BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibstudy/morneven.exe/ME04.PM

Text File | 1993-09-05 | 60KB | 1,127 lines

* 04/01/PM

"It is time to seek the Lord."
                                                   --Hosea 10:12

   This month of April is said to derive its name from the
Latin verb _aperio_, which signifies _to open_, because all the
buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the
gates of the flowery year. Reader, if you are yet unsaved, may
your heart, in accord with the universal awakening of nature,
be opened to receive the Lord. Every blossoming flower warns
you that _it is time to seek the Lord_; be not out of tune with
nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires. Do
you tell me that the warm blood of youth leaps in your veins?
then, I entreat you, give your vigour to the Lord. It was my
unspeakable happiness to be called in early youth, and I could
fain praise the Lord every day for it. Salvation is priceless,
let it come when it may, but oh! an early salvation has a
double value in it. Young men and maidens, since you may perish
ere you reach your prime, "_It is time to seek the Lord_." Ye
who feel the first signs of decay, quicken your pace: that
hollow cough, that hectic flush, are warnings which you must
not trifle with; with you it is indeed time to seek the Lord.
Did I observe a little grey mingled with your once luxurious
tresses? Years are stealing on apace, and death is drawing
nearer by hasty marches, let each return of spring arouse you
to set your house in order. Dear reader, if you are now
advanced in life, let me entreat and implore you to delay no
longer. There is a day of grace for you now--be thankful for
that, but it is a limited season and grows shorter every time
that clock ticks. Here in this silent chamber, on this first
night of another month, I speak to you as best I can by paper
and ink, and from my inmost soul, as God's servant, I lay
before you this warning, "_It is time to seek the Lord_."
Slight not that work, it may be your last call from
destruction, the final syllable from the lip of grace.

* 04/02/PM

"He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand."
                                                  --Isaiah 53:10

   Plead for the speedy fulfillment of this promise, all ye who
love the Lord. It is easy work to pray when we are grounded and
bottomed, as to our desires, upon God's own promise. How can He
that gave the word refuse to keep it? Immutable veracity cannot
demean itself by a lie, and eternal faithfulness cannot degrade
itself by neglect. God must bless His Son, His covenant binds
Him to it. That which the Spirit prompts us to ask for Jesus, is
that which God decrees to give Him. Whenever you are praying
for the kingdom of Christ, let your eyes behold the dawning of
the blessed day which draweth near, when the Crucified shall
receive His coronation in the place where men rejected Him.
Courage, you that prayerfully work and toil for Christ with
success of the very smallest kind, it shall not be so always;
better times are before you. Your eyes cannot see the blissful
future: borrow the telescope of faith; wipe the misty breath of
your doubts from the glass; look through it and behold the
coming glory. Reader, let us ask, _do you_ make this your
constant prayer? Remember that the same Christ who tells us to
say, "Give us this day our daily bread," had first given us this
petition, "Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven." Let not your prayers be all
concerning your own sins, your own wants, your own
imperfections, your own trials, but let them climb the starry
ladder, and get up to Christ Himself, and then, as you draw nigh
to the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, offer this prayer
continually, "Lord, extend the kingdom of Thy dear Son." Such a
petition, fervently presented, will elevate the spirit of all
your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer
by labouring to promote the Lord's glory.

* 04/03/PM

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to
his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us
all."
                                                   --Isaiah 53:6

   Here a confession of sin _common_ to all the elect people of
God. They have all fallen, and therefore, in common chorus, they
all say, from the first who entered heaven to the last who shall
enter there, "All we like sheep have gone astray." The
confession, while thus unanimous, is also _special_ and
particular: "We have turned every one to his own way." There is
a peculiar sinfulness about every one of the individuals; all
are sinful, but each one with some special aggravation not found
in his fellow. It is the mark of genuine repentance that while
it naturally associates itself with other penitents, it also
takes up a position of loneliness. "We have turned every one to
his own way," is a confession that each man had sinned against
light peculiar to himself, or sinned with an aggravation which
he could not perceive in others. This confession is
_unreserved_; there is not a word to detract from its force, nor
a syllable by way of excuse. The confession is _a giving up of
all pleas of self-righteousness_. It is the declaration of men
who are consciously guilty--guilty with aggravations, guilty
without excuse: they stand with their weapons of rebellion
broken in pieces, and cry, "All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way." Yet we hear no
dolorous wailings attending this confession of sin; for the next
sentence makes it almost a song. "The Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquity of us all." It is the most grievous sentence of the
three, but it overflows with comfort. Strange is it that where
misery was concentrated mercy reigned; where sorrow reached her
climax weary souls find rest. The Saviour bruised is the healing
of bruised hearts. See how the lowliest penitence gives place
to assured confidence through simply gazing at Christ on the
cross!

* 04/04/PM

"Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord."
                                                    --Isaiah 2:3

   It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this
present evil world to something nobler and better. The cares of
this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke
everything good within us, and we grow fretful, desponding,
perhaps proud and carnal. It is well for us to cut down these
thorns and briers, for heavenly seed sown among them is not
likely to yield a harvest; and where shall we find a better
sickle with which to cut them down than communion with God and
the things of the kingdom? In the valleys of Switzerland many of
the inhabitants are deformed, and all wear a sickly appearance,
for the atmosphere is charged with miasma, and is close and
stagnant; but up yonder, on the mountain, you find a hardy race,
who breathe the clear fresh air as it blows from the virgin
snows of the Alpine summits. It would be well if the dwellers in
the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes
and the fever mists, and inhale the bracing element upon the
hills. It is to such an exploit of climbing that I invite you
this evening. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists
of fear and the fevers of anxiety, and all the ills which gather
in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of
anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the
cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount! We sit
too often like chained eagles fastened to the rock, only that,
unlike the eagle, we begin to love our chain, and would,
perhaps, if it came really to the test, be loath to have it
snapped. May God now grant us grace, if we cannot escape from
the chain as to our flesh, yet to do so as to our spirits; and
leaving the body, like a servant, at the foot of the hill, may
our soul, like Abraham, attain the top of the mountain, there to
indulge in communion with the Most High.

* 04/05/PM

"Before honour is humility."