handed; she came not only to receive, but also to give,\n\"with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much\ngold, and precious stones,\" not because she thought Solomon poor and\nneedy, but because she knew of his magnificence she sought to bring\ngifts worthy of his royal dignity, and so coming she was not\ndisappointed.\n\nHer long journey accomplished, she reached Jerusalem, and was granted\nthe audience with the great king which her soul craved. She not only\nunburdened her camels, she unburdened her own heart, and found that\nher difficult questions were no difficulty to him. \"Solomon told her\nall her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which\nhe told her not.\" And so gracious was he that, without restraint,\n\"she communed with him of all that was in her heart.\" Surely this\nutter opening of the heart implies a great deal. To none but the true\nSolomon can we give such confidence, but to Him we may lay bare the\ninnermost recesses of our souls, and bring the questions, difficult,\nperplexing, or sad, which we could breathe into no human ear.\n\nWe know what came of the questionings, in the case of the Queen of\nSheba, as to whether Solomon really could be all that some\nenthusiasts had reported. When she had seen his wisdom, and the house\nthat he had built, his state and his magnificence, and his ascent by\nwhich he went up into the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit\nin her; and she said to the king, \"It was a true report that I heard\nin mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed\nnot the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold,\nthe half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the\nfame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants,\nwhich stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.\nBlessed be the LORD thy GOD, which delighteth in thee, to set thee on\nthe throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever,\ntherefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice.\"\n\nWas there not the true spirit of prophecy in these words? Solomon has\npassed away, and all his magnificence; the pleasant land is to this\nday desolate under the power of the Turk; but the LORD has loved\nIsrael for ever, and soon a King shall reign in Mount Zion \"before\nHis ancients gloriously.\" But meanwhile this KING, all unseen to\nhuman sense, is reigning, and to those who come to Him in no sordid\nspirit, but gladly consecrating the wealth of their heart's affection\nand the most worthy gifts they possess--to those who feel enriched by\nHis acceptance of their gifts, and find pleasure in bestowing on Him\nfor His service the best they can offer--to such there is still given\nthe opening of heart and opening of eye to behold the KING in His\nbeauty, and to find all needed present solution of every hard\nquestion.\n\nDo we not often give to a poor CHRIST rather than to a rich one? Are\nwe not sometimes unwilling to give until we know His work to be in\nstraits, and sometimes its very existence imperilled? Are not our\nhearts oft times more moved by the recital of human needs than by\nCHRIST'S claim for the prosecution of the one work for which He has\nleft His Church on earth? A famine in India, a flood in China, is\nmore potent to bring temporal relief than the continual famine of the\nbread of life and of the increasing floods of heathen ungodliness. It\nis well, it is CHRIST-like, to minister temporal relief to suffering\nhumanity, but shall the deep longings and thirstings of His soul, and\nthe impressiveness of His last command ere He ascended on high, be\nless urgent? How many of the parents who refuse to let son or\ndaughter go into the mission-field would refuse the Queen of England\nwere she to confer the honour of a mission on their beloved children?\nDo we recognize the majesty of the King of Glory, and the immortal\nhonor that appertains to His service? To those who do, the glad\nexclamations of the Queen of Sheba afford well-suited expressions:\nHappy are Thy subjects, happy are Thy servants which stand\ncontinually before Thee and hear Thy wisdom.\n\nTo the Queen of Sheba, however, more was given than to those happy\nsubjects or to those servants who served the king in their own land.\nTo her was given, as an eye-witness of the majesty of the king, as a\nglad participant of his bounty, to return to the far-off land, and to\ntestify to those to whom, if they had heard at all, the half had not\nbeen told. Not as she came did she return, with a longing, yearning,\nunsatisfied heart, with duties to discharge for which she had not the\nwisdom;--with a royal dignity indeed, but one which brought not rest\nto her own spirit. Now she had seen the king, now all her desire was\nmet; and the glorious king, after thus marvelously satisfying her,\nhad further overwhelmed her with unthought-of gifts of his own royal\nbounty!\n\nDo we know much of this, beloved friends? Has CHRIST become to us\nsuch a living bright reality that no post of duty shall be irksome,\nthat as His witnesses we can return to the quiet home side, or to the\ndistant service among the heathen, with hearts more than glad, more\nthan satisfied; and most glad, most satisfied, when most sad and most\nstripped, it may be, of earthly friends and treasures? Let us put all\nour treasures into His hand; then He will never need to take them\nfrom us on account of heart idolatry; and if in wisdom and love He\nremove them for a time, He will leave no vacuum, but Himself will\nfill the void, Himself wipe away the tear.\n\nThere is yet more for us than it was possible to give to the Queen of\nSheba. King Solomon had to send her away, he could not go with her;\nwhile, though we have to leave the conference or convention, or the\nearly hour of holy closet communion with our LORD, for the ordinary\nduties of daily life, our Solomon goes with us, nay, dwells in us, to\nmeet each fresh need and to solve each fresh perplexity as it arises.\nWe have His word, \"I will never leave thee, never fail thee, never\nforsake thee.\" Satisfied and filled to begin with, we have the\nSATISFIER, the FILLER, with us and in us. When He says, \"Whom shall\nWe send and who will go for Us?\" He means to send us on no lonely\nerrand, but on one which will give to Him a better opportunity of\nrevealing Himself, and to us of \"finding out the greatness of His\nloving heart.\" Who will not answer Him, \"Here am I, send me;\" or,\n\"Here are mine, send them\"?\n\n\n\n\nA Full Reward.\n\n\n\"It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done ... and how\nthou hast left they father and thy mother, and the land of thy\nnativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not\nheretofore. The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given\nthee of the LORD GOD of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to\ntrust\" (Ruth ii. 11, 12).\n\nIn this interesting narrative we have another instance of the way in\nwhich the HOLY GHOST teaches by typical lives. We have dwelt on some\nprecious lessons taught us of our KING by the account of the coming\nof the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. There we were specially taught\nhow our hard questions are to be solved, and our hearts to be fully\nsatisfied. Here a still higher lesson is give us: How to serve so as\nto obtain \"a full reward,\" while as to the nature of that full reward\nno little light is given us.\n\nTo us these lessons are of special interest, as bearing on missions\nto foreign nations, and perhaps they somewhat explain why He who\ndelights to bless, and is able to bless the obedient soul, said so\nemphatically, \"Go, teach all nations;\" \"Go ye into all the world.\"\nThe service of GOD is a delightful privilege anywhere. Those who stay\nat home, however, need to become strangers and pilgrims there. This\nis not always easy to do in the present day; and many fail, and\nforget their true position. To those who are permitted to labour in\nforeign lands, there is a lessened danger in this respect; and hence\nmany obtain a fuller joy in present service, and look forward to a\nfuller reward by-and-by, than they anticipated ere they left all for\nJESUS' sake.\n\nRuth was by nature a \"stranger to the commonwealth of Israel,\" but by\nmarriage with an Israelite was brought amongst that people. On the\ndeath of her husband, she still clave to her mother-in-law and to her\nGOD, the GOD of Israel. She so esteemed her privileged position that\nfor it she left her native land and all its enjoyments; left parents,\nrelatives and friends, and all those attractions that led Orpah to\nreturn to Moab. To her it was better to be the companion of her\nmother-in-law, poor and desolate as she was, than to enjoy for a\nseason what in Moab might have been hers.\n\nThis sacrifice was so real that Naomi, much as she loved her\ndaughter-in-law, and desolate as she would be without her, felt she\ncould not wish it for her own sake merely; but when Ruth said, \"Thy\npeople shall by my people, and thy GOD my GOD,\" she had no further\ndoubt to suggest, and no further obstacle to put in her way. If\ncompanionship with one of GOD'S poor servants is so precious, what\nshall we say to Him who exhorts us, \"Go! ... and, lo, I am with you\"?\nIs He not saying: The good SHEPHERD must seek the wandering sheep\nuntil He find them. Go ye, too, and seek them, and in so doing you\nshall find My companionship ensured? Shall we decline this fellowship\nwith Him, and leave Him, so far as we are concerned, to seek them\nalone?\n\nWe next find Ruth toiling in the burning sun as a gleaner, and there\nshe meets for the first time the lord of the harvest. The beauty of\nthe narrative of Boaz saluting his reapers with, \"Thy LORD be with\nyou,\" and their reply, \"The LORD bless thee,\" must delight every\nreader. And poor Ruth, too though not a reaper--only a gleaner--is\nmade most welcome, and encouraged to remain in the fields of Boaz\nuntil all the reaping is done. With touching simplicity and humility\nthe grateful gleaner replies, \"Why have I found grace in thine eyes,\nthat thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?\"\nThen the lord of the harvest responds in the words we have quoted at\nthe head of the paper, \"It hath fully been showed me, all that thou\nhast done,\" etc.\n\nLet us then turn from Boaz to the true LORD of the Harvest. Does He\nmeet us there, toiling in the heat of the summer's sun? Knowing fully\nall we have done, does that knowledge bring joy to His heart? and is\nit a joy to us to know that He knows all? Our risen and glorious\nLORD, so wonderfully described in Rev. i, still walks in the midst of\nthe golden candlesticks. Can He say to us, \"I know thy works,\" with\nno word of rebuke? or do we feel the blush of shame as the eye as \"a\nflame of fire\" rests upon us? \"And now, little children, abide in\nHim; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be\nashamed before Him at His coming.\"\n\nLet us all leave the fatherland of the world, and at least become\nstrangers and pilgrims in it. Let us all toil in some way or other in\nthe great harvest-field, and if we may lawfully do so, let us not be\nslow to obey the command to \"go, teach all nations.\" Where the need\nis greatest let us be found gladly obeying the MASTER'S command. For\nit is in the harvest-field, it is among the reapers, that we shall\nfind Him.\n\nThere is no Christian service in which faith must not be in lively\nexercise. At home, abroad, connected with this branch of GOD'S work\nor that, without faith it is impossible to please Him. Paul may\nplant, Apollos water; GOD only gives the increase. Every true\nminister of GOD, every true missionary, every true Sunday-school\nteacher and Christian worker is a faith-worker. But in the foreign\nfield workers are peculiarly cast on GOD. There are special dangers\nand difficulties, special weaknesses and needs that bring GOD very\nnear--nearer than most of the workers realised Him to be while they\nremained at home. And to those who have gone out without human\nguarantee of support, who do not know when the next help may reach\nthem, not its amount, there is an additional link with the great\nloving heart of our FATHER and our GOD that is unspeakably precious\nand welcome.\n\nMay we not say that in ever position of life when we are weak in\nourselves, our friends, our circumstances, then are we strongest in\nHim? And when in our great needs, for ourselves or for the souls\naround us, we lay hold on GOD and say, \"My soul, wait thou ONLY upon\nGOD; for my expectation is from Him,\" what rest and security and\ncertainty come into the waiting soul. And ah! When labouring in this\nspirit how words like those of our heavenly Boaz come home to the\nheart. \"The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee\nof the LORD GOD of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.\"\nHappy toiler in China! Happy toiler at Home! If it is sometimes dark,\nthe shadow is but the shadow of His wing, under which thou art\nabiding, under which thou art come to trust.\n\nWe will not prolong this meditation. He who comforted and blessed the\nlonely gleaner while the harvest lasted, became her husband when the\nharvest toil was past. It was thus the LORD recompensed her work.\nIsrael was not blessed apart from her, for David the deliverer, and\nSolomon the glory of Israel, were born of the seed which Boaz had\nthrough her. Soon shall come the glorious day of the espousals of\nCHRIST and His Church. With her He will come to deliver Israel and to\njudge the world and even the angels. Ruth little knew the honour and\nhappiness awaiting her when she left all for GOD and His people. We\nknow the purposes of GOD'S grace and the glories in store for us.\nWhat manner of men, then, should we be; and how earnest and faithful\nin the little time which awaits us before we are called to our\nreward, and to meet Him in the air? When He says, Go! Shall we reply,\nNo? When He asks us to continue in His harvest till the reaping is\nover, shall we say Him, Nay?\n\n\n\n\nUnder the Shepherd's Care.\n\n\nA NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS.\n\n\"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the\nShepherd and Bishop of your souls.\"--1 Peter ii. 25.\n\n\"Ye were as sheep going astray.\" This is evidently addressed to\nbelievers. We were like sheep, blindly, willfully following an unwise\nleader. Not only were we following ourselves, but we in our turn have\nled others astray. This is true of all of us: \"All we like sheep have\ngone astray;\" all equally foolish, \"we have turned every one to his\nown way.\" Our first though has been, \"I like this,\" or \"I don't like\nthat\"; never thinking what the LORD would prefer, we have just\nfollowed our own inclinations. So terribly astray were we that\nnothing less than the life-blood of our good SHEPHERD could atone for\nour sin, and save us from its power and its penalty. In Isaiah liii.,\nwe learn the substitutionary character of the death of CHRIST\nunmistakably, as also in the verse before our text. The GOD of the\nBible is a GOD who punishes sin, and cannot pardon without atonement.\nThe substitution of the innocent victim for the guilty offerer is so\nclearly taught from Genesis to Revelation, that he must be blind\nindeed who does not see it. Praise GOD our KINSMAN-REDEEMER has paid\nour debt; and \"with His stripes we are healed.\"\n\nII. \"BUT ARE NOW RETURNED UNTO THE SHEPHERD AND BISHOP OF YOUR\nSOULS.\" Far astray as we were, by His grace we have been brought back\nagain, and now we are \"returned\"--some of us scarcely returning so\nmuch as being carried to the fold by our loving SHEPHERD. And it is\nso blessed to realize that now we are not without a MASTER, a LEADER,\na HEAD. We were intended to be followers. We always do follow; but,\nalas! We did not follow the right MASTER. Now the right MASTER has\nfound us; and instead of following our own foolish lead, we want to\nfollow His wise lead. And it is most restful to realize that we are\nnot left to live a life at the mercy of circumstances, or to walk in\nour own wisdom. We can never foresee the future; we never fully\nunderstand the present. How dangerous would be our position were we\nleft alone! But as believers we have been brought back; we \"are now\nreturned unto the SHEPHERD and BISHOP of our souls.\"\n\nIII. How blessed it is to have such a SHEPHERD, BISHOP, OVERSEER, One\nwho is continually watching over us in order to provide and lead, to\nsustain and deliver, to meet and supply our every need! All is found\nin CHRIST JESUS; in His presence, in His power, in His love may we\nmore and more rest!\n\nI have frequently thought of words I had the privilege of hearing\nsome years ago from Professor Charteris at a united Communion service\nfor students in Edinburgh. He said that there had been one life on\nearth of steady, uninterrupted development from the cradle to the\nCross; but that there had only been one such life, for the true\nChristian life always began where the life of CHRIST ended, at the\nCross; and that its true development is towards the cradle, until the\nchild of GOD in the child-like simplicity of faith can rest in the\nomnipotent arms of infinite WISDOM and LOVE. Is not this the growth\nand development we long for, in order that we may be among those to\nwhom GOD will reveal the things which are hidden from the wise and\nprudent? The more we rest on this fact,--that we do not know the way\nwe are going, but that we have a GUIDE who does know; that we do not\nknow how to accomplish our service, but that He never leaves us to\ndevise our own service;--the more restful does our life become. Then\nwe find we have just to do this--to look to our SAVIOUR to be filled\nwith His perfections; not to be fretting and fuming as to how the\ndivine life shall manifest itself, but to leave the life to work\nspontaneously through us. A heavy bunch of grapes on a tender shoot\nwould break it; but let the shoot abide in the vine it will grow\nstronger, and as the fruit develops, the strength of the branch will\nincrease also, and the life left to its own natural and healthy\ndevelopment will in due time be brought to perfection\n\nAs we look forward to the months of this year, we know not where the\nclose will find us; whether here or in the eternal Home. We know not\nwhat burdens, perplexities, or difficulties it may bring; but we know\nHim, whose we are, and whom we serve. HE knows all; this suffices for\nus.\n\nI have been looking at a few passages which bring out the care of our\nLORD for His people:--\n\n(1) 2 Tim. ii. 19, \"The foundation of GOD standeth sure, having this\nseal, The LORD knoweth them that are His.\"--The LORD knows every one\nof His own. We may not know them. We may make mistakes if we judge of\nothers. Some may be His, and we may be unaware of it. The LORD knows\nthem that are His. This is a safe foundation. We, too, know in our\nsouls whether the LORD is indwelling us, whether His peace fills us,\nsustains and blesses us.\n\n(2) Nahum i. 7, \"The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of\ntrouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.\"--He has a special\nknowledge of those who put their trust in Him. Though our trust at\ntimes is very poor, yet, if there be any trust at all in Him, we can\nsay, \"Help thou mine unbelief.\" He knows we want to trust Him better.\n\n(3) Psalm ciii. 14, \"He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are\ndust.\"--Our SHEPHERD knows our weakness. He never lays more upon us\nthan we are able to bear.\n\n(4) Psalm i. 6, \"The LORD knoweth the way of the righteous.\"--There\nmay be difficulties in our path; we do not foresee them, but He knows\nthem; and when He puts forth His sheep He does not leave them to meet\ndifficulties as best they can, but He goes before them.\n\n(5) Job said (xxiii. 10) \"He knoweth the way that I take.\"--Job did\nnot understand the way the LORD was leading him. He was bewildered by\nthe LORD's dealings with him; but he had this comfort, \"He knoweth\nthe way that I take.\" So when we cannot understand GOD'S dealings\nwith us we may rest on the same truth.\n\n(6) Psalm xliv. 21, \"He knoweth the secrets of the heart.\"--We are\noften brought into circumstances of trial and misunderstanding.\nPeople imagine that this or that discipline is the fruit of this or\nthat sin. The LORD knoweth the secrets of the heart. If we are\nunjustly accused or suspected, if it is asserted that we have\nforgotten the name of our GOD, GOD knows the secrets of our hearts.\nSometimes we have trials which we cannot put into prayer; the LORD\nknows the secrets of our heart. There are things that affect us, and\nyet we cannot understand how it is that we are so affected by them.\n\"He knoweth the secrets of the heart.\"\n\n(7) 2 Peter ii. 9, \"The LORD knoweth how to deliver the godly out of\ntemptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be\npunished.\"--Sometimes we are involved in trial because of our\nconnection with others. GOD knew how to punish the old world and save\nNoah--how to punish Sodom and save Lot.\n\n(8) Then we have many needs. We are like children, we need to be\nhelped continually, and our SAVIOUR reminds us (Matt. vi. 8, 32) that\nour \"heavenly FATHER knoweth what things\" we \"have need of\"; and that\nif we are only concerned to seek \"first the Kingdom of GOD, and His\nrighteousness,\" \"all these things shall be added unto\" us. So that we\nhave no need to be anxious about to-morrow. It is quite sufficient\nthat we have a SHEPHERD, OVERSEER, FRIEND who undertakes to provide\nfor it all.\n\nNay, as he told us in Psalm lxxxiv. 11, He himself is a \"sun\" to give\nus light in all times of darkness, and a \"shield\" to protect us in\ndanger. The \"grace\" that we need for His service now, and the \"glory\"\nthat shall soon crown it, are all in Him, and all for us; for, \"No\ngood thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.\" Not, from\nthem that walk perfectly, or sinlessly--no on does that; not, from\nthem that are blameless--though we all should be that; but if we are\nhonestly and uprightly seeking to serve Him, no good thing will he\nwithhold. What a rich promise this is!\n\nIV. In conclusion: Are we all enjoying this precious truth? Are we\nall able to take this passage to ourselves and say, \"I was a sheep\ngoing astray, but I am returned\"? Can we all feel it is true for\nourselves? If there be one who cannot do so, the SHEPHERD, the\nBISHOP, is really present, though unseen; He is here ready to receive\nthose who will return now. \"Come unto Me,\" is His word. If there is\none burdened with sin, He is ready to pardon. If there is one\nburdened with care, He is present to receive your care. The LORD\nJESUS is waiting: waiting to take every burden away, to accept every\ndeposit, to fulfil every trust we confide in Him. He will be faithful\nto keep that which we commit to Him. We can entrust to Him the\nkeeping of our hearts, the ordering of our lives, the care of our\nchildren, the converts whom GOD has given us, the word to which He\nhas called us. We may trust Him to keep us, in employments in which\nwe are brought into contact with the ungodly; yes, whatever we commit\nto Him, He is able to keep.\n\nIf we have come to Him, with what blessedness may we go forward into\nthis year. We have not passed this way heretofore. We know not what\nburdens the LORD has for us to bear, or what blessings in store. We\nneed not be afraid, if He gives great blessing that He will let us\nbecome puffed up; or that great difficulties will be too much for us\nwhile trusting in Him. That which was never meant for our strength\nwill be met by His strength. May we be a docile flock, willing to be\ncared for by Him, and every blessing will then be ours!\n\n\n\n\nSelf-Denial versus Self-Assertion.\n\n\n\"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his\ncross daily, and follow Me.--LUKE ix. 23.\n\nWe might naturally have thought that if there was one thing in the\nlife of the LORD JESUS CHRIST which belonged to Him alone, it was His\ncross-bearing. To guard against so natural a mistake, the HOLY GHOST\nhas taken care in gospel and in epistle to draw our special attention\nto the oneness of the believer with CHRIST in cross-bearing; and also\nto prevent misunderstanding as to the character of Christian\ncross-bearing, and the constancy of its obligation. The LORD JESUS,\nin the words we are considering, teaches us that if any man, no\nmatter who he may be, will be His disciple, he must--not he may--deny\nhimself and take up his cross daily and follow his LORD.\n\nIs there not a needs-be for this exhortation? Are not self-indulgence\nand self-assertion temptations to which we are ever exposed, and to\nwhich we constantly give way, without even a thought of the\nun-Christliness of such conduct? That we owe something to GOD all\nChristians admit; and it may be hoped that the number of those is\nincreasing who recognise His claim to some proportionate part of\ntheir income. But our MASTER claims much more than a part of our\nproperty, of our time, of our affections. If we are saved at all, we\nare not our own in any sense, we are bought with a price: our bodies\nwe must present to Him; our whole life must be for GOD.\n\nSelf-denial surely means something far greater than some slight\ninsignificant lessening of our self-indulgences! When Peter denied\nCHRIST, he utterly disowned Him and disallowed His claims. In this\nway we are called to deny self, and to do it daily, if we would be\nCHRIST's disciples indeed. \"I don't like this,\" or, \"I do like that,\"\nmust not be allowed; the only question must daily be, What would\nJESUS like? And His mind and will, once ascertained, must\nunhesitatingly be carried out.\n\nAs believers, we claim to have been crucified together with CHRIST;\nand Paul understood this, not merely imputatively but practically.\nThat cross put the world to death as regards Paul, and put Paul to\ndeath as regards the world. To the Apostle nothing could have been\nmore practical. He does not say, \"I take up my cross daily,\" in the\nlight, modern sense of the expression; but puts it rather as dying\ndaily; and therefore, as one \"in deaths oft,\" he was never surprised,\nor stumbled by any hardship or danger involved in his work.\n\nWe wish, however, to draw attention to another aspect of self-denial\nwhich is often overlooked, and perhaps we shall do this most\nintelligibly by use of the antithetical expression, self-assertion.\nWhat does the Word of GOD teach us about our rights, our claims, our\ndues? Does it not teach us that condemnation, banishment, eternal\nmisery, are our own deserts? As unbelievers, we were condemned\ncriminals; as believers, we are pardoned criminals; and whatever of\ngood is found in us is but imparted, and to GOD alone is due the\npraise. Can we, then, consistently with such a position, be\nself-asserting and self-claimant?\n\nIt is clear that if we choose to remit a claim due to us by one who\nis free and our equal, that may not invalidate or affect his claim on\nhis neighbour--no matter whether that claim be larger or smaller than\nthe one we remitted. But what did our SAVIOUR intend to teach us by\nthe parable of Matthew xviii. 23-35? There the King and Master and\nOwner of a slave remits His claim in clemency and pity (and does so,\nas our LORD elsewhere clearly shows, on express condition of His\nservant's forgiving as he is forgiven--Matthew vi. 14, 15); can that\nslave, under these circumstances, assert and claim his rights over\nhis fellow?\n\nAnd is not this principle of non-assertion, this aspect of\nself-denial, a far-reaching one? Did our LORD claim His rights before\nPilate's bar, and assert Himself; or did His self-denial and\ncross-bearing go the length of waiting for His FATHER'S vindication\nof His character and claims? And shall we, in the prosecution of our\nwork as ambassadors of Him whose kingdom is not of this world, be\njealous of our own honour and rights, as men and as citizens of\nWestern countries, and seek to assert the one and claim the\nother,--when what our MASTER wants is witness to, and reflection of,\nHis own character and earthly life, and illustrations of the\nforbearing grace of our GOD and FATHER?\n\nMay GOD work in us, and we work out in daily life, not self-assertion\nbut self-denial--not ease and honour-seeking and right-maintaining,\nbut right-abandoning and cross-taking--and this for the glory of His\nown holy Name, and for the better forwarding of His interests,\nwhether among His own people or among the unsaved!\n\n\n\n\nAll Sufficiency\n\n\n\"The LORD GOD is a Sun and Shield:\nthe LORD will give grace and glory:\n\"No good thing will He withhold from them\nthat walk uprightly.\"\n--PSALM LXXXIV. 11.\n\nHow pleasant to the heart of a true child to hear his father well\nspoken of, and to rejoice that he is the child of such a father. We\nfeel that we can never thank GOD sufficiently for our privileged lot,\nwho have been blessed with true and loving Christian parents. But if\nthis be the case with regard to the dim and at best imperfect earthly\nreflections, what of the glorious Reality--the great FATHER--the\nsource of all fatherhood, of all protection--of all that is blessed\nhere, and true, and noble, and good--and of all the glories to which\nwe look forward in the future? \"The LORD GOD is a Sun and Shield: the\nLORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from\nthem that walk uprightly.\"\n\n\"The LORD GOD is a Sun and Shield,\" and this in the fullest\nconceivable sense. None of His works can fully reveal the great\nDesigner, and Executor, and Upholder; and the loftiest thoughts and\nimaginations of the finite mind can never rise up to and comprehend\nthe Infinite. The natural sun is inconceivably great, we cannot grasp\nits magnitude; it is inconceivably glorious, we cannot bear to gaze\nfor one moment on its untempered light. The source to us of all heat,\nwe have to shield ourselves from its tropical power, though millions\nof miles from its surface: the sustainer of the essential conditions\nof physical life, and the great ruler and centre of the solar\nsystem--how great and glorious is the natural sun! And yet it may be\nthe very smallest of all the countless suns that GOD has made! What\nof the glorious MAKER of them all!\n\n\"The LORD GOD is a Sun.\" Ah! He deserves the name, He is the Reality\nof all that sun or suns exhibit or suggest. My reader, is he the Sun\nto you? Do you count all that to be darkness which does not come form\nand accord with His light: all that to be disorder which does not\nimplicitly accept and delight in His rule? \"O LORD of Hosts, blessed\nis the man that trusteth to Thee!\" Self-will is unmingled folly, and\ncan only end in injury and loss.\n\nAnd the LORD GOD is a Shield. Dangers encompass us, unseen at every\nmoment. Within us, in the wonderful and delicate organisation of our\nbodies--around us, when in circumstances of the greatest comfort and\napparent safety--are dangers unseen, which at any moment might\nterminate our earthly career. Dangers seen sometimes appal us, or\nappal those who love us: but they are not more real than many we\nnever dream of. Why do we live so safely, then? Because the LORD GOD\nis a Shield.\n\nFoes, too, are never far from us. The world, the flesh, and the devil\nare very real; and unaided we have no power to keep or deliver\nourselves from them. But the LORD GOD is a Shield. It is a small\nmatter then to go to China, a very small additional risk to run; for\nthere, as here, the LORD GOD is a Shield. Should war break out, in\nthis we may be confident; for He has said He will never fail nor\nforsake His own. Only when our work is done will He take us home; and\nthis He will do whether we serve Him here or there. To know and to do\nHis will--this is our safety; this is our rest.\n\nSweet are his promises--grace will He give, and glory. Grace all\nunmerited and free--that which is really for our good, for CHRIST'S\ndeservings, not for ours. And glory too--glory NOW, the glory of\nbeing His, of serving Him in each least duty of life, and glory in\nthe soul. Glory apparent, too, as with unveiled faces we behold and\nrejoice in His glory, and reflect it ever more and more. And glory to\ncome, when we have done and suffered His will here, and are \"for ever\nwith the LORD!\"\n\n\"No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.\" Ah!\nHow often, when we have been dissatisfied with the ways of GOD, we\nought to have been dissatisfied with our own ways! We did not think,\nperhaps, that in some matter or other we were not walking uprightly.\nIf not so, however, then the thing we desired was not for our good,\nand therefore was not given; or the thing we feared was essential to\nour good, and hence was not withheld. We are often mistaken: GOD,\nnever. \"No good thing will He withhold\": shall we be so foolish, so\nwayward, as after this to desire that which our Father in heaven\nwithholds?\n\nBut sweet as are GOD'S promises, the PROMISER is greater and better.\nFinite human words fetter the expression of the heart of the Infinite\nGIVER. Hence if we had claimed all the promises, had opened our\nmouths most wide, and had asked with all the blessed presumption of\nloved and favoured children--yet, above and beyond the promises, He\nwould still be able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or\nthink. He delights to do so! Let not low thoughts, GOD-dishonouring\nthoughts, unbelieving, distrustful thoughts, limit His blessings; for\n\"No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.\"","title":"A Ribband of Blue, and Other Bible Studies","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":16055}