September 15 - Morning"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings." — Psalm 112:7
Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have
not your God to fly to; they have never proved His faithfulness as you
have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and
cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been
begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not
on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what
is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the
dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?
Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would,
doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying
circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel
against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them.
Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?
Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape
from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields
to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, "Stand still and
see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when you hear of
evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm
composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can
you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's
high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you
had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and
relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." September 15 - Evening"A people near unto him." — Psalm 148:14
The dispensation of the old covenant was that of distance. When God
appeared even to His servant Moses, He said, "Draw not nigh hither: put
off thy shoes from off thy feet"; and when He manifested Himself upon
Mount Sinai, to His own chosen and separated people, one of the first
commands was, "Thou shalt set bounds about the mount." Both in the
sacred worship of the tabernacle and the temple, the thought of distance
was always prominent. The mass of the people did not even enter the
outer court. Into the inner court none but the priests might dare to intrude;
while into the innermost place, or the holy of holies, the high priest
entered but once in the year.
It was as if the Lord in those early ages would
teach man that sin was so utterly loathsome to Him, that He must treat
men as lepers put without the camp; and when He came nearest to them,
He yet made them feel the width of the separation between a holy God
and an impure sinner. When the gospel came, we were placed on quite
another footing. The word "Go" was exchanged for "Come"; distance was
made to give place to nearness, and we who aforetime were afar off, were
made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Incarnate Deity has no wall of fire
about it. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest," is the joyful proclamation of God as He appears in human
flesh. Not now does He teach the leper his leprosy by setting him at a
distance, but by Himself suffering the penalty of His defilement. What a
state of safety and privilege is this nearness to God through Jesus! Do you
know it by experience? If you know it, are you living in the power of it?
Marvellous is this nearness, yet it is to be followed by a dispensation of
greater nearness still, when it shall be said, "The tabernacle of God is with
men, and He doth dwell among them." Hasten it, O Lord. September 15 |